From .09 to .10's tremelo adjustment

Evildick

Evildick

New member
Everything looks alright on my Strat but moving up to .10's yanked the tremelo up. I expected this and am curious about your opinions. I can either add springs, tighten the anchor screws for the tremelo or lower the bridge saddles.

After changing the strings, the ass end of the bridge is about 3/8" off the body. I don't use the whammy bar at all but I'm uncomfortable with having the bridge float this much. It's almost too high for lowering the saddles to drop the action.

I'm just curious which you would do first, add another spring to the tremolo (if so, where can I buy them), or tighten the screws in the tremolo caivity to increase tension on the bridge?

The neck is still straight, the action is too high though. I only have three springs right now. Thanks for any help.
 
hi dick...

i don't know wether 5 springs would fit but anyway, the bridge saddles are not an option as this would seriously start to fuck up intonation... i would tighten the anchor screws (as i do ;) )but be sure to get a decnt intonation job after you did this... neck and such need to be adjusted...

but if you don't use the whammy, why not block the tremelo with A piece of wood?

Guhlenn
 
Thanks guhlenn,
I just switched over to these Elixirs and for some reason they seem tighter than the GHS Boomers I had on before. I figured tightening the screws would be the best bet but I heard others on here say they just add a spring or two. I hate to adjust the neck and was hoping to avoid that, but it may be necessary. Thanks for the help.
 
your welcome. elixers do tend to be alittle "stiffer"... plus they rag after a while... i'm a firm believer of adjusting your setup when changing string gauge or brand ... especially when using floating trermelo's

Guhlenn:)
 
The way to have the best of both worlds is to set the bridge to float slightly, to do this in your case you will have to tighten the screws, but for future reference, when you change strings put a block of wood behind them. Restring and you will find the block is firmly wedged.
Next, start tightening the screws till the block just moves and can be removed. The "feel" should be tight, like a set of feeler gauges on a spark plug. This will allow retensioning without losing adjustment.
Fender used to recommend a 3/8 block of wood between the FRONT and the tremolo block. I find this too much and have always done it by eye, but I guess 1/4 could be pretty good.
Good luck.
 
5 springs is the way to go.Last time I played a (borrowed) floater on stage,I broke a string doing a bend.Some of the strings went down in pitch and some of them went UP!I was screwed with no way to recover.With your trem all the way down to the body that won't happen.
Try this test,play the low E and while it is still ringing bend the high E.Does the low E change pitch as well?Add the springs will fix it.
 
You can go either way, additional springs or adjusting the screws.

As mentioned above, you definitely should adjust your truss rod whenever changing string gauges, especially when such changes require adjustment of your tension screws.
 
I use 4 springs with 10-46 gauge, with the bridge at rest against the wood (down only, no up), personal preference I guess. In addition to the truss rod adjustment, you should also adjust the intonation; the saddles would need to be adjusted away from the neck a little with heavier strings. String tension will vary a little from brand to brand in the same gauge since different core gauges are used. I change strings a lot and always use the same kind so I don't have to tweak...
 
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