Direct strat brisge replacement - Wilkinson Vs GFS

[aris17561]

Hey everyone ,

I just want to upgrade my strat with a new vibrato replacement... The strat Is a fender Mim. I read some threads that you have created in the past , and I saw that a lot o f people suggests the callaham as the No1 tremolo for a mim bridge replacement but unfortunatlly I cannot affort a so expensive tremolo , so I read too about the gfs mexican replacement and the wilkinson one.

As I am not able to try neither of two , so , may you help me by telling , which is the best from these two more affortable tremolos. Will I have a good tuning stability or better wait , and save money for the callaham ? The tuners are sperzel !!!

 

[kramersteen]

Re: Direct strat brisge replacement - Wilkinson Vs GFS

I recently installed one of those gfs import bridges with a brass block and i think for the money its fantastic value. Would and will buy another.

 

[koshikas]

Re: Direct strat brisge replacement - Wilkinson Vs GFS

there is no predicting accurately whether it will improve tuning stability till you swap the thang and see for urself, if u already have problems. However you can progressively work on the mechanism to get things in shape for the better. Since you have sperzels (i m assuming locking ones) the nut could be one of the culprits too.

GFS or Wilkinson is a fair replacement for a MIM strat (I love MIM strats btw). I personally dont think the the baseplate and saddles on GFS tremolo are any better than the stock MIM tremolo, but u can benefit (Tonewise) by replacing only the tremolo block for a brass/steel tremolo block if the stock one is one of those thin ones. make sure u get the correctly spaced block if u are going for it.

 

[Zombiwoof]

Re: Direct strat brisge replacement - Wilkinson Vs GFS

I have used both the Callaham and GFS steel block trems for MIM Standard Strats, I didn't like the "improved" trem bar system on the Callaham, as the arm could only be threaded a couple of turns into the block without the arm hitting the volume pot, and then it wobbled around. I use the bar with my pinky or last two fingers under the bar, and it sat too low for my trem technique. Everyone else seems to love the Callaham, but I sold mine, then tried the GFS. The GFS I found to be cheap looking, too brightly chromed, and it has a major flaw, they put the pivot point on the plate in the wrong place. On a real Strat Trem, the pivot ridge is placed so that when you move the bar, the plate basically rises and falls on the mounting screws, but because on the GHS it is in the wrong place, you are actually bending the mounting screws when you use the trem. I finally just bought the replacement steel trem block from GFS, and used it with the existing Fender plate and saddles, and that worked out best for me. In fact, the replacement steel block they sell is different than the one they use on the full steel block trem they sell, it has more mass and has a better trem arm angle.

P.S. I realized later that I should have tried a vintage Strat trem arm with the Callaham trem, instead of the stock arm that came with the unit. The Fender vintage arm has more of an upward bend in the end, and may have worked better for me. However, this occurred to me too late, I had already sold the Callaham and moved on before I thought of it. When I got my Callaham trem, they only had the shorter trem arm, and I didn't like it at all, I like the vintage length arm with more upward bend. Now, they have three options I believe for trem arms, so maybe one of the longer arms would have worked better, also.

Al

 

[aris17561]

Re: Direct strat brisge replacement - Wilkinson Vs GFS

I have used both the Callaham and GFS steel block trems for MIM Standard Strats, I didn't like the "improved" trem bar system on the Callaham, as the arm could only be threaded a couple of turns into the block without the arm hitting the volume pot, and then it wobbled around. I use the bar with my pinky or last two fingers under the bar, and it sat too low for my trem technique. Everyone else seems to love the Callaham, but I sold mine, then tried the GFS. The GFS I found to be cheap looking, too brightly chromed, and it has a major flaw, they put the pivot point on the plate in the wrong place. On a real Strat Trem, the pivot ridge is placed so that when you move the bar, the plate basically rises and falls on the mounting screws, but because on the GHS it is in the wrong place, you are actually bending the mounting screws when you use the trem. I finally just bought the replacement steel trem block from GFS, and used it with the existing Fender plate and saddles, and that worked out best for me. In fact, the replacement steel block they sell is different than the one they use on the full steel block trem they sell, it has more mass and has a better trem arm angle.

