Floyd Without Locking Nut (Just Locking Tuners)?

[nast2112]

I came across a pic in an ad in GuitarOne this past month (toward the front of the issue) for the National Guitar Workshop. You can kind of see a smaller (harder to see) pic on the website www.guitarworkshop.com (guy at bottom with a reverse headstock). Anyway... in the mag ad you can see this is probably a type of Warmoth Parts-o-caster with a Floyd Rose but with a black (graphite?) nut on the neck, not a Floyd nut; I'm assuming the tuners have to be locking. Kind of interesting concept I guess if the strings truly do not get hung up in the nut. If the Floyd was flush on the body, the ease of different tunings on the fly would be a great advantage. I'm not sure if this has been tried in the past, with or without success? For the sake of conversdation, I'm just curious if anyone out there might have had this same setup?

Cheers
Chris

[Otis5150]

I had a Jeff Beck strat with locking tuners that stayed in tune perfectly, but it had a roller-nut. Graphite nuts (and bridges) are great. I have them on my tele and wolf special hard tail and I rarely break strings on either of those beauties.

However, for intense whammy action I don't think you can beat a Flyd locking nut.

[nitefly5150]

Carvin sells guitars w/ floyds this way. I have guitars w/ graphite nuts and locking tuners that stay in tune when using the trem, but if you go w/ a floyd, seems to me like you might as well go w/ the locking nut.

[Dino5150]

IMO, alot of the issues you'll find with non-Floyd guitars staying in tune have alot to do with the design of the headstock and the pattern of the strings coming off the nut.

I believe alot of manufactures may overlook this and maybe go for a headstock design that looks "cool" as opposed to a design that will improve funcionality and performance.
For example, odd shaped headstocks, such as those used by Dean, BC Rich, etc... may look cool, but the angle of the strings from the nut to the tuners offer alot of resistance and are more likely to get hung up.

Another thing to consider is the pitch of the headstock.
The deeper the pitch, the more resistance and the better chance your strings have of getting caught up in the nut.
Then there are other culprits such as string trees, etc ...
IMO, locking nuts eliminate the chances of these things being an issue by providing a lock BEFORE all of these obstacles.

Nothing against locking tuners.
It's just that I believe some guitars will benifit more than others depending on their design.

PRS guitars for example, ...
The strings coming off the nut are guided straight to the locking tuners with absolutely no angle to them and there is no 'tilt" to the headstock, therefore there is no resistance and no place for the strings to get hung up.
No doubt the best design I've ever seen (or played) on a non-Floyd equiped guitar.

Just my opinion.