Whammy Bar for Les Paul

[Zesty Rage]

I'm trying to add a tremelo system (whammy bar) to my Epiphone Les Paul without having to drill into my guitar. I've looked into a Floyd Rose or a Stetsbar but I'm not sure what to look for. Heres a pic of my Les Paul if it'll help.

 

[Noah Berends]

Floyd Rose would be quite invasive into the body of the guitar. The least invasive installation of any trem system would be a Bigsby tremolo, but that would still involve a handful of screws.

 

[Ed Seith]

Noah's right. A Floyd would involve a giant hole through the whole guitar and a lot of other routing. It cannot be undone, even partially. My first thought was a bigsby, too.

 

[Firsty Lasty]

My recommendation is just don't do it.

 

[Jesse Salmons]

You could get a Floyd Rose FRX, it just mounts on your existing bridge spots! No routing required.

 

[Zesty Rage]

Noah's right. A Floyd would involve a giant hole through the whole guitar and a lot of other routing. It cannot be undone, even partially. My first thought was a bigsby, too.

View attachment 1225

Thanks for the advice! I was looking at the Bigsby as well and I almost went with the Floyd Rose FRX before seeing this.

 

[Zesty Rage]

Floyd Rose would be quite invasive into the body of the guitar. The least invasive installation of any trem system would be a Bigsby tremolo, but that would still involve a handful of screws.

Thanks for the help and advice! I really appreciate it!

 

[Ed Seith]

You could get a Floyd Rose FRX, it just mounts on your existing bridge spots! No routing required.
View attachment 1226

"All the trouble of a Floyd Rose with none of the benefits!"

Seriously, though, that is kind of interesting. I'm going to see if I can find a look at other angles of that.

 

[Ed Seith]

It's not bad, and neither is the price.

Amazon.com: Floyd Rose FRX Tremolo System - Black: Musical Instruments

 

[Jesse Salmons]

"All the trouble of a Floyd Rose with none of the benefits!"

Seriously, though, that is kind of interesting. I'm going to see if I can find a look at other angles of that.

A friend of mine told me about it. I considered getting one for the Explorer but decided against it

 

[Zesty Rage]

It's not bad, and neither is the price.

Amazon.com: Floyd Rose FRX Tremolo System - Black: Musical Instruments

This is the exact one I was looking at as well. But alot of the reviews I was reading was saying it throws the sound off.

 

[Ed Seith]

Well, like all things, it's a compromise. Based on what I'm reading, it doesn't have the range of motion of a traditional floyd, and it might be hard to get the action right on an archtop guitar, like a Les Paul. I still think a Bigsby might be a safer option, but I'd certainly be interested in playing with one of these to see how it is. Not sure I'd take the chance on my baby.

 

[Zesty Rage]

Well, like all things, it's a compromise. Based on what I'm reading, it doesn't have the range of motion of a traditional floyd, and it might be hard to get the action right on an archtop guitar, like a Les Paul. I still think a Bigsby might be a safer option, but I'd certainly be interested in playing with one of these to see how it is. Not sure I'd take the chance on my baby.

At this point I'm thinking about getting a guitar with a whammy bar already attached. I'm trying to add more of a metal sound to my playing with some new tricks I learned and I'm not sure if I could apply those same whammy bar tricks to a Bigsby. Or could I?

 

[Zesty Rage]

Well, like all things, it's a compromise. Based on what I'm reading, it doesn't have the range of motion of a traditional floyd, and it might be hard to get the action right on an archtop guitar, like a Les Paul. I still think a Bigsby might be a safer option, but I'd certainly be interested in playing with one of these to see how it is. Not sure I'd take the chance on my baby.

This guitar is pretty special to me so its not a risk I want to take either

 

[Ryan Vega]

I'm trying to add a tremelo system (whammy bar) to my Epiphone Les Paul without having to drill into my guitar. I've looked into a Floyd Rose or a Stetsbar but I'm not sure what to look for. Heres a pic of my Les Paul if it'll help. View attachment 1223

you can't man unfortunately the closest you'd get without drilling into front and adding a floating bridge is one of those B-bender things look it up on youtube but even then unless you're confident and able, you'll have to have a luthier do work to the back to install it