How I made my strat stay in tune

[sosomething]

Re: How I made my strat stay in tune

To sosmething;

i think that was a joke on me, if so, I thought it was really funny without being
mean. that's hard to do.

Not a joke on you. Just a joke on Strats in general, not meant to be anything.

 

[sosomething]

Re: How I made my strat stay in tune

To Bludave: a trip down memory lane:
I am 59.
I remember where I was when the Beatles first played on Ed Sullivans' show. I saw Three Dog Night get their asses handed to them by then almost unknown Led Zeppelin. Opened for Iron Butterfly who sucked beyond all belief, played with Eric Burden after he left (got fired) from War, but after a couple months he fired the whole band. He had a bad temper.
Opened for Bob Geldof & Boomtown Rats and Bob came out during sound check and just sat with me and chatted, a very nice man. Got booed off the stage opening for Devo, but I saw that coming as I was in a hard rock girl band called The Ronnie Lee Band in Seattle and the word "punk rock" was not yet in the lexicon of the English language.
I was honored to open for Harvey Mandel. He invited me to his motel to listen to the tapes i was making, but all he wanted to do was show me karate moves. He got me so stoned on some whitish looking pot that I couldn't even remember what a chord was, and he sat there, my hero, at the side of the stage, laughing his butt off at me.
Albert Collins shared some harsh tasting whiskey in the bathroom and asked me to join his band as rhythm guitarist, but was warned he replaced rhythm players every couple of weeks, but man, that was tempting.
Got tackled by Joan Jett where she lived in a crummy room off sunset with her smelly pet rat. Ronnie Lee use to play with her, i guess, but I never saw any proof of that claim, although Joan gave Ronnie a big bear hug and kiss when we went to visit her.
I'll leave with this: biggest gig-3,500 people with Bachman Turner Overdrive (who blazed jazz/rock licks in the dressing room only to go on stage to play 3 note solos.
Worst gig-2 people during happy hour in some crappy bar in Idaho.
Thanks, I got a million stories like that.
Sorry to get so off topic, couldn't help myself.
Thanks,
Steve B.

I sincerely enjoyed every word of this post.

 

[Kam]

Re: How I made my strat stay in tune

Yeah, I much prefer new forum members when they've touched Joan Jett.

I only have two guitars with vibrato bridges and I have them both blocked so this thread is pretty much useless to me. It was very interesting, nonetheless...even if it only put me further off the idea of moving bridges.

Welcome to the forum, man. :beerchug:

 

[Diego]

Re: How I made my strat stay in tune

Very insightful man.

I'd love to make my Strats behave consistantly, but I think I've reached a point where I'd prefer another instrument design. I just don't get along with whammy bars.

Welcome to the forum, too!

 

[SJ318]

Re: How I made my strat stay in tune

Thanks Adam and everyone for chiming in, and for the people who are put off by a tremolo bar of any kind: This is my first time in 45 years of playing that I tried to use one. I never liked the heavy metal look of a floyd, and Floyd I think you remember me so please take no offense.
When Beck started showing up all over the place, staying in tune, with a roller and and the rest fairly stock, with locking pegs, the vocal sounds he make are beyond description.
He is like Hendrix, a perfect "One Of". Just listen to Nessen Dorma from Crossroads. you can't get that without a whammy. Hendrix and Beck are the top of their own unique class.
The first time I was good enough to take a g on the d string and bend it down to f then e and pull it up to a perfect a, and let go back to g, all in a single pick stoke, sounded like angels. If I was younger, I might have pissed myself(that's an old guy joke).
You gotta try it at least once. Borrow from a buddy who has a floyd without all the work I did on a stock, it could change your whole idea of trems.
Thank you
Steve B.

 

[whatshisname]

Re: How I made my strat stay in tune

I sincerely enjoyed every word of this post.

:fing2:

 

[thespricket]

Re: How I made my strat stay in tune

I found this great video on th youtube. I can't find it now because I'm at work. But if you use a standard trem and want a simple way to keep it in tune search "Frudah way" or something like that. Basically you set the trem however you like it, floating or what have you. Then, one by one (very important), you stretch the strings at every point of contact. The you tune the string to pitch and do a dive with the bar. Basically that sets the string in place. If the dive causes the string to go out of tune repeat the process. And of course it's good to do this when the strings have been on the guitar long enough to stretch.

 

[SJ318]

Re: How I made my strat stay in tune

Mr. spricket,
You are rght on, it was that video that gave me the idea of just eliminating the contact points rather than fight them. Staggered Locking pegs gets rid of string trees also.
Steve B.
Said I'd shut up, but couldn't resist on this one.
forgive me.

 

[IanBallard]

Re: How I made my strat stay in tune

It would be cool if they designed little rollers into the bridge plate where the string comes out so that it doesn't press against sharp metal.

 

[SJ318]

Re: How I made my strat stay in tune

To IanBallard: that is a great idea!!
There is no reason to have the edge of a bridge plate in the way on the strings journey. Yes, exactly correct.
Steve B.

 

[Bludave]

Re: How I made my strat stay in tune

Steve IMHO 59 is not old. Hell I am only a few years younger then you & I feel I am in some of the best shape of my life.

