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Post subject: Re: 50th Anniversary 1954 Stratocaster Owners!
Posted: Wed Mar 06, 2013 2:13 pm
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Guys I have just restrung the guitar for the first time and noticed that my trem block has the deeper holes, not the shallow ones. The string ball ends go in deeper than a vintage Strat is supposed to.

Do you have the same ones?

PS This is how it is supposed to be

http://www.eddievegas.com/images/produc ... f5cabe.jpg


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Post subject: Re: 50th Anniversary 1954 Stratocaster Owners!
Posted: Thu Mar 07, 2013 12:07 am
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Tomcaster wrote:
Guys I have just restrung the guitar for the first time and noticed that my trem block has the deeper holes, not the shallow ones. The string ball ends go in deeper than a vintage Strat is supposed to.

Do you have the same ones?

PS This is how it is supposed to be

http://www.eddievegas.com/images/produc ... f5cabe.jpg


Tomcaster, nothing wrong with the trem block in your Strat. That's the way they (CS '54 50th Anniversary) came. Fender re-introduced the block with the shallow holes with the EJ Strat, which came a few years after.


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Post subject: Re: 50th Anniversary 1954 Stratocaster Owners!
Posted: Thu Mar 07, 2013 11:17 am
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Aaah, ok! This is really interesting, I did not expect that Fender would overlook such a detail in an otherwise truly perfect Strat. A long time ago I swapped the trem block on my SRV Sig for a 'proper' one, it really changed the harmonic content of the tone - to the good side, of course. Might be interesting to bring the guitar even closer to the original, maybe with this? ;-)

http://www.pigtailmusic.com/Products.ph ... tTremblock


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Post subject: Re: 50th Anniversary 1954 Stratocaster Owners!
Posted: Wed Mar 13, 2013 12:07 pm
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Tomcaster, did you order the 54' block from Pigtail music? I just ordered one for my CS 54', you may also want to try a set of Raw Vintage springs, I use them in my strats, made just as the originals, fatter, softer/less rigid, IMHO they do as the ad states, better tone and feel.


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Post subject: Re: 50th Anniversary 1954 Stratocaster Owners!
Posted: Wed Mar 13, 2013 11:05 pm
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Yes I have ordered one from Pigtail just a few days ago, after analyzing all the other options intensively. It seems that the whole assembly in the 54 is a simply American Vintage Reissue Synchronized Trem with differently stamped saddles. I had this one in my SRV, it's the old trem version from Fender. Swapping for a 'proper' one will bring a big difference. It am very suprised that Fender claims to have everything as-54 on this guitar but forgot the whole trem assembly! And this is even without discussion - the string holes are way to deep and in 54 they were extra shallow!!!

My swaps will include
- the Pigtail block
- the Raw Vintage Springs
- Callaham screws for saddle height and intonation adjustment, trem mounting screws and saddle distance adjustment

This will keep the guitar looks completely unchanged.

BTW if you are interested why the other trem block manufactures didn't work for me
- Callaham: has a plastic arm "pop in" thingy and a special manufacture without this plastic pop in costs 180 bucks
- Fatboy UK - they claim to have a 54 copy but it looks like a 55 (edgier contours)
- Kevin Hurley - no paint on his blocks

Pigtail is the only one that looks so dead on it could fool a collector. Steve Rowen (who passed away unfortunately) shows the process of restoring an original 54 block on this page. Pigtail is widely reknown as the best replacement part manufacturer for Les Pauls. Pigtail is like a JM Rolph of pickups.


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Post subject: Re: 50th Anniversary 1954 Stratocaster Owners!
Posted: Thu Mar 14, 2013 9:06 am
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The tremolo block offered by Fatboy UK looks like the one sold by Callaham. It has that Delrin insert.


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Post subject: Re: 50th Anniversary 1954 Stratocaster Owners!
Posted: Thu Mar 14, 2013 9:52 pm
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They also have a 54 replica

http://www.crazyparts.de/fatboy-uk/hard ... -block.php


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Post subject: Re: 50th Anniversary 1954 Stratocaster Owners!
Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2013 12:28 am
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Cool, thanks. I agree the pigtail block looks closer. I don't know if there is really that much of a difference compared to the Fender block, but I like the looks and ordered one for my CS '54.


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Post subject: Re: 50th Anniversary 1954 Stratocaster Owners!
Posted: Tue Mar 19, 2013 10:21 am
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Has anyone added the pigtail 54' block yet? I received mine yesterday, it looks great, but as I just restrung my 54' a few weeks ago, it maybe a while before I fit it, would love to hear reviews on it.


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Post subject: Re: 50th Anniversary 1954 Stratocaster Owners!
Posted: Thu Mar 21, 2013 3:02 pm
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Tomcaster, 56strat, have you installed the 54' block? here is a side by side pick, between the CS block, and the Pigtail 54', the pigtail has all the specs correct, but is painted a darker shade of gray.Image


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Post subject: Re: 50th Anniversary 1954 Stratocaster Owners!
Posted: Thu Mar 21, 2013 11:25 pm
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Hi! Not yet, it will need two more weeks to arrive in Europe. Did you order directly from Pigtail? How does it sound?

This shade actually looks like the steel itself... very dark! To be fair, I have found a 1954 Strat pic matching that color :-)

http://www.pinrepair.com/vgi/fender/54_ ... uly_11.jpg


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Post subject: Re: 50th Anniversary 1954 Stratocaster Owners!
Posted: Fri Mar 22, 2013 4:00 am
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I have not installed it yet, that is a extra cs block in the pic, I ordered direct from pigtail and had it in a couple days.I was surprised that the grey paint was so much darker, but the specs are dead on for 54, very rounded corners, shallow string holes.The 54' pic you posted looks rusted, I don't think it's dark grey like the pigtail .


Last edited by my56strat on Wed Mar 27, 2013 7:48 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Post subject: Re: 50th Anniversary 1954 Stratocaster Owners!
Posted: Fri Mar 22, 2013 4:14 am
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I have seen also other 54 blocks that look more like the CS. Very tricky to say. I asked Pigtail about it, let's see what they will say. On their page the 54 block and a 54 block from a restoration process they have done is also much lighter colored. A little weird.


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Post subject: Re: 50th Anniversary 1954 Stratocaster Owners!
Posted: Fri Mar 22, 2013 5:36 am
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I haven't received mine yet. But that dark grey is weird, it should be a lighter shade of grey.
Tomcaster, did you asked pigtail why they use such a dark grey? But again, I've seen quite a few original Strats from '54, '55 and '56. There are some differences in the early years. I have seen a very early '54 Strat trem block which had very shallow string holes. The ball end actually was sticking out above the hole.


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Post subject: Re: 50th Anniversary 1954 Stratocaster Owners!
Posted: Fri Mar 22, 2013 5:46 am
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I just weighed them at work, both exact same weight, the pigtail has all the correct specs for a 54', it will be interesting to see what they say about the darker grey paint.


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