I got my first Strat and I love the thing! It's a used MIJ 1996 50th anniversary. When I bought it I didn't know what to look for. I'm still learning to play guitar so I trusted that it was in good condition.

Took it home and I noticed that the bridge was raised. I know what you're thinkin', well duh it's a floating bridge! Well here's the problem the bridge is raised but it's fixed. The thing won't budge. I adjusted the springs in the back - applied as much tension as possible. Still the thing won't budge.

I took it to a guitar tech was baffled and said that the bridge plate mighta bent from overuse of the whammy bar, but I wonder if the body woulda cracked before having the metal bridge bend.

Anyway, the guitar plays fine. I was just wondering if I should get it replaced. I'm fine not using the tremolo bar for now, but in the future I definitely want a floating bridge. In the meantime - is it ok to play? I wonder about undue stress to the neck.

I've scoured forums and the web but it doesn't seem like a common problem. Any thoughts?

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96' 50th Anniversary MIJ Fender Stratocaster

This is the opposite of what you want to do. Tightening the screws for the spring claw all the way essentially made your strat a hardtail. Loosen the screws for the claw out about an inch. there are a few good videos on youtube as how to o this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jdinjw5V2bk

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"Where would rock and roll be without feedback?"

Thanks for the response Arnold. I actually tried tightening and loosening the spring claws both ways. Still - the bridge won't budge. It's frozen in the floating position, but doesn't move or tilt.

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96' 50th Anniversary MIJ Fender Stratocaster

All I can say is thento unscrew everything, and inspect for damage to the block, or bridge plate. You can buy a replacement for it if need be, and setup yourself. Strats are easy enough to work on once you know how, everything is meant to bolt on and off, with a little effort you can do all your own repairs, and setups yourself. Youtube has many videos that explain things very well. I used to drop my guitars off years ago, but after a while I just learned how to do it myself. Good luck.

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"Where would rock and roll be without feedback?"

If it is a 6-screw-standard or vintage tremolo, try to loosen the 6 screws a bit which hold the trem to the body.

They should NOT be fully tightened!

If they're tight AND the trem still is in floating position, the base plate might be really bent!
This might result in a higher string height. With a little luck you might still get a proper string height adjustment done, if it is not bent too much.

I can't imagine any other reason for a floating trem to be "stuck".

A pic of the rear cavity would help! Maybe there was another, bigger trem block installed which is too broad for the trem cavity??
But I guess you would have noticed that when fumbling around with springs and claw screws.

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Kindest regards from Germany, Dee
My recordings --> http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_mu ... dID=564337
STRATS ROCK!!! but Teles and Firebirds, too!

If you could take some pictures of what you have it could help us figure out what's going on. Take side and end views of the bridge and a couple under the back cover.

And if the guitar tech was baffled I'd look for a new tech.

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...I for one, sure would appreciate the return of intelligent conversation, spirit of assistance and the simple yet effective ignoring of those who can't seem to hang with that...
Best regards,
rob

+1 and if it's a two point try raising the pivot pins.

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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.

[

+1000

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"Where would rock and roll be without feedback?"

Thanks for all the advice folks, it is much appreciated.

I haven't had time to adjust them, but the screws do look like they are tightened all the way down.

I'm toying around with the the idea of a floating bridge. I've been resistant up until now, but why have a strat and limit it? Now to find a suitable trem bar. Mine didn't come with one unfortunately. Hopefully, I won't run into too many tuning problems.

I'm a little disappointed w/my guitar tech at the moment considering this seems to be a very basic thing.

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96' 50th Anniversary MIJ Fender Stratocaster

Once you get all the bridge problem solved and can actually get it unlocked, i dont think you should really have any problems with keeping her in tune... Granted my Strat is only maybe two years old, but the actual Fender brand doesnt sell junk, those trems are some of the best (none double locking) ones on the market, as long as your not doing millions of dive bombs between tunings, you should be set for some nice trem bar action! I've had mine for about a month now and ive literally had to tune it twice (and i play for ATLEAST an hour a day, with the trem) saying that, slap some good strings on it and have some fun with your new strat

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The secret to adjusting your trem so it stays in tune lies in understanding that spring tension must equal string tension. I think almost all Strat players are aware of that concept even if they don't think about it in those terms. I think what most people fail to understand though, is that each individual string exhibits a progressively different tension on the bridge starting with heavier tension applied by the heavy strings and lighter tension applied by the light strings. You can adjust the springs any way you want to and the "overall" tension will automatically self adjust but if you fail to understand the different tensions exherted by the different strings then you will unkowingly fail to adjust the claw accordingly and your trem will never be as tuning-stable as it could be. The trem claw should be angled to reflect the gradually increasing string tension so that, like the strings, it also gradually increases the spring tension it applies to the bridge from one end to the other. This will also help to avoid a few other minor mystery trem issues (usually on a two point) arising from your claw setup placing a torsional load on the trem block without you even knowing it and thereby causing the trem plate to sit awkwardly on the anchor pins.

It should look like this:



As a side note, I frequently see pics of trem claws in which the springs are misaligned, meaning that they are hooked onto the claw in a narrower pattern than how they are hooked onto the trem block. You should never do that and if yours is like that then please correct it now even if you don't plan to take the time to do the diagonal claw setup.

I like to adjust the bridge plate so it is reasonably close to parallel with the plane of the guitar top give or take a degree or two. For the sake of sounding musical and ease of play I will adjust the trem plate level so that when I pull up on the whammy bar it increases pitch to an even note which I painstakingly measure with a tuner and keep fiddling until it's within a couple of cents. This makes it easy to quickly pull up to a predetermined pitch without even having to think about it. My personal preference is an increase of three half steps on the G string, a whole step on the B and a half step on the high E. When I can accurately achieve those pitches on all three strings then I know that I have not only the correct overall tension on the bridge but I also have the correct angle on the claw.



As always, whenever you are involved in guitar setup of any kind you must ensure the guitar is in a proper state of tune after each and every adjustement before you test to see the result your adjustment has made. This makes the adjustment process more time consuming but you avoid making errors and ending up with an inferior result.

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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.

How do you go about adjusting a 6 screw trem bridge?

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...I for one, sure would appreciate the return of intelligent conversation, spirit of assistance and the simple yet effective ignoring of those who can't seem to hang with that...
Best regards,
rob

Well, except for the height of the anchor points (screws), the same way. At least as pertains to the claw.

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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.

That's some detailed adjusting! Makes perfect sense. I've got some work to do on my Am. Dlx.

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2000 American Deluxe Stratocaster
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Glad I could help. Post back here with your results or if you run into trouble.

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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.