I opened this thread because of a couple of issues I was having with the FR. Xhefri offered some advice that will probably cure one of my ills.

The first issue I had was a couple of strings just popped out of the bridge after putting on a new set of strings. It was my first string change on this guitar and it may have been a simple matter of not setting the string deep enough into the slot before locking them down. Xhefri explained how these are constructed and offered some tips on string installation.

Another thing I'm not to comfortable with is that the saddles are not height adjustable. The only height adjustment available is via raising or lowering the studs - which may be OK. I will get a setup done with the current FR tremolo and see how it feels. I'm not terribly picky so it'll probably be fine.

The variance in stud spacing, compared to the wilkinson, is just a tad over 5/100ths. Split the difference and you're looking at 25/1000ths string displacement. That's probably within most margins of error - which may be a moot point if I decide to keep the FR.

It's a custom shop strat and I'm in the process of getting a COA reissued and Fender will not reissue a COA unless the guitar is original - at least visually. That could take 6 weeks so I can't be in to much of a hurry to go swapping out parts anyway.

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In my opinion Leo Fender had essentially perfected the guitar amplifier by 1964.