Is The $270 FU-Tone Floyd Rose Titanium R3 Locking Nut Upgrade Actually Worth The Money? Comparison
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- Опубліковано 4 кві 2024
- Today I give the FU-Tone titanium Floyd locking nut a try! Is it worth it? Do YOU hear a difference?
/ brutes_magootes
#futone #floydrose #charvelguitars
What a beautiful guitar!
Much appreciated!
I have a dinky with upgraded FU nut and saddles and some screws. I didn't hear a tonal difference. The parts are supposed to be more durable. They look cool. The guy i bought the guitar from threw them in because he decided he hated Floyds and wanted it gone. I'm not sure I'd have bought the upgrades myself. But if they are as durable as claimed the Floyd in my dinky will outlive me.
That is true, they are way more durable.
They WILL NOT be more durable. You can achieve great results with titanium in application where weight saving matters a lot, but even then you are compromising. Good stainless steel is way more durable in terms of structural strength when it comes to guitar hardware. People buy into complete nonsense marketing. Titanium is a pointless and stupid material to make guitar hardware out of, having virtually zero advantages over more commonly used ones. Apart from completely ripping you off, and charging comically bloated prices. But that's an advantage to the manufacturer.
“The strength of titanium alloy is about 20-40% higher than stainless steel, but its hardness and plasticity are lower. Titanium has a much higher tensile strength than stainless steel, making it more resistant to breakage. Additionally, titanium is less brittle than stainless steel and
can absorb impacts better without breaking.”
I love Fu-tone products, more for the durability that I won't have to replace it for the life of the guitar. As for tone, the brass big blocks and saddle blocks made a difference for me, I had one guitar it was so muddy in the low end. With previous mentioned parts it helped give more note clarity and definition. Plus being able to match colors to a given guitar is a bonus lol. Fu-tone stuff definitely does change things, always for the better in my personal case, 5 guitars I've outfitted the same parts, just because it's a consistent improvement for me.
I saw improvements with Ti saddles, and thicker brass block on a Wolfgang. I thought I would take it a step further, and order Ti bridge post. That killed the tone, harmonics, and sustain. They came with steel sleeves/ inserts which made absolutely no since to me. (Ti saddles> original steel base plate> Ti post> steel inserts> wood). Too many dissimilar metals. I'll be putting steel studs back in. Love the Ti saddles, and brass block setup I previously had.
Snake oil as far as a difference in tone. great quality parts though.
Overall I tend to agree. I do love being able to clamp the string a down and not having to worry about breaking or stripping something. I also find I can get a better bite on the strings, so they seem to help the bridge stay in tune when going nuts on the whammy bar.
I'm guessing a huge part of the cost is it being titanium which I've heard is difficult to machine, or at least forge a blade out of as far as the grinding process and other things, so it probably applies here as well. It probably isn't worth the money aside from being used on spendy custom builds and having money to burn and if it's really the bridge you want the most, but most people don't, but that doesn't necessarily mean the cost isn't justified. I've seen one or two blacksmiths do titanium blades, but one was to re-create a comic book character's blade I can't remember the name of, probably Marvel and they made a movie of it. Another is Blade's sword actually, but there's another I'm not remembering.
IDK about snake oil(I guess that depends on their claims), but the difference is probably not significant enough to justify it and probably disappears altogether in high-gain settings aside from maybe the initial pick attack, which might actually lend itself well if using precise pickups like Bare Knuckle Aftermath's where it could be more noticeable for very fast palm-muted riffing like Meshuggah. Now I'm really curious what a ceramic bridge could be like and if it would even be practical, speaking of blades it can have crazy edge-retention and sharpness, but can be brittle like steel that's too hard.
I also just realized you'd really only notice the difference on the open strings(just noticed he mentioned this later, I should have said I remembered that because I already knew), not at all if you have a zero fret, so maybe a combo of the titanium saddles and bridge could make enough difference in certain applications like precise riffing with the right pickups.
Before I even realized that I was curious about titanium frets lol, but certainly not practical. If you were to compare steel saddles/bridge to titanium rather than titanium saddles and steel bridge to all titanium that could make a difference too. I've seen all aluminum necks too, imagine a titanium neck where the frets are just part of the neck itself, that would be nuts. Or it could possibly make for a great fretless, I've seen some that have some kind of metal fingerboard.
i found the titanium to have more growl in your demos. i like the ti nut, clamps and screws for the durability and being able to really clamp it down. found one made in china on reverb for 100 cad. the bridge posts are also a decent upgrade since they won't get worn down by the edges of the baseplate on the floyd. if i could find a ti base plate, id also go for that.
Yeah, I like the titanium for that as well. So overall, do you feel the China titanium is decent quality?
@@brutesmagootes3996 i'm like 80% sure that its the same as FU tone and the FU tone is just ridiculously marked up and branded.
it is possible that they use a higher quality titanium at FU, but they dont actually specify which grade they use.
I know, and I feel like if you brag about it being the best, you would specify what grade of titanium it is. Plus, they do not put a country of origin on any of their stuff (which I thought you HAD to do) and they do not specify "Made in USA", so it very well could be direct from China.
