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If you truly want to swap out a trem for something that
will a) work dependably b) sound great, and c) stay in
tune, get a real Wilkinson drop-in replacement, the MM1171,
from Mighty Mite. Go to:
Wow! thanks for the great advice...I will look into this.
dp
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Apologies if I came off too opinionated... but I think the Wilkinson
is a great trem.
Before surf, I was into the whole uber-virtuoso school of acrobatic
guitar, and that style of music mandates a superior Floyd Rose style
trem system. The Floyd Rose is great for that, though poor
installations have been known to alter the tone and sustain in a bad
way. My experience from back then really dictates what I prefer now.
While I'm nowhere near as radical with the trem as I used to be (once
I popped the fulcrum screw anchors clean out doing a Vai-style
maneuver... poor Hamer never knew what hit it), I came to appreciate
smooth, fuss-free operation. The Floyd is definitely overkill for
surf, and works its magic better with lighter gauges anyhow.
Surf calls for mild trem, and while a standard Fender unit will work,
none of their stock systems has ever impressed me... except for the
System 1 system of Japanese models of the mid-80s. Pretty much a
Floyd clone, but it had a nice character to it. Even a poorly set-up
Floyd will stay in tune under serious abuse than the best set-up
Fender trems.
The Wilkinson feels good, there are no sharp edges to poke your palm,
smooth, silky operation means less fatigue and wear-and-tear on your
joints. I just appreciate that Trevor Wilkinson put some serious
thought into an elegant, modern trem system.
Here's a bit of Trev talk:
--- In , DP <noetical1@y...> wrote:
> If you truly want to swap out a trem for something that
> will a) work dependably b) sound great, and c) stay in
> tune, get a real Wilkinson drop-in replacement, the MM1171,
> from Mighty Mite. Go to:
>
>
>
>
> Wow! thanks for the great advice...I will look into this.
>
> dp
>
> __________________________________________________
> Do You Yahoo!?
> Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
>
thundr:
Will you post a link to a decent vendor of the Wilkinson?
thanks
dp
--- red_thundr <> wrote:
>
>
> Apologies if I came off too opinionated... but I think
> the Wilkinson
> is a great trem.
>
> Before surf, I was into the whole uber-virtuoso school of
> acrobatic
> guitar, and that style of music mandates a superior Floyd
> Rose style
> trem system. The Floyd Rose is great for that, though
> poor
> installations have been known to alter the tone and
> sustain in a bad
> way. My experience from back then really dictates what I
> prefer now.
> While I'm nowhere near as radical with the trem as I
> used to be (once
> I popped the fulcrum screw anchors clean out doing a
> Vai-style
> maneuver... poor Hamer never knew what hit it), I came to
> appreciate
> smooth, fuss-free operation. The Floyd is definitely
> overkill for
> surf, and works its magic better with lighter gauges
> anyhow.
>
> Surf calls for mild trem, and while a standard Fender
> unit will work,
> none of their stock systems has ever impressed me...
> except for the
> System 1 system of Japanese models of the mid-80s.
> Pretty much a
> Floyd clone, but it had a nice character to it. Even a
> poorly set-up
> Floyd will stay in tune under serious abuse than the best
> set-up
> Fender trems.
>
> The Wilkinson feels good, there are no sharp edges to
> poke your palm,
> smooth, silky operation means less fatigue and
> wear-and-tear on your
> joints. I just appreciate that Trevor Wilkinson put some
> serious
> thought into an elegant, modern trem system.
>
> Here's a bit of Trev talk:
>
>
>
>
> --- In , DP <noetical1@y...>
> wrote:
> > If you truly want to swap out a trem for something that
>
> > will a) work dependably b) sound great, and c) stay in
> > tune, get a real Wilkinson drop-in replacement, the
> MM1171,
> > from Mighty Mite. Go to:
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Wow! thanks for the great advice...I will look into
> this.
> >
> > dp
> >
> > __________________________________________________
> > Do You Yahoo!?
> > Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam
> protection around
> >
>
>
>
>
>
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Well, Red Thunder has his own opinion on Fender Strat tremolo units -
I'd just like to give my own: the stock Strat tremolo unit when set-
up corrrectly and strung with heavy-gauge strings (at least 11, 12 is
better) works GREAT!! I have a guitar with a Floyd Rose (the real
thing) and I used to have a guitar with the newer American Standard
two-post tremolo, and nothing works as well as the stock Strat
tremolo - for surf, that is. Obviously, Floyd Roses have their
proper place, and I'm sure the Wilkinson is a great unit. But the
stock Strat tremolo has a truly fantastic tone and my Strats stay in
tune for WEEKS, even though I heavily use the trem. And I don't ever
put any oil/graphite/nut-sauce, whatever, either anywhere on the trem
or in the nut. I had a good tech, who knew how to cut the nut
(ouch!) properly, and my guitars stay in tune perfectly. I've played
a full, high-energy 1-hour-plus set with the same guitar without ever
tuning, and the guitar will be pretty much in perfect tune when I'm
done.
