Fender Tremolo - Block, Add Springs, or ?

[Dave da Dude]

I'll be picking up my new Highway 1 Strat soon, and I'm not sure what to do with the tremolo. Eric Clapton blocks his; Buddy Holly used five springs.

 

I had several suggestions from the "10 Famous Strats..." thread. Here they are:

 

Norman Geinard Bates,

Actually you don't have to block the tremlo....just buy a couple more springs, and it keeps that sucker tight up against the body. I put a spring for every slot on the block on every strat I own.

Geenard, does the tremolo still work?

 

Dances With Werewolves,

As for blocking a Strat Trem, just make a little "wedge" of wood to slip between the "Inertia Block" and the body inside the back of the cavity. If you just tap it into place enough to stay put, but not affect the pitch of the strings, it'll hold the Trem in place and you'll get the sound of a Trem-equipped Strat (with the springs almost acting as a mechanical reverb) with the stability and (some of) the sustain of a "hardtail".

 

When you want to use the Trem, just pull up a little on the bar and remove the wooden wedge.

 

I used to do this with a one-off custom Strat-styled axe from Ithaca Guitar Works, and it worked just fine.

 

And- as for adding springs, etc.- you can also tighten the screws that hold the spring-claw in the cavity on the back to increase spring tension a little and to position the Trem where you want it. The best thing to do is to find the combination of number of springs and spring claw adjustment that suits you. Adding springs also increases the stiffness of the Trem's action, making it harder to perform whammy-workouts. If you prefer a lighter touch, then you'll want to position the bridge by adjustment alone.

Can the block be put back in just as easy? I've always thought that the tremolo action was too sensitive for tastes, so maybe move springs would be better for me anyway?

 

guitarzan the impaler,

an interesting note Dave is the highway one strat has a more vintage correct trem than most strats, it uses a steel block and the string ball ends do not go way up in the block. they are right at the bottom of the block. i would guess this has a little extra voodoo in getting vintage strat tones. thats why if i bought a strat it would be a highway one as opposed to an AM standard.

That must be why it's the first Strat that I've played (since 1985) that I've liked.

 

Dave th Dude (me )

Hey guitarzan and Geenard, et al,I'm goin' start a new thread on this, as I'm almost ready to pick my Highway 1 up, and they'll do the blocking (and / or probably the 5 spring thing) for FREE! So, I'd like to get it right the first time while it's still free.

Any more opinions, facts, observations, notes or just plain WAGs?

 

Dave

[Blue Strat]

I'd go with the five springs. Unless you're using some god awful string size and bending like hell, the bridge will stay flat to the body.

 

I'm not sure, but I think I've only got three springs in mine and it don't move.

[Uncle Rex]

IMHO you don't need a block of wood,

or extra springs to stabilize your Tremolo.

Personally I like to float my tremolo !

I can pull up or down and it comes back in tune !

The trick is in the trapeze that the springs attach to!

Depending on string gauge..

which is how much tension your trying to balance,

and where you park that trapeze with you screw driver

is going to determine where the Tremolo comes back to after you use it.

Playing style has a lot to do with it too !

If your heavy handed and do alot of dampening with your right hand for ...

clean Blues stuff

you might want it stiff...the trapeze pulled up close to the neck.

I dampen with both hands and have a light touch so a floating tremolo doesn't pull the strings sharp and I can float and have that creative option.

If you block it IMHO may as well play a Tele,

Your playing the wrong guitar for your style !

I have two Teles with 3 PU's

The only thing I'm missing is the 2nd tone pot.

Just my opinion :-)

Uncle Rex

aka "Spook Jones"

[Blue Strat]

I use the tremolo occasionaly, which is why my tremolo isn't blocked. The three springs in my strat provide plenty of pull against the strings, and I've got mine set for de-tune only. If you do float your bridge, you can usualy get the strings to return to pitch by pulling up after you're done. That pulls the strings back where they belong. If the nut is cut right, it'll stay in tune. I just bend each of my strings to return 'em to pitch.

 

If you want to use the guitar as a hard tail, just tighten the spring claw all the way up with all five springs on it. You've always got the option of pulling one or two springs and floating the bridge later.

[Hound Dog]

replace it, get rid of it. You'll thank yourself in 5 years.

[Caevan O’Shite]

Yeah, the "wedge" stylee will go back in and out and in again pretty easily. I don't think that anybody that does trem-blocking does a permanant installation, anyways.

 

Since you're gonna have this and/or extra springs done by that shop, talk it over with them, and maybe even try two or three different set-up approaches before you settle on the one that is best for you.

 

Yeah, I should have mentioned that your string gauges have a bit to do with this stuff, too. As bluestrat pointed out, extremely heavier strings might also necessitate the adjustment of the spring-claw, even with five springs. If they're very light, you might be able to pull the trem flat to the body by simply screwing the spring-claw futher in. It's all a sort of balancing act. Three or four springs with .010's and the spring-claw pulled in 'till the bridge is flat to the body would probably do nicely, for instance.

[rog951]

Don't forget about the TREM-SETTER . Everything I've heard about it has been good. I can't speak from experience cuz I've never used one myself, but I've thinking about picking one up for quite a while. You wanna be the guinea pig?

[Caevan O’Shite]

I have used the Tremsetter, and if set-up correctly it works great! The only downside is a very slight "hump" in flat-to-sharp movement, as you pass over the designated "zero" point. But if you normally would go for a flat-mounted Trem, as opposed to a "floating" Trem, it probably wouldn't be noticed.

 

They definitely add sustain, tuning stability, and more stable "oblique" bends, where you bend one string while holding another. Almost like having a flat-mounted Trem or a fixed-bridge! Almost...

[Blue Strat]

Originally posted by Dances With Werewolves:

I have used the Tremsetter, and if set-up correctly it works great! The only downside is a very slight "hump" in flat-to-sharp movement, as you pass over the designated "zero" point. But if you normally would go for a flat-mounted Trem, as opposed to a "floating" Trem, it probably wouldn't be noticed.

 

They definitely add sustain, tuning stability, and more stable "oblique" bends, where you bend one string while holding another. Almost like having a flat-mounted Trem or a fixed-bridge! Almost...

I haven't tried one, but it wouldn't work for my playing style. I rest my plam on the bridge on my guitar and I'd be pulling the strings sharp every time I played a note or chord. Resting the bridge on the top of the guitar and having to really push the tremolo bar to de-tune works for me. I use 9's and three springs with the back of the spring claw about 1/4" to 3/8" from being flush with the body. I play it as a hard tail 99% of the time, only occasionaly using the trem, but I still like to have the option of using it with zero setup time.

[strat0124]

Well given that the springs are like less than a buck apiece........and yes you can use it if you want, but I never do. I use palm mutes and left hand mutes so much that if I had a floater, I'd be out of tune alot, so I put all the springs that it'll hold and it stays tight against the body.....and in tune!