Completely floating the bridge.

E

Explorer84

New member
I bought a used Fender Elite Strat a few years ago and I always had an issue with it going out of tune when I used the whammy bar. I had read several stories where Strat owners had no problems with their whammies staying in tune. So I decided to completely float the bridge. I set the bridge up parallel to the face of the guitar. Now the guitar stays in tune no matter how aggressive I use the whammy. One thing that I noticed is that the guitar has a stiffer feel to the action. Small price to pay for tuning stability. I should’ve not been so lazy and set it up completely floating a while ago. It would’ve saved me a lot of aggravation.
 
Glad you managed to sort it out. Always good to hear stories about people getting issues sorted out.
 
Thanks. I should’ve gotten off the lazy train and done it sooner. If setting up the bridge this way provides better tuning stability I don’t understand why Fender wouldn’t set them up this way from the factory. Surely wouldn’t be from a point of cost.
 
Floating or not has no bearing on tuning stability, IME. It's all about the nut slots and how well broken in ("stretched") your strings are.

Nor should setting up to float have an affect on the action of the guitar, if you return the strings to their previous heights. If you just set up a decked vibrato to float, and don't lower the strings back to where they were in relation to the fretboard, then of course it will change action.

You probably just found the right spring adjustments that work for the way you like to use the vibrato.

Floating is the norm, last I checked...which was before the virus locked up music shops. I probably played at least 10 or 20 new Strats a month for the past 15+ years, and many in the 15 years before that (though not as regularly, so I can't gauge a number). I've never encountered a decked Strat vibrato right to of the factory. AFAIK, Fender sets their Strat vibratos to float right out of the factory, as they always have. You said you bought it used. It doesn't make any sense to knock Fender for decking a vibrato that the previous owner probably decked. That said, like I said before, a decked vibrato should not change your tuning stability during vibrato use. It just keeps you from pulling up, and keeps you from having the "built in" Strat warble that is always present with a floating vibrato. And it might change the amount of shim that you need in the neck pocket.
 
Last edited:
My Fender & Warmoth float, which is how I prefer them. I don't have tuning issues with either.
 
ItsaBass- First of all, where exactly in my post did I knock Fender? Your remark, in that regards, is utterly ridiculous. If I was going to knock Fender I wouldn’t keep buying their guitars and basses only to complain about them. Secondly, I never stated that the bridge was decked. It was, in fact floating, but not in the way in which I set it up. And, I’ve never seen a Strat, right out of the box, set up with bridge floating parallel to the face of the guitar. I’ve been playing guitars for forty years and working on them almost as long. I can safely say I know the difference between a floating bridge and a decked bridge.

The previous owner had it adjusted to his needs. He had the bridge adjusted so far forward that the bar was almost beyond parallel with the strings. Pulling the bar back was like pulling the handle on a slot machine. I’m not suggesting it was wrong by any means. It worked for them and that’s all that matters. Because of the way it was set up it wouldn’t stay in tune when I used the vibrato. The fact that I quit being lazy and gave the guitar the time and attention into getting it right for my needs has made me want to play that particular guitar even more.
 
Explorer84 said:
ItsaBass- First of all, where exactly in my post did I knock Fender? Your remark, in that regards, is utterly ridiculous. If I was going to knock Fender I wouldn’t keep buying their guitars and basses only to complain about them. Secondly, I never stated that the bridge was decked. It was, in fact floating, but not in the way in which I set it up. And, I’ve never seen a Strat, right out of the box, set up with bridge floating parallel to the face of the guitar. I’ve been playing guitars for forty years and working on them almost as long. I can safely say I know the difference between a floating bridge and a decked bridge.

The previous owner had it adjusted to his needs. He had the bridge adjusted so far forward that the bar was almost beyond parallel with the strings. Pulling the bar back was like pulling the handle on a slot machine. I’m not suggesting it was wrong by any means. It worked for them and that’s all that matters. Because of the way it was set up it wouldn’t stay in tune when I used the vibrato. The fact that I quit being lazy and gave the guitar the time and attention into getting it right for my needs has made me want to play that particular guitar even more.
Click to expand...

To answer your initial question, you said:

Explorer84 said:
Thanks. I should’ve gotten off the lazy train and done it sooner. If setting up the bridge this way provides better tuning stability I don’t understand why Fender wouldn’t set them up this way from the factory. Surely wouldn’t be from a point of cost.
Click to expand...

You plainly said that you don't know why Fender is setting them up in a less than ideal fashion from the factory...when you are talking about a used guitar. THAT is what is "utterly ridiculous" – not me responding to that comment with something as measured and reasonable as, "You said you bought it used. It doesn't make any sense to knock Fender for decking a vibrato that the previous owner probably decked."

You framing your entire point/post as you floating the vibrato is for all intents and purposes the same as stating that it wasn't floating before. Otherwise why would you frame your adjustment that way, with the repeated emphasis on it floating? If you went from one floating setup to another floating setup, you would reasonably just say that you made an adjustment to the springs and/or height of the bridge. It's perfectly reasonable for your standard reader to think you were decked before, because you kept making mention of the fact that you are floating now.

Your further explanation only backs up my initial suspicion, which is that all you did was adjust the springs "better" for your needs. You went from a looser floating setup with poor geometry (bridge with lots of forward lean) to a tighter floating setup with better geometry (bridge closer to the angle of the strings' path).

If the previous owner had it leaning forward to that extreme, then it was set up very poorly. You changed it to being set up much better. No wonder it works better now. It has nothing to do with whether the bridge is parallel to the body or not. There's a sweet spot ranging a bit up and down from parallel with the string path. You're in it now. You were out of it before. IME, Fenders come out of the factory in that sweet spot – at least for general use with their supplied strings.

Bottom line, all you did was adjust the vibrato closer to where it ought be be adjusted. It isn't performing better because you are now floating. It isn't performing better because there is some magic sauce to having it parallel to the guitar body. it was just way out of whack before, and now it isn't.
 
Yep. That's factory spec. That is within the sweet spot for stock strings and middle of the road playing, but it doesn't mean it's right all the time...just like with factory string height specs. They make these things adjustable for a reason.

That said, the vibrato being angled really far forward, as the OP described the previous owner doing, is way "wrong." The reason is that the rear springs are then too loose to quickly and positively return the vibrato to its neutral position, and you will have extreme sensitivity to dives – i.e. a little bit of arm movement will result in a large change in pitch.

Making the vibrato floating and parallel with the body (by raising the two front posts and tightening the springs) decreases the sensitivity/speed of your dives, versus stock. The angle of the bridge plate over the body determines how sensitive your dives and pulls are (i.e. the ratio of arm movement to pitch change). A vibrato that leans forward will be far more sensitive on dives than on pulls.

So what the OP did [theoretically] versus the stock Fender setup is to reduce the sensitivity of his/her dives, and provide more spring tension to settle the vibrato back to neutral when it's let go. Versus the stock Fender setup, you'd feel the difference, but it wouldn't be gigantic. But versus the way it sounds like the previous owner had it set up, the difference would likely be extreme, as reported. E.g. If the previous owner had it like this:

IMG_9958.JPG
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top