LMAO!!!

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You dig?

Hi Martian: well that is very interesting, thank you. With the "loosen the middle four screws" adjustment I've heard people worrying that the end two might not withstand the force of string tension without pulling forwards in the wood. In fact, I've read that concern so often I presumed someone somewhere must have seen it sometime.

However, you've likely handled more guitars than most of us put together: if you haven't come across it then I guess it really can't be much of an issue in real life. That's especially useful input.

Cheers - C

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Nope, sorry but that is the only way that it can work, there is no mating surface in the six screws for the knife edge of the bridge plate. There is no setup on earth that can change the physical properties of the way the plate slides on the screws while using the whammy. If the plate pivoted on the body as some claim, the screws shafts would have to be curved to follow the arc movement of the end of the bridge plate. The setup that involves raising the four middle screws and tightening the two outside screws merely attempts to limit the amount of travel of the plate to get as good a tuning stability as possible, but it is still lacking.

No way around the physics here, no pivot on the six-screw bridge, and no type of setup will change that, short of fixing the bridge for no movement. So far, I am 5-0 at proving that the six-screw tuning stability is never "rock-solid" as some claim, no matter what stupid tricks someone wants to sell you. Amazing how it pisses people off when you show them the tuner that clearly shows the change in tune with whammy use. Then the song changes to; "Well, it isn't that much difference", or "it is still close enough". Ummm, it either stays where you put it, or it doesn't. Doesn't matter what anyone considers to be "in tune", it either stays there or not. Double locking (nut and bridge) is rock solid, and anything short of that is not.

I deck my bridges anyway, with no whammy use, and for looks and string vibration transfer, I like the six-screw better. Claims of gadgets or setups to keep the six-screw in tune with whammy use are nothing but snake oil.

If "close enough" is good enough, or "playably in tune" works for you, that's cool, but it sure isn't "rock-solid" ever.

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---> "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.

I've floated my tremolo on one Stratocaster for over 20 years, and it was floating when I sold it. As a matter of fact, all my Strats have been floating tremolo, as Leo designed. There is a little up and down movement on the 6 screw tremolo, but it is minimal if it's set up correctly. I've seen excessive up and down movement, due to an incorrectly machined plate. Maybe you started decking your bridge too early on.

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The design of each element should be thought out in order to be easy to make and easy to repair.
Leo Fender

Greetings, Ceri!

I thank you for your compliments!

Reinforcing your point, not only does it elongate the screw holes but it bends and grinds the screws themselves along with elongating and grinding up their holes in the bridge plate and in extreme cases, the wood directly underneath. Any and all of these conditions in turn, increases the odds of the tremolo as a whole not resettling in the exact same place every time. I can only surmise that this is why when Leo finalized this particular system as a 6 screw vs. less; his conclusion would be that the stressors are diminished by being more spread out, thus ensuring repeated uniformity.

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You dig?

You might be right, I do love the sound of the mild whammy use, and I try it occasionally. When I really want to whammy, I grab the Kramer with FR.

My best setup with a Strat for whammy use, is to remove the bar and use the heel of my hand for vibrato, and only pushing down on the bridge (no pull-ups) keeps it in tune very well.

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---> "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.