Hello,

I've just bought a Mexican Strandard HSS strat. I'm not really bothered about using the tremolo. In an ideal world, I would have bought a hardtail, but can't afford one

Anyway, I've changed the strings to 11s, and obviously the spring tension needs adjusting. I was going to set the bridge flush with the body as, like I said, I won't be using the tremolo. However, a don't want the bridge to damage the body. So should I leave a bit of clearance? If so, how much? Is it purely down to preference?

Has anyone else done the same thing? I just wanted some advice to make sure I'm not going to damage it, or compromise the tone etc...

Many thanks,

Steve.

The polyester finish on MIM Strats is really tough and I think it would take a LOT of force from the bridge to even put a dent in it (I've only seen it happen once). So no I don't think leaving a gap is neccesary. But don't overdo it when tightening the springs just in case. Just tighten them enough until bridge completely touches the body, it doesn't need to be clamped down like in a vice.

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Obligatory gear list: Fender, Rickenbacker, Gibson, Gretsch, Vox, Martin, and more Fender.

To hardtail it add more springs and or tighten the spring claws.
You need just enough tension so that the biggest bend you will do won't lift the bridge off the body.

I wouldn't worry about damaging your body at all.
It is very common for those who don't know how to setup the trem or like it hardtailed to do it in this fashion. Guitar stores sell guitars setup like this.

If you are worried about it you can place a piece of wood between the trem block (inside the spring cavity either infront or behind the block) and then use either spring tension or string tension to keep it there. This way you can have the trem disabled but still in a floating position.

Infront = Spring tension holds it there
Behind = String tension holds it there

You cannot use your whammy if you use wood blocking the block.
If you hardtail it by adding more springs or claw tension you can do dives still but in my opinion its far better to be floating.

What do I do? Well since I can do my own setups 50% of mine are floating the rest aren't (just because I'm spoiled for choice).