So I'm building my own V guitar, and going to order a custom Floyd bridge, but there are a couple things that confuses me. First is the block, the list consists of brass, tungsten steel, stone and titanium and the sizes from 32mm up to 42mm. What is the pros/cons of each material, and size, and ultimately, which should I get? The other thing that confuses me is the nut size, that is listed from R1 up to R10, I going to take a guess that those are just varying sizes, and I did measure the nut shelf at 1'11/16s (if I remember correctly) So, if anyone can help, I would appreciate it.

 

Thank you :D

I'm not 100% sure what that measurement is on the block.  I assume it is the height of the block so you can use the Floyd Rose with thinner or thicker guitars respectively.  Think SG vs Les Paul.

 

As for the material, Brass seems to be the best choice.  It is what most artists have on their customs.  Although Phil Collen from Def Leppard Uses an all titanium bridge on his custom guitars.

 

As for the Nut width, 6, 7, and 9 are for the "Speed Loader"  system that's virtually phased out by now since only one company makes the special strings required.

 

2, 3, 4, 8 and 10 are what you're looking at based on your fretboard radius of 10, 12 or 15 degrees.  Some other factors come into play such as what your planed distance from E to e is, what type fret wire you will be using as the height of the slots will have to be higher to compensate etc.

 

All in all it's not quite as complicated as it sounds it just takes a little math here and there and good old fashioned trial and error plus a little guess work never hurt.

 

Here is a chart for the nut measurements:

 

http://www.wdmusic.com/media/floyd_rose_chart.html

 

 

As far as the bridge block, my BC Rich Gunslinger has a 46.8mm thick body and a 36.9mm tall block if that helps you out at all.

 

 

Biggest thing is patients, measure twice cut once, etc. etc.

 

here is one of my beasties:

 

http://www.roberto-venn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Hays1.jpg