I'm trying Ti bridge post, on a Wolfgang, and I hate the sound. I'm putting the steel ones back in asap. My sustain is gone, and the overtones are funky. I think they'd be better on an all Ti bridge. Having Ti saddles, with a steel baseplate, Ti post, and steel inserts must be too much back, and forth between metals. The FU tone Ti post have steel inserts which makes no since to me.
Well it looks really nice that alone justifies the upgrade, I developed a screwfobia over the years, the next mod I will do to a nut, will be a stainless steel zero fret XD not for a locking nut ofc.
I have had screws break or strip out on tour, so I always have that in the back of my head. I do like the looks and durability aspect of this nut.
Beautiful guitar, I’m just wondering though what tuners you’re using, they looking sick!
Thanks man! They are Hipshot locking tuners with knurled barrels.
Hey man,great overdrive sound with your set up. OK,so I put one of those better quality German made Floyd nuts on my 81 Strat. I too did the front screw install and had noticed that the screws kept coming loose and constantly needed tightening. It caused constant tuning issues and eventually failed completely due to nut travel widening the mounting holes. Since the nut is not from China it has the threaded holes to install from the back of the neck. I did just that and have had no issues whatsoever since. The bolts stay tight and the nut is solid as shit. I advise that if you have a good enough nut to drill from the front of the nut shelf all the way through the back and here`s the really important part. the first two drilled holes to be the correct size for the threaded part of the bolt and hand turn your drill bit for the countersink top part of the bolt to achieve the correct depth into the nut threads. If you over sink the bolt heads you will feel like shit cause I did that once and broke the headstock off a PRS. Awesome show and Charvell you have there. Rock on you Bitches!
Thanks! And thanks for the tip!
Hey man stumbled upon your channel from the Helstar covers! Have you made any tabs for those songs?
No, sorry. 😞
For tuning stability I use the string tree on both of my FU upgraded nuts, one brass, one titanium........I lowered them to the point where the fulcrum kept tuning stability......with and without the strings tightened and clamped.....
The largest tone difference with FU is using a titanium or brass big block on the floyd bridge...minimal from screws or the nut!
Yeah, I agree. The block has the biggest impact. I go back and forth on string retainers on non tilted headstocks. Currently I have the retainer bar back on this guitar.
I've installed the original FRTINR3 titanium nut on my guitar ... but it's just overkill. I just wanted no issue anymore.
Now, any complete high grade stainless steel locking nut will surely do the job.
It's not only the nut, but also the saddles and saddle locking inserts which need to be upgraded in order to "secure the locking clamp". Both ends must be upgraded.
Yes, good points. Imo at a minimum, the saddle inserts should be upgraded on a Floyd since they seem to tend to break most often, but the entire saddles have been upgraded on this guitar.
@@brutesmagootes3996
If you ever upgrade with a stainless steel screws set for the bridge, be extremely careful NEVER to over-tighten them on the bridge plate nor the saddles, or you'll strip the threads off the cheap soft metal of the plate (or saddles) ... and I've never seen these bridge plates sold as a separate part online, so you're pretty much done done and need to get another bridge.
Well, if you know where to find 3rd party replacement Stainless Steel bridge plates, please tell me! (Thanko mucho in advance!)
Now the question is: Why do manufacturers keep on selling guitars with these cheap licensed import Floyd Rose units (FR Special, etc)? I mean, it's my personal opinion ... but, I really think they're absolute g*rb*ge.
That's an interesting point. Especially because it's common for brands like LTD to do the stainless screws with the 1000 series bridges. I always go for an OG Floyd though, usually a 1984 which is what's on this guitar.
As far as them using licenced import bridges on guitars, that's a cost thing. They suck, but the manufactures feel they can get away with it (and to their point they do). It's sad that it seems like only on USA, custom shop or MIJ guitars do they have quality bridges.
my god !!! whats your tuners ??? great sound !!!
Hipshot
Those tuning pegs are bad ass
Thanks! Once I swapped to running barrel tuners I have never gone back.
where did you get your baphomet statue?
Here ya go brother 🤘🏻He makes 2 sizes of it but mine is the large one www.etsy.com/listing/1498581060/
I DO like the look, but not worth me buying. I'll get my girlfriend to buy it for me...
Atta boy👍
Smart man! 🤘🏻
SMART MAN!!
Nobody's going to hear any difference in a mix or if they're not listening for it. If the tuning stability is better then great but doing this to improve tone is wasting money. Really cool looking guitar though!
I totally agree about any tone changes in a mix. Especially with high gain. But, it does seem to increase tuning stability when going full ham on the bar, so that is a plus. And thanks! It’s my favorite guitar to play.
just buy a strat or a tele and you will have a great guitar
What’s wrong with a Charvel?
No difference at all to me
Sadly it requires a floyd rose
Personally I’ll take a Floyd over a Kahler any day.
Nice job but definitely not worth it.
Get rid of the cheap floyd get a real one
Huh? What’s a “real one”?
You do know that Floyd is a German made 1984 right?
I cant stand Floyd Rose
Cool.
@@brutesmagootes3996 maybe I can't use it properly. There is one on my friends LP and I never got the chance to really scrutinize it but it seemed a nuisance
Over a standard hardtail bridge they are for sure a lot more work (PITA).
all titanium will do is reduce the weight by 1 oz