HOW TO - Hardtail a Fender Stratocaster Tremolo Bridge
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- Опубликовано: 6 сен 2024
- Get the springs: amzn.to/2Q6iXnt (Affiliate link)
I got this guitar in March 2018 and immediately decked the trem. (But I forgot I made a video about it :) )
This is one way to deck the tremolo system on a Fender Stratocaster.
In this video I just add additional springs and tighten the tremolo system.
If you don't use a tremolo, this is one easy way to turn it into a hardtail guitar
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![The Perfect Stratocaster Trem / Vibrato Setup [Floating, Flat Or Blocked?]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/PjVXWyUGpwc/mqdefault.jpg)
![The Perfect Stratocaster Trem / Vibrato Setup [Floating, Flat Or Blocked?]](/img/tr.png)
I didn't plan on watching this ... but what the hey
Ha ha LOL!! 🤣
didn't plan on replying, but what the hey. :P
@@landonbailey @ 1:18 ...usually I'm sarcastic 😂
@@R2R3Lockingnut first time being serious, ever!
does anyone know if you have to intonate a start after doing this? I bought a player strat recently and have been wanting to do this but Im just too lazy to intonate it haha
Personally I wish they made more hardtail strats, but this is the next best thing. Works fine. I don't have much use for trems. They go out of tune all the time, locking or non-locking, and they never fit into my style of playing.
Ditto. Actually, it's not the trems that go out of tune, it's the strings when they get stretched. Tremelo's that "stay in tune" is a pipe dream.
I wish they made more strats that were fender not squire and had hardtails and humbuckers and were under 1000$
I also fitted 5 springs. I found that with a short screwdriver, it's quite uncomfortable to tighten the screws with knuckles so close to the body. A long-reach screwdriver solves that and also gives you a bit more leverage because it's easier to turn.
I saw a micro particle of dust in the cavity. That may affect your tone.😳
😁👍😝🎸
And the acid in your skin affects the tone from the fretboard,
so it's better not to play your guitar at all.
Hey Under the backplate, is it clean? 🤔
..as a whistle!
From Leo: I have one that I snugged against the deck maybe 25 years ago. The pressure of the steel and the vibration against admittedly old brittle finish started a some finish cracks. Trying to avoid making a well kept instrument into a relic, I lifted it enough to slide a cut down business card between the trem plate and the body . I do not notice any tone or sustain difference, and maybe I have retarded the damage to the finish.
Barb is it worth buying a $119 roller bridge or a little more money for a new bridge the has a heavier block to stabilize my tuning I have a MIM Stratocaster deluxe 2 point bridge with good fender locking tuners. I never use a whammy bar.
A nice easy way to deck your trem....and yes that was the cleanest cavity I've ever seen on a guitar!!
I ate supper from the cavity later that night. it was so clean! 🤪🎸
If you only use 9s You don’t need extra springs. Just tighten the claw all the way.
do i need to change my action if i do this?? i got a player strat the other day and this floating bridge is driving me insane, i have no guitar knowledge and i dont want to break it haha
@@poppy_esem yes just tighten the springs and you should be fine
Thank you for the simple explanation. I love the tone of the strat but I just don’t use the tremolo. After having played an LP and resting my hand on the bridge my whole life, it took me a while to figure out what was up with my strat!
Thank you, and merry Christmas!
hey thanks Sean!
Do you need to loosen the strings before doing this, then tune back up after the bridge is flush?
pretty sure I didn't
Legend has it that his guitar was nice and clean inside...
Nice. I'd block it too, added support for the wood holding those tightened screws.
Also for those preferring to remove the springs, that appears to effectively disconnect the bridge from that ground, so leave one in is the advice I've seen elsewhere.
That is one of the cleanest guitar cavities I’ve ever seen
So thats how you do it. By the way, did you find that the trem cavity was clean. Something going on. I mean immaculate!
2 questions:
1. Why the extra springs? wouldnt it work with just the 3?
2. By decking the bridge, what effect did this have on the string action?
cheers!
Probably fine with 3 springs, 5 is just solid. and I don't recall about the string action changing much.
