Help with noisy springs

[DC Ross]

Hey guys & dolls,

 

I've got a PRS Custom 24 with the trem, and the springs really ring.

This has always bothered me about it & it's really noticable when I'm playing staccato or suddenly mute the strings. I was thinking of wrapping a small rag or something around them to stop them from vibrating. Any other ideas or suggestions?

 

Thanks!

-DC Ross

[LPCustom]

I'd put a tiny drop of oil on the end of each spring where it attaches to the tremolo. They are probably not lubricated enough and are grinding at the conjunction of the spring and the tremolo. You could use powdered graphite but that gets kind of messy. A little drop of 3M sewing machine oil (not penetrant) should do it. Just wipe away any excess. Don't use WD-40, it will remove any libricant.

 

You could also detach each spring and put a tiny dab of molybdenum grease on the contact area. It's very heavy but also _very_ slippery and should stay in the contact area.

 

Are the springs attached as a ring over a pin or a pin in a slot?

[Gabriel E.]

You can also throw a piece of foam rubber in there.

[Corner Pocket]

Anything you do to damp the springs will change their "response". Springs suffer from hysteresis, that is they don't have a purely linear force/deflection curve.

 

Assume that the installed length of the trem spring is 3 inches, and the force at that installed length is 15 pounds. (I'm making numbers up for illustration purposes). If you dive bomb the whammy arm, (extend the springs), the spring will not come back to 15 pounds. It'll be around 15.1#. Conversely, if you pull up on the bar, the spring will return to a bit less than 15#. Fortunately the hysteresis curve is repeatable and you can learn exactly how much of that little wiggle will help put the system back in tune.

 

If you damp the springs with foam, or a plastic sleeve, you will change, and make un-repeatable, the performance of the spring.

 

FYI, I make mechanical springs for a living, so I've got a bit of first hand knowledge of how springs work in the real world, not just in the rear cavity of a Strat.

 

If you can't hear the spring rattle through the amp, it ain't rattling.

[Caevan O’Shite]

You don't like that? I love that mechanical reverb kinda sound!

 

I've tried lightly wrapping a little electrical-tape around 'em before; if performance affecting tuning-stability is a concern, you could spend a little time and trouble doing that with some Teflon plumbing-tape (non-adhesive) wrapped underneath, in between the spring and the electrical-tape... just loose enough to slide, not tight enough to bind or get between the turns of the coil... just a little would do, too.

 

(Remove the springs to do this, it's a heck of a lot easier!)

[DC Ross]

Great suggestions guys, and good info there, Paul. I don't actually use the trem, and those springs really reverberate. Normally I wouldn't mind so much, but they are really loud, which leads me to another question but that's for a separate thread.

I like the foam rubber idea; it's simple and clean (plus I've got plenty of it ). I'll grease the connection points as well.

[Corner Pocket]

If you don't use the trem, pack 'em up with foam and things'll be jsut fine.

[Caevan O’Shite]

Does their ringing come through the pickups? Or just harmonically influence (interfere with) the strings?

[DC Ross]

Originally posted by Caevan_O'Shite:

Does their ringing come through the pickups? Or just harmonically influence (interfere with) the strings?

The ringing is picked up by the pickups, and it's loud (comparatively). That leads to the other question I mentioned; everything seems over-amplified. A light tap on the body, or flipping the switch are way louder than I think they should be.

[Caevan O’Shite]

I have to wonder, if the pickups are a little microphonic?

 

This isn't necesarily a bad thing (microphonic pickups); as long as you don't have trouble with unwanted squealing, ringing electronic-sounding feedback- the kind (usually considered) "unmusical" , *not* the kind where your guitar and its strings are sympathetically vibrating- it can be part of a good sounding vintage-y tone. (Many good examples of old- I mean, "vintage"- pickups are not potted and are a bit microphonic.)

 

If you completely mute the trem-springs, and the guitar still transmits switch-flips and body-taps and the ocasional yelp into the pickups, they may be microphonic. If you really like the tone still, and have no other problems because of this, then it's fine if they are.