Locking Tremolo Guide: Floyd Rose, Ibanez Edge & Guitar Setup Explained

Learn how locking tremolo systems like Floyd Rose, Ibanez Edge and Kahler work, why they go out of tune, and how to properly set them up for stability

🎸 The Locking Tremolo

edge, floyd rose, gotoh, ibanez, kahler, locking tremolo, stability, steve vai —

Fig 1: 1977 — The Floyd Rose Locking Tremolo

I grew up in the 70's & 80's, when the "Super Strat" was being born. Companies such as Charvel® & Jackson® were experimenting with all sorts of pickup configurations, compound neck radius and body shapes, etc., while guitar players such as Edward Van Halen were beginning their massive tilt at the title of Guitar Freak.

As you would expect, the tremolo unit took a beating, and in a quest to stabilise tuning, the locking tremolo unit was about to be invented.

There were two main units:

The Kahler Tremolo System®, invented by Gary Kahler & Dave Storey in 1979
Its predecessor, the infamous Floyd Rose Locking Tremolo®, invented two years earlier in 1977 by none other than Floyd D. Rose

Fig 2: 1979 — The Kahler Tremolo System

These units throughout the 80's were standard issue. Gone was the hardtail of the Les Paul, and in was the "Floyd Rose".

But they soon fell out of favour — and it wasn’t because they weren’t doing what they were supposed to do, which was to keep tuning stability whilst beating the shit out of the whammy bar.

It was the eventual realisation that you had to intonate the guitar from time to time, and this did present a huge time-factor problem.

Especially when Steve Vai decided to take a screwdriver to the body of his "Green Meanie" Partscaster and dig out under the Floyd Rose so he could pull up on the bar a major 3rd.

This meant the tremolo unit was now floating, making it more versatile.

However…

From a guitar tech’s setup perspective:

👉 The most unstable bridge in existence

That was 1985.

So from then till now, players have fallen in & out of love with the locking tremolo system because of the time it takes to set one up.

There have been numerous versions of locking tremolo units over the years, but it took Ibanez Guitars, with the help of Gotoh, to design what I — and I am sure many out there — believe is by far the best and most stable locking bridge on the market:

👉 The Edge

Fig 3: 1987 — The Ibanez Edge

I must admit that I charge a little more to set up a guitar with a locking tremolo, because it does take a little longer to get it right.

But I do specialise in them, so you can rest assured that your guitar will be set up with care — and not given back to you with a substandard setup performed by an incredibly frustrated technician who has nothing more to say than how tormenting the experience was, and that they should have charged you three times the price.

I am sure many of you have experienced this very scenario with other guitar service techs on more than one occasion.

Well…
I love them, so why not book your locking tremolo guitar in today for a much loved service here 👉Locking Tremolo Service & Setup

So why not bring them to me, and I’ll get your super strat purring like a kitten.

I specialise in servicing & setting up any electric guitar that has:

Floyd Rose Original®
Floyd Rose Special®
Any licensed single or double locking unit

As I am a huge fan of Ibanez, I particularly specialise in the Ibanez range of locking units such as:

Edge®
Edge II & III
Low Pro®
Edge Zero®

As well as Kahler® vintage tremolo units.

I also offer Locking Tremolo 1-on-1 Workshops if you would like to learn how to service your locking tremolo unit with confidence.

👉 Contact us about booking in for a 1-on-1 lesson on setting up your locking tremolo guitar.

Peace, Rob Lobasso 👽🎸🤘

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Categories: : alien guitar secrets, Charvel, dive bombs, eddie van halen, Edge Zero, fender, Floyd Rose, Ibanez Edge, Jackson, joe satriani, Kahler, Kramer, locking tremolo, servicing, set up, squeals, steve vai, stratocaster, super strat, whammy bar, workshop