I was checking out the carvin site last night (i drooled all over my keyboard) and noticed that on some guitars they use a floyd rose with a graphite nut and locking tuners. I am just curious to know if this is a good setup. I remember sometime ago a guy put a graphite neck and nut with steinberger tuners on his s 470 and said the zr trem still stayed in tune no matter what. Just looking for opinions.

the EBMM JPM, uses locking tuners and a floating bridge to great effect..
I imagine it would be the same.

It's not QUITE as stable as the locking nut, but it's not bad. If you're doing Vai-esque heavy whammy stuff, I'd go for the locking nut. For more subtle use, the locking tuners should do. I have that setup myself on one guitar, and I'm putting a string lock behind the nut on it after having played it a while.

I agree with Jester700. It just doesn't work as well as a locking nut. I tried it on a Strat once and, while it did make tuning and string changing a bit easier, it didn't hold the tuning as well. So, the trade off just weren't worth it, for me.

Oh, and I might add, that if you wanted to go the graphite nut route, that you'd be better off using a Wilkinson trem, and not bother with allen wrenches at all. My Ibanez Blazer(Wilkinson/Graphite nut/Sperzels) actually stayed in tune better than the Fender with the Floyd/Graphite/Schaller locking keys) combination.

I was just curious to know if the locking bridge made any difference. Apparently not. I have always liked the look of the Wilkinson but i am a die hard locker fan. LOCK IT UP OR GO HOME!

Good point, though they do feel different and I can imagine a Floyd fan preferring that over the wilkie (and dealing with the hassles) just for the feel.

Yeah, they do feel pretty different. As for the hassle of a locking trem, I think of it like this- I'd rather have it be a bit more difficult to change strings and be it tune, than to have an easier time changing them, and NOT stay in tune.

If I would have kept my Blazer, I would have had a double locking trem installed. Even though the Wilk performed better than expected.

yeah i love that guitar

I am the one who put the graphite neck on my s470. It is a moses neck with an LSR roller nut and steinberger tuners. It stays in tune just as well as my s470 with a locking nut once the strings are stretched.

It cannot stay in tune as well ive demoed several guitars. IT may stay in tune well, but knowwhere near a standard double locking system. If it stays in tune just as well why arent all guitar manufacturers doing this then? The floyd rose locking nut is more expensive to put on a guitar than the standard nut so please explain that to me?

[QUOTE=sniperfrommars1]It cannot stay in tune as well ive demoed several guitars. IT may stay in tune well, but knowwhere near a standard double locking system. If it stays in tune just as well why arent all guitar manufacturers doing this then? The floyd rose locking nut is more expensive to put on a guitar than the standard nut so please explain that to me?[/QUOTE/]

he did say it was a ZR trem so maybe that made all the difference in the world. Since it is a pretty new trem that could be why manf. don't do it yet, but who knows.

Where have you demoed an s470 equipped with a zr trem, lsr roller nut, and steinberger locking tuners? The only diffrence between this and a conventional locking nut is that my guitar locks at the bridge and the tuners instead of the bridge and the nut. Steinberger tuners clamp the string and then pull it straight down so there is no winding whatsoever. Steinberger tuners cost about $100, I don't know what a floyd locking nut costs so I can't comment on the cost factor.

what about locking at the bridge for 1, locking nut, thats 2, and locking tuners, 3. Now how the hells that gonna go out of tune?

I've got 2 carvins that have the wilkie/graphtech nut and one will stay in tune no matter how crazy I go on it. Dive down till the strings are like spaghetti, pull back till the trem touches the body, flutter all day long, nothing. rock solid returns back to perfect pitch.

The other one though, nothing on this planet will allow it to stay in tune. It woudl return from a dive or even just light tremolo use sharp on most strings and if I pulled back, they'd all be flat. The strings pinched in the nut and no lubrication or filing could fix it. Even tried an LSR roller nut and it STILL wouldn't stay in tune so finally I said screw it and blocked the trem, installed 5 springs for as much vibration transfer from tremolo to body as possible and left it be.

Oddly enough, carvin still sells guitars with floyds with a graphite nut. Some claim it stays in perfect tune but to me, a floyd on a guitar with no locking nut is like a neutered dog.