Tremolo block clearance

[ShatnersBassoon]

I’m fitting the Floyd Rose style trem to my headless build. What I’m a bit confused about is how much clearance I should leave both in front of and behind the trem block? I’m guessing that if there was no clearance in front of the block then that wouldn’t be very good for divebombs. 

Any advise greatly appreciated as always. 

Edit * Ah, just realised that as I’m only interested in downwards divebombs that I don’t need clearance at the front.

Edited February 16, 2020 by ShatnersBassoon

[willliam_q]

@ShatnersBassoon I Can’t advise on clearance other than to say the standard Floyd rose route template (minus the full top recess) will give you all the clearance to the rear that you need.  The fact that you are top mounting it doesn’t make the clearance any less.

also be mindful that because you are top mounting it your block size needs to be longer.  I think the standard block length is 37mm which is fine if you are doing a full recess but for top mounting you need a 42mm block.  

[ShatnersBassoon]

48 minutes ago, norm barrows said:

I assume the nohead is a hardtail, else it would already have a steinberger trem.

the floyd rose is an odd choice for guitar type that typically uses a steinburger trem 

Maybe I’m getting a bit confused. I assumed this was a Floyd Rose style trem, perhaps I am wrong. I got it as part of a headless hardware kit 

With regards to resale value. This is a build for myself, unless I change my mind later down the line

Edited February 16, 2020 by ShatnersBassoon

[ShatnersBassoon]

29 minutes ago, norm barrows said:

odds are its a steinburger.

this is a steinburger:

 

 

and this is a floyd rose:

the steinburger is an excellent unit.  an older design, a bit blocky and heavy, but far superior to a floyd rose. i own 2 floyd roses and 6 steinburgers (and 3 fender strat trems, 2 tune-o-matics, two roller archtops, a fender 12 string hardtail, a tele bridge, a LP hard tail, a bigsby B700G, and acoustic bridges in 6, 12, and 20 string (harp guitar) flavors  - IE a wide variety of bridge types), 

the steinburger is my goto bridge for nohead trem builds.  similar units are much more expensive, with no vast improvement in performance (roller vs knife edge bearings, sleeker looks, etc)

BTW you'll be pleasantly surprised by the tone and sustain you get from them.  probably superior to a floyd rose.

so, back to the original question.....

you should route it the same way any steinberger is routed.

for dive only, flip up the bridge lock clip until it stops the trem, but does not engage the trem lock button (almost, but not quite). then CA glue it in place, or simply block the trem so to won't tilt back. 

But the steinburger is designed to be locked down for tuning, then the trem spring is adjusted for neutral float, then the lock is released. 

after that nothing goes anywhere. once the strings are stretched, it simply WILL NOT go out of tune.

so there's' no real need to lock out up-pitch trem. its not like you'll do it by accident while playing.

a block of wood under the tuners between the trem and baseplate will do what you want, but you'd have to remove it each time to to tune and reset the trem spring.

just build it stock, and don't pull up on the bar.   

never build a guitar to support bad playing styles.   you usually end up with a substandard unit - such a steinburger trem that wont bend up - WTF dude?
 

 

 

 

I’ve never used a trem other than for subtle downward dives, so I am not too versed in Vai style whammy acrobatics. 

It looks a lot more like the Steinberger 

Edited February 16, 2020 by ShatnersBassoon

[curtisa]

10 minutes ago, ShatnersBassoon said:

It looks a lot more like the Steinberger 

Not a Steinberger type. It's more akin to the Floyd Rose in construction - two knife edges to pivot on and a tremolo block where springs attach Strat-style within the cavity under the pickups.

You can treat it the same as a FR in terms of cavity routing, making appropriate changes to the dimensions to suit the bridge. Floyd Rose have routing diagrams on their website you can use as a basis.