STRATDELUXER97
Stratoblaster Tone Meister
Curious to see what you all prefer...I'm not normally a vibrato bar user and get most of my vibrato from my fingers...Some of my strats float about 1/8" off the body,but the others are on the body...
Strat Guys....Bridge...Floating Or Decked?
- Thread starter STRATDELUXER97
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ErikH
Well-known member
Re: Strat Guys....Bridge...Floating Or Decked?
Slammed down like a hard tail. I used to have mine set up to float and it stayed in tune really well but I don't find myself needing it that way now. In fact, my main players don't even have a tremolo on them (just realized that.. ha).
Slammed down like a hard tail. I used to have mine set up to float and it stayed in tune really well but I don't find myself needing it that way now. In fact, my main players don't even have a tremolo on them (just realized that.. ha).
bungalowbill
Luckybastidologist
Re: Strat Guys....Bridge...Floating Or Decked?
Same for me...I play a lot of pedal steel bends which a floating bridge isn't suitable for.
Same for me...I play a lot of pedal steel bends which a floating bridge isn't suitable for.
TheLivingDead
Dawn Of The Shred
Re: Strat Guys....Bridge...Floating Or Decked?
Flush.
Flush.
the guy who invented fire
Fuzzy. Guitars
Re: Strat Guys....Bridge...Floating Or Decked?
Floating...thats the way Leo designed and IMHO thats the way it works best...
I think they stay in tune better that way and I find more musical uses for them set floating.
I used to just float it with no real thought about it until I saw this:
After I saw that I put in the time, and it does take time to make it work like Carl's but the pay off was SO worth it!
The vibrato part of the clip starts just before 3 minutes...
Floating...thats the way Leo designed and IMHO thats the way it works best...
I think they stay in tune better that way and I find more musical uses for them set floating.
I used to just float it with no real thought about it until I saw this:
After I saw that I put in the time, and it does take time to make it work like Carl's but the pay off was SO worth it!
The vibrato part of the clip starts just before 3 minutes...
ItsaBass
New member
Re: Strat Guys....Bridge...Floating Or Decked?
Floating most of the time. That's a huge part of what makes a Strat a Strat. But I will certainly not make the claim that they stay in tune better that way. They don't; not even close.
If flush, I usually forget about the vibrato and wedge a piece of wood behind the vibrato block.
Floating most of the time. That's a huge part of what makes a Strat a Strat. But I will certainly not make the claim that they stay in tune better that way. They don't; not even close.
If flush, I usually forget about the vibrato and wedge a piece of wood behind the vibrato block.
ImmortalSix
John Mayer's Mankini
Re: Strat Guys....Bridge...Floating Or Decked?
Interesting issue for me.
I was in all kinds of bands and gigged a lot between 1999 and 2004. I was out playing somewhere damn near every weekend during that time.
I only had one guitar - a 1996 American Standard Stratocaster, so it went everywhere and did everything.
Anyways, it was set up floating from the local store I bought it from, and it stayed that way from 1996 (when I got it, before I was playing out) until about 2002.
In my peak gigging years between 1999 and 2002, I really was playing almost every weekend, I had 2 and sometimes 3 bands, and this guitar was getting used for every minute of all that.
The guitar sounded the best in those years.
Until 2003, I had no idea what anything on the guitar did except the volume knob. I am not kidding, I barely knew what the pickup selector switch did. Talk about good life before the information age - I was very, very focused on music and very, very UNfocused on gear or tone. I just moved the switch until it sounded right for the song. I remember I had my 2 tone knobs set at 7 and 4, all the time, from the day I got my first amp until about 2003. Again - I didn't know what the knobs did, but the guitar sounded "right."
Around 2003, the internet was a little more prominent, and I happened upon information that I was previously not privy to - SRV's 5 trem springs and huge strings, rewiring tone pots to control different things, etcetera - it was all Greek to me, but I was reading it, so I started to wonder if I could make my Strat sound better.
