Welcome to my Floyd Rose Rail Tail Tremolo Review.

You are a guitarist with a strat style guitar and wondering if this upgrade will improve your classic tremolo.

A lot of variations of the classic tremolo have been developed, but the Rail Tail is a game-changing innovation.

I have been modifying electric guitars for more than 17 years, and tremolo systems upgrade is my specialty.

This review will answer your questions and will help you in making an informed decision towards this upgrade.

What is a Floyd Rose Rail Tail Tremolo?

It is a full-contact dive only tremolo for strat style guitars. It uses a rail system instead of rocking on a bevel, which is under the screw heads of the classic tremolo.

This tremolo will rotate on a precision machined rail, which is a very bright idea, an outstanding innovation to the classic strat tremolo.

The system provides more contact between the rail and the tremolo, thereby enhancing tone and sustain.

This contact will also provide a more significant breaking point, which will keep the open strings to maintain pitch when you bend a string.

That is precisely where the name came from, as it acts as a hardtail bridge during string bends.

This tremolo can also dive 15% more than the original tremolo if you move the string block forward.

It comes in wide and narrow string spacing, but it can be used on any strat style tremolo with different spacing on its six mounting screws.

The rail mounting holes are elongated, which is another good point for this tremolo.

This tremolo comes in Chrome, Black, Gold, Nickel, and Black Nickel.

Click here to watch the official Floyd Rose video.

Is it a Drop-in Replacement for Stratocaster Style Guitars?

It is a drop-in replacement tremolo for strat style guitars with a six-point classic tremolo.

Anybody with a minimal mechanical aptitude can easily install this tremolo.

If you have a two-point tremolo, you have to drill four holes to mount the rail.

Ease of Installation

You will not need a guitar tech to install this tremolo as the installation for this tremolo is very straight forward.

You just have to remove the old tremolo, then install the rail with the four inner screws out of the six.

Then you install the tremolo on the rail. Since this is a dive only tremolo, you do not need a gap between the tremolo and the body of the guitar like the classic tremolo.

The only thing you have to adjust is the rotational range of the tremolo. It can be achieved by moving the string block forward.

You can dive 15% more than the classic tremolo. The tremolo plate has slotted string block mounting holes for this purpose.

Pros

• Full contact between the tremolo and the rail
• The tremolo is hinged on a rail which is screwed to the guitar body
• Stunning appearance
• Floyd Rose quality
• Acts like a hardtail  during string bends, it will keep the open strings in tune
• You can dive 15 degrees more than conventional tremolo
• The design allows maximum vibration transfers from the guitar string to the body of the guitar, thus enhancing tone and better sustain.
• Roller fitted saddles to ensure that the strings will not get stuck in the saddles after a dive.
• Do it yourself installation is a breeze.

Cons

• This tremolo is a drop-in replacement for strat style guitars with a 6-point tremolo system. If you have a two-point tremolo system, you will have to drill four holes to mount the rail.
• Dive-only tremolo.
• Not a double locking tremolo like the original Floyd Rose FRT100

Price

The Floyd Rose website listed the price range between $250 to $258, depending on the finish.

The Black and Chrome is out of stock on the Floyd Rose website, but you can still get it on other merchant websites.

What Makes it Better than other Strat Style Tremolos?

There has been a lot of attempts to improve the classic strat tremolo. Some resorted to change the hinge system, while others attempt to increase the contact between parts to achieve better sustain.

As a guitar player, we all know that a fixed bridge guitar will have more sustain than a guitar with a tremolo. It is caused by a reduced contact between the tremolo and the body of the guitar.

Another problem is the stability of a tremolo compared to a fixed bridge. Two tremolo systems are trying to address the classic strat tremolo issues.

• Supervee Blade Runner – by using a blade as a hinge system, this tremolo is giving both better contact and stability to the tremolo.

The drawback is you are bending a blade when you use the tremolo, so your range will be limited.

• Babicz Bridge- It is using the same hinge system as the classic strat tremolo, but utilizes a full-contact Ecam Saddles in an attempt to increase sustain.

You will rotate the Ecam to adjust the intonation. Thereby the saddles are always in full contact with the tremolo plate. Sadly, only the saddles are full-contact.

The Floyd Rose Rail Tail Tremolo addressed both issues by using a rail as a hinge system that will provide more contact on the pivot points.

It also gives a 15% more dive range than the classic tremolo. As a dive-only tremolo, the tremolo is setting on the body of the guitar, adding more contact. 

In my opinion, this tremolo is a better option than the two systems that attempted to improve the classic tremolo.

Conclusion

The classic tremolo has been modified with a lot of variations, but they are still hinged on the tremolo screws except the Supervee Blade Runner.

I would still prefer the Rail Tail over the Blade Runner since it has more dive range.

This tremolo is very popular among Stratocaster players due to its performance and innovative design.

If you own a strat style guitar, I recommend that you upgrade your tremolo to this tremolo.

Compared to other classic tremolo bridges that feature full contact, this tremolo is way ahead.

I would prefer this over the Babicz Bridge, which achieves their full-contact through their Ecam Saddles.

They still have a floating tremolo at with a gap from the body and hinged on the mounting screws.

On the Rail Tail, it is the whole tremolo that has full contact through the rail. A very clever design.

As this tremolo is not a double locking tremolo, Floyd recommends that you use a locking tuner with a proper nut.

As the saddles of this tremolo utilize a string roller to prevent the strings from being stuck after a dive, a roller nut is a perfect combination for this upgrade.

So there you go, if you still have more questions, please drop me a comment, and I will promptly answer.

Den

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Hello Everyone,

I am Belden but friends call me Den, and I am the owner of this Website.

I have finally quit my job in Aviation as my online business is giving me financial freedom.

I love doing this online business as I love to help people quit their day job and do things they really love.

You will mostly find me hanging out at the coolest site to learn anything about online business.

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