stevie ray vaughn tremelo

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dmbfan1981

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this may be a stupid question. Why did SRV remove the backing plate for his trem system? I had heard the reason a long time ago when I first started playing guitar but forgot the exact reason. I know it had to do with an unorthadox way to use vibrato but can someone explain it completely? Thanks.
 
but why did that require leaving the backing plate off?

and also, why would using a left handed trem benefit him? thanks.
 
I've removed the backing plate from every guitar that I've owned that had a trem system. It just makes it easier to adjust the balance of the system, add/remove springs, and change strings on string-through trems. Removing and replacing the back plate was always 1 less thing to worry about when changing strings.

But as far as using the left-handed guitar right handed, I would guess that he did it because he was a big Hendrix fan, and Hendrix played right-handed Strats left handed, so the trems were always upside-down. It hangs down over the strings when at rest, and maybe he liked it that way.
 
I've never really read anything about why he did it. I know he put an extra spring in there so I assumed he was just too lazy or drunk to put it back on. Maybe he lost the screws.
 
Putting a left handed trem on a right handed guitar would cause the trem cover to NOT fit. As for why he did it? Who knows? I don't see any reason other than he had a left handed trem.
 
That sounds like a winner to me. I know he had his tech put the left handed trem in there so if that would cause the cover to not fit, then that would seem reasonable to me. But I also think he was too drunk to notice! :p
 
The plastic plate does make it a bitch to change a string at a gig, especially in the low light situation of a club. Maybe he took it off for that reason before he had a tech to mind his guitars, in his early club days. :confused:
 
Wait a minute. Does anyone actually put that thing back on? I thought it was like the ashtray that came stuck to the trem. If you did put it back on, do you feel like you could possibly be what is referred to as "anal-retentive"?
 
Most touring guys take them off. It makes changing the strings a LOT faster, which is a big deal when you have to restring 10-20 guitars a day, every day.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
SRV actually had the left-handed tremelo installed out of necessity...not because he was a big Hendrix fan.

Before a show he busted the tremolo on "Number One" and the only part his tech (Ceasar Diaz, I suppose) could find was a lefty tremelo. That part was installed on "Number One" and Stevie really liked it because he could use it by resting his picking hand on top of it rather than having to reach below and hold it.

Obviously being a big Hendrix fan, the urban legend developed that he did it as a nod to Jimi....but it was really just being in a tight spot to replace a broken part.
 
He did it so he had access to those springs for whacking them - which generated some weird, psycho feedback.
 
toad said:
SRV actually had the left-handed tremelo installed out of necessity...not because he was a big Hendrix fan.

Before a show he busted the tremolo on "Number One" and the only part his tech (Ceasar Diaz, I suppose) could find was a lefty tremelo. That part was installed on "Number One" and Stevie really liked it because he could use it by resting his picking hand on top of it rather than having to reach below and hold it.

Obviously being a big Hendrix fan, the urban legend developed that he did it as a nod to Jimi....but it was really just being in a tight spot to replace a broken part.
Click to expand...

That's smells like a load of crap. Firstly, I don't think that the lefty trem would have fit in the right handed body without generating a nice pile of sawdust with a dremmel. Secondly, I find it hard to believe that a left handed trem was easier to come by than a right handed.

I like your story and it makes for great SRV lore, but I think it's BS. I read an article where he indicated it was deliberate and it worked better because you can wank with your forearm while you're picking.
 
toad said:
SRV actually had the left-handed tremelo installed out of necessity...not because he was a big Hendrix fan.

Before a show he busted the tremolo on "Number One" and the only part his tech (Ceasar Diaz, I suppose) could find was a lefty tremelo. That part was installed on "Number One" and Stevie really liked it because he could use it by resting his picking hand on top of it rather than having to reach below and hold it.

Obviously being a big Hendrix fan, the urban legend developed that he did it as a nod to Jimi....but it was really just being in a tight spot to replace a broken part.
Click to expand...


cephus said:
That's smells like a load of crap. Firstly, I don't think that the lefty trem would have fit in the right handed body without generating a nice pile of sawdust with a dremmel. Secondly, I find it hard to believe that a left handed trem was easier to come by than a right handed.

I like your story and it makes for great SRV lore, but I think it's BS. I read an article where he indicated it was deliberate and it worked better because you can wank with your forearm while you're picking.
Click to expand...


Actually, I've been given to understand that it is true. Yeah, it took some extra work, but nothing which couldn't be done in a day or so. I do seem to recall that when SRV's first album came out, Number One still had a right handed trem.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
cephus said:
That's smells like a load of crap. Firstly, I don't think that the lefty trem would have fit in the right handed body without generating a nice pile of sawdust with a dremmel. Secondly, I find it hard to believe that a left handed trem was easier to come by than a right handed.

I like your story and it makes for great SRV lore, but I think it's BS. I read an article where he indicated it was deliberate and it worked better because you can wank with your forearm while you're picking.
Click to expand...

The "necessity" story is straight from the guitar tech who made the change (Rene Martinez) in a Guitar World interview he did shortly after SRV's death.

Apparently SRV did think it was "Hendrix-y" and cool but, big picture, the tech who installed it claimed it was out of necessity.

Another note on SRV's tremolo: he had it configured where he could only "push" it (ie. not pull it up beyond the starting point).
 
toad said:
Before a show he busted the tremolo on "Number One" and the only part his tech (Ceasar Diaz, I suppose) could find was a lefty tremelo. That part was installed on "Number One" and Stevie really liked it because he could use it by resting his picking hand on top of it rather than having to reach below and hold it.
Click to expand...


I still think it's a bullshit story spread by the tech to make himself look cool. Exactly what part of a fender trem can "bust"? Maybe the arm broke off, but I'd think it'd be easier to go to NAPA and buy and easy-out than to grind the shit out of a vintage strat body.

Folklore aside, it doesn't make any sense that this was some kind of serendipity.
 
cephus said:
I still think it's a bullshit story spread by the tech to make himself look cool. Exactly what part of a fender trem can "bust"? Maybe the arm broke off, but I'd think it'd be easier to go to NAPA and buy and easy-out than to grind the shit out of a vintage strat body.

Folklore aside, it doesn't make any sense that this was some kind of serendipity.
Click to expand...


I've seen blocks busted into two parts, I've seen plates cracked down the middle, and if the trem arm busts off deep enough in the block, you can be totally fucked. Not to mention the fairly common issue of the pivot edge getting worn out.



Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
Maybe if it got run over by a forklift!

It is far more likely that SRV bought the thing at a swap meet and asked that guy to drop it in so he could be like his idol. That whole line of shit about it being out of necessity is just that. I don't care if the tech said it in an interview. He's lying his ass off knowing that the only other guy to prove or disprove the story is unavailable for comment.

I had a guitar player magazine with the first interview with him in it. there is a picture of him onstage standing on the guitar and it's on the floor and he's only got ahold of it by the trem arm. Maybe the hole would wallow out and the arm wouldn't stay in.

Breaking it in half? Come on.
 
Tadpui said:
But as far as using the left-handed guitar right handed, I would guess that he did it because he was a big Hendrix fan, and Hendrix played right-handed Strats left handed, so the trems were always upside-down. It hangs down over the strings when at rest, and maybe he liked it that way.
Click to expand...


FWIW, it wasn't a left handed guitar. The tremelo was left handed (it came out of the bridge on the top instead of on the bottom), but the guitar itself was right handed.
 
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