Paisley, that makes quite a bit of sense. The whole breakpoint over the back of the saddle being as shallow as possible. I can completely see how it relates to tension at the bridge. It also explains very well the principles behind setting baseplate height. Thankyou.

Wouldnt a floated strat trem have less tension than a flat set trem though. Surely the break angle of the string is decreased by way of the back of the tremplate being lifted?

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I'm a little confused. I thought string tension was dictated by scale length. The longer the scale length the more tension is required to bring the string to pitch. Which is why Strats have higher string tension than say Les Pauls, because of the longer scale length.
I'm not saying anyones wrong. I just didn't think string tension could be changed.

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The time has gone, the song is over, thought I'd something more to say.

Flanker. Paisely strat's idea of lowering the break angle to relieve tension is a good one. Do not lespaul owners do weird and wonderfull things to their bridges to pretty much acheive the same thing. Zak wylde for one puts the first section of his lp bridge on backwards so the strings come over the top of and onto the saddles with a flatter break angle.

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Yeah that makes sense.
Thanks

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The time has gone, the song is over, thought I'd something more to say.

It very much remains to be seen if reducing break angle will lower tension any. Theoreticaly it reduces overall string length because the string is in a straighter line. I'll dig my lp copy out and have a mess around later. Paisley is a clever sausage though, I cant see him being wrong. Mathematicaly from anchor point to anchor point the distance is reduced. Whether that makes a difference between breakpoints remains to be seen.

Bet you a quid it does.

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Hi flanker35: you were right the first time.

A string of a given gauge tuned to a certain note over a particular speaking length must always have the same tension. Change the tension you change the note. We call that... tuning.

Put 10s on both a Strat and Les Paul and tune to standard pitch. The Strat's strings have a higher tension to achieve the same note because of the longer speaking (scale) length. Immutable laws of physics.

One or two people are getting confused because of the trem springs element of the thing. But regardless of how many springs you have or where the spring claw is positioned, the tension in the springs must exactly equal and balance the tension in the strings. And that tension must always be the same on your Strat to get it to play in tune.

If someone is convinced their strings feel looser or tighter depending on adjustments they make round the back... I'm afraid they're kidding themselves (presuming the guitar is tuned to pitch).

A gentleman called Pythagoras sorted most of this stuff out a few thousands years ago...

Cheers - C

Thanks Ceri

I understand what Niki and Paisley were saying as far as break angle on the saddles. If you decrease the break angle at the saddle you would decrease the tension as the string breaks over the saddle.
I was talking about overall string tension. I know using different gauge strings will change string tension somewhat but scale length is the major factor in determining overall string tension. At least from what I understand.
I think I was just confused about the OP's original question. I'm still not too clear what the problem is.
I've never claimed to be an expert on anything so if I'm wrong please fill me in. One of the things I love about this forum is the knowledge of its members.
Thanks guys

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The time has gone, the song is over, thought I'd something more to say.

Oh and for those really bored. Here is a link about string tension.
http://liutaiomottola.com/formulae/tension.htm

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The time has gone, the song is over, thought I'd something more to say.

I was just offering that the length of the string between anchor points not break points may reduce tightness in the way the string feels (i suspected nut or bridge end). It will certainly reduce tension between saddle and anchor at bridge if the line of the string is as straight as possible. Yes there will be problems should it become too straight. The same is true of the headstock end, thats why you have string trees and gibson patent'd their headstock design.
That said there are always discrepnacies between guitars of the same model. Otherwise adjustments would not need to be made. Remember about 6 months back someone had terrible trouble with their nut end intonation and OrvilleOwner recommended they use a capo at the first fret because their nut was too near the bridge.

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Quite right. And also an important point to remember is that bridge adjustments can change the scale length a touch. Which is why we have to reset our intonation after changing saddle height. Amazing what tiny movements do.

I'd be deeply respectful of anyone who could actually detect with their fingers the difference in feel caused by small saddle movements, though...

Cheers - C

Gotta agree with CERI on this one. A small adjustment on the bridge is not gonna change the effective length of the string enough that once retuned after the adjustment would make a noticable differnce in string tension.