Trem King

[trazan]

Trem King
Could someone please try this thing and tell me how it sounds?

English is not my native language, and I didn't see exactly how the thing works looking at the pictures, but it looks very tempting. If it sounds good.

 

[muddy]

DAMN!!! i wish i had known about this trem earlier! and it's inexpensive, too! and you can actually order and GET one! it's about time...


ml

 

[trazan]

What's that, Muddy? Nothing new to it, you think?

 

[tremking]

Hi, TremKing here. And it sounds as good as it looks. Very smooth up and down motion and it stays in tune. Even breaking a string and you will stay in tune. The bridge is fixed as are the saddles. The tone block pivots inside the body. http://www.tremking.com

 

[trazan]

If the bridge and saddles are fixed, the strings must slide back and forth over the saddles, no? Some kind of roller thingy...or what?

 

[fumbler]

Sounds pretty interesting. Enough that I'm seriously thinking of trying one on my next part-o-caster. I'm a little concerned about the location of the arm bushing, though. Between the E and B strings? I don't see why they couldn't have extended the block to put the arm in the "traditional" location. Guess I'll have to try one and see. I like to do some picking really close to the bridge with my pinky wrapped around the trem to get a "shimmery jangle." Doesn't sound possible with this setup, though. Any comments?

If the bridge and saddles are fixed, the strings must slide back and forth over the saddles, no? Some kind of roller thingy...or what?

It sounds like there are replaceable graphite inserts (not rollers). From the FAQ on their website: "Graphite pins in Saddles – The strings on a guitar with the Trem King could eventually wear a groove in the graphite pin in the saddle. Should this happen and the groove becomes too deep, remove the saddle from the bridge plate. Carefully tap the pin completely out one side of the saddle. Turn 180 degrees and re-insert carefully into the saddle. Replace saddle onto bridge plate and intonate."

Also from their front page "Trem King is pleased to announce that Graph Tech will now be supplying all the saddle pins for our trem systems!"

 

[bluesdoc]

Wow! This could change things!!

New availability date?? Weight? And yes, for those of us who palm mute on the bridge all the time, I wonder how it'd be with the arm there....

Really looking forward to reviews......

jon

 

[Neill]

so this isnt a retrofit for fixed bridges? the fixed bridge thing is kinda misleading. cool looking design nonetheless.

 

[MightyGuru]

Could you, Mr. Tremking, provide some details and/or some pictures as to what kind of routing is needed to install the Tele version?

Many thanks and congrats on a very cool product.

 

[Marcel]

Hi, TremKing here. And it sounds as good as it looks. Very smooth up and down motion and it stays in tune. Even breaking a string and you will stay in tune. The bridge is fixed as are the saddles. The tone block pivots inside the body. http://www.tremking.com

Congrats Tremking on what seems like a fine product!

I'm curious to know how your tremolo can have a smooth up / down motion. So there is no "bump" feeling in the "0" (or in-tune) point, sort of like the Ibanez ZR trem or Trem-Setter have?
It looks like there are two blocks that swing under your tremolo..?
If yours has then it looks similar like the tremolo system Gary Levinson from Blade guitars has (had?).

 

[Marcel]

Bumping

 

[oddguitar]

I've got one on order.....as soon as I've got it, I'll post pics and comments.

-oddguitar

 

[tremking]

Hi, when I said a smooth up and down movement, I mean that the pressure is the same ALL the down and ALL the way up. Unlike other trems that get stiffer as you go down or up, the pressure is equal ion the TremKing. And yes, there is a zero point you can feel. There is one tone block underneath that pivots, so it is different from my friend, Gary Levinsons' design. We have already talked about that.

 

[Marcel]

Ok...thanks! So it all comes down to how much you can feel that zero point. Hope it's almost *ZERO*

 

[muddy]

GREAT news!!! rusty (the inventor/builder) has informed me that a gibson 2-piece retrofit is just around the corner! YES!!!


ml

 

[HarryJ]

Very curious as well. It is always refreshing to see new technology and wonderful to have designers with insight.
Wondering what the bridge and block material is, and how the tone is affected. I remember for me anyway, the tremsetter's zero point affected the smoothness of the vibrato. Curious how this one is.

Also, I saw a few things that caught my eye and ear. In the video demo toward the end right before Cory does that sweep, he brings the bar up then returns. To my ear the return pitch was the slightest bit sharp for a few notes. Also in the beginning when he does the "reverse bounce" right before the dive, the low E comes back the slightest bit sharp to my ear. When he uses the bar to lower and raise the pitch of a single string, I noticed that after he raised the pitch, he applied a little vibrato to the returned note. That concerns me a little. Perhaps the nut or tuners are involved here.

Please don't get me wrong, I have not tried this trem myself, so I cannot say these are valid concerns, I can only say that it appears to be, based on that demo. Somebody please prove me wrong as I would LOVE to have one of these puppies

HJ

 

[Gary]

It's a great idea, I almost ordered one, but there is routing involved, The sustain block is made of Zinc, Good luck

 

[muddy]

just to make it clear, it's a retrofit FOR the 2-piece gibson bridge/tailpiece, and is NOT (as far as i know) a 2-piece itself.


ml

GREAT news!!! rusty (the inventor/builder) has informed me that a gibson 2-piece retrofit is just around the corner! YES!!!


ml

 

[Neill]

just to make it clear, it's a retrofit FOR the 2-piece gibson bridge/tailpiece, and is NOT (as far as i know) a 2-piece itself.


ml

this is good news... except for tremkings comment about feeling a zero point (though this is on the current production trem). hopefully therell be an option for the TOM retrofit that adresses that issue (which admittedly is only an issue for some)

 

[tremking]

Please check out these comments from an end user...

http://acapella.harmony-central.com/forums/showpost.php?p=21953502&postcount=13
http://acapella.harmony-central.com/...2&postcount=13