I have owned an EC Strat for about 5 years (which I like). When I bought the guitar, I had not really played the guitar for many years and knew very little about the technical aspects of the guitar. The fact that I bought this particular guitar was a lucky break due to the feel of the neck, the tone, and the help of a very knowledgeable salesman who worked as a Fender rep for many years. Anyway, when I had the guitar set up, I thought it should have a whammy bar (probably a mistake). In order to add the whammy bar (which I rarely use so I do not care if stays or not at this point), the tech removed the block and two springs (which I have kept). I am wondering if any of you would advise me about the effects of putting the guitar back to its original set up. I play this guitar as my main guitar and I am out there in the world live on a regular basis as an amateur and I use 9.5's. I play it through either a 1965 Super Reverb or a 1966 Bandmaster. I like the current feel of the guitar by and large but I am wondering what I am missing. Thank you for any comments or suggestions.

Hi dcarney,

"Blocking" the trem, or other methods of preventing bridge movement, are mainly about tuning stability, and many, myself included, feel that you get a little different tone from a guitar with a trem that is locked down. I personally feel that the block is a complete waste, totally unnecessary, and have been told that Clapton doesn't use a block of wood in his guitar, so just use five springs and tighten the trem claw screws down and be done with it. I believe that Clapton did use a block of wood at one time and found that it was worthless. If Clapton never used a block of wood on any of his Strats, why the he!! would Fender stick one in the Clapton model Strat?

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

I would not think you are missing that much, however you can try to stick the block in and see how looser are the springs are.
My theory, and what I have on one of my strats, is that wood block is keeping the steel block in position so it does not move keeping the bridge decked. The job of 5 springs there are purely to be there loose to vibrate (new black springs have less tension and do a better job with this).

You ca try it, strike an open A or E chords and let it ring, unplugged and plugged you should hear the DRRRNNNNNNN noise.

hth

I don't have my strats blocked, though I have 1 trem floating, and the other flush, and there's a definte difference in the tone, plugged or acoustically. The flush trem is much punchier and bright. I do however have a PRS Custom 22 blocked. Origianlly it was just setup so the trem would just drop in pitch (with a lot of pressure). Blocking that guitar did change the sustain more than the tonal color. I could also feel it vibrate throughout the guitar more. As for the black springs; those are what they put on American stds and Deluxes and those type. Vintage style all still use the stiffer silver springs, because techinically. The tremolos are supposed to be set flush, though tghis has gone by the wayside.

Thanks to all for your comments. Don

To the best of my knowledge there's never been an explanation from the company as to why the mass block in the Clapton Strat was blocked with a piece of wood. The old Blackie guitar had five springs on the block and the trem claw flush against the body rout, which is the way my '89 Clapton is done. The bridge is on the deck. It stands to reason that having wood tying the body to the trem's mass block might offer some resonance. The reason for the mass block at all is due to Clapton's feeling that a hardtail loses something. That's what makes for horseraces.

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