super V bladerunner tremolo

[philthis]

So I picked up a deluxe lone star strat last year for a good, versatile, cheap guitar that I could pack around with me to practice with
or jam with wherever. It's a good guitar really, exceeding what I thought i could get for 600 bucks. The shortcomings however will be in things like the tuners, and the tremolo. Sure enough one of the saddles collapsed on the post on the low E string on the trem bridge saddle. My local luthier suggested titanium saddles but I thought why put lipstick on a pig? The trem is cheap and this guitars pickups are good enough that it sounds good and I like the S-1 switching alot on the volume knob. The neck plays great. So I elected to spend a little more money and just upgrade the tremolo.
I went super V blade runner as they make a tremolo that is a direct and easy fit for my strat. No routing or other obnoxious headaches and it got good revues from most people who have it so I picked one up. I handed it to the Luthier and it seemed it was on and the string hieghts were adjusted in 10 minutes. It really is a direct easy fit. With just the string hieghts from the neck radius to adjust on the saddles. Without even plugging it in the Luthier noticed a volume, and sustain difference immediately. I plugged it into a 68 custom deluxe reverb reissue to give it a test out.
I noticed immediately the sustain was much better and the notes were much more articulate and defined. The highs were clear and the midrange more pronounced. The bass was tighter but not as loud and flubby. The bass is now balanced and blends with the chords much better.
The Bladerunner looks great on this guitar. It doesn't look alien to the overall vintage vibe look of the guitar so it isn't bulky or ugly. So far I am real pleased with the tone and feel of it. I will post an update in a few weeks after spending more time with it. For this guitar I would say it made a 35% tone upgrade difference. The sustain difference is about the same with the notes being much more articulate. I can't wait to really test out the harmonics.
I picked it up on Amazon for $170.00 and paid $20.00 to have it installed and the strings heights and intonation adjusted. The shipping was free so all totaled I'm out nearly $200.00 with new strings and gas to drive over for about.a 35% improvement in my tone and sustain. So there's the value breakdown for ya.

 

[Mincer]

Re: super V bladerunner tremolo

I like the Bladerunner on my Warmoth. I hear they just redesigned the Bladerunner too, with a bigger 'blade'. I have the old one.

 

[SJ318]

Re: super V bladerunner tremolo

I've always been intrigued by the Super V, but the are so many out there. The most important test is staying in tune, then the sound. So please, I will be you biggest reader about this product. At 62, every time I think I can buy one, I need another crown (no dental coverage) or more P.Therapy, or something, condo work, you name it, I just bought a Freedom bridge from Electric City pickups, and then I find out I gotta save a $1,000.00 for another crown!
After growing up in England (1 - 7), I can only say CRIKEY!!
SJB

 

[greekdude]

Re: super V bladerunner tremolo

My honest opinion is that it is a good trem but way overpriced. It will sound good on an already good sounding guitar, it won't do nothing in a bad sounding guitar. Philthis did you do any detailed sustain tests? Like using Audacity to record before and after under the exact same conditions, pups, rest of hardware, set-up and same picking technique?

 

[philthis]

Re: super V bladerunner tremolo

I just plugged in and I could tell immediately the sustain was much better. Somthing else I didn't expect is that my guitar now stays in tune. It just stays in tune after bends and tremolo vibrato movment. It will still go sharp or flat after a wile but the guitar basically just stays in tune. It's nuts how a simple vibrato add can improve my strat. The sustain, tone, and tuning have improved. It really is a superior unit to the fender tremolos. The string tension for things like bending feels slightly stiffer then the string tension on my old tremolo but still not as stiff as a Floyd Rose. It's a more solid unit that's for sure. I am gunna throw on a LSR roller nut and fender locking tuners but right now I can say the Bladerunner tremolo was a big overall improvement. Best upgrade I have made to a strat. I agree if your guitar is bad it won't help much but if you've got a good sounding guitar and it plays well then this will be a nice improvement. It's not a radical improvement like changing your pickups but rather it enhances and improves.the over all playability of your instrument much better making and average strat play good and a good strat play great.so far I love what it did for my guitar. I only got this guitar for a cheap-o beater preferring to keep my nicer guitars to play in better situations but what this thing mainly lacked the Bladerunner made up for.

Side note, this guitar was made in the Fender Mexican Custom shop. When the Luthier pulled the tremolo spring cover off the back of this guitar he exclaimed with surprise. .......hey dude, this guitar body is actually mahogany! that may explain it's nice midrange tone and with the Bladerunner it really shines for a cheap strat.

 

[philthis]

Re: super V bladerunner tremolo

I better clarify a couple things here,
1) I have a single single humbucker pickup configuration in this guitar. I cannot vouch for how it would effect a humbucker humbucker stratocaster configured guitar.
2) my sound is much more dynamic, I now end up turning my volume down to around 7.5 or 8 to adjust for the new and very improved pick attack. I guess the good thing about this is I can roll the volume up to 10 and really dig in for harmonics or plucking hard on some note phrases but again the picking attack is more dynamic so be aware you may find yourself adjusting for the difference right from the start.
3) I have to roll the treble down on my single coils, with the increased midrange and pick dynamics came an increase in treble which produces an increased chimey ring on high chords but it now can also produce an unpleasant ice picky treble spike if you don't roll the treble back on the neck and middle single coils. I guess you could say that the dynamic range has been expanded but you will have to adjust for it, especially if you have a maple neck

 

[greekdude]

Re: super V bladerunner tremolo

The problem is that most people are in such a hurry to feel the benefits of their investment that neglect doing proper testing (me included). So, one has to accurately measure tone and sustain before and after and also include in the test a standard bridge, a bad cheap bridge, and the new super bridge. A significant improvement from standard to the expensive one is somth to note, whereas an improvement from the cheap bridge to the expensive one is expected anyway.
Sustain is 80% neck, 19.999% body and 0.001% the rest of hardware, provided no part is deliberatly killing the tone.

 

[Agileguy_101]

Re: super V bladerunner tremolo

Just to clarify, there is no such thing as a Mexican Custom Shop. Whoever told you your guitar came from one lied.

On topic, I love my bladerunner. I've had it for a while now (at least a year, maybe two) and it's still great. Smooth as all get out and helped tuning immensely.

 

[philthis]

Re: super V bladerunner tremolo

For a test comparison I used UTube and the actual company website. I also went to the negative reviews to.see what there take on it was. The players who endorse this product all had similar experiences to me except they had them installed on American strats. Depending on the quality of what you are replacing your experience will vary. I can't imagine replacing an American tremolo would be as dramatic of.a tone difference as replacing a cheaper trem found on a Mexican guitar but players still claimed it was a remarkable improvement on their american strats. You will have to do your homework like I did but I'm not the first guy who noticed. Do go to the company website and check out Utube for more opinions. I found any quality issues where primarily on the earlier units as the company was just really trying to expand.
Mexican custom shop like an American custom shop......no. .Workers who primarily work on specific models? Well I found my guy who signed off on my guitar on Utube. I sent him a personal thank you. I am not aware of a specific you order they build it facility in Mexico.
Doing my own comparison tests? Why reinvent the wheel. The tests are all ready out.there for anyone to see the the players are better then me. I am not vain enough to assume I know more then a professional musician with hours or maybe years with a piece of equipment. I chose to take advice from people who knew more then myself. But the proof is always in the pudding right? May I suggest doubters are always free to try it for themselves. I did play that guitar through 3 different amps now, a Blues Jr, 68 custom reissue deluxe reverb, 68 custom twin. The improvement was universal on all 3 amps. That.was all the proof I needed.