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Floyd Rose In Les Paul...


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Well, think about it for a sec.

You've got to modify the nut for a Floyd nut (read: there's no shelf/space for a shelf). Headstock will need some serious mods.

You're trying to route a straight pocket on a carved top. How's that going to be accurate? Gotta make a jig.

You gotta make new holes for the Floyd studs.

You need to cover up the holes from the tailpiece, because if I'm correct, the Floyd route won't cover all 4 holes for bridge and tailpiece.

You need to route a humongous-ass hole in the back of the VERY thick guitar for the claw and springs. (note: the arched LP top won't rest flat for your router)

And after all that, it's probably going to need to be painted again.

It CAN be done, though. If you plan to build a Floyd in it from the very start. Otherwise there's a whole buncha problems that need tacklin'.

PS. I did my own research on this, too, and came up with nothing. Leads me to believe that this job isn't done all that often.

PPS. Too late now, but posting this in a different section might yield you more answers. I don't generally venture down here all that often myself.

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Well, think about it for a sec.

You've got to modify the nut for a Floyd nut (read: there's no shelf/space for a shelf). Headstock will need some serious mods.

You're trying to route a straight pocket on a carved top. How's that going to be accurate? Gotta make a jig.

You gotta make new holes for the Floyd studs.

You need to cover up the holes from the tailpiece, because if I'm correct, the Floyd route won't cover all 4 holes for bridge and tailpiece.

You need to route a humongous-ass hole in the back of the VERY thick guitar for the claw and springs. (note: the arched LP top won't rest flat for your router)

And after all that, it's probably going to need to be painted again.

It CAN be done, though. If you plan to build a Floyd in it from the very start. Otherwise there's a whole buncha problems that need tacklin'.

PS. I did my own research on this, too, and came up with nothing. Leads me to believe that this job isn't done all that often.

PPS. Too late now, but posting this in a different section might yield you more answers. I don't generally venture down here all that often myself.

well i knew that routing was required but the arch in the guitar i have actually isnt that arched, like theres barely any to it so i think it may work better.

but ill call in my dad with this one too (hes pretty much a woodworking expert) so the routing shouldnt be TOO big of a problem

and i planned on repainting it anyway....

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You could have probably chatted about this in your first topic with WezV when he pointed out the difficulty instead of opening a second topic,

QUOTE(WezV @ May 24 2007, 12:17 PM)

First off - have you fitted a floyd rose to a lp before . . . that is no easy task!!

Your reply;

ive seen it done and it didnt look too hard...
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If you're talking about the LP trem that replaces the stopbar on a Les Paul, save your money and spend it on something else. They work more like a Bigsby, which means if you're a Floyd fan you're not gonna like it. Kahler and Floyd are the only way to fly for tuning stability and performance.

People have been fitting Floyds to Les Pauls for years, but they can be tricky enough to install on a flat top guitar, much less a carved top if you don't know what you're doing in the first place. If you're planning on doing this to a decent instrument, I'd take it to a pro or make absolute sure you know what you're getting into. A lot of good Les Pauls were lost to bad trem and humbucker installs over the years.

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Well, think about it for a sec.

You've got to modify the nut for a Floyd nut (read: there's no shelf/space for a shelf). Headstock will need some serious mods.

You're trying to route a straight pocket on a carved top. How's that going to be accurate? Gotta make a jig.

You gotta make new holes for the Floyd studs.

You need to cover up the holes from the tailpiece, because if I'm correct, the Floyd route won't cover all 4 holes for bridge and tailpiece.

You need to route a humongous-ass hole in the back of the VERY thick guitar for the claw and springs. (note: the arched LP top won't rest flat for your router)

And after all that, it's probably going to need to be painted again.

It CAN be done, though. If you plan to build a Floyd in it from the very start. Otherwise there's a whole buncha problems that need tacklin'.

PS. I did my own research on this, too, and came up with nothing. Leads me to believe that this job isn't done all that often.

PPS. Too late now, but posting this in a different section might yield you more answers. I don't generally venture down here all that often myself.

That pretty much sums it up but like setch said - neck angle needs to be considered as does bridge height. If you do successfully install it will it be floating so far of the body as to affect performance. If your dad has experience wood working it would probably be better to get him to help you build a flat-top les paul body that you can attach a bolt-on neck to and use the FR on that. That way is a lot less work than what you are proposing and has a much greater chance of success.

The epihone may not have much of a carve but any carve adds a whole world of difficulty

I should say that i have never fitted a FR to a LP - mainly because it seems like a bad idea. I know its possible and i am sure i could do it - but it would not be something i took on lightly.

PS... It was a very good idea to actually ask how hard it is to do!

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  • 1 month later...

i talked to the manger at the music store i go to about having one put on an epi ace frehly sig lespaul he said for them to do it it would be extremely expensive and that most of the lps you find popping up on ebay with floyds have problems with them. with all this in consideration i think its gonna be a very hard job for you to do. is the guitar an actuall gibson?

