Floyd Rose Discovery DST-3 Guitar

[marnold***]

Perhaps a bit of background would first be in order. I am a child of the 80s. My high school and college years were spent in a decade where the rock stars inexplicably wore makeup and spandex and used enough Aqua Net to burn their own personal hole in the ozone layer. It was the era of the guitar hero, where everyone had guitars with hot, hot humbuckers and Floyd Rose whammy bars. And it was good.

Back when I finally took electric guitar up in the mid-90s, a guitar-playing friend suggested that I get a Yamaha Pacifica with a humbucker and two single coils. I should have listened. The intervening decade has taught me that so-called super strats are my weapon of choice. The Floyd Rose Discovery DST-3 is such a super strat with an not-so-secret weapon: a bona fide Floyd Rose.

As it happened, a day or two after I sold my Charvel Model 7, the Musician's Friend catalog came. The cover advertised the Floyd Rose DST series for $149-less than I got for my Model 7. Bingo. The DST-3 that I got is red with a white pearloid pickguard and chrome hardware. The color is similar to Fender's Fiesta Red, but a bit "deeper" for lack of a better term. The body is basswood and perhaps slightly pointier than a Fender, with the usual arm and tummy cuts for comfort. I wish they would've put the jack on the side of the guitar instead of using a Fender-style jack. The guitar also comes with some Floyd Rose-branded picks, a usable (if unspectacular) gig bag, and four allen wrenches.

The DST-3 has an HSS pickup configuration with a typical five-way switch. Unlike most super strats, this one only has one volume and no tone control. I don't miss the tone controls. I'm also glad that they had the wisdom to back the volume knob away from the bridge pickup. Having that knob right up against the pickup is my top pet peeve with true Fender Strats. The pot itself seems a bit small, but it is an Alpha pot and seems to work just fine.

The pickups are surprisingly good for the price range, although I will admit that I'm not the biggest stickler when it comes to pickups. They are quite hot. I measured the humbucker at a whopping 17.75K and the single coils were right around 7K. The single coils are nice but I really like the sound of the humbucker--super strat all the way!

The killer feature of this guitar is, of course, the genuine Floyd Rose Speedloader tremolo. The Speedloader system requires special strings with bullets on both ends. All you have to do is unhinge the saddle, remove the string, and slip in a replacement. According to the company, you should be within a one quarter turn of the fine tuners to being in tune. I've tried it and, yes, it is all that and a bag of chips. I can change strings in about two minutes. Try that with an Original Floyd Rose or even a hard tail for that matter! It also comes with a tremsetter so that you can make the tremolo dive-only.

While the Speedloader rules for simplicity, there are some drawbacks. You must use special strings which are more expensive and only available from Floyd Rose and Dean Markley (I'm guessing that the Floyd Rose strings are just rebranded Markleys). They have most every gage that you might want, but if you MUST have some other brand, you're out of luck. Also the Speedloader system means there is no need for machine heads. The headstock is merely decorative, to make it "look right." I'm sure purists will hate this guitar for that fact alone. The lack of machine heads and a hollowed-out headstock makes the guitar more body-heavy, something I much prefer to neck-dive. My only gripe about the Speedloader is that the guitar didn't come with an instruction booklet. You can download it as a PDF from Floyd Rose's site and/or have them send you a hard copy.

The neck is the second best feature of this guitar. It is a thin C-shape, not as thin as an Ibanez, but not as thick as a typical Fender. The maple neck has a nice satin finish. The fretwork is exceptional for this price range with zero sprout. There is a gap in the pickguard so that you can adjust the truss rod. The 12" radius rosewood fretboard is just the right amount of flatness for me. The neck pocket on the body is sculpted to allow for easy access to the 22nd fret.

I've been playing around with this guitar and trying to get the Floyd to go out of tune. Once it was setup properly, I've been unable to do it. The pickups might not be everyone's cup of tea, but the humbucker is right up my alley and the single coils are good enough that I don't feel any urge to replace them. The single coils do seem to produce a bit more 60 cycle hum than other guitars I've played, but that doesn't surprise me since there is no shielding at all. Basically, the guitar is a lot of fun to play which I think is the highest compliment one can give. And really, isn't that the point?

That's not to say that I don't have some complaints. The guitar is lacking somewhat in the fit-and-finish department. There is a black smudge on the top of the upper horn underneath the clear coat. I didn't notice it for the first six hours or so that I had the guitar, but it shouldn't be there. The tremolo is mounted ever so slightly towards the bottom of the guitar. As a result, the strings don't go exactly over the middle of the pole pieces on the humbucker. One of the inner springs comes perilously close to interfering with the tremsetter, but it thankfully misses. The adjustment nut on the truss rod had slid down into the space by the neck pickup. I had to remove the pickguard to fix it. It still seems to be able to adjust the rod just fine. None of these issues are killer, especially for $149. Nevertheless, they are annoying. If Musician's Friend had more of these in stock, I'd send it back for an exchange. Since they don't and none of these problems seem to affect the functioning of the guitar, I'm going to keep it.

The long and the short of it is that getting a guitar with a bona fide Floyd Rose tremolo in it for $149 is basically unheard of. The Speedloader does everything the Original can and makes string changes a snap. For me, the added cost of the strings (and only getting them from basically one company) is more than offset by the sheer ease of installing and tuning. Who would have thought that it'd ever be easy to string a Floyd? As of this writing, Musician's Friend still has some of the three single coil (DST-1) and two humbucker (DST-2) versions of the guitar for sale. I'm guessing they didn't sell too well. Tis a pity. Some of the DST-3s are still available on eBay and similar places. If you want a very nice guitar with a Floyd for less than the price of an Original Floyd Rose tremolo alone, look no further.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go find where I put my Aqua Net.

