Floyd Rose FRX Whammy Unit? is it really any good?

The Floyd Rose FRX whammy bar tremolo took around 7 years to develop. Is this the perfect whammy bar for non routed guitars? Find out in this close up review.

Contents:

0:00 Intro and preamble
0:40 The guitar we used
1:41 The FRX close up
6:39 Fitting the FRX + tips
9:18 Nylon protector pads
9:39 Modifications to guitar
11:39 My first fitting tip
14:01 A set up tip
15:07 Avoid this mistake
16:41 Another great tip
17:44 How the FRX works
19:28 Intonation
20:00 Tremolo mechanics
21:41 String lock tips
25:21 Hard learned advice
26:46 My SG other mods
29:38 The pricing
30:10 Warranty
30:51 Likes and dislikes
31:27 Review score
35:17 The Playing example

Second playing example here:    • Is Koloss Guitar as Bad as Some Say? ...  

The Floyd Rose FRX is a tremolo or whammy bar designed for any guitar that is a 'flat top' and can be retro fitted. My first 'real' guitar was a Gibson SG back in 1971 that had a Bigsby tremolo fitted as standard so I wanted to add a tremolo to my current SG. In this video I fit the FRX to my Epiphone SG custom guitar and show the procedure as I advanced to a completed project

Of course along the way there are many steps to consider and a number of problems I encountered but eventually completed the FRX installation on the SG guitar.

While I have lots of experience with regular Floyd Rose whammy bars, the setting up and adjustments, the FRX is another story. It is not a tremolo unit you might fit quickly and this one took me around 2 1/2 hours to fit to a satisfactory conclusion.

As I moved forward with the fitting I realized that the 'dream' of just dropping the FRX tremolo on a guitar was really misguided and the installation would involve modifications (albeit small) to the guitar. But in this case I was prepared to proceed. But would you mod a guitar like a Gibson costing up to five or six times the price?

This Floyd Rose FRX trem has been around for a number of years and often it does not fare well from reviewers, but in this close up review I show you all the things I learned along the way and importantly how I eventually came to a satisfactory conclusion.

Floyd Rose himself has a video on YouTube here:    • New Floyd Rose FRX Retrofitting Tremo...   but to be honest that was not really much help other than the very basics of fitting the unit. There is far more to it in my opinion.

Overall this was a very expensive whammy bar solution (over £300 and nearer £400 from some suppliers) that I bought myself so this really is a genuine review so trust it! If you think the FRX is for you then take a really close look at this video because you might be surprised at the difficulty in getting this guitar addition or accessory fitted to your guitar.

It reminds me of the Stets Bar that I once fitted to a Fender Telecaster but thankfully the FRX tremolo is a success whereas the Stets Bar eventually was removed and sold.

The playing is simply some backing track and its NOT really metal style guitar playing as some might have wished, but rather a more laid back approach and I used a Diezel Hagen, the Epiphone SG fitted with the Floyd FRX and an AKG microphone direct to the desk. The guitar stayed in tune with very minor adjustment after the 7 minute playing example.

I have spent considerable time (near enough a week!) creating this video - its not sponsored in any way. The video is a reflection of my experience with fitting and using the unit so consider my advice carefully if you're looking for the tremolo for your guitar.

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