Is it worth investing in new tremolo springs and a new tremolo claw for my Strat?

U

unleashthejay

New member
Is it worth investing in "premium" tremolo springs and a "premium" tremolo claw to improve my Strat's tone? I went down a Youtube rabbit hole and saw a few videos on the subject and I was curious if anyone has any tips on the subject? There are many products out there promising better tone but I don't know if it's worth it.
 
Nope on the trem claw. Different springs will have different tensions, so could impact the feel of the trem. Some springs are coated with stuff that prevents them from ringing (sometimes can be heard with distortion).
 
I agree - springs, maybe for the sake of noiseless. New trem claw, probably not.
I don't believe a trem claw is going to impact tone much, even with pickups that are unusually sensitive to nuance.

Full disclosure; I've never tried one of those heavy brass "tone claws" myself. So I can't speak from experience.
Also - as with some other mods - it might make no difference to one guitar and be noticeable on another.
 
Neither for tone.

Springs for feel and noise, especially if you want the vintage style (Raw Vintage) feel, they are much softer than modern springs. Alternatively two super stiff springs will give a different feel as well, it’s all up to your preference.

The claw, there is a Schaller that adjusts with an Allen wrench, maybe slightly easier to set your float.

Have you fully optimized everything else on your Strat? Pickups, height, pot/cap values, trem float, trem block, relief and action? All of those will have an effect of some sort on tone. Some large and some minuscule, but they all will have more of an impact than springs or claw.
 
Can't speak for claws, but with springs it's mainly feel. I put a set of Raw Vintage springs in a guitar and it certainly made a difference in the feel department (for the better, per my preference); tone, not so much, maybe in a subtle way which is only noticeable when playing quite clean.
 
I call snake oil on any tone improvement. You might get a different (not 'better') feeling tremolo, but any tonal change will be a sideways step.
 
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