Strat Trem Question

If you don't plan on using the trem on your Strat - then you have a number of options - including blocking the trem - which I won't get into here.

What it sounds like you have had done so far is gone from 3 springs to 5 springs. If your Strat has a vintage bridge - you will find five screws at the front - these can be tightened down to secure the bridge and reduce movement as well.

If your bridge is already flush with the body of the guitar - than there is no need to tighten the trem claw as well.

When you bend a string - does the bridge lift at all? If not - then you are all set. If it does lift - you would want to tighten the claw a tad (there are two screws that secure the claw to the guitar).

As to the Callaham blocks - they are not targetted at folks who do not want to use a trem. Not having used one - I cannot attest to any thing they either add to or take away from the instrinsic tone of the guitar. I actually bought a Titanium block to reduce the overall weight of my guitar....

To block the trem - you could also fit a piece of wood behind the block in the cavity.

Plus there are a number of manufacturers who make aftre market devices to lock the trem...

ie,

http://www.dircksons.com/

http://www.tremol-no.com/

Hope that helps.

-- Barr

 

There's a product by hipshot called the tremsetter that you might want to look at...

http://www.hipshotproducts.com/tremsetter.htm

 

Even if you don't plan to use the trem, DO NOT overtighten the six screws at the front of the bridge. This is a very common mistake, and can cause not only tuning problems, but damage to the body or even in really extreme cases snapped screw heads.

The reason is that the bridge-plate is angled away under the front edge. If you tighten the screws too much, the front edge of the bridge will be pulled down so hard that the back will try to lift up as the angle presses against the top. If you then pull the back down hard with more springs, the angle will dig into the top finish, which will cause the bridge to bind against the top and may damage it, as well as causing a lot of friction which will allow the bridge to stick out of position and affect the tuning. If you're really brutal you can even snap off the screw heads - I've see this happen on a Strat where someone screwed the pivot screws right down then drove a wooden wedge into the cavity in a misguided attempt to block the trem as firmly as possible.

This is how to adjust it correctly:

1. Loosen the strings a bit.
2. Raise the six pivot screws about a turn or so - enough to get them clear of the bridgeplate.
3. Tighten the springs or add more if necessary so the back edge of the bridge is resting on the top.
4. Carefully tighten the pivot screws (starting with the outer ones) until the bridge is just pulled down flush to the body and the back edge does not lift. It's usually quite easy to do by a combination of feel (as the screw head makes contact) and looking at the back edge of the bridge to check for rise.

The correct final adjustment is with the bridge resting precisely flat on the top with all six screw heads touching the top of the bridgeplate (there is no real advantage to raising the middle four screws as is sometimes advised). This is the same whether you want the bridge flush or floating - if you want it floating, you just need less spring tension and the bridge will rise at the back.

This only applies to the vintage-style Strat trem with plain screws, not a US-Series type (or a PRS) with grooved screws or posts, they can be set higher than this and still work properly, although they also must not be set lower than this either.

 

That sounds like it's perfectly adjusted!

 

+1 on John's comments and tips.

And if you have any questions about the Tremol-No, feel free to email me. I'd be more than happy to answer them for you.