a new nut?

bobmac · August 9th, 2008, 11:24 PM

My Strat has a Floyd Rose locking system with the locking nut. As I don't really care for whammy bars and the fiddly FRLS, I have decided to block the bridge and turn it into a hardtail with fine tuners. I will do this mod soon. After blocking the bridge I'll have no further need for the metal locking system nut and would like to change that for a regular plastic or bone nut and go back to using the tuning keys.

So does anybody have any tips or warnings to give me prior to doing this mod? Type of nut to go for? Tips on removing the current metal nut and replacing it? I'll also have the two holes at the back of the neck to deal with. I guess these will be filled with wood filler and smoothed off?

bobthecanadian · August 9th, 2008, 11:50 PM

Just leave the nut where it is. Maybe take off the three caps/locks and leave the nut unlocking. It will work fine and maybe even help with sustain/tone. Blocking the trem is a good idea, I think.

Axis29 · August 10th, 2008, 07:04 AM

You can't really take off that nut and expect a new nut to cover the void left. That floyd rose nut is huge and wide compared to a regular nut!!!

I feel your pain, I had a Photoflame with the Floyd Rose system and never cared for it.

In all honesty I think you'd be better off just trading it out for a different guitar.

thaus · August 10th, 2008, 11:01 AM

Yes, unfortunately the nut from a Rose system is huge and hard to replace. You might see about a LSR nut or brass; they tend to be a little bigger and may fill the void. I really like the strats I have with a bone nut. Really helps with tuning stability I find.....

Orlando Mike · August 10th, 2008, 11:00 PM

how are the fine tuners supposed to work without the locking nut?

bobthecanadian · August 10th, 2008, 11:48 PM

the fine tuners will work without a locking nut the same way as they do on a violin, to 'fine tune'. a violin will have tuners on the head as well as fine tuners. violins stay in tune quite well. as long as the strings are locked down the tuning stability should be good.

bobmac · August 11th, 2008, 10:20 AM

Today, just for fun, I took off the locking nut, slackened off the strings, altered the spring tension, and then went to work getting her back in tune. 90 minutes and many bad words later she was finally flush and back in tune. I guess I'll just have do this exercise once a week to build up speed.