While I am getting ready for some small upgrades on my 2008 Mexican Strat I also thought of incresing the number of springs to 4 or 5.
I do like to have my trem floating (blocking it is out of the question), but with 3 springs I am having a difficult time bending: very hard to do a full tone or more.
Would adding springs help with that? Will it result in an increased risk of snapping the trem arm? I do not do dive bombs or heavy pull ups. The strings I use are a standard 10 set.

Thanks.

Hi Fuzzy John,

More springs will make it harder to bend, and whammy. If you want the bridge floating, 5 springs might be too many, they can come off with whammy use. Putting on more springs requires the trem claw screws to be adjusted to offset the extra pull on the strings. If you want easier bending try some 9s with three springs (will still have to adjust trem claw).

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Thanks for your reply. However I do not see how more springs would make bends harder. If anything, they should make bends easier since the increased tension of 4 or 5 springs would not alow the bridge to lift as easy when a string is bent.
My problem is not that I cannot push the string up the fingerboard enough to bend. The problem is that with 3 springs even though I push the string the pitch does not change too much since the bridge itself lifts (which also detunes the other strings momentarily). Detuning the strings momentarily is not a big problem, at least for now.
I suppose more springs will not allow the bridge to lift as much which should make the pitch of the bent string higher. But this will also impair somewhat the use of the floating trem. Maybe I'll try with 4 springs.

If you can't increase the tension of the string (by pushing it) enough for your requirements, the problem is that your fingers are not strong enough for the string gauge you're using. It's governed by tension not placement or your B string would be higher pitched than your high E wouldn't it.

Now I strongly doubt that you're not strong enough to do the bend. It's more likely the way your bending. I suspect your trying to do it all on the finger. If you look at the great string benders like Clapton, its all from the wrist.

Having more or fewer springs will not change that in any way shape or form. All you will find is that the tremplate raises less with more springs. It won't change the amount of tension needed to raise the pitch of the note. With less springs, the string will travel further, but still require the same amount of tension for the pitch raise.

Lower your string gauge and maybe address your technique.

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No no and no

I had the same issue with one of my Strats... I've always played hardtails so I'm new to tremolos, but I wanted a floating trem on this Strat. I now have 5 springs and it works much better for me. But it's not just about adding the springs though, the trem claw, bridge height, string height and neck relief all had to be adjusted. My suggestion is to have a proper setup and you will be much happier. If that's not enough, you can do what I did and go for jumbo frets, works much better for bends.

My Deluxe Strat came with 3 springs and it was a nightmare to bend passed a full note! I could see the bridge move, which also affects any open string playing during a bend. After the extra springs and a proper setup things got much better. Now with the jumbo frets it's almost like my hardtail Strat.

Thanks. You are describing the exact problem I have.
Of course major changes will dictate a setup of the Strat. To keep the back of the bridge plate at 1/8" the tension of the 6 strings added up will have to be balanced with the tension imposed by the springs. Since I would be adding springs I would have to back off on the claw screws. The tension imposed by the strings when fully tuned, assuming they are the same gauge as before, should not affect the neck relief. At this point this tension would be the same on a hardtail bridge or on a floating trem with the same gauge strings and the same scale length.
Bringing the back of the bridge plate to the same height as before (1/8") should bring the string action back to what it was prior to adding the springs. Intonation should also be more or less as it was before.
The only thing I really expect to change is the stiffness of the trem arm.
I also expect that for the same amount of physical movement of the string during the bend 4 or 5 springs will not give as much as 3 springs which in turn will make the pitch of the bent string higher than before.
Of course, this is all in theory let's see how it turns out in reality.

You may want to look at some of these:
http://www.rawvintage.com/eng/item_springs.php

I'm not recommending them solely based on the issues you may be having, but they might change the tension or 'feel' part, and might ease your set-up woes by possibly reaching a happy medium.

ORC

There seems to be a lot of confusion about spring tension and the amount of springs. The bridge is balanced on a knife edge on the the posts, and the springs serve to offset the tension of the strings. That's pretty much it.

Heavier strings, tuned to standard pitch, exert more tension to be offset by the springs. To offset the tension, adjust the claw by turning in the screws that attach it. If a heavier string gauge dictates more tension, it may become necessary to add additional springs when the adjusting screws for the claw approach or reach their limit.

If we assume we're using 10 thru 46 strings, we can achieve the correct tension by either using 2 or three springs with the claw screws turned into the body, or by using 4 or 5 springs with the claw screws turned out from the body. Either way, the tension is the same, assuming we adjust for the same bridge height and string gauge has not changed.

Consider that, if you were running 9 thru 42 strings, with 5 springs, you'd have to back the claw screws waaay out. That seems to create a certain amount of slack in the springs. Generally the better solution would be to use 2 or three springs under moderate tension as opposed to 5 springs under "slack" tension.

This assumes of course, that we're floating the bridge. If we wanted to adjust the bridge flat to the body, for dive only function, then 5 springs could be appropriate for the desired tension.

There's no magic to how many springs are used. It's just a matter of creating the right amount of tension. Exercise those fingers...the rising bridge should be of no real consequence.

I've heard two different stories from two different techs... I agree with one of them and he's the guy that works on my guitars.

It's very simple if you think about it. If we're talking about a floating bridge, no bending involved here, the guitar could just be sitting there... then yes, the whole string-to-spring ratio applies and the claw has to be adjusted. But when you pick up the guitar and you start to bend, 5 springs will have more resistance IMO. This is the only way I can make sense of it.

Think about when you use the tremolo, 3 vs 5 springs, it takes more effort to move the trem with more springs, that's been my experience, floating bridge at the same height of course.

Agree!

_________________
---> "The amp should be SWITCHED OFF AND UNPLUGGED before you do this!" <---

Por favor, disculpe mi español, no se llega a la práctica con mucha frecuencia.

+1

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

As usual Nik is right on the money,although I have my vibrato decked I do extreme bends such as taking the B string on the 12th fret and bending to an E and I have small hands and a neuromuscular condition in my hands. To facilitate these bends I use 8-38 D'Addarios and have they stay in tune and hold their new brightness better than any others I've tried. As Nik and others the number of springs won't make any difference with your string tension.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.