Is it possible to "lock" the floating tremelo on an American Deluxe strat? I do not like when bending one string "de-tunes" the others during that moment.

Thank-

Tom

yes it is possible, one of the ways is to lock it down with a piece of wood between the body and the block, there may be some other ways but this seems to be the easiest and the most common

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blues - its a religion...

Tom,

The wood thing is a cool way which I have done before, you can use a piece of steel if you can get the right size this will also give you some more tone as it rests on the trem block, well sort of anyway. The best way I have found though is to loosen the bridge screws, put at least 5 springs in and tighten claw to the body then just !@$ the bridge scres back up, should be ok too .. . . ..

regards

UJ

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"To Infinity & Beyond"

Using a piece of wood (or steel) to lock the tremelo sounds good and easy... but does anyone have a picture of this in place? I'm really afraid to mess with the guitar as I'm very new at it and don't want to mess-up anything.

Thanks! - Tom

Use the search function on this site and you'll learn everything you need to know about blocking a trem. Google something like "block stratocaster trem" and you're likely to learn even more. You'll find complete instructions.

The other way to do what you want is to "deck" the trem. This method does not require a block and is also effective. Just search on it.

This little doohickey just might do the trick for you.

Here's a pic for you.

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Thanks for all great info... I've read on decking the tremelo and believe I understand it, and the picture showing blocking works too. I'm not exactly sure which way I'll go, but I believe I'll be able to find my way now.

Thanks everyone! - Tom

Hey how do? I always deck not block my bridge. I use 10-46 ga. strings and 3 silver springs, as opposed to the black ones. The silver ones seem to have more tension. Tighten the claw just until the bridge touches the top of the guitar while not driving the 2 screws too far into the body. If you get to that point you'll need a 4th or maybe 5th spring. The detuning you mentioned is really minimized and you can still use the trem. It takes a bit more muscle now and you can't raise the pitch with the trem but if you block it you can't use it at all. You can also find more info on this site and in the set up guide as to how to adjust things so that the trem comes back in tune. People complain about that but I've always had good luck with mine. Hope you have good luck with yours!

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Please visit my youtube channel and check out my music at www.youtube.com/user/markr7922

On the Strat that I decided to block I took a very serious minded route. I left nothing to chance. I fabricated wedges out of hardwood and drove them in with a mallet. Both sides just like the pic above. It will take some serious effort to remove the wedges if should ever chose to do so, which I won't. The one thing I know for sure is that I could not possibly have engineered a more solid connection between the bridge and the body wood. Three things I noticed afterward. A slight loss of jangle. A slight increase in brightness. A moderate increase in sustain. The guitar is equipped with a humbucker at the bridge. For serious kick-in-the-pants rock 'n roll it works wonders. It cuts through a little better. Pinched harmonics squeal a little better. It sustains a little longer giving those squeals a chance to blossom and swell. For light grind blues or classic rock I'll use my other Strat which is not blocked and is SSS for the better jangle and quack.

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Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.

I usually deck my standard Strat tremolos. I don't use wood shims because it would be more difficult to remove. I like the option to go back to floating should I choose to do so. Fortunately for me I have 2 Strats that have Floyd Rose tremolos for my diving and climbing needs.

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RK

2007 Fender Highway 1
2012 American Deluxe
2015 MIM Dave Murray HHH
2010 Fender Blacktop
1987 Fender Avalon Acoustic
2012 Marshall DSL 15 watt head

My strat came with 3 of the black springs so if I deck it I will likely need some steel-looking springs.

One questions about blocking.... does the block need to be extremely tight to work well? I was thinking I could let the tremelo just use the string tension to hold the block snugly and work ok.... is this not true?

Tom

+1

I have my Strat set up with five springs in the trem and she doesn't move at all.

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2012 Fender American Standard Stratocaster
2013 Fender Pure Vintage 65 Stratocaster
2003 Gibson ES-355
2015 Gibson Les Paul Traditional
2002 Gretsch Duo Jet
1980 Rickenbacker 360/12 Fireglo
2014 Martin 000X1AE
2014 Fender Blues Junior III

This is probably an obvious question but - the bridge screws are at the sides of the bridge on top of the guitar? If yes, why is this important to decking the tremelo?

Thanks- Tom