I started tweaking - I added trem springs, I put on 13-56 strings, I hardtail'd it, I put on 9-42 strings, I soldered, I desoldered, I turned the truss rod this way, I turned the truss rod the other way. Saddles up, saddles down. I was just messing with it.
Anyways, since about 2003 (almost 10 years ago, damn) the guitar hasn't been right. I recently read my own review of the KGC brass trem block where I stated "In the case of my guitar, it's not very good in the first place for some reason, so my guitar went more from "ug" to "OK" than "good to great."
It wasn't always that way. People used to play my Stratocaster and say "God DAMN."
I'm not using hyperbole here, it used to be that guitar that another guitarist would pick up and their face would kind of freeze, like someone was whispering a secret to them, and then look at me like, what is this thing? It was supernaturally good. It was my guitar soulmate, and that's why I lived with 1 guitar for 10 years - I didn't need another one, I had the one.
So in about 2003 I "broke the seal" on what I now realize was an absolutely magic setup, and hardtail'd my vibrato. Since then, I have set up probably 10 guitars from scratch, each of which felt remarkably better than before, but for some reason, this Strat has never felt right since I first "disrupted" it.
It really feels like an "Eve in the garden of Eden" thing for me. There was an age of innocence, but it was far too short and it's gone now.
So I have set the trem up floating a few times since 2003, and every time, it feels awful, intonates awful, buzzes even with high action, and is just all around awful, so I always end up hardtailing it again and doing my best to set it up well.
I just built a guitar in my garage completely from scratch that I set up to play incredibly. I pieced together another from an unfinished body and neck, and it also plays great. I know that I know how to do setups - I have done many, and never had one stump me. Except my former #1 Strat.
I don't even have a #1 anymore. I have 10 guitars in my house and none of them is my favorite - likely because I miss how good that Strat once was - that is what a guitar should feel like and sound like.
But it's never felt good or sounded good since I've hardtailed it. It's just that I can't seem to set it up floating to save my life.
-Hunter
Interesting issue for me.
I was in all kinds of bands and gigged a lot between 1999 and 2004. I was out playing somewhere damn near every weekend during that time.
I only had one guitar - a 1996 American Standard Stratocaster, so it went everywhere and did everything.
Anyways, it was set up floating from the local store I bought it from, and it stayed that way from 1996 (when I got it, before I was playing out) until about 2002.
In my peak gigging years between 1999 and 2002, I really was playing almost every weekend, I had 2 and sometimes 3 bands, and this guitar was getting used for every minute of all that.
The guitar sounded the best in those years.
Until 2003, I had no idea what anything on the guitar did except the volume knob. I am not kidding, I barely knew what the pickup selector switch did. Talk about good life before the information age - I was very, very focused on music and very, very UNfocused on gear or tone. I just moved the switch until it sounded right for the song. I remember I had my 2 tone knobs set at 7 and 4, all the time, from the day I got my first amp until about 2003. Again - I didn't know what the knobs did, but the guitar sounded "right."
Around 2003, the internet was a little more prominent, and I happened upon information that I was previously not privy to - SRV's 5 trem springs and huge strings, rewiring tone pots to control different things, etcetera - it was all Greek to me, but I was reading it, so I started to wonder if I could make my Strat sound better.
I started tweaking - I added trem springs, I put on 13-56 strings, I hardtail'd it, I put on 9-42 strings, I soldered, I desoldered, I turned the truss rod this way, I turned the truss rod the other way. Saddles up, saddles down. I was just messing with it.
Anyways, since about 2003 (almost 10 years ago, damn) the guitar hasn't been right. I recently read my own review of the KGC brass trem block where I stated "In the case of my guitar, it's not very good in the first place for some reason, so my guitar went more from "ug" to "OK" than "good to great."
It wasn't always that way. People used to play my Stratocaster and say "God DAMN."
