Do you block your floating bridge?

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ido1957

ido1957

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I blocked my Kramer Pacer (Floyd Rose) soon after I bought it. And my Clapton Strat come stock with a blocked bridge. I find it keeps them in tune much better...

It doesn't seem to be a popular modification though. :confused: :confused:

Any body else have blocked bridges? Any opinions?

:) :D :) :D
 
I blocked mine for years for tuning reasons. About a year ago I pulled the block out and gave the screws that hold the springs on the trem block a few cranks to tighten them up and it's been pretty stable.
 
Nope. I Set up my strat with the bridge flush with the body (essentially, blocked) and noticed no difference in tone or tuning stability. I'll keep mine floating.
 
ermghoti said:
Nope. I Set up my strat with the bridge flush with the body (essentially, blocked) and noticed no difference in tone or tuning stability. I'll keep mine floating.
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+1

I always keep my strat's trem so tight it's flush with the body. I have only owned 1 guitar with a floyd rose, I sold it not even a month after I bought it, so I don't know the in's and out's. BUT, I do know that usually I use my fingers to bend strings up, so there's no need to have any room to play with the bar in that sense... I loaded every empty hole in the back of my tremelo with a spring and ever since the fast and easy "Jimi Hendrix" mod to my strat I have noticed a major increase in tuning stability. YMMV with a floyd rose though...
 
I blocked my old Kramer, about 20 years ago...it wouldn't hold tune. I put 4 springs on my Ibanez for the same reason. They are old, and cheap. Works for now. I just hate when they go out of tune halfway through a song...everytime. :mad:
 
ido1957 said:
I blocked my Kramer Pacer (Floyd Rose) soon after I bought it. And my Clapton Strat come stock with a blocked bridge. I find it keeps them in tune much better...

It doesn't seem to be a popular modification though. :confused: :confused:

Any body else have blocked bridges? Any opinions?

:) :D :) :D
Click to expand...


What's the point of having a floating bridge and then blocking it? If you want a hardtail, then get one. If you have tuning probs, the culprit is usually in the headstock.

I have an old Strat with a floating bridge, and it stays in tune. I addressed the friction issues with a graphite string T and teflon grease/graphite in the nut slots.

Some folks block their bridges in one direction only; the bar only will send the strings flat. Mine is set so I can pull a whole step sharp as well. I like it; YMMV.
 
I unpacked my old Peavey a couple weeks ago and the locking nut was missing the locks. I wonder if this would be a viable option for me. Seems that Peavey stopped making the locking nut that I have 20 years ago. Finding a replacement has been a trying experience, and I really loved the tone of that guitar...
 
I do the "one way" block. It's a 7 string...go figure. Try tuning one of those beauties. ;) Since I blocked it off, I actually get to spend time playing my guitar rathing than "tuning" it.
 
I never did block my trems on my RG's or KnightSwan and had pretty good luck keeping them in tune. Of course I never "Brad Gillis'ed" them either. My new S series Ibanez has a ZR trem and it does really well, even when you break a string.
 
Meh. Just get a flat piece of steel, cut and drill. The threaded hole is in the nut, you just have to fit the space and the set screw. Might take an hour.
 
i never used my trem so i put in 2 extra springs. i that pretty much blocks it.
 
I've got an Ibanez with a floating bridge and I HATE it. I'd probably block the thing with concrete, but I'm lazy. Floating bridges are the worst thing ever.
 
Would someone please explain how to block it? Do you remove the springs and just put a piece of wood, metal in there? I would think you need to keep the bridge parallel to the body. What I mean is not leaning too much forward or back.
 
Rokket said:
I unpacked my old Peavey a couple weeks ago and the locking nut was missing the locks. I wonder if this would be a viable option for me. Seems that Peavey stopped making the locking nut that I have 20 years ago. Finding a replacement has been a trying experience, and I really loved the tone of that guitar...
Click to expand...

I have a Peavey Wolfgang that is essentially block'd, It has a Floyd but on the inside, it's set up so that it only dives down, not up. When resting, it sits against the body. I didn't realize this is how the Wolfies worked until after I bought it. I rather like it. The sustain and tone is wonderful.

On the other hand, most of my guits have full floaters and I rarely have a problem with them. A must do is to stretch the strings and get them settled in. If the guitar is set up right, intonation really shouldn't be a problem. That's been my experience anyways.
 
I don't, but only because the only time I use that guitar it is because I want to do (well, unsuccesfully attempt, really) either Adrian Belew type stuff or Jeff Beck type stuff, both of which require the ability to go both down AND up.



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