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Its no floyd but...

http://www.stetsbar.com/

it is a trem none the less. If you got one of these you would need to do no routing.

Guitar One gave it the One Award in January 2006. And their video is on this site too.

http://www.stetsbar.com/reviews.html

I've never used one but the review is good and you wouldn't have to do any routing.

Good Luck!

:D

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  • 1 year later...

When I was researching for my current guitar project I was intent on putting a FR on it. I have only seen one FR bridge on ebay that was specially made to be mounted without routing to an LP. It was $500 for the bridge only and it wasn't even new. FRs are really complicated. I wouldn't mess up a LP to mount one if you don't know what you're doing. If you are intent on a trem for the LP, get a Bigsby and get a really good roller bridge or special saddles for the existing bridge and install a self lubing nut and locking tuners. If you're careful and set it up perfectly, you should be able to use the trem pretty hard.

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I seem to remember that Epiphone did a factory series of Les Pauls, Explorers, V's, and Modernes with a Floyd rose bridge installed stock... it would have been discontinued about 5 years ago though. I'll see if I can find more info. Poly-LP/V/X/M were the model names I think.

EDIT: Poly X, V, and Moderne turned up results, LP did not. Judging by the reviews, I'm glad I went with a Greg Bennett "Rockwell" back in 2003 rather than that Poly X I almost bought. I was 13 years old and I saved up for a LONG time to get it.

Anyway, Google found nothing for Epiphone Poly-LP, but it suggested I search for "Poly P". So I hit that link, not realizing that I was typing in 'Epiphone Polyp'. You can imagine what came up

That gave me some interesting results, and a great idea for a much more accurate marketing campaign. "Epiphone: It's a pain in the ass."

Edited by IWishICouldShred
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  • 3 weeks later...
I seem to remember that Epiphone did a factory series of Les Pauls, Explorers, V's, and Modernes with a Floyd rose bridge installed stock... it would have been discontinued about 5 years ago though. I'll see if I can find more info. Poly-LP/V/X/M were the model names I think.

EDIT: Poly X, V, and Moderne turned up results, LP did not. Judging by the reviews, I'm glad I went with a Greg Bennett "Rockwell" back in 2003 rather than that Poly X I almost bought. I was 13 years old and I saved up for a LONG time to get it.

Anyway, Google found nothing for Epiphone Poly-LP, but it suggested I search for "Poly P". So I hit that link, not realizing that I was typing in 'Epiphone Polyp'. You can imagine what came up

That gave me some interesting results, and a great idea for a much more accurate marketing campaign. "Epiphone: It's a pain in the ass."

You mean "Epiphone Goth"

http://namm.harmony-central.com/SNAMM02/Co...oth-Series.html

look pretty cool, but LP looks better w/a kahler (IMO)

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  • 1 month later...

Some useful information there Cam, but it doesn't address the Les Paul problems I think...

With a Les paul with a tilted back set neck and tailpiece and TOM bridge, a FR won't really be an easy or even possible modification...

The kahler is expensive but does the job with minimum routing and effectively uses the existing mounting system and is one of the few that are designed for the job and has floyd like range...

Gibson and others though have made floyd versions, but they have been built for the job I suspect...

pete

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Cam - how would you deal with the difference in bridge height between a Tune-o-matic and a floyd if you were to attempt this mod?

^ what he said...

The idea that you could take off a set neck less paul and shim it is naive at best...some things are not meant to be without altering the design to accommodate it.

There are ways to achieve the effect...like a khaler...but a floyd rose is not one of them really, unless you are making a custom guitar and designing it that way. Even then, the features of a les paul are compromised or don't lend themselves to such a device...the splayed strings and tilt back headstock for instance are not tremolo freindly, and once you install a locking nut, that feature is gone...the big heavy solid LP construction is undermined by a huge tremolo spring route in the back...the extensive routing and the original bridge mounting on an LP requires extensive refinishing (another "feature in favor of the khaler design)...the list goes on...

The floyd was an attempt to create a wide range fender fulcrum alternative...but since then there have been many other things that have made them less desirable than they once were... Locking tuners, roller nuts, straight string pull headstocks, knife edge and roller bearing fulcrums...all design ideas that go towards the same range and tuning stability without the hassle of the old floyd ideas...

While I have seen many floyd/pauls...I have never seen a conversion of a stock LP...

I am actually working on a khaler LP project at the moment though with a locking nut...so we will see how that goes...but a fulcrum tremolo is not really the appropriate system to even consider for this kind of instrument design and construction...

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true,

I would say you would have to some how take the neck off and add shims underneath the neck, so that the neck sits flat or still has a slight angle, it all depends on how you like your action.

Thats exactly how i did it when converting a flying vee with TOm to floyd rose set-up.... but that guitar was a cheap copy with a bolt on neck... most les pauls have set necks and messing with the neck angle is not an option... well certainly not an easy one anyway since it would invlove steaming the neck out, re shaping the top and lots of other complex tasks

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