Never seen one that clean...ever!
same! that's why I was so impressed. still haven't to this day
I hadn’t noticed but that is really quite clean in that secret compartment.
it's still the cleanest I have ever seen
@@landonbailey it was really very tidy in there. Thanks for the update.
what if i want to put a non tremolo bridge on my guitar (that has a tremolo bridge)?
putting the back plate upside down hehe
Best to adjust those screws when not under maximum spring tension. That’s the fastest way to wreck the threads in the wood.
Just got an identical color HSS version and want to hardtail it... do you need the extra springs? What do they do?
I'm not sure if they are necessary, just wanted to add more tension
Landon Bailey it definitely makes sense but I’ve seen other videos where people just screw into the top without adding springs. Also what are your thoughts about foam or filler to stop the springs from vibrating as well?
I pulled the springs out, used 7 quarters and 1 nickel stacked up and wedged them in the gap between bridge and body. Trem locked
Thank you for this video super simple and straight forward from a beginners perspective but one question would you need to adjust the six screw in the front or the two screws for two point trems for anything I haven't owned a guitar with a trem and don't wanna risk messing anything up 😂
no other adjustment
I would take think guitar string make the end in to a small hook take some spongey fabric material hook it on the string and pull the material through all your springs to make sure you don't get noise from the springs. If you want to do it the half ass way stuff cotton ball under the springs. Just my opinion.
thanks for the tips. I've been ok and haven't had any noise
Thanks for showing which way the springs go!
Glad to help!
My mexi Strat came with the tremolo floating. I want to block it like you did. Do you have to add the extra springs to get it to sit on the body? And why did you tighten the claw screws so much? If you tighten too much, will the tremolo be much too difficult to engage. I want the bridge to be sitting on the body but not so tight that it would be difficult to dive the tremolo.
I don't use the trem at all so I did it this way because it's quick and easy. blocking usually refers to put some type of object between the trem block and the body so it doesnt move. I'm not sure if you can block it and still use it.
So i assume you then have to raise the saddles considerably ?
Did you have to re set up your action string height, pick up height?? I want to do this but would like to know what I’m getting into before hand
I had already done those things before adding the springs. the bridge was floating when I bought it. so I made all my adjustments previously, and was basically just adding springs so the bridge is harder to move
That cavity is pretty clean
spotless!
Why not take the springs out and block with wood, i am doing one using a piece of aluminum angle screwed to the block and body
See, that’s what I was thinking, as well. But I had no idea that one could just get an extra set of springs and do it with those instead. Maybe I may do both those and some wood.
Leave a spring in or you disconnect the bridge from ground.
Wow that is clean... A clean machine. So clean it is lean. Yes it gleams caus it is clean.
..she was a fast machine....
the whistlingsound of a sword as it swishes through the air to decapitate someone, and an early 19th century quotation does suggest this connection: 'A first rate shot.(his) head taken off as clean as a whistle.
ha cool! thanks
Question- if I’m doing this with a 2 point trem, should I raise the 2 points slightly on top so that there’s a little relief there to allow the trem to fall back? Or deck them too?
You may be nuts, but a good nuts. Thanks for the video.🙉
I'm nuckin Futs!!
I'm watching in 2023 and it still clean!
Why fender doesn't make more hardtail strats.......then fkg geniuses say ...get a tele.....buy why....the strat fits the body and has a comfortable arm contour. But then again we can all just put a couple springs on......but what about that block of wood missing 🤔
the answer is usually money and sales
I don't know if you check comments. But damn, what year is that mexi? That is a heck of a clean rear cavity. (No pun intended)
I never do! it was a 2017, just before the Player series came out. Cleanest I've ever seen
Cool vid!...liked the part where you would like to put the backplate on the opposite way?Better for intonation??🤔🤔Just kidding!Blocked mine years ago,but informative for the newbies!👍👍👍👍👍
You will believe what's under the back plate!
Like Office Space!!!
Thanks for the informative video. Nice strat also! Did you get the memo on the TPS reports?
Yes I did
Good job. I want to do this on the same guitar. What is the parts number? Thanks.
this is it: AMERICAN VINTAGE TREMOLO TENSION SPRINGS (PACKAGE OF 5)
Model #: 0031643049
@@landonbailey Thanks! Got 'em in my Amazon cart.
