GOTOH VSVG 6 or 4 screws?

C

CarlosG

New member
Hi!
I repainted my strat.
I want Gotoh/Wilkinson VSVG tremolo.
Andy Timmons uses it with good results.
I noticed that Andy's Ibanez has 4 screew on bridge not 6. I think it improves stability by reducing friction.
Andy's Ibanez are Alder.
My strat is poplar. I'm afraid poplar is a softer wood, am I thinking correctly?
I will use the decked setting so the springs will pull the bridge harder.
So with the softer wood and the higher tension of the bridge it would be more reasonable to use 6 screws or can I just use 4? Won't that cause the screws to bend and dig into the wood at an angle?
Best regards
 
ive always used six screws on mine and it works fine. i dont use the trem much these days but i used to a fair amount and it stayed in tune fine, i also have locking tuners on the guitar
 
I think both can be made to work well. It really is about how it is set up and minimizing any kind of binding so it can return to 0 every time.
 
The design of Strat trems is balanced tension between the springs and the strings. If you've somehow got it pulling the mount screws out of the wood at an angle, I think you might have done something wrong. Strat-type guitars, including shredders, are mostly made of alder, poplar, ash, etc., and all the aftermarket hardware is design to work with them. I've never heard of a bridge being able to be used with alder and ash just fine, but you have to avoid poplar or mount it differently for just poplar.
 
I noticed Tyler guitars use a 2 point VSV trem, but I have never seen one for sale separately...I've never seen a 4 hole one either though - or at least not been consciously aware of it.

The last time I set mine up I followed one of the Dan Erlewine recommendations from Guitar Player Repair Guide.
I can't remember the specifics but as far as I can remember you leave the outer two screws screwed in place and screw the other 4 in just until they start to catch and back them out a little... something along those lines anyway. There is probably someone else who can do a better job of explaining it.
 
My understanding is the "outer 2" or "outer 4" is an old EVH trick he did on Frankenstein before it had a Floyd. Wilkinson had 4-hole a couple years ago but there's no point since you can accomplish the same thing using their 5-1 plate.
 
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