Korean Sung il made Floyd Rose special on Ebay...POS or good?

[Slobrain]

Well I'm trying to put together a guitar for my nephew and bought a Floyd Rose Special off an American dealer but getting the tremolo last night I see its a Floyd Rose special but the plate is thinner than a regular FR and its got Sung il written on the bottom of the baseplate.
After doing research I found that Sung Il is a korean company that makes stuff for Wilkinson and they are a fairly big company.

This trem was a buyout from Washburn company and the dealer I bought it from say this was overstock. I am not sure if I might want to send this back due to it being possibly a POS. I cannot tell if the bridge base plate is hardened steel or not.

Anyone deal with this issue before?

Thanks

Slo

[soundguruman]

well it seems like you bought a knock off.
We usually buy them on e bay used. I have had pretty good luck.
But I would send it back and find a real one.

[Steve A.]

If they worked okay for Washburn they should work okay for you- assuming the story you were told was true. Was the price considerably less than a FRS with a normal thickness plate? If this was shipped to you shipping charges could be an issue- unless the item was not as advertised (it was a Floyd Rose Special- right?)

I learned that the hard way buying a used Pelican 1700 case on eBay- I was expecting it to come with wheels and handles but it didn't have any. I described it to a Pelican rep and he said it must have been a knockoff. When I relayed that information to the seller he checked with his boss who had sold it to him and told me that it was the "1700 LONG" that is the newer item with the wheels- his listing was for the long discontinued "1700." I had been intending to use that case for a rather heavy Sho-Bud pedal steel guitar but I really needed the handle and wheels so I found a good price for a new "1700 LONG" which when shipping was factored in was only about $40 more than the "great" deal I got on the used one...

I was ready to crucify the seller, reporting the item as counterfeit to eBay to get a full refund but I had not researched the issue fully (looking at the pictures it should have been clear to me that there were no wheels.)

Steve Ahola

EDIT: I would go with soundguruman's recommendation here (I'm not much into Floyd Rose trems- when I want to do divebombs I throw water balloons out of my penthouse window! ) I have to say that I am very impressed by Jeff Beck's use of the tremelo bar and I am sure that he uses a traditional style strat tremelo. I usually block the bridges on my strats but I did pick up a MIM one to get tremulated...

[soundguruman]

The best Floyd is the old one from 19080s.
We find them on e bay and we buy the old original one.
Seems like the old one is made better, thicker.

[Slobrain]

The best Floyd is the old one from 19080s.
We find them on e bay and we buy the old original one.
Seems like the old one is made better, thicker.

Hey SGM,

Yes the old ones are the best. I have around 3 of the old ones from the 80's that are still in really good condition. The FR special I just bought was only $49.00 off ebay and its for a old Kramer Focus 4000 that I'm rebuilding as a Christmas gift for my nephew. If he ever wants to upgrade he can buy a new GOOD one...

Sometimes Ive seen some really good deals on the old FR on Ebay but never jumped in to get one. You can actually buy the replacement baseplate from Musicians arsenal for around $70 to $80 bucks. They have all the parts including the old style trem arm with the nut that bolts to the baseplate. I prefer those to the newer style ones...

Cheers

[soundguruman]

Hey SGM,

Yes the old ones are the best. I have around 3 of the old ones from the 80's that are still in really good condition. The FR special I just bought was only $49.00 off ebay and its for a old Kramer Focus 4000 that I'm rebuilding as a Christmas gift for my nephew. If he ever wants to upgrade he can buy a new GOOD one...

Sometimes Ive seen some really good deals on the old FR on Ebay but never jumped in to get one. You can actually buy the replacement baseplate from Musicians arsenal for around $70 to $80 bucks. They have all the parts including the old style trem arm with the nut that bolts to the baseplate. I prefer those to the newer style ones...

Cheers

That's a good deal. I think we just paid 200 for a good original one...

[Slobrain]

Hey SGM,

Have you noticed on the old Floyd Rose tremolo baseplates from the 80s that some have dots all over the bottom and some don't. The smooth bottom ones seem to be chrome plated better. I see two different build qualities on the old Floyds trems that Kramer used to sell. Seems the Kramer focus models had the Floyd's that the chrome would get a bit bubbled but the higher end Kramer's had those smooth chrome Floyd's that the chrome looks great on, the Floyd rose logo is a bit smaller on the really good old Floyd rose.

Slo