Hello, i have a 2009 MIM Standard Strat Placid lake blue with Schaller locking tuners and Dimarzio 67/67/54Pro Pickups. I'm going to change the bridge and my options are:

1) VSV400P
2) VS100

Would they fit ?
If not, is it hard to adjust to my guitar?

Please help.
Thankz.

I had a VS 100 and it fit just fine on an American Standard. I currently have a VS401 on a 2008 American Standard and it's a perfect fit.

IMHO, whatever bridge you go with, make sure that the sustain block is steel, as opposed to zinc, silly putty, etc.

A brass tremolo block is also a prefered solution

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'78 Fender Stratocaster
Epi USA Texan '64 RI signed by Paul McCartney
'73 Fender Mustang
Gibson LP Deluxe RI '69
Fender Active Jazz Bass
Guild GADm20e Acoustic Guitar
Epi Casino RI
Gretsch Pro Jet w/Bigsby
And My Frankenstein-O-Caster

I think these two have steel block. Or they dont?

IM BUYING THIS ONE VSV400P

OPINIONS ?????

vai ficar du carai sua mexicana bixo. boa sorte!

One of these?

Very nice indeed. I do like the Wilkinson pop in trem arms. No wiggle, no hassle and well made. A quaility product (IMO)

Andy

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Pending Greatness

Whoa - hold on there one moment. The VSV400P has a spacing on the six pivot screws of 56mm from center to center of the outside two screws. See the diagram bottom of this page:

http://www.whamster.com/viewProduct.php?ID=188

I'm not certain what the spec is on the newer MIM Strats but I do know that the older ones had a screw spacing of 52mm - so the Wilkinson bridge would not be a straight swap. People will tell you that the elongated screw holes allow for different screw spacings, but that is in fact not their function. They are like that to prevent binding during vibrato use, and will not accommodate a difference of 4mm in the screw spacing.

In other words, measure your screw spacing first. Maybe it'll fit and maybe it won't...

It is an absolutely excellent bridge if it will fit your guitar, though. I now have several VS401s (the two-post version).

BTW: just take a look at the RRP for that bridge on Trev Wilkinson's own website (above). Wow. That explains why in Britain none of us buy from Trev's site, even though we'd like to give him the business. These bridges cost me far less even after WDMusic.co.uk have imported them on special order all the way from Japan. Nuts, huh?

Cheers - C

You are rigth!! So im going for the VS100 or the VSV-G. I belive the spacing on those is ok with my mim.
Where can i buy those? do they come eith a steel block???

Hi again joaquin: the VS100 is an excellent bridge. It was my fave until the VS401 came along - nothing wrong with it at all, and it has a nice chunky steel block, so no worries there. And the same cool saddles as the 400 and 401, so that's all good.

I have no idea where you'd get that bridge in Uraguay. I do know that Stewart-MacDonald in the US sell them, and they ship internationally, so that is a possibility if you can't find it closer to home:

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Bridges,_ta ... emolo.html

Cheers - C

I've been investigating this and the Wilkinson VSVG is the one.
Opinions ???

Hi again joaquin: well I love the design of the twangy "vintage" sound saddles on that bridge. But you still need to check the spacing of the six screws on your MIM Strat. If they are 52mm from center to center of the outer two screws then this bridge won't fit on your guitar. The VSVG has a spacing of 56mm for those screws:

http://www.whamster.com/viewProduct.php?ID=180

(See where it says 56mm on that diagram at the bottom of the page? That's the bit we are talking about.)

Measure the screws on your Strat. If they are 52mm apart then none of the six screw Wilkinson VS bridges will fit it, I'm afraid. Fender do that to encourage you to go buy an American Strat rather than upgrade a Mexican one.

On the other hand, I have a feeling I might have heard people saying the newest Mexican Strats take a bridge with the 56mm screw spacing - but I don't have personal knowledge about that. You have to check it for yourself.

Now then. I agree with you that the Wilkinson bridges are great, but if you find you can't fit a VS to your guitar but still want to upgrade it take a look at this page:

http://www.callahamguitars.com/partsstr.htm

Look at the second bridge down, labelled "Limited Production Callaham Narrow Strat Bridge Assemblies". There are two options under that one: you want the one called "Callaham Mexican Std Model" with the 52mm / 2 1/16 inch mounting screw spacing. Many people on this Forum have used those bridges and they are always very highly recommended.

You can buy the bridge direct from that website and they will ship internationally. But email them first to check it is the right one. They are very helpful.

And first of all: check your screw spacing!!!

Cheers - C

I'll check teh spacing

ITS 52mm arghhhh !!! What can i do? the callaham its the only one ? I dont like it that much. I want something more modern but not a floyd rose and at tge same time something kind of clasicc but not as vintage as the callaham.

I'm afraid it is a problem. Most higher quality bridges are made to fit a 56mm screw spacing, as found on American Strats. Fender do the two different screw spacings to give you an incentive to upgrade to a US model rather than modding a MIM or a Squier.

Options. If you don't like the Callaham bridge you could still buy their trem block for Mexican bridges: many people here have done that and like it very much. The "Mexican Standard Enhanced" block, on this page just below the full bridge units is the one you want:

http://www.callahamguitars.com/partsstr.htm

You could then fit some nice high grade saddles. Many to choose from, just for example, these:

http://www.wdmusic.com/import_strat_saddle.html

or these:

http://www.wdmusic.com/string_saver_tele_narrow.html

(I know those are labelled "Tele", but they have the narrower spacing you required on your 52mm bridge.)

Or many others. Folks here will enjoy giving recommendations. Then the only bits that will have stayed the same are the trem plate, the arm and the six screws. And really, none of that matters very much.

The only other serious option is to replace your six screws with two pivot posts 56mm apart. Then the world is full of nice bridges for you to choose from. Here is a Squier body that had six screws with 52mm spacing which I filled and replaced with posts. Then I fitted the Wilkinson VS100 bridge you see here. Warning; this is not really a modification for beginners:



It can be done, but it is not easy. And getting an invisible finish repair depends on the color of your guitar.

Possibilities...

Good luck - C