Hi all,
Just got my first US deluxe Strat and well pleased with the sound and playability of it, the guitar player is a different matter though , but is there a way to lock the whammy bar or at least stiffen it up a bit?
I tend to rest the heel of my hand near the bridge with the result that I get a little bit of trem when I pick the strings. It's only a little but I can hear it and to tbh, I don't even want to use the whammy.. it just as standard with it.
Any solutions?
Keith

Hi Keith, welcome to the Forum.

At first you seem to be asking about tightening the bar, which would imply how loosely it drops away when you let go of it.

But your next paragraph makes it sound like it is the bridge itself you want to firm up, because of unwanted vibrato type pitch warble due to resting your hand on it (were you previously a Les Paul player, by any chance?). If the latter is really the issue then it is easily solved by removing the back plate and adding a fourth and perhaps even a fifth spring to the mechanism. You will instantly see what I mean when you take that plastic plate on the back of the guitar off. You can buy extra springs from most guitar shops or cheaply from online aftermarket parts sellers. Choose the black or silver springs to match whatever your guitar already has, as they are different tensions - are they black springs on your Deluxe?

Adding springs will pull the back of the bridge down hard on the face of the guitar body and in so doing throw your action and intonation out, so they will need to be reset. If you don't know how to do that yourself just have the whole thing done affordably by the guitar shop's tech. If the Strat is new a set-up like this may be included in the purchase price, so ask.

Writing this post has taken nearly as long as the job I'm describing. It is quick and easy: go to!

Good luck - C

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+100, Ceri.

Just do as he advised and deck it. Put two extra springs in it, add a small wood block (cut and sand to fit) in the gap between the trem block and $@! end of the cavity, adjust the claw screws to hold everything in place, then replace the trem cover. As Ceri said, it will affect the intonation and may affect the action as well, so adjust the action, then the intonation as needed. Eric Clapton (and many other blues players) mod their Strats like that all the time.

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"It's about sound and sound alone. Looks are irrelevant. You can have the best-looking guitar on earth, but if the sound isn't there it is nothing more than a beautiful piece of trash. The sound it makes is the soul of any guitar."

Hi stratfreak51: that's right, blocking the bridge will dfinitely do away with pitch flutter issues.

But the gentleman may wish to still be able to use his vibrato bridge but merely have it a little less sensitive to the pressure of his picking hand resting against it. So in that case he needs to add another spring or two, which will pull the back of the bridge plate hard down against the front of the body, but then unscrew those two spring claw screws (counter-clockwise) till the back of the bridge has risen back up to the prescribed gap of about 1/8 inch, with the guitar tuned to pitch. In theory this should also put his action and intonation back where they were, but in real life I'd want to double check the whole set-up after such adjustments. Or have a good tech do it.

It's cool that Fender bridges offer all these different possibilities!

Cheers - C

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Thanks fellas,
I had a look at the back and there are 3 springs there are 3 springs there.
It feels a bit too too soft, I only have to touch it with the heel of my hand and I get the wobbly sound, I was also starting to sound like Stevie BB Ray Clapton in the style of Hank Marvin.

I will try Ceri 's way first see how I get on.

btw... I have found a sure fire way to relic your guitars...

Go the guitar shop to buy another single guitar stand, which you forgot to buy in the excitement of picking up above mentioned guitar.

Instead get a super fandangled, bells and whistle 3 way stand instead.

Arrive home and put guitars in 3 way stand and Mandolin in redundant single stand and then admire them from the other side of the room.

Walk back to stand and pick up the outside Bass guitar.

Then try to stop your Strat from hitting your Hollow body which in turn is falling off the stand and going to hit the Mandolin all whilst you are off balance from the stoopid Bass strap that got caught on the leg.

The Wife thought it looked hilarious and I kind of looked like Bruce Lee with the swift hand and foot movements.

Keith

hi again Keith.

Hahaha - I have a feeling that could be how the whole relicing thing got started in the first place! (I know the story about Keith Richards, but...)

good luck with your adjustments and give us a shout if we can help further.

Cheers - C

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+1

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"Epitaph on a blues musician’s tombstone: “I didn’t wake up this morning”" Davy Knowles


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