chiba
Joined: Sep 02, 2022
Posts: 519
Central VA
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Posted on Sep 15 2022 02:12 PM
Depends!
I am lucky enough to have a bunch of Strats. I keep two set up for my rock band; they have humbuckers installed and the bridges are decked with five springs. I used to cram wood blocks in the cavity to secure them, but I discovered that kind of dulls the sound just a little bit, so now I just go with max springs and screwing the claw in a good ways.
For my Strats set up for surf, I float the bridges, moderate the tension (four springs, claw screwed out a bit) and use the wiggle bars as needed. It's a different technique - very little palm muting (unlike my rock band), so I do approach the different guitars differently.
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Mfgeng
Joined: Oct 09, 2018
Posts: 16
Texas
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Posted on Oct 11 2022 07:42 PM
chiba wrote:
Depends!
For my Strats set up for surf, I float the bridges, moderate the tension (four springs, claw screwed out a bit) and use the wiggle bars as needed. It's a different technique - very little palm muting (unlike my rock band), so I do approach the different guitars differently.
See, we're all different! I palm mute a ton when when playing surf, and not so much with everything else. I mean, a ton! I guess it's my style though.
As for the tremolo (Vibrato, actually. But out of respect for Leo we'll call it a tremolo) , I go through phases on mine on the Strats. My 66 is almost always in. The rest are 50/50. All mine are set up to float high in the air off of the body. I try to set up the two point trem to pitch up a full note at full pull on the bar. Semitones and what not are possible too. You can get some really cool full chord pulls for outro's and such. This helps me get the high action I prefer as well. If you change string gauges or even brands you have to adjust your springs. I use 3 in a V pattern for .011's (What I use on most), 4 straight for .012's, and all 5 for .013's and up. Skip the huge strings, any bigger than .012 it's not worth it and its possible you can screw up your neck...
The modern two point bridge is much better at staying in tune with minimal set up. The 6 screw bridge can be made to be almost as good, but it takes a ton of fiddling with or modifying of the center 4 screws so they don't make contact on return to neutral. Essentially you just chuck them in a lathe and turn about .02" off the OD right under the head of the screw. I bought some AVRI screws to modify, relic'd them to match the rest of my guitar, and saved my vintage ones for the future.
Try setting it up to float and give that a try for a while. Like everybody says, it does take some getting used to. If you decide to tighten it down hard to the body and take out the arm, there is no shame in that. If you have a good ear and good pitch, then you may end up ditching the arm after all. Tuning is never going to be perfect with a standard Strat trem.
Good luck and have fun!!!
ME
Last edited: Oct 11, 2022 19:55:27
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