Question on Beck's trem staying in tune

S

SJ318

New member
Hello, Happy Holidays,
We all know Becks' talent is "all in his hands" TRUE!! But his trem if fairly stock. I have seen him live twice and never seen him re-tune. Theory: He uses 9, 11 16, 28, 38, 52. Could the extreme tension from the low strings add a certain stability to his trem? I have the same guitar as his-roller nut, locking tuners. floating trem about a major third on the up pull. I drilled the block string exit and elongated the plate so the string goes from ball end to saddle w/no other contact. Works very well (better than the stock J.B. I bought) but still gotta re-tune from time to time, Where my hero does not. I use 9.5, 11.5, 16 24, 34, 44 D'Adarrio strings. Comments on string theory?
Steve Buffington
 
Re: Question on Beck's trem staying in tune

I always thought he had the thing pretty close to decked...
 
Re: Question on Beck's trem staying in tune

Not decked at all...Jeff pulles back quite a bit.

It's really all in the set up with any trem set up.

I have a 6 hole vintage trem, non locking keys, crappy faux bone nut, string tree and do not use nut sauce, graphite, etc and my trem will stay in tune all night with me doing dives, bends, pulls, etc but it took a long time to get it set up where it would do that.

Jeff uses a roller nut, 2 point trem and locking keys so with a set up like that it's pretty easy really.
 
Re: Question on Beck's trem staying in tune

the guy who invented fire said:
Not decked at all...Jeff pulles back quite a bit.

It's really all in the set up with any trem set up.

I have a 6 hole vintage trem, non locking keys, crappy faux bone nut, string tree and do not use nut sauce, graphite, etc and my trem will stay in tune all night with me doing dives, bends, pulls, etc but it took a long time to get it set up where it would do that.

Jeff uses a roller nut, 2 point trem and locking keys so with a set up like that it's pretty easy really.
Click to expand...

why do you have a crappy fake bone nut?
 
Re: Question on Beck's trem staying in tune

This pic might be relevant to discussion!IMG_0737.jpg
It's Jeff's go-to up close. Make of it what you will. Funfact: it's basswood.
 
Re: Question on Beck's trem staying in tune

the guy who invented fire said:
Why not?
Click to expand...

okay, I know that you are being catty.The nut is one of those tiny things that is oh so important. I have agonoized over a proper nut so much it isn't even funny. If you mean you have a Tusq nut, then if its cut properly, then yeah, why not. But if its "crappy",meaning all botched up, then thats a big concern for something so small. It causes all kinds of headaches. Why am i even saying this, you know this..
 
Last edited:
Re: Question on Beck's trem staying in tune

Also tremolo (vibrato) tuning comes in handy a LOT when I use my strat. Tune it over and over again making sure the guitar is clear of anywhere the string could be hung up on and tune as accurately as possible. Now when you play, occasionally a string or 2 could get hung up when returning to pitch. It's very important that you DON'T RETUNE IT. Simply move the whammy up and down a bit to free the string from wherever it's caught and the guitar goes right back in tune, you can do this subtly during a part where you don't play or work it in creatively when you are playing, or just finish a song trying to avoid that string and just jiggle the whammy after to set it back in tune. If you retune it without doing this troubleshooting step, then that hung up string will come loose later and pull you out of tune AGAIN. Then your guitar won't stay in tune the whole night! Just keep this in mind and trem use will be much more bearable. The better your guitar is set up and the better quality your hardware is the less the string hang ups will happen in general. But keep in mind they can happen with the best gear and in top shape at that. I've seen dudes who get rolling trees and nuts and locking tuners and the best bridges money can buy go out of tune while dudes with stock squires go the whole night withouta hitch. Remember to always try that first.
 
Last edited:
Re: Question on Beck's trem staying in tune

blueman335 said:
Do you have to go thru that everytime you change strings?
Click to expand...

No, not at all...

When I say it took a long time i mean it took a long time for me to figure out how to set the floating trem up properly to get it to work like I wanted it to but now that it is set up when I change strings, I take the old ones off, put fresh ones on, stretch 'em out, tune it up and thats it...
 
Re: Question on Beck's trem staying in tune

MetalManiac said:
okay, I know that you are being catty.The nut is one of those tiny things that is oh so important. I have agonoized over a proper nut so much it isn't even funny. If you mean you have a Tusq nut, then if its cut properly, then yeah, why not. But if its "crappy",meaning all botched up, then thats a big concern for something so small. It causes all kinds of headaches. Why am i even saying this, you know this..
Click to expand...