Not even 30 minutes after I bought my strat in 1992, I put all the springs on and decked that bad boy and never ever looked back. I cannot stand how the trem works on the strats but that's me. It feels weird, is unreliable and just a lousy design in my humble opinion and besides, I rest my hand on the trem of every guitar I play so I was doomed from the start. But to be fair, it wasn't one of the high end models but it also wasn't one of the cheapos either. But again, that's just me and I got some buddies who swear by it. Whether you agree with me or not, is irrelevant so I'll simply say ROCK ON MY FRIENDS!
Rock on
can I just use three springs and keep tightening it? I don't have a pack and was just curious if ic ould do this with just three
I think you can, but I'm just not sure it will hold as firmly
yep just figured that out and it went back up slightly once I got it tuned,but its pretty close to decked just slightly off. but now having issues keeping it in tune especially after bending, any advice?
@@landonbailey
Is it harder to play a hardtail strat or the opposite?
no, there's no difference in difficulty
@@landonbailey thank you so much
Every damn guitar I've opened NEVER looked like that damn ...... I had to remove mouse crap once lol!!!! Sweet Guitar, great info. I can finally fix that damn trem lol, More springs huh LOL!!
With so many tension dont you mark the wood at long term?
What?
do I need to adjust the intonation after this?
probably a tiny bit at least
the pun game is strong with this one
When it’s decked. Can you tune down half step?
I think that should be ok. The bridge is held down very firmly but I can still bend the arm, it's just harder to
like this instagram.com/p/Bx6WuNZHNdM/?igshid=1t3m71q77nkxz
you should wrap those sprangs in plastic or foam to prevent that dang noise leaking into your tone.
great upload nice Strat! i am going to be doing that this weekend i am trading my tele squire that i really like for a lefty strat that has or needs a few more springs in it to flatten out that bridge i am gonna subscribe to ya and let you know how it works out on your channel as well as do a demo on my channel when i get it done
hey thanks! let me know how it goes
What phone did you use to take the pic of the cavity? The image looked really nice
hey there! was either a Samsung Galaxy s7 or s10
@@landonbailey Thank you! I enjoyed your commentary a lot by the way, I should have mentioned that right away
Wait, I spent ages smoothing a block of wood and shoving it in the gap from which it will never return. I could have just made it very tight? :) damn
A block is stronger for sure, but ya this is just a different option. 😁🎸🎵
It's a better one in my mind. I'm not sure I can reverse what I did without causing damage to something something. :)
Cool video and very helpful. I find that blocking the trem with a piece of wood gives you more sustain and attack as opposed to if you deck it with more springs, you can literally hear a difference, there is at least a 10% improvement (don't believe me, try it), especially if you use a stack of coins instead of a piece of wood (ps.: you can use a bit of electrical tape to hold the coins together and stop them from falling apart) it makes a strat come to life imo.
hey thanks! ya I've done the wood block too in a previous Strat
@@landonbailey Cool! I'm gonna check that out too. Dig your vids man! Keep 'em coming!
Landon may i ask,, the tremcompartment,, is it clean? Dont want a dirty tremcompartment
in this case I believe it was immaculate
Hello, my new American standard Stratocaster 2015 with two pivot screws bridge seems to have the bridge no parallel to the body..the shop put 10 high E gauge string and before it was 9. Now the treble side seems to be lower and in fact the sound of e b g is not beautiful( I had also a little G buzz solved with loosing truss-rod and getting higher saddle). IM scared; till now my classic vibe 50 squier Stratocaster sounds and plays better with more sparkle in 2 e 4 positions , and here in Italy costs 400 euro instead of American standard is 1600 euro. The American strat has the fat hot 50 pickup and they are very hot and powerful and the fender specs of pick up height should be change for them( not 2.4 mm bass and 2mm treble..but it needs to definitely lower the height ).this being said , according to you , should I work on the 2 lateral pivot screws to put the bridge parallel and should I raise a bit the bridge screw or should I work with springs opening the back of the guitar? Thanks
I can't say without seeing it in person. :)
@@landonbailey thanks
I don't think this is a good way of doing it. With 5 springs attached those screws will mess up the wood under that much tension and having it permanently under that much tension is just bad for the body. Better lock the block with something on both sides and remove the springs.
ya do what works best for you!
