Hard-tailing a strat?

  • Thread starter Thread starter cstockdale
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cstockdale

cstockdale

supafly killa homey
I have a MIM Strat. I love the guitar, sounds great, feels great. I never ever use the whammy bar on it, and have heard conflicting opinions about blocking the tremolo saddle. Is it worth doing? Will it increase sustain (as some have told me)? Or will it make no real difference?

Also, if it is worth doing, is there a specific thingamajig to buy that is better than anything else? Ie. do different block materials make a significant difference?
 
I think you will notice some improvement if you do it right. Some people just lock down the screws on the tremolo bridge and leave it at that, but intonation, tuning and sustain are still a problem for them. If you want to go hardtail, use whatever means will get that bridge locked down as solid as it can possibly be.

It won't ever have quite the sustain of a true hardtail, but it should be somewhat better. My american hardtail is a string-thru-body design and has sustain out the wazoo. The tremolo bridge can't ever have that much sustain, but I think you would be better off locking it down.
 
I have an American Strat with a Floyd Rose. I got sick of it so I blocked it with some wedges of wood. Worked great. I can tune that thing all over the place now. I should have done it years ago.
 
sile2001 said:
I think you will notice some improvement if you do it right. Some people just lock down the screws on the tremolo bridge and leave it at that, but intonation, tuning and sustain are still a problem for them. If you want to go hardtail, use whatever means will get that bridge locked down as solid as it can possibly be.

It won't ever have quite the sustain of a true hardtail, but it should be somewhat better. My american hardtail is a string-thru-body design and has sustain out the wazoo. The tremolo bridge can't ever have that much sustain, but I think you would be better off locking it down.
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That might be an interesting idea. I wonder if you could mod a standard MiM Strat to a string through design - the only problem might be avoiding the rear side cavity where the springs reside.
 
Actually turning it into a hard tail Strat is not really practical. To get it done professionally, you would likely end up spending more than you would on a new guitar, and unless you are a very good woodworker, doing it yourself will yield only moderate results. The inserts must fit perfectly, which is difficult even for professionals. If it was a MIA then it might be worth it, but I doubt it.

Blocking it, on the other hand, is a very good idea if you never use it. It will increase sustain, tone, and tuning stability. There are two ways of doing it. You can block the front of the trem block, which leaves you the ability to still use the trem to lower the pitch, or you can completely block the trem, front and back, so it can not move. This is still fairly precise woodworking if you want to get the most benefit, so I would still advise getting it done by a good professional repair person, but it should be fairly inexpensive. Less than $125, at the very least.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
125 dollars to have it blocked??? when i got my strat's set up the guy blocked it for free... i only payed 45 dollars for each guitar and i got a set up...
 
I had a Fender Mustang. It had the goofiest whammy I've ever seen. Since I thought it was a cheap junky guitar anyway, (Imagine my shock to see one in a vintage section priced at $900. Seems to me old crap is still crap.), I decided to hard-tail it. I took out the old bridge and filled in the hole with bondo, then sanded it flush with the body. I bought a brass Mighty Mite hard tail bridge, lined it up using thread to simulate the guitar strings, and marked the holes. I mounted it and then marked the string holes. I drilled the holes through the body (this was a mistake, they didn't make a pretty pattern on the back), and holes for the little string stops. After it was done, I used a black magic marker to cover the blue bondo and somewhat match the black finish of the guitar. I also replaced the neck p/u with a Duncan Vintage Staggered Strat, and the bridge with their Quarter Pounder. I knicked one of the pups and broke a winding; I unwound one turn and soldered it back together.

It turned out well; I wish I still had it.

I did a similar thing to an Epi. I had put a JB Player tremelo in it and the springs eventually gave out. So I filled in the part under the bridge with bondo. It was OK.

Light, I'm sorry if these stories nauseate you. I'd only do this to junky axes.
 
I have a MIM strat myself. I did the blocking thing for awhile, but none of my other guitars have a whammy bar so I put the trem back into use...

When it was blocked (I screwed down the trem scews and blocked the inside with a couple of pieces of oak) and set up right - it certainly stayed in tune very well. The sustain was fine.

But when I went back to the trem, I replaced the bridge saddles, nut and string tee's with graph tech parts. It stays in tune ALMOST as good as a hardtail - you pretty much have to really divebomb it to get it out tune now.

I tend to worry about sustain from a technique standpoint more than the guitar itself. but that's just me.

The moral - if you never use the trem, I'd go ahead and block it. Why have the hassle.
 
ntnguitarist3 said:
125 dollars to have it blocked??? when i got my strat's set up the guy blocked it for free... i only payed 45 dollars for each guitar and i got a set up...
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$75 for the setup, and about $50 for making the blocks. We charge based on time, end of story, and at $65 an hour, that is what it should cost. I am deeply concerned about anyone who feels they can do work for free. If I ran my business like that, I would be out of business.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
ntnguitarist3 said:
125 dollars to have it blocked??? when i got my strat's set up the guy blocked it for free... i only payed 45 dollars for each guitar and i got a set up...
Click to expand...



Any half assed monkey should be able to make a couple blocks of wood to block the trem. But, you'll always have someone trying to sell you something.
 
Blocking the trem

I have done this on every guitar I have owned w/ a tremolo and it works great. If you can't make your own blocks there is something wrong w/ you..
 
Getting them to fit perfectly makes a difference in the sound, and in the sustain. If you want to do it yourself, fine, but if I am doing it for some one, I need to get paid for my time.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
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