I see in the Fender catalog that all of the custom Strats (Clapton, Malmsteen, Johnson, SRV, etc.) with the exception of the Jeff Beck model have the six-screw vintage style tremolo. The American Standard is offered with the two post style "new" tremolo". What are the pros and cons of this new style tremolo? My first throught is that there is less beef connecting the strings to the body and therefore less tone and less sustain. Am I way off?

Thanks!

Gibsons seem to have no problems with sustain, and their bridges only have two posts...

well les pauls have a set neck and no tremelo.

I have both I love both ......

If you want it to sound like a Strat you need 6 screws in the trem and stamped steel saddles.

I can't find the exact quote but Robin Trower said that (in so many words) and I couldn't agree more. If it ain't broke don't fix it.

_________________
Custom Shop '59 Strat with John Cruz Master Design Pickups
Vibro King
Fulltone Clyde>Deja-Vibe>TS-808>TS-9>Boss Tuner

vintage 6 screw bridge all the way for me...

Yes my, 2 post trem makes my strat sound like a 67 Les Paul Custom
Bridge block mass has more to do with transfer than how many screws are on the tremlo. The strings run through the body, anyway.

Both my strats have six-screw tremolos. I've never actually used one of the two-screw types so I don't have a valid opinion. I generally don't like to stray too far from Leo's original designs. The American Standard originally had a different type of bridge saddle and they eventually went back to the vintage style. Maybe someday they will do the same with the tremolo action.

I have had both, and my vote is for the 2 point with the pop-in bar .

I like the softer feel of the 2 point. Also, IMO I think the bars on the USA vintage trems are way too flimsy. Not that I abuse them, but over time they get bent where the bar enters the block .

I have more tuning stability too.

On tone and transfer to the body: I just picked up a Minty (oh yea) 2004 50th anniversary Deluxe Saturday, so now I have 2 Deluxes with the exact same pickups and trems. Only difference is one is Ash and the other Alder. The alder one sounds, to my ear, more like a Strat than the other one

So, to me its more about the wood than the type of trem

But all the great ones do use the old school ones. So there has to be something to that. However, most of those guys don't use whammy that much either.

I have both... for actual whammy use, I like the two-point one with snap-in arm. The vintage model may as well be blocked, considering how little I use it. It works fine, I just have locking tuners and a roller nut on the other guitar, so that's the "whammy one". As far as tone and sustain go... the guitars are just too different in character for me to be able to say whether or not the number of screws in the bridge is a contributing factor. I doubt it's much of an issue.

I think a lot of the custom and artist models feature the vintage-style units because the manufacturing process is indicative of the general quality of the craftsmanship in those instruments: if they've gone to the trouble to resurrect the old machinery to bend the saddles into shape and then stamp them individually, they've gone the extra mile in other departments as well.

Lets just put it this way. I have both and the two point trem is a better floating feel then the six. The only reason I think fender still uses the six is because people just want vintage other wise I think they would all be two point.

_________________
The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.

Thomas Jefferson

Well, as you can see, this is another one of those highly subjective issues. Which is "best"? Depends on which any given player likes better. There is some logic in that a 6 point trem is going to transfer more of the string vibrations thru to the body and thus provide a bit more tone and sustain. I don't think the question here is "is there a difference" as much as how significant is that difference going to be in practical terms with average playing when all the other factors are taken into consideration. That said, like other's here I have both and the difference isn't that big a deal at all. Very honestly here, you'll get more of a difference from having a heavy steel trem block than you will from the difference between a 2 point and a 6 point. Personally, I think the two point actually does have a little bit better "feel" but that too is a subjective thing based on -my- personal preference...and to be honest, it's not all that substantial either way. There are so many other factors that influence my decision to buy any given instrument...the over-all sound, feel, look, etc., so that whole 2 point vs. 6 point trem issue is very low on my list of considerations....I don't think I would ever buy one instrument over another based solely on that particular issue.

As far as issues such as tuning stability and such go, either way you are still dealing with a Strat and 90% of most of that comes down to a decent and correct setup. -A LOT- of people do guitar setups, but a great many of them don't really know how to do it correctly (even so called "professional techs"). In this case, a person who doesn't know what they are doing can take a $1500 instrument and screw it up so bad that it's not playable at all where as a really good tech can take a $200 instrument and make it play like butter. All of that really has very little to do with the type of trem the instrument has.

So with that, my advice to you is to play both and then let your ears, hands and heart decide which is best for you. Leave your preconceptions at the door of the music store and just play a few...you'll figure out which is right for you soon enough .

Just my $.02 worth,
Jim

I have both types of tremolo systems on several different strats, USA Standard, USA Strat Plus, Road Worn, and have interchanged the tremolo systems around. This is the bottom line to me .. there is NO audible difference, they are both great. The main difference is aesthetic and vibe related.. the vintage wins the vibe contest hands down, the preferred look is subjective as I prefer the vintage look, and the one other difference that I have not seen anyone else note is the vintage style has a rougher surface which could cause irritation to the side of your hand depending on your style of strumming. I believe that was the main reason for the mod, to make playing more comfortable.
Doc Rock

I think, the vintage style like synchronized tremolo is better than the American Standard Stratocaster floating tremolo.

_________________
BOSS ST-2 POWER STACK
BOSS ML-2 METAL CORE
BOSS MT-2 METAL ZONE
BOSS MD-2 MEGA DISTORTION
BOSS DS-2 TURBO DISTORTION
BOSS DS-1 DISTORTION
BOSS OS-2 OVERDRIVE/DISTORTION
BOSS OD-3 OVERDRIVE
BOSS SD-1 SUPER OVERDRIVE
VOX TONELAB ST