Hardtail Strat v.s. Tremolo Strat: Difference?

[Tiny Hill]

Re: Hardtail Strat v.s. Tremolo Strat: Difference?

I have my first hard tail Strat and think it is great. Having those tremelo aprings in the body of a guitar adds a non-musical, out of tune resonance and I perceive no good use for that.

 

[ehdwuld]

Re: Hardtail Strat v.s. Tremolo Strat: Difference?

Hardtail doesn't pull notes out of tune when bending

You dont get that cool flutter when you shake the guitar

The bar isn't always in the way

 

[Clint 55]

Re: Hardtail Strat v.s. Tremolo Strat: Difference?

Hardtail is less jangley.

 

[JamesPaul]

Re: Hardtail Strat v.s. Tremolo Strat: Difference?

I am not sure. I do not have a hardtail Strat, but in a recent comparison of my new hardtail Player Series Lead III, my hardtail '81 Lead II and my Kahler'd '62 RI Strat I think my Lead II is more jangley than my RI Strat. Before I choose sides I need to bust out my backup MIM Strat I am trying to sell and hear how the Fender trem compares.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Hardtail Strat v.s. Tremolo Strat: Difference?

I use a trem a lot, so I've never directly compared them. However, half of my guitars don't have a trem, and they sound great. I don't know if you could compare it unless you did a before/after recording after installing a trem.

 

[GuitarStv]

Re: Hardtail Strat v.s. Tremolo Strat: Difference?

I like the noise that you get from trem springs.

 

[dr.barlo]

Re: Hardtail Strat v.s. Tremolo Strat: Difference?

I agree with what was said before.

BUT remember that Clapton's Brownie was a hardtail strat. That guitar, I think, is one of the best sounding strats I have ever heard. The first song on the derek and the dominoes called I looked away is one of my all time favorites.

B

Damn!



This is wrong. Yeah, he had a hardtail that he was using for slide, but not brownie...

What was I thinking!

B

 

[The_Junior]

Re: Hardtail Strat v.s. Tremolo Strat: Difference?

I have one of each. Each is alder-bodied with the pickups in my signature.

My Fender California Strat has the tremelo locked down and a maple/maple neck. As a rule it always sounds super thin and twangy. Even the super distortion with it's wall of lows and low-mids twangs out big-time when i play this thing. Not necessarily a bad thing because I like how obnoxious it can be with the single coils...twang-snap-twangedy snap snap

My Warmoth is hardtail with a rosewood/maple neck. This thing has a lot more low-end and mids than the Fender does naturally. It's also a lot louder acoustically and sustains far more. The tuning is rock-solid unless i hit something with the headstock (happens more often than you'd think haha) and it's definitely my dream guitar.

I think the "tone the springs add" is just more twang and thinness to an already twangy and thin-sounding guitar. More wood means more vibration means a bigger sound so...hopefully that helps.

-X

And if the OP can't locate a hardtail guitar, maybe installing a block of wood inside the trem cavity might produce a similar effect since there would be more surface contact between the bridge/body than the studs and springs would provide.

 

[Lake Placid Blues]

Re: Hardtail Strat v.s. Tremolo Strat: Difference?

Addendum to what I wrote 15 years ago. I still have the hard tail strat, but I used it to create a Alan Holdsworth replica Charvel as a tribute after he passed a couple years ago. This strat had a basswood body. So I routed it for a vintage style trem and installed a vintage six point trem with an aluminum block, and changed it to a single hum configuration, while installing a Charvel ebony fretboard neck. I think it sounds way better, but admit that more than one thing was changed at a time.

I have generally decided I prefer trem equipped strats even if I don't use the trem much on that particular guitar.

My PRS has a trem but I use it as a hard tail. I experimented with installing a wood block. It didn't add any more sustain but it did change the tone by adding mids. It was the JB, Vintage 30, range of mids though.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Hardtail Strat v.s. Tremolo Strat: Difference?

Addendum to what I wrote 15 years ago. I still have the hard tail strat, but I used it to create a Alan Holdsworth replica Charvel as a tribute after he passed a couple years ago. This strat had a basswood body. So I routed it for a vintage style trem and installed a vintage six point trem with an aluminum block, and changed it to a single hum configuration, while installing a Charvel ebony fretboard neck. I think it sounds way better, but admit that more than one thing was changed at a time.

I have generally decided I prefer trem equipped strats even if I don't use the trem much on that particular guitar.

My PRS has a trem but I use it as a hard tail. I experimented with installing a wood block. It didn't add any more sustain but it did change the tone by adding mids. It was the JB, Vintage 30, range of mids though.

What pickups were in your Holdsworth tribute?

 

[Lake Placid Blues]

Re: Hardtail Strat v.s. Tremolo Strat: Difference?

A 59 now. It was SSS before.

 

[JamesPaul]

Re: Hardtail Strat v.s. Tremolo Strat: Difference?

I am not sure. I do not have a hardtail Strat, but in a recent comparison of my new hardtail Player Series Lead III, my hardtail '81 Lead II and my Kahler'd '62 RI Strat I think my Lead II is more jangley than my RI Strat. Before I choose sides I need to bust out my backup MIM Strat I am trying to sell and hear how the Fender trem compares.

I spent some time today comparing my Fender single coil guitars. It is just not a level playing field with the X-1's in my Lead II. The X-1 has "more" of everything single coil. I am confident that is why my hardtail Lead II is more jangley.

I now return you to those who have comparable pickup loaded hardtail and tremolo Strats.

 

[Jacew]

Re: Hardtail Strat v.s. Tremolo Strat: Difference?

I have never liked decked strat sound, so I doubt the hardtail will improve from there. Has to be floating, and usually prefer three springs, so it does not feel stiff and unresponsive and keeps in tune.