I'm not using hyperbole here, it used to be that guitar that another guitarist would pick up and their face would kind of freeze, like someone was whispering a secret to them, and then look at me like, what is this thing? It was supernaturally good. It was my guitar soulmate, and that's why I lived with 1 guitar for 10 years - I didn't need another one, I had the one.
So in about 2003 I "broke the seal" on what I now realize was an absolutely magic setup, and hardtail'd my vibrato. Since then, I have set up probably 10 guitars from scratch, each of which felt remarkably better than before, but for some reason, this Strat has never felt right since I first "disrupted" it.
It really feels like an "Eve in the garden of Eden" thing for me. There was an age of innocence, but it was far too short and it's gone now.
So I have set the trem up floating a few times since 2003, and every time, it feels awful, intonates awful, buzzes even with high action, and is just all around awful, so I always end up hardtailing it again and doing my best to set it up well.
I just built a guitar in my garage completely from scratch that I set up to play incredibly. I pieced together another from an unfinished body and neck, and it also plays great. I know that I know how to do setups - I have done many, and never had one stump me. Except my former #1 Strat.
I don't even have a #1 anymore. I have 10 guitars in my house and none of them is my favorite - likely because I miss how good that Strat once was - that is what a guitar should feel like and sound like.
But it's never felt good or sounded good since I've hardtailed it. It's just that I can't seem to set it up floating to save my life.
-Hunter
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Quencho092
New member
Re: Strat Guys....Bridge...Floating Or Decked?
That's a horrendously sad story ImmortalSix.
It sounds like the story of my #1 '04 american strat, except I still love how it sounds. Maybe you didn't screw that guitar to hell at all, maybe you just heard/played more guitars, more tones, more bands, more knowledge, then what you own doesn't feel so 'unbelievable' and 'unique' anymore because you have become more aware. I noticed how you even reflect back on its 'best days' when you were gigging most-clearly you were whooping ass at the gigs and felt good about your sound at the time, has it really changed or have you settled down and become a different guitarist with different needs?
I remember my honeymoon phase with this guitar and it was really nice, my first well finished instrument that actually intonated like a champ and wailed like a champ. To add to that, I was also fairly new to the blues and had a honeymoon phase with that.
In the end I'm more of a jazz guy, fits my personality and my skills better, I was never a flashy rocker/blueser but I used to love doing it. I set my strat up for what I love to play and it never lets me down, it's been flush since day 2, in tune for weeks at a time, neck is super straight, frets starting to get some serious wear but that settled down ever since I stopped bending like no tomorrow and switched to flats.
Maybe if you disassemble your strat and leave it for a few months, then re-assemble it with everything tightened up to spec gradually.
That's a horrendously sad story ImmortalSix.
It sounds like the story of my #1 '04 american strat, except I still love how it sounds. Maybe you didn't screw that guitar to hell at all, maybe you just heard/played more guitars, more tones, more bands, more knowledge, then what you own doesn't feel so 'unbelievable' and 'unique' anymore because you have become more aware. I noticed how you even reflect back on its 'best days' when you were gigging most-clearly you were whooping ass at the gigs and felt good about your sound at the time, has it really changed or have you settled down and become a different guitarist with different needs?
I remember my honeymoon phase with this guitar and it was really nice, my first well finished instrument that actually intonated like a champ and wailed like a champ. To add to that, I was also fairly new to the blues and had a honeymoon phase with that.
In the end I'm more of a jazz guy, fits my personality and my skills better, I was never a flashy rocker/blueser but I used to love doing it. I set my strat up for what I love to play and it never lets me down, it's been flush since day 2, in tune for weeks at a time, neck is super straight, frets starting to get some serious wear but that settled down ever since I stopped bending like no tomorrow and switched to flats.
Maybe if you disassemble your strat and leave it for a few months, then re-assemble it with everything tightened up to spec gradually.
o.p-i.v
New member
Re: Strat Guys....Bridge...Floating Or Decked?
