Bridge replacement question for guitar techs?

Question

I have an ESP LTD F-2E that I absolutely love. 

There's only one problem with it: The stock bridge is a piece of junk. It's a licensed Floyd Rose made by ESP for their lower end LTD guitars. It holds tuning reasonably well, but the fine tuners feel very rough and its difficult to get it dead on sometimes. 

I was considering getting a Floyd Rose Special for it for a couple different reasons. 
1) It is made with the same specs as the Original, just with lesser components. 
2) It is available in a finish that will match my guitar's hardware (black nickel) 

My question is, will I be able to just drop it in, or will I have to do routing or drilling to make it fit? 

Here's a picture of my guitar and its bridge: http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii282/maneating/Gear/P4140196.jpg

And here's a picture of the Floyd Rose Special I'm considering: http://www.guitarcenter.com/Floyd-Rose-Special-Series-Tremolo-Bridge-with-R2-Nut-108926940-i2126075.gc?source=4WWRWXGP&kpid=108926940

At first glance, it looks like it should just drop right in, but I'm not 100% sure. Anything else I should take into account before buying the Special?

Harry · Accepted Answer

Yeah, many here do know enough to just take the guitar in, to a music store or GC, to pair it up with a true Floyd Rose to insure a good swap and fit. 

This is what happens to copies of the 'license' hardware or body designs and the tolerance differences that can happen between places of assembly, and their own methods of measure, dimensions and fittings for 'lower end' products.

This way, there will be no doubts or second guessing concerning the outcome and eventual performance of any product changes or alterations.

Sometimes pictures are just not enough to ensure a good and reasonable outcome, when it has to do with changes one thinks they can achieve on their own.

sahand · Answer

changing the bridge is not recommended, but if you really want to do that, I do not know
exact size of your bridge, so you should carefully measure height, length and width of your
own bridge parts, also the hole that you bridge parts are fit in, then go and find exact
measures of Floyd Rose Spaecial, if Floyd Rose Special is bigger than your bridge, I strongly
recommend NOT to change bridge, because drilling and digging body wood, results a
terrible look and if you are not professional in doing that, it can damage the whole body... But if the size of two bridges are equal, there will be no other problems...

Anonymous · Answer

bridges and guitars don't go together son.

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Bridge replacement question for guitar techs?

3 Answers