Hard Tailed Strat

[jaycee]

I have a a 35mm thick guitar body based on a strat. The body is to thin for a regular trem block bridge so I told the guy in my local guitar shop that I was going to leave off the block and screw the bridge straight to the body.

He then said that the block is called a tone block and was needed for the tone otherwise the sound would be bad.

But I have seen hard tails bridges for strats and as far as I can see they work the same way that I mentioned above.

Can any one clarify this for me. Screw the bridge assembly to the guitar body . insert 6 ferrules on the back of the guitar into the holes (that have been drilled out for the strings) and thats basically it .

[spazzyone]

well he is right and wrong

if you wanted a tremolo why not shorten the block

i have had to do this twice as i prefer floyds to any other bridge

as for screw the bridge down..most of the trem bridges i have seen

only have three screws for mounting to the block

and im not sure that just those three screws is a good idea

you could drill your own into the bridge then mount it

but then why not just use a real hardtail in the first place

and yes the block affects tone but not if its a non trem

as they dont have one

[jaycee]

If the hard tail just screws onto the body and you feed the strings through from the back of the guitar then I will get a hardtail, is that how the work?

I wanted to do a hard tailed strat when I realised the thickness of my body would not be enough, its just the way the guy explained it ito me in the shop led me to believe it couldn't be done

cheers

Edited August 5, 2006 by jaycee

[spazzyone]

just screw to the top

drill string thru holes and in stall furrels

its not that simple but yes

as i questioned why not shorten the trem block?

and use the trem. unless you dont want one

[ryanb]

Is the body routed for trem already (it sounds like it isn't)? If not, and you still want a hardtail, I would recommend that you get a real hardtail bridge to use instead. They are cheap, and it just works, looks, and feels better than using the top of the trem bridge. But yes, you can do what you have suggested. You can also, as mentioned, shorten the trem block to make the trem fit, if that is what you really wanted.

[jaycee]

Thanks guys that's answered my questions.

Nothing is routered on the body yet.

The body is between 30 -35mm in depth, by the time I router out at least 15mm for the pickup assembly that only leaves me 15- 20mm for the anchor plate and springs, so I will only be able to fix the plate using 2 screws going into the body horizontaly ( along the guitar length, ) and no space left to secure it depth wise.

I'm not to sure of the pressure put upon the springs ( and therefore the mounting screws) when everything is set up.

But i'm happy to get a hardtailed bridge anyway.