 

[SJ318]

Re: How I made my strat stay in tune

Hey there Bludave,
I have had four discs in my back fused. 1st surgery when I was 21,
second surgery 1998, third surgery in 2001 this time with L4-5 disc fused,
got worse, lost my job and am living on early pension and SSI, had last surgery 1 year ago. This time they had to fuse 4 levels of disc from L4-5 on up. Wife left me cause she wanted to get more out of life as I could no longer sit at a club , or sit for a meal,go to movie, etc.
Lost the house I bought for us, she swindled-flat out stole all of a third of my pension by having me sign a document I didn't understand cause she said it would be good for us in the long run. I always trusted her. Little did I know she was planning on leaving me for some time so I was signing a document that gave her my money. She left that weekend, cat in the car we bought, no chance of working it out per her lawyer, I can't fake taking a hike with her.
So now I live the life of a hermit in Tacoma, Wa. In pain 24/7, and I have tried everything to help myself from Western medicine to Eastern therapies to diet to etc, etc, etc,. I am what you could call F***ed with no way out.
I get to play every now and then with a blues rock band but sometimes I gotta sit down in a 40 minute set. I don't think I am supposed to do this but if you want to see me play before all this got so bad- look me up on Youtube playing with a band called Eddie Gillan and the Red Roosters and you'll see
a guy about your age, I am on the right with the '66 Marc Bolan style LP. There are two of them, one of which I play in hog heaven in A,
Think I play pretty good, but now I mostly try to learn stuff by guys like Matt Schofeild-if you haven't heard him- he's the missing link from early Clapton to modern jazz. Robben Ford with a rock attitude.
Well that's my sob story, but my passion for guitar is still a bright burning
fire in my heart.
Don't retire= it sucks. Then again I can't do much, probably you can.
Giutar is all I have now and has always been there for me.
If you watch my video, tell me what you think, be honest. I can take anything these days. So you see how I feel old.
Thanks,
Steve B. ( i still stick to my strat mods!)

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: How I made my strat stay in tune

tuning is all relative.

 

[SJ318]

Re: How I made my strat stay in tune

gibson175 says "tuning is all relative".
Depends on the relative, if you ask me.
Steve B.

 

[Bludave]

Re: How I made my strat stay in tune



well if this is you.... Good playing!!

 

[SJ318]

Re: How I made my strat stay in tune

Thanks Bludave,
That is me with Marc Bolan style '66 LP custom.
That was about 10 years and Three back operations ago. I guess most people cringe when they see themselves from the audience point of view.
I'd like to think I am a better player now, and it looks like I was more
interested in showing off than playing my best. I don't know. Who can ever be objective.
Thanks however for the compliment.
Made an old guy feel good.
Not trying to make a love fest, but that was a class thing for you to do.
I personally gotta call you, like they used to, " A stand up guy."
I shoulda left the old beat up black paint on it, but I was young and stupid.
Which brings this thread full circle, because I tried a Bigsby back then, they were so awful I gave up on them until I saw Jeff Beck on stage "live at Ronnie Scotts', playing and thinking in terms of vocal nuance. Hence my search to play a strat w/Duncan pick ups and make it stay in tune. Thanks,
Steve B.

 

[That90'sGuy]

Re: How I made my strat stay in tune

I haven't had any issues with my strat staying in tune myself, but I have to say that I really dug the Eddie Gillan's Red Roosters stuff. It's very rootsy rock and roll stuff and I really dig the vibe, it reminds me of one of my favorites, Tom Petty. Very tasteful phrasing! That tone is to die for as well :fing2:

 

[SJ318]

Re: How I made my strat stay in tune

To That90'sguy,
Tone: 66 LP Custom, refinished by myself to a nice amber. Pickups-BBPro(alnico 5)bridge,neck BB2
Pedals: VooDooLab Sparkle Drive>Boss DD-3>Maxon CS-9 St. Chorus
Amp: Hot Rod deluxe,40 watt,stock 12 + my home made small speaker
box, cube shaped loaded W/ Vintage 30. The space in my cab is exactly the
space of a 1/4 Marshall cab. completely closed so I get a nice open sound of the open back speaker and the thunk of a closed back cab at the same time.
Treble=10, bass=o, mid=5, presence=5, reverb=on amp 2-3.
Volume 5-8 depending on room.
overdrive channel and all that goes with it off-permanently.
Thanks for saying so.
Steve B.

 

[Simon_F]

Re: How I made my strat stay in tune

Excellent!

(and the Les Paul stayed in tune )

 

[SJ318]

Re: How I made my strat stay in tune

To Simon F,
Thanks so much. Everyone has been so nice to me.
I thought I saw somewhere that it is your birthday.
If so: A REALLY HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!!!
After I get done installing the Everthing Axe Set on my J.Beck Artist
strat and using the home made mods that I use to keep that strat in tune
I am going to almost start over as if I was 12 again and learn how to
use a trem for serious guitar vocal nuance, ala Beck-Hendrix. A trem
that is played properly will take some time to develop.
That video of me with Eddie is about 10 years old and since then I have become too disabled (degenerative spinal disease) to do much, a set now & then.
The Seymour pickups and my first leap into trem land will really give
me so much pleasure. Tell Mr. Duncan when you see him that not only
do his pickups offer things for all tastes, he has made it possible for
a disabled guy to find meaning in life though new music that I would
not otherwise pursue without his pickups.
I am not good enough to play a strat and make it sound good
without the help of Duncan Pick Ups, in tune or not!
Sincerely,
Steve Buff.