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When it comes to picking an electric guitar, there is the age-old comparison of Floyd Rose 1000 vs Original: Korean-made vs German-Made Tremolo. Many guitarists claim that they can’t live without a Floyd Rose tremolo. That being said, other people say that the only difference between the two is where they are manufactured. Hence, it’s important to take a closer look at their mechanisms, durabilities and prices to get the best bargain.
What is a Floyd Rose?
The Floyd Rose Locking Tremolo system is a very popular locking vibrato arm for a guitar. In 1976, Floyd D. Rose began to work on the Floyd Rose Tremolo. Though it works similar to the vintage-style tremolo — you can raise or lower the pitch to achieve the vibrato effect — Floyd Rose has a differentiating factor that makes it a winner to most guitarists.
When a string snaps, it won’t affect the pitch of other strings, unless you’ll do a string bending. And, changing the strings will also be quite interesting because it’s not your typical bridge with bridge pins, only.
For more than 40 years, the company has made different models and varieties of the tremolo system, including the Original, Floyd Rose II, Pro, Special, 1000 Series, Deluxe and the licensed models. But, for this article, only the nearly identical tremolos — Floyd Rose 1000 vs Original will be further discussed.
The Floyd Rose Original is the oldest model first introduced in 1977, but still in production until now. This is double-locking tremolo with fine tuners, so guitarists don’t need to remove the nut when tuning the guitar. The fine tuners separate this model from the very first models. Original is manufactured in Germany, even until now.
The Floyd 1000 is a low-profile version of the Original tremolo currently manufactured in South Korea. It has the same features as the Original with the same string spacing of .420. Before jumping into the depths of the discussion, perhaps, this YouTube video will serve as an eye-opener to you on what really a Floyd Rose tremolo is all about:
Floyd Rose 1000 vs Original: Mechanism
The Floyd Rose Original features a double-locking tremolo system — one on the nut and the other on the bridge. This is a stable mechanism, wherein the strings are locked to ensure that they don’t move even with ‘tremolo’ use. The bridge is made of steel (stainless, coiled and hardened) and Nickel-plated brass. Such materials are used in order to keep the bridge right in its place despite heavy usage.
Although originally it’s only available in color black, you can see from their website that it now has different colors. You can choose from Chrome, Nickel, Gold, Copper, Satin Variants, Pearl and more, which also varies on the price.
On the flip side, a lot of people actually say that the Floyd Rose 1000 is similar and identical to the Original. But, they might be a bit different aside from the former being a Korean-made, while the latter is a German-made. This model is only available as OEM to new guitars. Though they appear like they are the same, the Korean-made tremolo seems to be suitable for light tremolo users only.
Actually, there’s one way to distinguish the two and that is through the back edge of the saddle towards the fine tuners. Korean-made tremolos have beveled rather than flat top at the back of the saddle. However, there are also Asian-made Floyd Rose tremolos that are closely identical to the Original, so it’s hard to distinguish.
Floyd Rose 1000 vs Original: Durability
The Floyd Rose 1000 is just a low-profile version of the Original, so what do you expect? It might appear like the Original Floyd Rose, but it isn’t that durable. It’s incomparable to the Original when it comes to sturdiness, especially when the guitar is frequently and heavily use.
The pivot point and the knife edges seem to be easily worn out with continued use. Additionally, the finish isn’t that great and easily fades. Lastly, some people find it challenging to set the right intonation on the high E because the saddle wouldn’t slide back quite enough.
The 1000 Series, seems like a passable system to help get a more affordable guitar. As mentioned, the Floyd Rose 1000 is only an OEM, so you can easily replace it if you don’t want to be disappointed by the poor durability of the Korean-made. But, remember, this is only true for some variants, as others find both models to be great.
Floyd Rose 1000 vs Original: Price
It’s kind of confusing, but surely, Floyd Rose has a reason. If you visit their website, the Original model is slightly cheaper than the 1000 Series Tremolo system. The former starts at around $199, while the latter from $225. But, perhaps the reason why the ‘supposed’ cheaper version becomes a bit expensive is that it’s an OEM, and they are not available in the aftermarket.
So, What’s the Difference?
The made difference they have is where they are manufactured. Their performance and mechanism seems to be on par. Although there are some people who claim that they are equal in terms of durability, there are still instances that the German-made is way better than the Korean-made. So, it’s important to really break-in the tremolo system and do something crazy. In this way, you can pick the one that serves you better.
Conclusion
The moment you begin to think about your tremolo, you’ll start to appreciate Floyd Rose Tremolo Systems. They are amongst the most popular tremolo systems, because they keep things simple, yet effective. Through this article, you have the chance to get to know more about the Floyd Rose 1000 vs Original models.
Since these two variants feature a dual-locking system, a guitar will stay in tune even when the pitch is raised or lowered, or even if a string has snapped. Choosing the best tremolo is a skill you need to master. Floyd Rose has offered you two of its best tremolo systems at reasonable prices. So, now, it’s time for you to decide for yourself.
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Hi music fan! I am Jeff. Hope that you enjoy some stuff I shared here in my personal blog.
About myself, Currently I am in charging as Artist Manager/Music Supervisor at 72 Music Management. I did managed album to Grammy Award in 2017 with 7 Nominations from 2014-2020 and had the opportunities to work with : A.J. Croce, Blind Boys of Alabama, Bobby Rush, Dom Flemons, Dustbowl Revival, Sarah Grace
Governor of the Memphis Chapter of The Recording Academy is one of a award that I am lucky to achieved.