How to gig with a floating trem?

fastonebaz

I love a Floyd rose and my charvel by I don't gig with it because if I broke a string I'd immediately have to stop and the momentum of the gig would be ruined whilst I changed strings and retuned- unless I took a 2nd guitar with me to every single gig which I do not want to do.

So i gig with  hardtail because of that string break retuning risk and my refusal to add another guitar to my massive load of stuff already.

I tried a tremolno but didn't like it. 

So what does everyone else do who uses a Floyd rose guitar for gigging?   Always take 2 guitars? 

ICBM

I used to worry about that and never gigged with the only Floyd-equipped guitar I’ve ever actually owned. In practice, I break strings so rarely it’s probably a non-issue, and if I was really worried about it I would fit a trem stop - not a Tremol-No, which like you I really dislike. I’d honestly rather use the ‘DIY Tremol-No’, AKA a small door bolt in the trem cavity. I actually found a Trem-Setter worker well, although it was a real faff to fit and set up.

TeleMaster

Bring two. I bring two of everything anyway. 2 guitars, two amps, two microphones, double of every cable etc. 

simonhpieman

My main guitar is a hardtail and I always take a spare. It's the surest way to get by.

I also had strings break on both the main guitar and the spare within 3 songs of each other once. Luckily one of the guitars had regular "through hole, wrap around" tuners so I managed to restring during an extended intro and verse like a hero (sadly only about 5 people bore witness to it!).

Makes me look carefully at what guitars I take out now, though. My main has vintage style Fender tuners that need you to cut the strings to size so I make sure whichever spare I take DOESN'T have those so I can quickly change on the fly if I end up with a double break again.

ICBM

TeleMaster said:

Bring two. I bring two of everything anyway. 2 guitars, two MPs, two microphones, double of every cable etc. 

I hate taking more gear than I need. I do take spares like strings, an extra cable, basic tools, a pedal I can DI if the amp goes down etc, but I don’t take two guitars (or basses, now). I probably would if it was more of a professional gig than the usual ones I do…

simonhpieman said:

Makes me look carefully at what guitars I take out now, though. My main has vintage style Fender tuners that need you to cut the strings to size so I make sure whichever spare I take DOESN'T have those so I can quickly change on the fly if I end up with a double break again.

If you use one like that, cut the spare strings to the right length beforehand.

Sharky77

I got one of the Mono dual gig bags so it doesn't actually add to what I have to carry. If your main guitar has any issue (strings, electrics etc) you're gonna look a fool without a spare. I suppose if they're not professional gigs it doesn't matter too much, I see where you're coming from. Still, I would get a dual gig bag, take a spare, and then you can also enjoy the gig more by using the main guitar you want to use with the Floyd

TeleMaster

ICBM said:

TeleMaster said:

Bring two. I bring two of everything anyway. 2 guitars, two MPs, two microphones, double of every cable etc. 

I hate taking more gear than I need. I do take spares like strings, an extra cable, basic tools, a pedal I can DI if the amp goes down etc, but I don’t take two guitars (or basses, now). I probably would if it was more of a professional gig than the usual ones I do…

I've had two nightmares at a gig. At one the input jack got pulled out and another the strap lock came out of the screw hole and wouldn't stay in. Without the second guitar we would have had to stop, so I always bring two of everything. I also use the Mono dual bag. 

skullfunkerry

I always take two guitars to a gig, hardtail or Floyd. I'm fairly light-fingered (not in a stealing way!), I don't think I've ever broken a string at a gig.

p90fool

I bought a battered Squier Strat off eBay for 50 quid and just leave it in its gig bag in the corner at every gig, though I've never had to use it. 
It's incredibly light and takes up very little room so it seems daft not to. 

andy_k

My attitude to any gig, is to be as professional as I can be, the gig won't happen if I can't play ( at least I won't be playing )
For this reason, I want my gigging guitar to be as simple as possible, less things to worry about.
I always carry a spare guitar, changing a string and tuning up while everyone waits is selfish IMO.
I used to carry a backup amp, and had to use it once when my main one ( digital Marshall) had a brain fart during some patch changes, I switched over to my back up Katana and got through the gig, just about.
I carry a few spare leads, but don't bother with strings and just make sure that both guitars have fairly new ones, if I have a breakage I swap, and if the second one has a breakage I will have to get through with 5 strings, but both are hardtail tele styles so I'd get by.
I used to gig with a Floyd, and relied on a back up for any emergencies, but wouldn't be doing it now unless I had a few in reserve.
Even the best floating trem will not be able to stay in tune for a full set, at gig levels of energy, the pro's are usually seen swapping instruments every song, while the tech retunes the main guitar, which is just to be able to play in tune - not in the case of a breakiage.
I try to be pro about it, even if my bandmates don't, if the gig falls apart it won't be my fault.

Cols

String breaks are a very rare occurrence for me, so I just gig with the one guitar and trust that it’s not going to embarrass me on stage.  Probably highly irresponsible of me.

If it did happen often enough to be a significant risk, I’d bring a second guitar regardless of fixed or floating bridge.  Ultimately, I wouldn’t be continuing past the end of the song with only five strings, it would need to be fixed.  And sitting there restringing and retuning would be, as you say, a momentum killer.

Having said that, Clapton seems to have done it often enough in his formative years to get a nickname out of it.

https://www.whereseric.com/the-vault/biographical-information-eric-clapton/how-did-eric-clapton-get-his-nickname-slowhand

fretmeister

Take a second guitar to a gig. Always.

Its unprofessional to not do so.

ICBM

fretmeister said:

Take a second guitar to a gig. Always.

Its unprofessional to not do so.

