Guitar: From fixed bridge to floyd rose floating tremolo? Possible or not?

Hello there,

Good answer from Death Walking Terror. Hit all the points. Thumbs up.

Yes, it is possible to retro-fit a Floyd Rose tremolo to most fixed bridge guitars. However, that is not practical. The cost of the retro-fit is so much that you can buy a guitar with a Floyd Rose already installed for less money.

You remove the fixed bridge and plug the holes. Route out a cavity for the tremolo bridge block. Then you route out a cavity on the back for the springs. Routing new cavities on a finished body frequently results in chipping of the finish. Also since you have plugged holes, if you are particular about the looks, you will need to refinish the body. Then you take to nut off the neck and route a shelf for the locking nut. Then you remove the pickups because they have string spacing for the fixed bridge. The Floyd Rose uses a wider string spacing. You need pickups spaced for a Floyd Rose, like a Trembucker,. If your body is too thin (common with fixed bridge guitars), the bridge block will stick out slightly on the back side. The shop labor charge for installing the pickups and Floyd Rose will run you $400 to $500. The parts are in addition to that.

If you have woodworking experience and have a plunge router, you may be able to do the work. Most new Floyd Rose bridges include a template for routing the cavities. You do have to know where to position the bridge and get it right the first time. No second chance on that. Get it wrong and the intonation will be forever off. Also cutting the shelf on the neck needs to be precise. Too deep and you will need to shim the nut to make the guitar playable. Bottom mount lock nuts are most common. But the mounting holes do weaken the neck. With enough guitar building/repair experience you can do the job. But it is not a simple one. You need to get everything laid out correctly before you start routing.

After you get finished you end up with a lot money tied up in a beginner level guitar. It simply is not worth all the work to do this. Sell the Gio series guitar and get a better guitar. Not what you want to hear. but the best advice you will get.

Later,

Floyd Rose Fixed Bridge

There are only two type of guitars. Those with a "fixed" bridge (meaning the bridge does not move at all) and those with a move-able bridge which is technically called a vibrato but is commonly, albeit incorrectly, called a tremolo. There are many types and manufacturers of vibrato bridges. Some will allow you to both tighten and loosen the string tension by pressing or lifting the bar. Some designs are better than others at staying in tune. The are some low quality systems that really have tuning issues. Fender Synchronized, Bigsby, Kahler and Floyd Rose are the most famous of the tremolo manufacturers

Converting a guitar from a fixed bridge to a Floyd Rose would cost a lot of money. In addition to having to route a cavity for the trem, you'd need to new pickups too. The strings on a Floyd Rose are closer together than on a fixed bridge, so you'd need trembucker spaced pickups.

Then you'd have to buy the bridge itself ($200 -$300 US) and you'd have to remove the old nut and put the new, locking nut on. This would be extremely difficult for you to do on your own.

The cost of doing this would be more than the guitar is worth. You'll have to live with the fixed bridge or buy a guitar that already has a locking tremolo. Since you said you can't afford to do the latter, you're f**ked.

EDIT: Thanks to Norm for pointing out that the string spacing on a Floyd Rose is farther apart than a fixed bridge, not closer together.