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Post subject: Need Some Immediate Answers
Posted: Mon Apr 28, 2008 9:35 am
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1. Would adding springs, winding the tremelo tighter, and changing strings count as getting a guitar setup?
2. Can a tremelo function properly with only two springs?

Thanks, and please answer as soon as possible.

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Posted: Mon Apr 28, 2008 9:44 am
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1. No. Three of the most important pats of the set-up - intonating the bridge, setting string action and checking and adjusting neck relief - are missing from your list.

2. It would depend on your string gauge and how far you screw in the claw. In my experience, it would be hard to get the trem to balance with only two springs... unless you were using very light strings and wanted a trem with a hair trigger.


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Posted: Mon Apr 28, 2008 9:51 am
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Gravity Jim wrote:
1. No. Three of the most important pats of the set-up - intonating the bridge, setting string action and checking and adjusting neck relief - are missing from your list.

2. It would depend on your string gauge and how far you screw in the claw. In my experience, it would be hard to get the trem to balance with only two springs... unless you were using very light strings and wanted a trem with a hair trigger.


Thanks a ton, man. This means that I need to spend a bit of money getting my Strat to be the way I want it. Would I have to wind the tremelo all the way to the body if I were to use two springs?

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Posted: Mon Apr 28, 2008 9:54 am
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blues_boy wrote:
Thanks a ton, man. This means that I need to spend a bit of money getting my Strat to be the way I want it. Would I have to wind the tremelo all the way to the body if I were to use two springs?


Again, it depends on the pull exerted by your strings. I can't say for sure.... the trem works and stays in tune when the tension of the strings is perfectly balanced with the tension of the strings.


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Posted: Mon Apr 28, 2008 10:00 am
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Gravity Jim wrote:
blues_boy wrote:
Thanks a ton, man. This means that I need to spend a bit of money getting my Strat to be the way I want it. Would I have to wind the tremelo all the way to the body if I were to use two springs?


Again, it depends on the pull exerted by your strings. I can't say for sure.... the trem works and stays in tune when the tension of the strings is perfectly balanced with the tension of the strings.


OK, thanks!

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Posted: Mon Apr 28, 2008 12:07 pm
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Lots of guys run all five springs for stability; I do and i block it off ala Clapton because i don't use it. I havew thought about using a hard tail bridge on a tremelo body to see if that would work. The routing a trem body has affects the tone... IMHO


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Posted: Tue Apr 29, 2008 9:14 am
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dna9656 wrote:
Lots of guys run all five springs for stability; I do and i block it off ala Clapton because i don't use it. I havew thought about using a hard tail bridge on a tremelo body to see if that would work. The routing a trem body has affects the tone... IMHO


I was thinking about the five springs for a more stable tremolo, and I needed to know more about it. Can I do it myself? Or do I need to have a pro do it, since I don't know much about it? I as also wondering if I need to take all the springs and strings off before I wind the tremolo claw.

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Posted: Tue Apr 29, 2008 10:40 am
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blues_boy wrote:
dna9656 wrote:
Lots of guys run all five springs for stability; I do and i block it off ala Clapton because i don't use it. I havew thought about using a hard tail bridge on a tremelo body to see if that would work. The routing a trem body has affects the tone... IMHO


I was thinking about the five springs for a more stable tremolo, and I needed to know more about it. Can I do it myself? Or do I need to have a pro do it, since I don't know much about it? I as also wondering if I need to take all the springs and strings off before I wind the tremolo claw.


Every one I used to know with a strat ran 5 springs for stability.
Go get some springs, a #1 and #2 phillips screwdriver and a pair of needle nose pliers.
Get a stable surface and lay a pad or a couple of towels over it to protect your axe.
You CAN loosen the strings if you want to; doing so will make installing the springs and adjusting your claw easier.
Take the cover off the back; hook the spring to the claw and insert the other end into the trem block so it looks just like the ones already in there.
Now would be a good time to give the claw screws a turn or 2 if you like but with the additional springs I think you should wait on that till you tune it up and give it a road test.
After you have tried it out then you can adjust the trem claw to your liking and re-install the cover.
See your owner's manual for complete details or check elsewhere on the Fender site.
Guitar Player magazine had a book called "Fixing your Axe" it reccomended a 1/4 watt 250K resistor be installed between the black ground wire you see soldered to your trem claw and the trem claw to limit any voltage that might be present when touching your strings and touching some thing that may not be properly grounded; like an amp or microphone. I have had this experiance and installed the resisitor in all my axes with no noise problem.


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Posted: Tue Apr 29, 2008 10:45 am
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You don't need to run five springs to stabilize the trem.

What you need to do is get it in balance with the strings.

Dan Erlewine explains how to do this in his book.


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Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 9:19 am
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Jim, or somebody else, does the size of the strings need to correspond with the number of springs?

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Posted: Fri May 02, 2008 10:02 am
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Anybody? Nobody?..............ok then.................... :?

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Posted: Fri May 02, 2008 10:09 am
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The subject under discussion is kind of an art-craft, not an exact science, in this opinion. There is likely not one thoroughly right answer. Even individual springs (new, old, material, alloy) will have differing tension and longevity characteristics.


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Posted: Fri May 02, 2008 10:26 am
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JSJH wrote:
The subject under discussion is kind of an art-craft, not an exact science, in this opinion. There is likely not one thoroughly right answer. Even individual springs (new, old, material, alloy) will have differing tension and longevity characteristics.

Absoluty! I never considered this before; but in theory I suppose you SHOULD have all springs from the same manufacturer and made of the same stuff; so I suppose you should buy all 5 at the same time but I'm not sure this has much real world effect.
I'm sure all the rational opinions here have merit and value and will add to your search for a "right" answer however in the long run it's what YOU like; I don't think your doing some thing that's going to hurt your axe.
The strat has been around a long time and I have never heard of one being damaged beyond repair doing what you're doing. Just remember that it's made of wood and is subject to all the forces that can affect wood; like over tightening screws; "bending" the neck when trying to adjust the neck; things like that...


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