The ultimate guide on Floyd Rose tremolos for lefties

Update: November 2025.

It has taken me more than two years to put this series together, but I have finally written the absolute definitive guide on left-handed Floyd Rose tremolos. I spent thousands of hours, and it turned out to be more of a rabbit hole than I anticipated. I have drawn from personal experience and research. This is everything you would ever need to know (if you were interested) in Floyd Rose and other types of OEM or proprietary locking tremolo systems. I am still making tweaks as I learn more. It's a complicated subject.

This guide will educate the left handed guitarist in all the different types of original and licensed Floyd Rose tremolos for lefty guitars and I reveal some "secrets" along the way, that even I did not know till I dug into this.

I hope you enjoy this article. I did this work so you don't have to. It's everything you need to know about left handed locking tremolo systems based on the Floyd Rose design.

See here: https://www.lefthandguitars.net/floyd-rose-tremolos-for-lefties

I would appreciate comments. Please do so.

Here is a summary of all 5 parts:

1. Floyd Rose Original & Genuine (Part 1) – Begins with the invention of the Floyd Rose double-locking system in the late 1970s/early 1980s. Fernandes of Japan is the first to mass-produce Floyd Rose systems. Following Kramer-Rose partnership, Fernandes gets sidelined in favour of Schaller. It also notes genuine units from other manufacturers (e.g., Ping Well in Taiwan and Sung il in Korea) and the transition into the “1000 Series” and budget Floyd Rose Special after the patents expired.

   
   

2. OEM Producers (Part 2) – Moves into the 1980s/1990s era when other manufacturers produced official licensed versions for various guitar brands, such as the legendary Takeuchi TRS-101 and TRS-PRO, OEM-supplied units by Gotoh, and the KKT range produced by Jin Ah. Left-hand versions existed but were limited by the range of left handed guitars that brands offered.

   
   

3. Proprietary Versions (Part 3) – As brands develop their own tremolo systems (mid-80s through 90s onward) using their own or third-party factories as proprietary versions with engineering and design upgrades or variations based on Floyd Rose-style designs, left-hand provisioning starts to become more conditional on the lefty support by the brands themselves. Extremely detailed accounts of renowned proprietary systems such as the Yamaha Rockin' Magic Pro series, the Fernandes Head Crasher and FRT series, and the Bendmaster tremolo series produced by St. Louis Music.

   
   

4. Asian OEM Pool (Part 4) – Covers the expansion into mass-manufactured Asian factories (Korea/China) producing OEM and aftermarket alternatives. Left-hand versions are generally well-considered in contrast to originals. Many are the only alternative for units never made left-handed in the first place, such as the low-profile Floyd Rose, or as replacements for discontinued original Floyd Rose systems such as the Floyd Rose II, originally made by Schaller, and original licensed OEM units such as the Takeuchi TRS-101.

   
   

5. No-Names, Fakes & Unknowns (Part 5) – Examines the era of unbranded/knock-off tremolos (2000s onwards) and quality risk. Highlights systems that simply never had left-hand variants, due to brand refusal, antipathy, or disinterest in supporting lefty players. Incudes some genuine Floyd Rose products, and other historical OEM licensed or proprietary units during the 1980s and 1990s, such as systems developed by Tokai, Yamaha and Ibanez.

   
   

Key Insights for Left-Handed Guitarists

From the series, a few useful take-aways for left-hand guitarists:

• If you want the “best” or most reliable tremolo for a lefty, aim for the Original/Floyd Rose genuine systems (Part 1) or universal OEM versions from the Korean OEM pool (Part 4.) Avoid Chinese products, including the current left-handed Floyd Rose Special.

  
  

• Left-hand support decreases as you go into proprietary. With the sole exception of Ibanez, all other proprietary systems developed by guitar brands during the original Floyd Rose era are now historical and long discontinued. Left-handed replacements are available through Gaskell Guitars for historical systems such as Floyd Rose II, Takeuchi TRS-101, and Takeuchi TRS-PRO. These are arguably better-quality than the originals.

  
  

• A Low profile Original Floyd Rose alternative is only available via Gaskell Guitars, which is essentially a Takeuchi TRS-PRO clone and is highest quality, made in Korea. Not available to the public directly. This is an OEM Gaskell product.

  
  

• When purchasing or specifying a left-hand tremolo system, especially for a custom build, this series will properly inform you of your best options and put to bed any false hopes, misconceptions and wrong information picked up from forums.