Kevan

Ilia- I don't remember your posts on that 'other' thread. I'm guessing that it was under a different "name". Thanks for the props though. This thing has really turned out to be a lot bigger than I thought. :-) I believe that the Tremol-No has POTENTIAL to make it into production guitars, but I don't think that's where it's going to start out. It will most likey start as an accessory that many will add to their guitars, and if demand is great enough, then maybe a manufacturer will start putting them in a model or two (or 10. LOL). What the Tremol-No does is WAY different than what the SureClaw and TremSetter do. It's kinda like comparing a Ferrari to a Lear to a Donzi. They're all cool and have benefits, but they all do different things. The SureClaw allows one-wrench adjustment of your claw back and forth. Cool. The TremSetter brings you back in tune after a string break. Cool. The Tremol-No turns your trem-equipped guitar into a hardtail. Cool. Depending on what the player wants/needs, they'll choose the right product(s) for the job. I'm kinda biased, but I think the advantages of the Tremol-No far out-weigh the advantages of the other two, so I'd first put on a Tremol-No and go from there. Then again, that's just me. :-) Regarding your string size/trem/spring configuration issue: You *can* run 4 springs with the Tremol-No Standard (the one for Ibanez trems). The Tremol-No will work with only one screw attaching the tailpiece to the block. You will have to setup your springs in this configuration though: __ Tremol-No __ __ __ I've gotten a lot of questions about my placement of the shaft and receiver. It was put in the "#4" position for a couple of reasons. 1. Those top two strings can pull a trem flat VERY easily, moreso than the other 4 strings. In order to lock 'firm enough', I wanted it to work on either the Low E or A string- to catch that force first, and stop it...first. 2. I originally did design separate 3-spring and 4-spring versions. The 3-spring was like the current one, only missing a hook for spring #2. The 4-spring version had the shaft in the center postion (spring #3). Why didn't I do 4-spring versions? Well, because this project is EXTREMELY expensive, and with me making only 100 units, I wanted it to be as adaptable as possible to all the people testing it. So, I added a 4th hook to the original design and called it done. There might be different versions available from manufacturers, but for my tester units, this is how they are. :-) 3. Bar placement on tremolo units. The Tremol-No is a trem bar's mortal enemy. LOL I needed the Tremol-No unit to be 'offset' from the trem bar, so they didn't work in the same "line". It provides a more stable lock this way- counteracting the force the "bar line" puts on the trem block. With any good fortune, the Tremol-No will hold better against an accidental bump of the trem arm with the postion it's in now, as opposed to lower down on the claw (spring slots #1, 2 or 3). I don't think you're going to notice a major "feel" difference with moving one spring up a notch. I run 4-springs and a Tremol-No on my RG7-CST and I can't tell that it was different than before. Given- I'm no pro, and I'm sure someone like Jeff Beck could tell the difference immediately, but....it might be something that users have to get used to, and for pros at that level, it shouldn' be any problem. It's NOT going to be a drastic change in feel. Let me know if you have any other questions, and I'll do my best to answer them. Thanks again folks!

Well, looks like Gibson is breakin' the law. Better lock up those evil-doers over there. Print up this thread and take it to the guy at Home Depot. Fold it in half, and use a Sharpie to write on the front, in big letters: CLUE

Thanks you guys! Simon is indeed the only person south of the Equator with a Tremol-No. :-) Oh, and just so you know Simon- I've spoken with the guitarist you mentioned. We're gonna try to work something out (test units are going FAST now that licenses are up for grabs). Side note- I hope your move is going/went well. Update me when you get a chance. Rob- Last week/weekend, I got about 2 dozen IMs about the thread on 'that other site'. Kudos to Roger and the others for speaking their mind. If I'd invented a pill that makes guys 10" long and at the same time cures cancer, the owner of that site would say "Oh, that sucks." simply because I came up with it. I've gotten used to it. And for the record, Rich Harris has *always* been on the list as a tester (the site owner did NOT inspire me to send Rich one). My theory from the onset was that if Rich put a Tremol-No in one of his Donnies, people would know, 100%, that mods wouldn't have to be made to install a Tremol-No in their own guitars. The only person more **** than Rich about stuff is Jenna Jameson. :-) Let's see....hmmm...7-stringers testing the Tremol-No now... Well, there's me (hack extrordinaire), and...umm....oh- Rusty f-ing Cooley. :-P I guess if you average out Rusty and I, you'd have a pretty decent 7-string player. :-) Oh yeah, there's also Neil Citron and Bob Oakman- two more fantastic 7-string only guys. I think I'm doin' alright for now, but I'll keep you in mind.

The Wilkinson should work just fine, as long as you use a nice set of locking tuners.

