Tone vs whammy fun

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Tone vs whammy fun

Well, I don't buy guitars with a whammy if I don't intend to use them.

This is what I've decided. I tweaked it ala Carl Verheyen, and decided to enjoy the whammy goodness. The minor third G/whole step B/half step E pull up is surprisingly easy to dial in.

 

[philthis]

Re: Tone vs whammy fun

are you running a Fender strat with a regular trem? If so check out a trem made from Super V. I put on a Blade Runner on my strat and it was a drastic impovement. They have video's of the product and players who endorse it. It gave me much more sustain and radically improved tuning stability. It fits right in, no mess or fuss. After watching Eric Johnson talk about one of the locking ones I may try one on one of his strats I own. They have both types of trems and some other stuff too. I have only tried the Blade Runner to great results.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Tone vs whammy fun

+1 to the Bladerunner. It is a great, unique idea that works very well. I have one in my Warmoth.

 

[greekdude]

Re: Tone vs whammy fun

Same here about blade runner. Nicely built trem. But if a strat plays great anyway, then bladerunner will not improve much.

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Tone vs whammy fun

I'm in a Strat group on Facebook, and the guys who aren't too busy telling everybody their CV Squiers are nicer than any American Standard talk about the Bladerunner a lot. I'm not unhappy with the overall performance of the stock Fender bridge. It's an '87 Standard, so it's the stock 2 point.

 

[Silence Kid]

Re: Tone vs whammy fun

I have a $50 ripoff Strat, and its six point stays in tune floating just fine... So does my American Deluxe two point. And my Mustang. And my Jaguar and Jazzmasters. So I view a lot of aftermarket trem "upgrades" as snake oil, or a substitute for a good setup. Although many of the aftermarket units are well engineered.

The trem that needs replacement is the stupid zinc Floyd Special with worn pivots.

 

[treyhaislip]

Re: Tone vs whammy fun

I prefer the Fender 2 point tremolo from a feel standpoint; however, there is something about a Floyd with a big brass block that sounds killer. I think the saddles play a significant role that can't be overlooked.

 

[HiFiRebel]

Re: Tone vs whammy fun

I have a $50 ripoff Strat, and its six point stays in tune floating just fine... So does my American Deluxe two point. And my Mustang. And my Jaguar and Jazzmasters. So I view a lot of aftermarket trem "upgrades" as snake oil, or a substitute for a good setup. Although many of the aftermarket units are well engineered.

The trem that needs replacement is the stupid zinc Floyd Special with worn pivots.

I put bigger blocks in mine. Sounds better and they're not por metal anymore in there. A lot of those "mirale bridges" do seem suspect though.

 

[Silence Kid]

Re: Tone vs whammy fun

Blocks/saddle are total legit improvements. Especially if you aren't decked. I aimed my statement more at the total system overhauls.

 

[Jacew]

Re: Tone vs whammy fun

If you don't route the body underneath and behind the bridge, then set it flat, it will not be floating. Same as a standard Fender.

Sorry if I'm being stupid here, but I couldn't find satifactory explanation to this on my own.

Idea of Floyd Rose is to allow both, upward and downward bends, right? And that's how EVH used it? So how can it be decked and physically do that?

Or have misunderstood this and it is like Fender trem technically, but allows much greater movement of pitch?

 

[treyhaislip]

Re: Tone vs whammy fun

My understanding was the the Floyd was designed specifically for tuning stabilization–I believe it was the first locking tremolo. Fenders could be set up to go up and down, people were doing it before the Floyd.

And a quick side note, a properly setup guitar with a Fender trem will stay in tune just fine

 

[Jacew]

Re: Tone vs whammy fun

My understanding was the the Floyd was designed specifically for tuning stabilization–I believe it was the first locking tremolo. Fenders could be set up to go up and down, people were doing it before the Floyd.

And a quick side note, a properly setup guitar with a Fender trem will stay in tune just fine

Yes it does, I'm on a Fender camp too. I just got curious how decking a Floyd Rose works, only ones I've seen have been built as floating, so I thought it was the thing with those.

So original Floyd Roses were downwards only, but allowed larger pitch change than Fender trem?

 

[Silence Kid]

Re: Tone vs whammy fun

You could tilt an original Floyd like a six-point Fender and allow upward/downward, or you could flat-mount it to an un-routed body (downward only, like Van Halen,) or route under it (modern practice) so that it would float (with greater range) and sit parallel.

The Floyd decked (or tilted) gives greater movement/stability vs. a non-locker.