That made me cry a little bit inside
That made me cry a little bit inside
STRATDELUXER97
Stratoblaster Tone Meister
Re: Strat Guys....Bridge...Floating Or Decked?
Another video I saw after watching this one,showed Carl's system was bull...Check it out...
Another video I saw after watching this one,showed Carl's system was bull...Check it out...
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STRATDELUXER97
Stratoblaster Tone Meister
Re: Strat Guys....Bridge...Floating Or Decked?
CTN
The Drama Dude
Re: Strat Guys....Bridge...Floating Or Decked?
^^ That's friggin interesting...I've never set up a trem like that before, with an angled claw. Gonna have to try doing that. Would be a lot easier if you could somehow measure the tension being exerted on the stretched strings/springs
^^ That's friggin interesting...I've never set up a trem like that before, with an angled claw. Gonna have to try doing that. Would be a lot easier if you could somehow measure the tension being exerted on the stretched strings/springs
Bludave
New member
Re: Strat Guys....Bridge...Floating Or Decked?
I have 5 Strats. They are each set up a bit differently. I prefer my bridge flush against the body. I think the guitar sustains better & in the rare event I break a string the guitar will stay in tune well enough to get through the song.
The guitar I play most is resting on the body. The fact is I don't use the whammy too much either and I generally pus it down rather then pull it up.
I have 5 Strats. They are each set up a bit differently. I prefer my bridge flush against the body. I think the guitar sustains better & in the rare event I break a string the guitar will stay in tune well enough to get through the song.
The guitar I play most is resting on the body. The fact is I don't use the whammy too much either and I generally pus it down rather then pull it up.
CTN
The Drama Dude
Re: Strat Guys....Bridge...Floating Or Decked?
I have mine set to floating, but I have it set such that I cannot really pull back/up on it very much, seeing as the bridge rout is not recessed. The bridge plate is essentially parallel to the flattop of the guitar body.
In other words, it's set up like a floating bridge should be set up. Just because it floats doesn't mean you should automatically have the ability to go up and down. IMO, if you can go up and down on a strat trem, then you've done the setup wrong, because the bridge plate needs to be parallel to the body to achieve good tuning stability and intonation.
This is plainly evident on the EVH guitars which have floyds set to full float, but they can't pull up because there isn't a recessed bridge rout which allows the bridge plate to move into the body, so to speak. On Jacksons though, there is a recessed rout, and the full float floyds can go up or down.
I have mine set to floating, but I have it set such that I cannot really pull back/up on it very much, seeing as the bridge rout is not recessed. The bridge plate is essentially parallel to the flattop of the guitar body.
In other words, it's set up like a floating bridge should be set up. Just because it floats doesn't mean you should automatically have the ability to go up and down. IMO, if you can go up and down on a strat trem, then you've done the setup wrong, because the bridge plate needs to be parallel to the body to achieve good tuning stability and intonation.
This is plainly evident on the EVH guitars which have floyds set to full float, but they can't pull up because there isn't a recessed bridge rout which allows the bridge plate to move into the body, so to speak. On Jacksons though, there is a recessed rout, and the full float floyds can go up or down.
STRATDELUXER97
Stratoblaster Tone Meister
Re: Strat Guys....Bridge...Floating Or Decked?
When I do set up a strat to float,I've never had an issue setting the spring and claw so it's straight across and no difference in the angle of the claw...Maybe the American Series 2 point pivot bridge is different to the vintage setup in these examples?
If I really feel the need to wang,I use my strat that has the Floyd Rose,but these days its very seldom.. ;o)
When I do set up a strat to float,I've never had an issue setting the spring and claw so it's straight across and no difference in the angle of the claw...Maybe the American Series 2 point pivot bridge is different to the vintage setup in these examples?
If I really feel the need to wang,I use my strat that has the Floyd Rose,but these days its very seldom.. ;o)
