Wilkinson Tremolo in a Strat??

[RockNRoling]

I am just starting a major overhaul on my stratocaster, a friend suggested that I put a wilkinson tremolo on it. My strat is american so it has the two posts at the correct spacing, would this be worth it to put it on?? I have heard people say that you can really do a lot of whammy stuff, and that the overall feel of the tremolo system is much better. I am just not sure if they are compairing that to the vintage style 6 screw style or the 2 point USA tremolo. Can some one help me out here????

Here is what my strat is gonna end up with...
Olympic White Body (starting to yellow nicely), rosewood fretboard
Tortoise shell HH pickguard (white SD Jazz, and JB trembucker pickups)
3 way tele style switch (thought about the 5 way superswitch, but not sure if the humbuckers are going to split and sound good together or not)
Locking tuners
Graphite (or bone) nut
and now maybe the Wilkinson Tremolo system

I will get pics as soon as everything arrives and is put together next week.

 

[pac112]

Re: Wilkinson Tremolo in a Strat??

try playing the high end yamaha pacifica, they are strat copies with wilkinson trems.

 

[walt]

Re: Wilkinson Tremolo in a Strat??

I have one on one of my strats and there is no problem with the aliegnment of the 2 point USA trem. To me they do feel better than the stock trem but I believe that's just my preference. If you plan on doing a lot of whammy stuff, I would strongly sugguest a graph-tech or graphite (graph-tech preferred) nut and locking tuners, without either one you will still have tuning problems when using your bar. I have 2 strats one with a graph-tech nut the other with just a graphite. Now it maybe just me, but the graph-tech strat (which also has the Wilkinson on it) stays in tune better than the graphite strat (standard bridge) under severe whammying. They both stay in tune a certain extent, but the graph-tech strat can take a better beating than my graphite strat.

 

[RockNRoling]

Re: Wilkinson Tremolo in a Strat??

Thanks walt. I am really leaning twards the wilkinson now. I think it will really make the gutar stand out too. Sorry I forgot i was in the Pickup Lounge, I think this tread belongs in the Guitar forum! Opps!

 

[yampac112]

Re: Wilkinson Tremolo in a Strat??

Do a search on Ebay for wv6sb. This is the model of the Wilkinson vintage style trem with the 5+1 hole pattern (for tuning stability) and a steel block for sustain. I've got one on order now and I can't wait to install it. It should be a direct replacement for our stock trems.

You can find diagrams for it if you do a google search on wv6sb as well.

The non-steel block is the wv6.

 

[Curly]

Re: Wilkinson Tremolo in a Strat??

I've built 3 strats with the 2 post Wilkinson. IMO, it is designed well and has good tone, easy to set up and stable tuning wise.

 

[davedvdy]

Re: Wilkinson Tremolo in a Strat??

I would definitely do a 6 screw bridge....more contact with the body of the guitar. Around here, a lot of guys think that they can keep their guitars in tune just as well w/a 6 screw bridge as a 2 point w/a little practice. Mine is flush w/the guitar with 5 springs, so I haven't tested it that way yet though...but on 2 boards they feel the same way about it.

 

[Fresh_Start]

Re: Wilkinson Tremolo in a Strat??

The 2-point Wilkinson bridge works great for me. IMHO being able to lock down the saddles after setting intonation provides a really solid bridge even with "only" two posts. Adjustable friction on the rotation of the whammy bar is a nice feature too - you can make it stiff or floppy.

Chip