P.S. I realized later that I should have tried a vintage Strat trem arm with the Callaham trem, instead of the stock arm that came with the unit. The Fender vintage arm has more of an upward bend in the end, and may have worked better for me. However, this occurred to me too late, I had already sold the Callaham and moved on before I thought of it. When I got my Callaham trem, they only had the shorter trem arm, and I didn't like it at all, I like the vintage length arm with more upward bend. Now, they have three options I believe for trem arms, so maybe one of the longer arms would have worked better, also.

Al

Ok I will try the tremolo block from gfs , to see the imrovement. Except this , you believe that the saddles on the stock mim are ok ? I thought that they were crap... Without any serious problem , but I say , ok it is mexico , so how cool are going to be ?

 

[greekdude]

Re: Direct strat brisge replacement - Wilkinson Vs GFS

I have tried the SuperVee bladerunner , i had this in one partscaster of mine. I had to sell the guitar, but while i had this, this was very sweet sounding i remember. Much more clarity than the cheapo zinc import kind of thing.
I have this trem for sale, but i am considering fitting this on my *good* strat, if i dont sell it.
My experience with a GFS "sustain" block as others mentioned, was that the thing needed extra routing on the plate in order to fit. Not a clean fit.
I would not put any generic GFS again on anything worth more than 500 euros. The SuperVee fits like a glove without touching the wood.

 

[Zombiwoof]

Re: Direct strat brisge replacement - Wilkinson Vs GFS

I have tried the SuperVee bladerunner , i had this in one partscaster of mine. I had to sell the guitar, but while i had this, this was very sweet sounding i remember. Much more clarity than the cheapo zinc import kind of thing.
I have this trem for sale, but i am considering fitting this on my *good* strat, if i dont sell it.
My experience with a GFS "sustain" block as others mentioned, was that the thing needed extra routing on the plate in order to fit. Not a clean fit.
I would not put any generic GFS again on anything worth more than 500 euros. The SuperVee fits like a glove without touching the wood.

I had no trouble fitting the GFS replacement steel block for MIM Standard Strats, it fit perfectly with no modding of anything. I have read that in the early MIM Std.'s, some of the trem units they used had a different hole placement for the arm hole, maybe you had one of those. If you have a Mexican Std. Strat with the 2 1/16" string and mounting hole spacing, the GFS steel block for those models should fit fine. If it doesn't fit your trem, you can buy a brand new stock Fender Std. Strat full trem unit on Ebay for under $20 that it will fit. I also had no problem with the stock bent steel saddles on the Std. Strat trems either, but if you want to upgrade them there are replacements on the market, just make sure you get the right ones for that trem. The GFS block also allows you to use the vintage-spec trem arm, which is thicker and better IMO than the cheaper metric arm that comes with the import Strat trems.

Al

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: Direct strat brisge replacement - Wilkinson Vs GFS

On a real Strat Trem, the pivot ridge is placed so that when you move the bar, the plate basically rises and falls on the mounting screws, but because on the GHS it is in the wrong place, you are actually bending the mounting screws when you use the trem.

Sound like you mounted/set it up incorrectly.

 

[Zombiwoof]

Re: Direct strat brisge replacement - Wilkinson Vs GFS

Sound like you mounted/set it up incorrectly.

No, the pivot point on the plate of the GFS is in the wrong place, if you compare it to a Fender plate, the pivot ridge on the GFS plate is in the middle of the mounting holes, so it doesn't work the way the Fender trem was designed to work. I will say that I got my GFS trem some years ago, and they may have changed it since then, but that's the way it was when I bought mine. I was very disappointed in the full GFS trem unit, but the GFS steel block on the standard Fender import trem plate and saddles worked out fine for me. I know how to set up a Strat trem, I started out playing many years ago on Strats, and I've learned every trick there is for setting them up and keeping them in tune.

Al