Aw man, the whammy bar is the Strat’s best asset.... If you want a 3 pickup Fender hard tail, you should have gotten a Nashville Tele....😉
To each their own tho, hope you enjoy it. 😁👍
😁🎸🎵
Or maybe...
Some people don't like Teles because they neck dive.
Dose it change the the string tension?
I’m not really sure
Landon Bailey thanks for reply, I’m doin it now, let you know
cheers!
If it does, it’s so minor you can’t tell
Do you need the extra springs?
I uh....just dont use the trem. The extra springs are ok.....but it's still only going to get ya bout 1/4 sec of sustain
you installed the cover wrong. the open slot should be over the Tremolo block ... boy that was clean tho!
that's what I did. slot over the block. not sure what you were watching :)
@@landonbailey maybe you should watch your own video, so im not sure what you were watching? her, look at the video ruclips.net/video/mM8LyOEBORE/видео.html yup, you were installing it wrong :)
@@heres2ya ha ok, i can see why you thought that. It's not installed that way. I cut away right after that part. I'm sure I flipped it around because it's installed ok on the guitar right now, just checked :)
@@heres2ya Watch the entire video, dammit! Just a few seconds later he fliiped it.
This helped a lot thanks
cheers!
I don’t understand why you thought your trem cavity would be dirty. Do you drag your guitar through the mud?
I've opened other brand new guitars and it hasn't been that clean
You have a good sense of humor. Subscribed.
thanks!
The best!
Just imagine how clean it was before you opened it. You could say it became 100% less clean as a result of you doing so.
I don't know how you can look at yourself in the mirror every day.
enjoyed.
my guitar only has 3 of those little holes. and i thought it had 5 so i ordered 5 springs... bruh moment for me i guess
Cool Video!Just press record😂👍🏻
ya exactly!
01:45 Itz naht a toomahh
is it Kindergarten Cop reference?
Ik lol
I would retitle this…how to lock down your tremolo bridge.
it shouldn't even be called a tremolo bridge 😆
You know the guitar is good if there are no wood shavings inside the guitar body
super clean!
"Too each his own" including Clapton, however, much of the harmonic richness of a strat comes from the vibrato. The strings' vibration is augmented by the springs tranfering into the metal block and wood, and back into the strings. Subtle but one of two reasons they are strats, not teles in sound structure. The other reason is while playing, especially bending, the bridge rises and falls with the pull and release. Very subtle, but measurable with good measuring equipment. This changes the bend time sequence and perceivable note/strum attack. Sweeter more resonant sound generally. One other item: the bridge string piece height is changed with an added block, unless you are exceedingly precise with the block material thickness. Changing the bridge string pieces height also changes the wrap tension of the string over the piece. It will be necessary with blocking to change the height to return the strings to good "action". That may or may not be a sound you are "listening" for. Manufacturers know this, so buy a strat with all the pieces standard except no vibrato arm hole in the plate may be a better choice or just remove the arm. However, I suspect some people use a block to eliminate their perceived difficulty with tuning. ( I can help with that if you need). I very much value my strats and strat style guitars' vibrato systems. They work well and make a strat a strat! You are doing what I did decades ago, but eventually discovered the above.... Thanks for the subject! Edit: one additional detail: the spring tension is important which is determined by the guitars string gages and tuning pitch. Change either one and the spring tension changes. Also, the number of springs, length and gage of wire used for the springs and the metallurgy of the springs including hardening process. Believe it or not, these spring details vary dramatically in the business. Mostly for no good reason. With a given set of springs, the spring stretch and bridge floating height will be determined by the chosen string pressure from gage and tuning pitch. That's why vibratos work, if not mechanically impeded. They MUST return to pitch if free. Ok, enough is enough from me, right? 🤪
Shut up nerd
STFU
It’s clean because you don’t play it
true dat!