I'm not being catty at all...

When I say it has a crappy faux bone nut I mean it has the stock, low buck synthetic bone nut.

I see no need to worry so much about things like a nut...it wounds fine and it stays in tune...whats not to like about it??
 
Re: Question on Beck's trem staying in tune

the guy who invented fire said:
I'm not being catty at all...

When I say it has a crappy faux bone nut I mean it has the stock, low buck synthetic bone nut.

I see no need to worry so much about things like a nut...it wounds fine and it stays in tune...whats not to like about it??
Click to expand...

C'mon man. get yourself a quality bone or tusq , ( graphite even) nut cut by a seasoned veteran. Makes a huge difference in subtle tonality , and feel and even action. Funny how some guys don't sweat the little stuff thats makes so much difference.By synthetic bone, you mean plastic right, or not graphite or tusq or graphite .
 
Last edited:
Re: Question on Beck's trem staying in tune

MetalManiac said:
C'mon man. get yourself a quality bone or tusq nut cut by a seasoned veteran. Makes a huge difference in subtle tonality , and feel.Funny how some guys don't sweat the little stuff thats makes so much difference.By synthetic bone, you mean plastic right, or not graphite or tusq .
Click to expand...

What does that even mean?! You been hanging out on TGP too much...

The stock nut is just fine. I tend to not replace nuts until I wear them out unless they have issues.

Now, plastic nuts...those I get rid of but there is nothing wrong with a synthetic bone nut in terms of tone.

You should stop worrying about junk like the nut and start worrying about things like intonation.

Trust me...if you really play and you really enjoy it then worry less and play more...good tone, chops and all that will follow.
 
Last edited:
Re: Question on Beck's trem staying in tune

the guy who invented fire said:
What does that even mean?! You been hanging out on TGP too much...

The stock nut is just fine. I tend to not replace nuts until I wear them out unless they have issues.

Now, plastic nuts...those I get rid of but there is nothing wrong with a synthetic bone nut in terms of tone.

you should stop worrying about junk like the nut and start worrying about things like intonation.
Click to expand...

okay, so its not plastic. Thats all I was worried about . Its synthetic bone, meaning ivoroid or 'tusq" All is well, and now I can sleep.(btw,what do you think about graphite nuts?)
 
Re: Question on Beck's trem staying in tune

MetalManiac said:
okay, so its not plastic. Thats all I was worried about . Its synthetic bone, meaning ivoroid or 'tusq" All is well, and now I can sleep.(btw,what do you think about graphite nuts?)
Click to expand...

Graphite nuts are fine I guess...I don't love what it does to the attack and after a while they get sawed in half, most often by the d string...bone, brass, etc does it as well but graphite seems to do it sooner and easier.
 
Re: Question on Beck's trem staying in tune

Well JB goes out of tune....but you never really notice it, as it is mostly not all that relevant..
Don't sweat the details MM....it never mattered at the end of the day, unless you like chasing your own tail all day long!
;)
 
Re: Question on Beck's trem staying in tune

Somebody on this forum had a custom shop jb Strat and swore the term was made out of some unique material- sounded killer and stayed in tune. I had a production jb and it NEVER staye in tune. Even tried a wilkinson replacement bridge. Nothing worked.
 
Re: Question on Beck's trem staying in tune

The JB vibrato is your normal two point plate, the saddles on the other hand are a different matter!
Mine is a CS JB, and stays pretty good in tune....but I wore out the vib and replaced it with a Gotoh....and that one shows no sign of wear!
Use 10-46 on that one!
Have checked it one time in the 2,5 years I had it now....
It just keeps playing, and it plays alot!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

S
Direct Mounting Hot Rails Neck in my Charvel DK24 SSH
Replies
4
Views
883
Mincer
Mincer
A
Epiphone Les Paul Standard vs. MIM Fender Strat Standard quality, sound and value?
Replies
3
Views
758
alex73013
A
Silence Kid
Dad's Guitars
Replies
16
Views
1K
astrozombie
astrozombie
dystrust
My Charvel Model 4 - latest update
2
Replies
21
Views
4K
SDB50
S
B
My pain as education for others on tremolo setup and important lessons learned
Replies
0
Views
507
BluesGuyJ
B
Back
Top