so i just got a mexican strat and i wanted to put new strings on it. ive never tried to string a guitar with tremolo bridge and cant seem to figure it out. i got all the strings on no problem but getting it in tune has been a headache. ill get the e, a, and d strings in tune but after i start to tune the g, b, and high e strings the others come out of tune. then since theres so much tension, the bridge is so high up i cant get the whammy bar to go down, only up. im on my last set of strings bc the others broke from attempting to get this thing in tune! any help would be greatly appreciated

Hi seand29,

You need to tighten the two trem-claw screws to lower the bridge closer to the body. Remove the plastic trem-spring cavity cover plate on the back of the guitar to access the two screws for the claw that holds the springs. When set according to recommendations, the back of the bridge should be about 1/8" off of the body. Tighten the screws, tune, and check bridge height from body, repeat if necessary until setup and tuned. Check the setup guide for adjustment procedures (link below).

With a Strat set up for trem use (floating bridge), tuning one or more strings will always affect the other strings tuning, this is normal, you just have to keep tuning until they are all in tune (after bridge setup of course).

http://www.fender.com/support/articles/stratocaster-setup-guide

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If your bridge was floating already and you did not change gauges, then you wouldn't need to tweak the trem claw (even if you did remove all the strings at once). Basically put on the strings and be sure to stretch the snot out of them as you go along. You'll essentially be stretching, tuning, stretching tuning etc... for a while until you can stretch and the string doesn't go out of tune. Yes, you will be going back and forth between strings doing this, but it's the best way to get them all to settle in (and it will allow you to use the trem bar without having many tuning issues as well...).

If you did change the gauge, then you'd expect the trem to either raise or lower a bit depending on whether you went to a smaller or larger gauge.

Definitely need to tighten the trem claw screws, no doubt.

_________________
---> "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.

Tighten the tremolo claw inside the back of the guitar and add another tremolo spring.

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I still think he should stretch the strings and maybe retune using a tuner (maybe he's got them tuned too high?) If a trem is set to float say 1/8", it's always gonna retuen to 1/8' unless you change the gauge of strings. You shouldn't have to adjust the claw/add springs unless you changed gauged or have tuning that's way out of whack. Sounds like he was tuning without stretching or something.....