BTW, the vintage stock US-made trem is MUCH better than the 2-post
American Standard one. I replaced the one I used to have (on a '88
Strat Plus) with a vintage one, and it sounded much better, felt much
better, and stayed in tune as well or even slightly better. I'd
highly recommend replacing those 2-post trems with a vintage one (but
only with a US-made vintage one - there are probably cheap copies out
there that are made with inferior materials...) Even Hank Marvin of
the Shadows did the same a few years ago with all his nineties
signature models that originally came with the 2-post AmStd units. I
think that should say it all.
Ivan
--- In , "red_thundr" <red_thundr@y...>
wrote:
>
> Apologies if I came off too opinionated... but I think the Wilkinson
> is a great trem.
>
> Before surf, I was into the whole uber-virtuoso school of acrobatic
> guitar, and that style of music mandates a superior Floyd Rose style
> trem system. The Floyd Rose is great for that, though poor
> installations have been known to alter the tone and sustain in a bad
> way. My experience from back then really dictates what I prefer
now.
> While I'm nowhere near as radical with the trem as I used to be
(once
> I popped the fulcrum screw anchors clean out doing a Vai-style
> maneuver... poor Hamer never knew what hit it), I came to appreciate
> smooth, fuss-free operation. The Floyd is definitely overkill for
> surf, and works its magic better with lighter gauges anyhow.
>
> Surf calls for mild trem, and while a standard Fender unit will
work,
> none of their stock systems has ever impressed me... except for the
> System 1 system of Japanese models of the mid-80s. Pretty much a
> Floyd clone, but it had a nice character to it. Even a poorly set-
up
> Floyd will stay in tune under serious abuse than the best set-up
> Fender trems.
>
> The Wilkinson feels good, there are no sharp edges to poke your
palm,
> smooth, silky operation means less fatigue and wear-and-tear on your
> joints. I just appreciate that Trevor Wilkinson put some serious
> thought into an elegant, modern trem system.
>
> Here's a bit of Trev talk:
>
>
>
>
> --- In , DP <noetical1@y...> wrote:
> > If you truly want to swap out a trem for something that
> > will a) work dependably b) sound great, and c) stay in
> > tune, get a real Wilkinson drop-in replacement, the MM1171,
> > from Mighty Mite. Go to:
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Wow! thanks for the great advice...I will look into this.
> >
> > dp
> >
> > __________________________________________________
> > Do You Yahoo!?
> > Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
> >
The Floyd Rose was indeed good for acrobatic guitar styles but it has two other
major problems not mentioned below.
1. It puts ya way outta tune when a string breaks, so there's no fakin' it
through the rest of the song.
2. It's not convenient for those of us who use alternate tunings.
But I do love Eddie Van Halen, and he couldn't do his thing without one.
-Marty
----- Original Message -----
From: red_thundr
To:
Sent: Sunday, January 30, 2005 11:01 AM
Subject: [SurfGuitar101] Re: Mighty Mite Trem
Apologies if I came off too opinionated... but I think the Wilkinson
is a great trem.
Before surf, I was into the whole uber-virtuoso school of acrobatic
guitar, and that style of music mandates a superior Floyd Rose style
trem system. The Floyd Rose is great for that, though poor
installations have been known to alter the tone and sustain in a bad
way. My experience from back then really dictates what I prefer now.
While I'm nowhere near as radical with the trem as I used to be (once
I popped the fulcrum screw anchors clean out doing a Vai-style
maneuver... poor Hamer never knew what hit it), I came to appreciate
smooth, fuss-free operation. The Floyd is definitely overkill for
surf, and works its magic better with lighter gauges anyhow.
Surf calls for mild trem, and while a standard Fender unit will work,
none of their stock systems has ever impressed me... except for the
System 1 system of Japanese models of the mid-80s. Pretty much a
Floyd clone, but it had a nice character to it. Even a poorly set-up
Floyd will stay in tune under serious abuse than the best set-up
Fender trems.
The Wilkinson feels good, there are no sharp edges to poke your palm,
smooth, silky operation means less fatigue and wear-and-tear on your
joints. I just appreciate that Trevor Wilkinson put some serious
thought into an elegant, modern trem system.
Here's a bit of Trev talk:
--- In , DP <noetical1@y...> wrote:
> If you truly want to swap out a trem for something that
> will a) work dependably b) sound great, and c) stay in
> tune, get a real Wilkinson drop-in replacement, the MM1171,
> from Mighty Mite. Go to:
>
>
>
>
> Wow! thanks for the great advice...I will look into this.
>
> dp
>
> __________________________________________________
> Do You Yahoo!?
> Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
>
.
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bookmarks, files, polls, etc.
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