I have both mine floating and never had any problems-MIJ 60s and a US Strat Plus. I saw a video recently on youtube where a guy demonstrated how he set his up and a commenter wrote "That is not a real Strat then! Look! You can't see the name on the headstock, but Strats can't do that!". Forgetting that the internet is mostly social malcontents and dumb-ass kids I chimed in and added a comment that I have two Strats that do the same and he should just look it up. I remember his comment was something about why was I lying and if I made mine do that they were fake Strats as well. I imagine he fell asleep that night with tears rolling down his face: "Liars! Why do they lie to me...why...Strats...can't...fake.........liars........zzzzzz"

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A Jaguar/Jazzmaster style tremolo, on the other hand, will have almost none of this type of problem when properly adjusted.

On the other hand, because of all that length of string behind the bridge, it's a lot more difficult to bend on a Jaguar/Jazzmaster. See, there are trade-offs with everything...

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As Ryan said, it's an inherent part of the Strat trem design, Bill. There's a trade-off between bending stability and trem effectiveness. You just have to learn to compensate when bending, and bend a bit more than you would on a Tele or even a Bigsby-equipped guitar - or if you're doing an oblique bend, bend the 'stationary' string a bit, as well.

A Jaguar/Jazzmaster style tremolo, on the other hand, will have almost none of this type of problem when properly adjusted. If you own both a Jag and a Strat, try a Country style bend on both guitars. fret a string, and bend another string while listening for the fretted string to go flat. The "flatness" caused by bending another will be negligible on the Jaguar/Jazzmaster. This effect has nothing to do with using, or not using the trem lock.

Like Ivan said, there are tradeoffs with these guitars. I was thinking tonight how easy it was to rest my hands on my tele and do bends with light strings. But now in my current situation I need a tremolo, so I have to make the strat work. I guess a Jag or Jazzmaster might work, but I want to run at the heaviest 10s. If I remember my Jags correctly they first liked heavy strings, and the little to no sustain they produced would not help me in the Nokie-ish bends I want to do. Also the short scale in the higher registers would be murder on my larger hands trying to make bends.
I got the Mosrite and that too has it’s tradeoffs. It sounds wonderful, but the strings get tight, especially when trying to do all the Nokie bends. I think what I need is a Strat with heavy strings for the double picking stuff and a Strat with light strings for the bendy stuff.

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According to some stuff written about SRV, he adjusted his tremolo plate flat to the wood for extra tone. But when i tried this, upon release, it made an unacceptable DONK noise which hollowed through the body and pickups.

I've searched here for this info and didn't find it, so I hope this YouTube clip by Carl Verheyen helps if someone is deciding bwetween a floating or rigid tremelo bridge setup on a Stratocaster.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iy-F7iSIopA

Has anyone here tried it the way he does it?

This is Noel. Reverb's at maximum an' I'm givin' 'er all she's got.

I just got my 2001 MIM Strat back after having the trem floated using the Fender Support method.
http://www.fender.com/support/articles/stratocaster-setup-guide

It seems to work properly. I'l give it a good workout later and let you know. If it doesn't work out, the next step is Carl Verheyen's method, as demonstrated here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iy-F7iSIopA

I found this link that has better pictures of the process:
http://acapella.harmony-central.com/showthread.php?1092936-Pics-of-strat-trem-setup-that-really-works

One thing I've noticed is that the whammy bar wobble common to MIM Strats is much more annoying bending in both directions than only down. Too much slack, and it tightens up in the wrong spot, parallel to the block.

I guess I need to find a set of those springs now to hold it the right place, but the bar will still be slack in the hole.

This is Noel. Reverb's at maximum an' I'm givin' 'er all she's got.

Last edited: May 05, 2011 20:22:51

Big_Ryan wrote:

noel, if you dont take your trem bar off alot something
i used to do to ix the shaky bar problem is wrap the
threads in a layer of teflon plumbers tape, it doesn't
take much but it makes you bar fit really snug and
smooth without damaging anything, if you do take your
trem bar off alot then just keep the tape in your case
i guess, it wears off pretty quick when you take the
bar out

Thanks. How sticky is that stuff? I once tried a very short strip of duct tape cut very thin and it gooped up the threads on the bar and inside the trem block. It held the bar in place but made it stiff, like when over tightened. Took me a while to get the residue off too. I now just lube it occasionally with a little lithium grease and it's smooth as greased lightening. I'd just like it to stay where I put it without it being stiff or wobble and clunk when I use it. Have you ever tried the trem springs that insert into the hole?

me personally i run my trem against the body but its
adjusted so it takes very little effort to use the trem
bar, i say if you dont use the trem on your strat, why
not get a telecaster instead?

I almost bought a Tele but didn't want a third guitar without a tremelo of some sort. I might have bought a DiPinto Galaxy 4, G&L Legacy or Dillion something or other if I'd had access to any of them. Still might. There's a lot of guitars out there with better trem systems than the Fender Vintage tremelo.

This is Noel. Reverb's at maximum an' I'm givin' 'er all she's got.

"Thanks. How sticky is that stuff? "

its not sticky at all, its not like tape more like a paper thin strip of teflon plastic, its really delicate stuff, if you use alot of it over time it will start to gunk up but its really not hard to remove, not like duct tape or any other kind of adhesive strip

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Well, here's my update on setting up my 2001 MIM Strat with Vintage Tremelo to float following Fender's recommendations. Until I get a trem screw and some teflon tape I'm worse off than before.

There's just over 1/4 inch of slack at the tip between starting to press down and starting to lift up. It's impossible to smoothly trem in both directions. The tape should take up the slack and also cure the bar rattle, and the spring will keep the bar where I want to leave it. But the whole assembly now clanks and squeeks loudly. This can't be right. It was silent before.

Did we miss something, or is this normal? Does anyone know of a 2-screw locking trem system that fits the outer holes of 6-screw MIM bodies? I may want to cure both issues at once.

Thanks.

This is Noel. Reverb's at maximum an' I'm givin' 'er all she's got.