[sunvalleylaw]

Great review! Glad you like it.

[marnold***]

Just a bit of a follow-up after about three weeks. I'm amazed at how well this guitar stays in tune--as well or better than my hard tails. Since I got it the bridge floating properly, I've only had to make the very slightest tweaks to the tuning, usually on either the low E or high E.

I think eventually I'm going to replace the single coils with something like Dimarzio's Area 61s. They are getting rave reviews and are noiseless, like Robert's Virtual Ts. I'm still not in a major hurry to replace them. Maybe for my birthday (the big 4-0!) in February. They're quite noisy and not as shimmery/glassy as one might like single coils to be. I like the humbucker--it's not going anywhere.

I've made a couple of minor tweaks to the truss rod and to the bridge height. I probably could get the action a hair lower if I would shim the neck a tad, but I don't think the minor improvement would be worth the effort.

[SuperSwede]

Great Review Marnold!
Does the speedloader strings cost more than regular strings?

[marnold***]

Great Review Marnold!
Does the speedloader strings cost more than regular strings?

Normally, yes. MF has the popular gauges for $10.79 and the less popular ones for $8.99. A local shop had 10s for $6.50 a pack so I snagged two even back when I wasn't sure if I was keeping it or not. I'll tell you, though, the system is so slick and easy it is more than worth it. As far as tone or playability goes, the strings seem on par with the GHS Boomers and D'Addario that I normally use.

[SuperSwede]

Normally, yes. MF has the popular gauges for $10.79 and the less popular ones for $8.99. A local shop had 10s for $6.50 a pack so I snagged two even back when I wasn't sure if I was keeping it or not. I'll tell you, though, the system is so slick and easy it is more than worth it. As far as tone or playability goes, the strings seem on par with the GHS Boomers and D'Addario that I normally use.

It looks really simple to use, but I wonder what will happen to the production of these strings in the future if the FR systems doesnt sell that well.

[marnold***]

It looks really simple to use, but I wonder what will happen to the production of these strings in the future if the FR systems doesnt sell that well.

That is obviously a concern. The only ones I know who use those bridges besides Floyd Rose guitars is B.C. Rich. Having said that, FR is making some VERY expensive guitars with the Speedloader system on it, so it would certain behoove them to keep making the strings. If worse came to worse, you could probably retrofit an Original Floyd with no trouble . . . other than having to drill for tuning pegs.

[SuperSwede]

That is obviously a concern. The only ones I know who use those bridges besides Floyd Rose guitars is B.C. Rich. Having said that, FR is making some VERY expensive guitars with the Speedloader system on it, so it would certain behoove them to keep making the strings. If worse came to worse, you could probably retrofit an Original Floyd with no trouble . . . other than having to drill for tuning pegs.

Re-stringing a original floyd can be a real pain... so I can really understand why floyd users want this system! The only question is why it took so long for floyd to deliver this smart solution?

[marnold***]

Re-stringing a original floyd can be a real pain... so I can really understand why floyd users want this system! The only question is why it took so long for floyd to deliver this smart solution?

My guess would be finding a string manufacturer who would be willing to make the strings to the exacting specs necessary to make the Speedloader possible. I think if another company or two would make strings for it, the system would become more popular. Of course, with the Discovery series being discontinued, I don't know how many Speedloader-equipped guitars will even be made. They need somebody like EVH or Vai to champion the design and put it on one of their signature guitars. Of course, if you're paying a guitar tech, restringing isn't an issue.

[Spudman***]

Does Steinberger use the same strings on their headless guitars?

[marnold***]

Does Steinberger use the same strings on their headless guitars?

AFAIK, no, they don't. Similar concept, though.

[SuperSwede]

I found this on Wikipedia.. I really think that it is a mistake to not allow 3rd part manifacturers to manifacture these systems on license.

"

Finally, according to multiple interviews, Floyd Rose Guitars would not license manufacturing of these bridges to third-party vendors, as previous experience with Floyd Rose Licensed bridges showed that such "licensed" bridges can't match original standards of quality.

"

[marnold***]

I found this on Wikipedia.. I really think that it is a mistake to not allow 3rd part manifacturers to manifacture these systems on license.

"Finally, according to multiple interviews, Floyd Rose Guitars would not license manufacturing of these bridges to third-party vendors, as previous experience with Floyd Rose Licensed bridges showed that such "licensed" bridges can't match original standards of quality."

I think that the only place this would really hurt is in low-end guitars. When I was researching Floyd-equipped guitars, the only bridge that received no complaints was the OFRs. The licensed ones almost always end up being candidates for replacement, sooner rather than later. Knife edges are the main culprit. I know my Speedloader is built like a tank. I can see, though, where not licensing would certainly keep it from becoming too popular.

[SuperSwede]

I think that the only place this would really hurt is in low-end guitars. When I was researching Floyd-equipped guitars, the only bridge that received no complaints was the OFRs. The licensed ones almost always end up being candidates for replacement, sooner rather than later. Knife edges are the main culprit. I know my Speedloader is built like a tank. I can see, though, where not licensing would certainly keep it from becoming too popular.

My point was that I think that they need to license the system to gain popularity. If it was included on low priced guitars the demand for the strings (and proper FR bridge replacements) would skyrocket and the speedloader system would have a chance in the future.