I would say it’s unprofessional not to have a plan for getting out of trouble if something goes wrong, which is not necessarily a spare guitar. I’ve never once taken a spare guitar or bass to a gig in thirty years, and never needed it. I do take enough spares and tools to fix most predictable problems, I always check my gear is maintained properly, and I choose it carefully as well - there’s some gear I wouldn’t use, because I would feel nervous gigging without a spare. (eg most Gibsons, because of the headstock issue.)

One of the reasons I use a Rickenbacker bass is because with its stereo wiring, it has two pickups, two sets of controls and even two jacks - I can always get a sound out of it even if something breaks. I also take a spare machinehead. (Really! One which can be used on either side.) Ok, if something went badly wrong it might take me a few minutes to fix it, but it could be done, unless it’s something so unlikely that I’ve never seen it as a repairer.

The alternative is to carry two of literally everything, which often isn’t practical - it makes transport more difficult, and it also increases the amount of gear on stage, actually increases the risk of breakage, and especially theft… and at the end of the day just makes the whole process significantly less enjoyable, which would take away a big part of the reason why I want to play gigs in the first place.

So on the original question - yes, I gig with guitars with floating trems, but not without some means of un-floating them. The ones I used last had Trem-Setters fitted, and got me through string breaks a couple of times. Before that, I always set Strat-type bridges up for down-bends only, or it was a Jaguar with the little lock button, which also works fine. The bigger problem is working out how to play the rest of your solo with one string missing… although I did once change the broken one between the two solos in Hey Joe (just under a minute I think!) which got me one of the best audience responses ever .

guitarmangler

I echo everyone’s comments about taking a second guitar, it’s the easiest way for any issue to be resolved quickly. 

But, I had a floyd rose equipped guitar for about 10 years and gigged it constantly, no backup as it was my only guitar. I never broke a string. I also rarely changed them. Mine was set floating in such a way that if I did break a string i could jam my pick in between the trem and the body and finish the song ( though it never came to that).

You used to be able to by floyd rose strings ( ie pre chopped ) so if it was me I’d have a set of them in my bag , and then have the Allen keys mounted on a holder in the back of the headstock . I once dropped my alen keys onstage while tuning seconds before starting and manically trying to find them the pitch black floor. Don’t do that! 

I also saw Living Colour play in London about 20 years ago, first song Vernon Reid (serial floyd roser) broke a string and dived stage left to change it, took him about 2 mins, in which time Doug Wimbish put loads of distortion, a whammy pedal and delay on his bass and took Vernon’s solo. Epic. 

bloodandtears

2 guitars.. No hardship really. That way you get to play the guitar you actually want to at a gig. 

Danny1969

I think it depends on the gig. If it's a pub gig then I might well not take a spare. If it's a wedding or a corporate gig then defo take a spare. 
Ironically though in the most important band I play in, where 3 to 500 people have paid £22 a ticket I play one guitar in concert and one a semi down so technically I really need 2 spare guitars meaning taking 4. But these gigs are all over the country and there isn't room in the splitter van so I just take the 2 and just transpose the semitone either way depending on what ones out of action. 

mudslide73

I haven't broken a string at all for about 25 years but I still take a spare guitar (touch wood and all that). I might take my Charvel as the spare next time now you've mentioned it though

impmann

fretmeister said:

Take a second guitar to a gig. Always.

Its unprofessional to not do so.

Hmmm, not sure I agree. Plus... I'm no longer a professional musician so thats irrelevant. Rory Gallagher would just restring and tune up... and that wasn't unprofessional. It was part of the show.

I've broken one string in the last 10 years - it was a festival. All I did was calmly reach onto the top of my amp where I had a pack of strings, select the correct one and fit it - it took less than a minute on a Les Paul from break to playing. And the band played on... 

As for the OP's original question - thats why I wouldn't own a Floyd Rose equipped guitar but unless you play like a complete meat head, with ancient strings and heavy gauge metal picks the chances of breaking strings are slim.

CaseOfAce

First rule of gigging - always take a backup of what can fail.
Second rule - only take what you really need - I learnt that lesson pretty quickly - to be honest I could ditch even more weight but our bass player likes 'effects' so I keep him happy...otherwise I'd just do a Keef...

I have a dual guitar Gator gig bag - sure it's a hassle with the weight but there's no way I'm restringing in the middle of a gig - and certainly no way whatsoever with a piggin' Floyd. (if you have another guitarist or keyboardist then possibly you could get away with it).

If you HAVE to gig with only one guitar ? Well..that's why God invented Telecasters...

EricTheWeary

When I started gigging I thought it was the thing to do to take two guitars. But I never seemed to use the second one so didn’t take it to a gig one night. And yay broke a string that night, don’t think I’ve broken one on a gig since so having a second guitar acts like a lucky charm. I did completely smash the scratch plate on my strat once but that was the final chord of the final song.

I went to a small festival a few years ago which was local bands then a ‘name’ headliner. Mostly the local bands didn’t get much of a response but one did, was really winning over the crowd. Lead singer, guitarist broke a string and no spare and lost the crowd in the time taken to restring. You don’t always get the leeway that Rory Gallagher might have been granted.

I’m trying to think of people I’ve seen who are heavy trem users. I remember Colin James who was doing a full on SRV/ Hendrix thing and he swapped his two strats over inbetween every song, had his roadie retune the one he had just abused. So spare guitar and a roadie…

impmann

EricTheWeary said:

I went to a small festival a few years ago which was local bands then a ‘name’ headliner. Mostly the local bands didn’t get much of a response but one did, was really winning over the crowd. Lead singer, guitarist broke a string and no spare and lost the crowd in the time taken to restring. You don’t always get the leeway that Rory Gallagher might have been granted.

True... but it depends on if you just stand there like a gormless lemon or carry on playing/band carries on. 

And just for reference: