I've always played my strats with the tremelo blocked until recently getting this EJ strat and setting it up as a poor man's Gilmour... so now I have the 3 spring set-up and a small amount of float. Love the way the strings bend more easily and tone is great. I do notice I get out of tune more often than with blocked trem, but only if I get really radical...

MY QUESTION:
I've read online that Gilmour sets his vintage tremelo "with the two outer screws cranked all the way down and the four inner screws just off the plate" - to help keep the guitar in tune.
Anyone out there ever set up your trem plate like this? Always having my trem blocked all these decades has rendered me tremelo-challenged! The set-up described seems to me like it would put extra stress on the two outer screws. I can even imagine the corners of the trem plate bending under the extra load, but I have a vivid imagination. This + being tremelo ignorant is a dangerous combination! Thus I'm hesitant to just try this set up and am soliciting fellow strat heads for feedback first.

Thx,

md

All of my guitars are set up with the inner 4 clearly off the plate..in fact,the outer two is tightened,then half a turn untightened..I use all 5 springs,and the float/feel is really,really nice.Stays in tune too !
Regards, Per







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Both of mine have been setup the same way. Basically, the outside screws are enough to hold them in. I have them just barely of the bridge plate. The others are there for guiding the trem up and down and they are up a little higher.
As far as springs, I just have the 3 springs that came with mine installed. I also have them setup with the two outside springs set with a little more tension and it sits right on the body and always returns to zero without any issues.

It's quite common.

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