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Thanks Ivan, that's exactly the kind of info I was hoping for. I'll definitely
check out the strings you suggested. I had tried all-nickel Thomastick but
found they lacked the snap of the chromes. But I do like the fact that the
nickel is softer than stainless, and should keep your frets from wearing as
quickly.
Happy New Years to you and everyone else on SG101!
Danny Snyder
----- Original Message -----
From: ipongrac
To:
Sent: Saturday, December 31, 2005 7:28 AM
Subject: [SurfGuitar101] Re: strat style tremolo too stiff
--- In , snydr@s... wrote:
> My 2nd guitar is a vista jagmaster with S.D. JM pickups which sound
great. My problem is that with 13's on the thing, the tension on the
tremolo is really stiff to compensate for the thick strings. I'm used
to the silky smooth tremolo on my AV Jaguar. Is this a result of poor
set up ( I needed 5 springs just to get it to within 1/8" of flat) or
a low quality bridge? Or some other reason - neck angle perhaps? Any
advice is greatly appreciated.
Hi Danny;
Here's my take on your problem. If you go with strings thicker that 12-
56 you either have to live with a very stiff tremolo due to using of
five springs, or simply not use it (which is what Dick Dale does).
One thing that MIGHT help is if you tighten the spring claw in the
back of the guitar all the way down to the wood and use only four
springs - the bridge plate may be floating a bit higher, but you can
compensate by lowering the individual saddles. I would also recommend
using high quality tremolo springs - there ARE differences between
them.
However, are you sure you really want or need 13s? If you want stiff
strings that sound good and that'll allow you to still use your
guitar's tremolo, I'd recommend going with Gibson Nickel Wound Jazz 12-
56 strings - they're available through JustStrings.com, and they're
really great, thick but with a great feeling. These were originally
called Sonomatics in the sixties, and were the choice of the Shadows
plus probably many surf groups. I've started using them again on one
of my Strats and if I tighten the claw all the way back, the bridge
plate is just above the body, allowing a bit of floating action.
Hope that helps.
Ivan
.
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