The Floyd Rose Original R-4 locking nut clamps the strings at the headstock end of the neck, removing them from the equation once the bridge is set. Without a locked nut, a floating tremolo cannot return to pitch — the string slips at one anchor point while the bridge compensates at the other. This part is made in Germany to the Original series specification and carries a chrome finish over hardened steel.

Fit is decided by two measurements, not the guitar model. The nut has to match the width of your neck at the nut slot and the radius of your fretboard. Too flat a radius and the outer strings sit proud of the saddle faces; too narrow and the strings crowd the fretboard edge. Floyd Rose sizes its nuts by width code — R2, R3, R4 and so on. The R-4 designation is a specific width. Measure your existing nut before ordering. Do not guess from the guitar name: the same model has shipped with different nut widths across production runs.

The nut body is hardened steel. That matters because the clamping blocks bear the full string tension every time the locking screws are torqued down. Softer material rounds out the saddle faces over time and lets strings slip under the blocks. If your current nut shows wear at the clamping surfaces, that is the failure mode to look for before assuming a tuning problem lives in the bridge.

If you are not certain the R-4 is the correct width for your guitar, send us the make, model and year and we will point you to the right size.