Trems

[wohzah]

Okay, so planning out my next build. I am on a 300 dollars american budget. Its a one single coil, one volume knob semihollow guitar. So, I am looking into a trem, not definate but I am looking for a few opinions. I right now am looking mostly at strat style trems. I like the styling and seeming simplicity. But there are a few questions. First, how well does a genuine fender stratocaster trem (licensed product) I have seen great models that aren't fenders and some that can't hold tune for ten minutes, thoughts (about the fender)? Also any other models that are out there at a reasonable price comparable to an ebay strat trem (when I say ebay I still mean genuine fender product). Also how bad is the problem of the other strings making noise when you use the strat trem? I will be posting some basic sketches of the body and neck in the in progress forum.

Thanks

[rjhalsey]

Take a look at Trem King or the Super-Vee

[j. pierce]

300 dollars for the whole guitar? Seems a bit tight, particularly if you want a decent tremolo bridge.

I'm quite a fan of the this trem by hipshot. My last build has paired it with locking tuners, and it's done well enough by me. I can be pretty abusive of it without tuning issues, it's smooth, and it's made a trem convert out a guy that was never into much more than maybe a little bigsby warble.

[RAI6]

As mentioned, locking tuners is a must, as well as a slippery and well cut nut.

The trem is just a part of the equation....

[wohzah]

300 may seem tight, but I am not in need of buying body or neck wood, I have a limited supply of free stuff. Also it is very light on the electronics only one pickup. So far without a trem bridge I am at 205 dollars american (budgeted not added up) with 40 dollars for just small odds and ends so I think I could pull off the tight budget. I am looking at a good nut and good tuners, so will I be ok with a standard strat trem, its simplicity is a large draw. Any thoughts on a wilkinson trem? Are bigsby trems as much of a night mare as they are said to be?

Edited June 4, 2008 by wohzah

[rjhalsey]

300 may seem tight, but I am not in need of buying body or neck wood, I have a limited supply of free stuff. Also it is very light on the electronics only one pickup. So far without a trem bridge I am at 205 dollars american (budgeted not added up) with 40 dollars for just small odds and ends so I think I could pull off the tight budget. I am looking at a good nut and good tuners, so will I be ok with a standard strat trem, its simplicity is a large draw. Any thoughts on a wilkinson trem? Are bigsby trems as much of a night mare as they are said to be?

Wilkinson makes a nice vintage trem with a steel block that is under 50.00.

[j. pierce]

Bigsby trems can be a pain to string - if you don't do it properly, you end up with the thing strung up to pitch and the arm stuck too low, not really allowing much movement. That said once you get the hang of stringing it properly, they're not to bad to deal with. (Once I've got it set up the way I want it, I usually replace strings one at a time rather than taking all the strings off at once. The position of the arm can be a bit of annoyance for some folks. You're certainly not going to get a lot of movement out of them - don't expect to be doing divebombs or crazy tremolo tricks with them, but for more subtle, tuneful warbling, they're nice. I don't find many tuning stability issues with them, and the guitars I've had them on have always had normal vintage syle tuners. The lack of tuning issues is probably as a result of them not really having a very large range.

[wohzah]

in my reference to the bigsby (which I love to play). I was norl refering to its difficulty to string I kent its difficulty to install. Does anyone know a tutorial?

[j. pierce]

Ah - I'm sorry, I read "Bigsby" and "nightmare" and immediately thought of stringing, rather than installing, as I found the install quite simple.

It depends on what type of bigsby you use, but they're all fairly easy to install. The B5 style simply screws in from the top of the guitar - move it back far enough that the strings don't bind on the back of the bridge as they come off. The The B6 styles simply screw in by the strap button, the B7 styles do the same and also have an additional two screws on the surface of the guitar. But that's it - they just screw onto the body.

There are a few things to plan on your build in regards - if you've got a carved top, you'll have a heck of a time getting a B5 style to work properly unless you plan around it. If your bridge is not very high in comparison to the tailpiece, (which is basically the case with most electrics - by "high" we mean like an archtop - tuneomatic type mounted on a wooden bridge) you'll want a model with a tension bar (i.e., a B7 instead of a B6).

You also need to take into account the thickness of the body - a B6 needs a guitar at least 2 1/4" inches thick - while a B7 will work with standard thickness (1 1/2" and up) electrics.

And you need to plan to have enough lower bout behind the bridge to place whatever unit you choose. Fitting a B5 style isn't ever usually a problem unless you've got a very small body - I've seen them shoehorned onto strats, which don't have the most room behind the bridge. If you go with one of the trapeze-style bigbsys, Stew Mac gives the measurements from the hinge to the bar, which should give you an idea if it fits. (Again, always a good plan to have your hardware in hand before beginning.)

And of course, don't forget that using a bigbsy necessitates a higher bridge and therefore a neck angle. Not really an issue if you were planning on working with a TOM style bridge to begin with, but the only complaints I've heard with bigsby installations have been folks that retrofit one on a tele, and the shimming it necessitates to get the angle in place afterwards.