F-2E

Updated
F-2E

I purchased a used F-2E yesterday from a local guy.  I soon discovered that the person who had the guitar did not know much about it and probably bought it just to resell.  Anyway, it's a really nice guitar and seems well made.  Two things that I don't like about this guitar though.  1) The guy I bought it from told me it had active electronics. The first thing I did when I got it home was to remove both back plates only to discover that the EMG looking pickups are passive and not active.   2) The Floyd Rose bridge is pretty much beat up.  The string spacing is atrocious and there is a lot of fret buzz that I am unable to adjust out.  I was thinking I am probably going to have to shim the nut the solve the fret buzz.  Also, the black nickel is very worn out and the bridge is aesthetically not too pleasing to look at as a result. 

I was hoping that someone might have access to a diagram of the bridge that I can use to help me decide which replacement Floyd Rose I should buy.  I've seen them around from several manufacturers and they are all a little different.  I'd like to replace this one with as little modification to the guitar as possible.  Any help greatly appreciated.

 

 

 

 

 

 

tim t.

If it's a floyd rose special the radius is 14" and an OFR Is 10"  so maybe new saddles and a brass block would help. Saddles and a block (good ones) are about 120$. Check around and if you have a guitar shop ask them for help or let them fix it

Tinker

Hi Tim,

Thanks for the response.  I was actually just looking at a Floyd Rose Special Series and the whole thing is under a 100 bucks so I will probably have the tech who works on my stuff install it for me.  I only bought the guitar because it has a unique story and I wanted something to kick around at open mics without worrying about it being stolen.  So I don't want to invest three hundred bucks into an expensive Floyd Rose.

Kjetil (GRIM) Remen

Sorry but I dont know anything about the guitar. Just wanted to say that it is a nice looking guitar. Congrats

Tinker

Thanks GRIM.  I agree, it is a nice looking guitar.  Needs a few things to fix it up but when I'm done it will play as well as it looks.

Kjetil (GRIM) Remen

You are welcome. Hope you can get it all in order. 

Travis L.

I remember this guitar. It was featured in the 2008 ESP catalog.

Heres your F-2E's specs

Neck-Thru-Body / 25.5” Scale · Mahogany Body w/ Ebony Top · 5 Pc Maple/Mahogany Neck w/ Ebony Fingerboard · Locking Nut w/ 42mm Neck Width · Extra Thin U Neck Contour · 24 XJ Frets · Black Nickel Hardware · ESP Tuners · Double-Locking Bridge · ESP LH-301 (B&N) p.u. w/ Push-Pull Coil Tap on Tone Control

 

The previous owner possibly assumed the pickups were active because they mimic EMG's. What those are, are ESP LH-301 pickups. Some ESP models had their own pickups. 

For your Floyd issue. This is what i found on an old forum post from many years ago. Someone was trying to replace a ESP Licensed Floyd to an Original Floyd. And ESP said this -

 

"Thank you for contacting ESP Guitars. The ESP-branded, Floyd Rose-licensed bridges used in production during this time will not only feature different dimensions, but a slightly altered overall shape when compared to the Floyd Rose Original or even 1000 Series bridge systems. This means that any aftermarket switch to an official FR product will require at least slight modification to the route and/or positioning of the body-mounting screws. We recommend that any installations or modifications be performed by a licensed guitar technician or luthier to ensure proper fit and function.
We apologize for this inconvenience, and hope that this limited information is helpful. Please feel free to let us know if you have any further questions or concerns."

 

Hope this helps dude!

 

Cheers!

 

Tinker

Thank you Travis L.  I did see the guitar in the 2008 catalog.  It's interesting that while it was in that catalog, the information available for it is very limited.  I do agree with you that the appearance of the LH301 pickups is so similar to EMG's, that the previous owner assumed they were active.  Well, the good and the bad with this guitar is that the Floyd Rose definitely needs to be replaced.  I already ordered a Schaller Floyd Rose and new pickups for this thing.  But in general I think the previous owner didn't want to invest anything into this guitar and when he found out it was going to cost $300 bucks to fix a $300 guitar he decided to sell it.  Anyway, since there is something of a uniqueness with this guitar, I guess it's worth it to have someone look at it and see if the Schaller will fit with minimal cost/modification.  I'm not that experienced unfortuately, but I do have a tech that works on my guitars who will be able to tell if it can be done cost effectively.

Travis L.

Awesome dude! I'm sure the tech can figure it out for you. I have one of my guitars in the shop right now that is near and dear to me. When it comes to pickups and stuff like that I can wire those but when it comes to wood workin and using glues and stuff that's a whole different form of art lol 

But I hope everything works outb it's a badass guitar has the neck through feature and wood looks badass! 

Tinker

Yeah, I agree with you on the look and feel of the guitar.  I've never owned one of these "Shredder" style guitars before so this will be interesting for me.

 

Kjetil (GRIM) Remen

Hey dude.

Just woundering how thing are going with the restoration? Curios in nature, so I just had to ask. It realy is a cool guitar so I hope everything works out

Tinker

I dropped it off at the shop yesterday.  The replacement Schaller Floyd Rose I bought is an exact replacement for the one that's in there now.  I also bought some overwound off brand humbuckers for it from Stewmac.  The setup on the guitar was horrible and is probably going to be the trickiest part of resolving problems with it. (Think, what can you do to screw up your floyd rose settings)  I had 2 other guitars that I dropped off at the same time for work so the tech said about 2 weeks and I will have all 3 back.  I will post some pictures and soundbites etc once I get the guitar back. I'm really excited about it though because even the place where I took it for repair said it's a really nice guitar and well worth the investment if I plan to keep it, which I do.

Kjetil (GRIM) Remen

So cool. I'm excited on you'r behalf. Can't wait to see the result. It is going to be awesome

Tinker

I got my F2-E back a couple of days ago.  I will post a couple of pictures later today.  The only thing that the tech was able to do for me was replace those soapbar looking fake EMG pickups with a couple of replacement humbuckers from Stewmac.  The pickups that came on it were terribly muddy sounding.  These replacements (Golden Age Humbuckers) are much brighter and higher output.  I'm very happy with them.  The Floyd Rose I bought, while it looks like the one that comes with the guitar, is not a direct replacement so I'm returning it.  I'm not spending a lot of time looking for a replacement since the one that is on there is fine with the exception that it's made from really cheap Chinese pot metal and the finish is flaking off.  Otherwise, it works fine so I'm just going to leave it.   One issue remains with the guitar and I'm going to post a separate message about it since this thread is kind of stale now.

Kjetil (GRIM) Remen

So cool. Can't wait to see the pictures. 

Tinker

Replaced the stock pickups with a couple of these Golden Age humbuckers from Stewmac.com.  The stock pickups were really muddy sounding.  These new humbuckers are a lot brighter sounding and have a higher output.  Huge different in the sound.  But I think I'm going to take this baby down to the local guitar store and put it on consignment. I know I said I wasn't going to sell it, but after playing it for an hour today, I decided it's just too heavy.  It reminds me of when I bought a Warwick bass a few years ago  off the Internet having never played one before.  Got it home and realized it weighed almost 9 lbs and it was going to kill my back if I tried to play it regularly.

 

Michal P.

I have this guitar. I changed pick-ups to SD P-RAILS because I wanted to try them. But maybe I should've use something brighter.
I am now thinking about changing the FR to Sofia tremolo.

I realy like the ergonomics of this guitar.

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