Hey folks! Updates: - More quotes up on the site. - Two HUGE companies contacted me about licensing. I'm workin' as hard as I can to get these into your guys' hands, and then on your guitars! I also wanted to share an email I got yesterday. Made me feel all warm and snuggly in side: "Hi Kevan, You probably won't remember me from the [EDIT] forum (I was the guy who sent you a bunch of Vai videos a couple of years ago!) but I am good friends with Darren Hunt who has one of your devices. I just wanted to say I have had a play with it and discussed it quite alot with him and it's a killer gadget! Totally solid, virtually no parts to go wrong, incredibly quick and simple to use and providing it's carefully set up, works an absolute treat. You deserve to have massive success with this and it would revolutionise the way people approach their tremelo equiped guitars - (alternative tunings much more accessible, tuning stability guaranteed etc). I know I'm a nobody in the grand scheme of things, but just wanted to lend my support and send my best wishes for the success of this amazing product. All the best Richard C."

Heh heh...if you only knew his neighbor.

ER only changed his "views" on Ibanez guitars after he snaked his way into becoming a dealer for them with his Las Vegas store, by going in the back-door via Chesbro (the west coast distribuitor for Ibanez gear). Believe me that Ibanez is none-too-happy about him being a dealer again after he was yanked off their list years ago for being, and acting like, a complete tool. For the new guys: AVOID ED ROMAN. There are dozens of other *reputable* dealers out there, whether it be for guitars, parts, or source wood. You'll be glad you went elsewhere. It's ok to laugh AT him, and crack leprechaun jokes, just don't buy anything from him. It's a guaranteed regret.

lalalalalalalalala (Kev's afraid of me ) Damn...I just don't get a break, do I? :-) I said that *before* I got a revision back from the machine shop (which I then had to revise). The question is: Do you want your unit NOW, or when it's strong enough to take a years worth of beating? I mean, I could fire up the mill right now and half-ass one for ya real quick? :-P Hey- at least I sent you pics of the latest revision. Doesn't that count for anything? LOL Or that you will get your unit a couple of days before Albert Lee gets his? Come on....that's gotta ease the pain... P.S.- The only thing on the planet I'm afraid of is spiders.

I wouldn't buy a cup of dirt from ER. Maybe ER is 'slow' or just a complete idiot, but his lameass t-shirts with the "Welcome To---Las Vegas" logo (worn by all his super-stoner staff at NAMM) are a major trademark violation. That sign/design is owned by the Las Vegas Board Of Tourism. I smell attorney fees. :-)

Darren- Bring 'em on! You've got my IM and email. I haven't gone anywhere. :-) We just can't call it "Block-It". LOL

That's a good point. I've only seen the TremSetter installed where the original claw of the guitar was used, then the TremSetter bolted to the floor of the trem cavity. I'll do some further checking and maybe draw up a TremSetter-compatibable version (if necessary). Thanks for the tip. Regarding the "arrow config" for the springs: Well, as my mom used to tell me, "TOUGH!" No, just kidding. I'm working on an 'angled' design for the claw. We'll see how it tests out. One of the 5 patents is the "quick switch" locking system I designed for it. It's still being milled over by the machine shop guys (pun fully intended) to see how it can be done without costing as much as Shaq gets paid in a week. Don't expect it for a few months, maybe longer. I've spoken with MANY manufactuers about licenses. We'll see who calls first. :-) As Yoda says, "Patience good thing it is". I know you guys want them, and I'm dying to get them to you, but....you and I both have to wait a little while longer for an answer. In the licensing agreements, there are VERY specific requirements regarding what materials can and can not be used. The current 100 that I made were done out of 7075 T-6 Aircraft aluminum (top of the line alum.). Sure, I could have saved a few hundred bucks and went with 6061, but...if I'm gonna do this right, I'm gonna do it REALLY nice. LOL The production ones probably won't be 7075 and 304/316 stainless steel, but they will NOT be crappy pot metal drudged up from the bottom of some river. My name is on this, so it'll be quality over quantity. Funny: The thumbscrews for the Tremol-No are actually fine tuner screws from the Ibanez LoPro trems. I ordered 240 of them, then milled them all down to the size I needed. "You want HOW MANY of them? Jeez...how many guitars do you have?" LOL Lovekraft- Thanks man. I'll give that a try. F-ing Windoze.....

Hey folks! Sorry for the delay; had a little NAMM thing to do. :-) Updates: - More quotes from kickass players (Jon Finn, Eric Sands, etc). - Cavity cover templates (NOT TO SCALE!) in the Support section - Spec Sheet has some additions. Just so everyone knows: Acrobat is a complete waste of time unless you're looking to take ASCII (not even Word docs or Publisher files) and make them PDF. Forget about inserting an image then being able to re-size it. Forget about importing formats other than ASCII. Copy & Paste? Don't even think about it. The interface is also very difficult to navigate, well, unless you're in the 3rd grade. $550 for that? I don't think so. Completely worthless. Don't expect to see any PDF's on the site. HTML is much more readable, editable, printable and cheaper. I have the shots back from the photographer, but they're HUGE. I'll put one up here: http://jemfest.com/misc/kevan/Tremol-No-Wh...WhiteHoriz1.jpg That's the photo from the press kit. Here's a fun one my buddy Iain did for me: http://jemfest.com/misc/kevan/T-N.gif Oooo...spinner! More updates here as I do them there!

Scott- You didn't miss much. The booth for your un-paying boss was in the basement (with all the other guitar cloners, namely Chinese companies), in the furthest corner from the entrance and escalators. It was absouletly dead over there. I heard crickets as I walked by and saw "him" read my name off my badge. I'm sure he's still trying to figure out how I got in with that company. :-) Sometimes it pays NOT to be a complete prick 24/7. You can pass that little piece of advice on to him. Lets close this thread up and go over to the big one that's here: http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.ph...wtopic=4700&hl=

http://www.noahjames.com That's Jim Donahue's new site/office/company. He's the former #2 at Hoshino/Ibanez. He knows a few things about guitars. :-P He's also got some great sources on woods, and he's super-cool. If his prices are higher than the big guys, rest assured you're getting a quality chunk of wood. Drop him an email. He's even got his own forrest! Just another resource for you all. P.S.- I wouldn't buy a cup of dirt from Ed Roman.

Here's a great diagram: http://www.webervst.com/pics/zplot.gif I have one printed out and in my work area. Saves me from doing (simple) math. :-)

Thanks for all the kind words guys. You're much more optimistic and open-minded than SOME PEOPLE on that OTHER SITE. :-) I'll do my best to bring you the stuff as quickly as I can. I did a site update this morning. Some new pics for the front page, and a new parts drawing for the Tremol-No Classic. I also put up the Spec Sheet. I'm still workin' on transfering them over to PDF (what a pain in the ass that program is!). I will also have PDF's of the cavity cover plates for "super strat" 6 & 7 strings, as well as "vintage" covers, with Tremol-No access holes. The CAD drawings look GREAT. I wish the PDF's looked as good. :-) Oh well, soon enough. On a funny note, I got a "video quote" from Big Bad Bob Oakman. It's absolutely fantastic, but about 27MB. We'll work on getting it down to a normal size then I'll have it up on the site. Oh, and I get the product shots back from the photographer tomorrow. I'll get the slides turned into some nice photos and scan them for you guys. The guitar used for the shoot was my Ibanez RG-ART. I can't wait to see these! WooHoo! Cross your fingers....NAMM is comin' up real soon....

I run SolidWorks 2003. It's absolutely amazing. I can sit here and draw all night, then email the assemblies/parts to my machine shop where he can cut them immediately (4-axis machine...nice). My patent atty. also has SolidWorks, so it makes communication between all three of us very easy. I started in TurboCAD, then graduated to AutoCAD (which I hated), but now I'm very happy with SolidWorks. I better be; it's a $16,000 piece of software. :-P For the record, I'm not an engineer and I've only been into CAD the last 2 years or so. And, I've never drawn a guitar in SolidWorks. :-) It just takes some practice. The commands and features are similar in AC2002 and SW2003. Play around with simple pieces, then work on more complicated things (like a NASA satellite. LOL). I'm not a SW pro, but if you need a hand, let me know. I'll try to help out.

Now, do you really want to stick that to the face of your guitar? Nevermind if it's a 20th Anniv. Vigier or a super-store blowout; what about something sticking up by your trem to hinder your playing? How'd ya like to be strumming nicely and bonk into that thing? :-) Lastly, how well do you think that double-stick tape works? And for how long? Oh, you've got a carved top, well.... :-P

Ball-ends or bare, nothing looks less professional than a runaway Koosh on your headstock.

...unless you install a Tremol-No. Then you can do all the freaky tunings you want, on a Floyd, just as fast as you can on a hardtail. Did everyone miss that link I put up a few posts ago? And to whomever whipped out the "I have to cut off ball ends", try this: Run the strings backwards. Put the ball ends at the tuning machines, and run the string back toward the trem. Clip. Done.

Let's try to clear this up once and for all: 1. I am ***NOT*** selling Tremol-No units. 2. I am selling *LICENSES TO MANUFACTURE* Tremol-No units. I don't have units for sale. I won't be selling any. The people that have them currently are testing them out. I picked them because I felt they would really put the unit thru it's paces and would get me 104% honest feedback on whatever issues might arise. If you want to buy one, you'll have to wait for whichever manufacturer buys a license and starts producing these, then releases them to the public.

It's *way* better than the HipLock, in both form and in function. Also, with the Tremol-No there is NO DRILLING, NO ROUTING, NO SANDING, NO SCREW HOLES, and NO DOUBLE-STICK TAPE. No mods to your guitar at all. Be sure to check out the FAQ on the site. GE- You're the inspiration behind the "patience is a virtue" post. :-) Your unit will be at your door within the next two weeks (before NAMM).

Darren- Thanks for the suggestions. Those are already in the works. A template (PDF file) for the back plate access hole will be available on the site soon. Print it, line it up, break out the Dremel. :-) Here's a pic of what they'll kinda look like: http://jemfest.com/misc/kevan/finncover1.jpg I did that one for Jon Finn. Now that he has his 2nd Tremol-No, I gotta cut him another one. Whew...this is tough work. LOL

Odd, I've said the same thing to Vai about his triple-neck. :-P

I wish I could get you guys a price, but I can't. That'll be up to whomever picks up a license to manufacture the Tremol-No. The pricing and marketing (and all other retail/sales aspects) are up to them. I'll gladly post who purchases a license, but you'll have to go through them to pick one up. There's a reason patience is a virtue. :-)