My T-No came in the mail a couple of weeks ago. When I saw the envelope I had a minor stroke. I mean, much like the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus, this was something I'd heard great things about, but never thought I'd see.
I opened up the package and pulled everything out. My wife and I then ran around going "think - scalpel" for 45 minutes, but then we stopped and I began playing with the T-No and discovered <Dramatic Music and Voice>Problem Number One</Dramatic Music and Voice>.
Kev put Loc-Tite on the thumbscrews to keep them from slipping out. Loc-Tite, well locks things. So I actually had to grab some pliers to unlock the T-No.
So I played around with it some and then I cleaned the garage. Then I worked 10 hour days for 6 days in a row. Then I was tired and grumpy and didn't touch my guitars.
So I finally installed it on my Squire Strat. My Squire Strat has the worst fake floyd ever in the history of man. Seriously, a worse bridge has never even been contemplated. It was, in other words perfect. This is where I ran into <Dramatic Music and Voice>Problem Number Two</Dramatic Music and Voice>.
Kev once told me that on the assembly line all of the guitar is CNC'd, EXCEPT the screw holes for the trem claw. For that they just give Kim, Hiro, or Billy Bob a drill and say "put them about here." Which for the most part works just fine. In my case, they're about two MM's shy of being "square" with the holes in the T-No claw. It's not a big problem, but it did make installation a smidge harder than I thought it would be (2MM doesn't seem like a lot, but it was enough to make turning the screws a little of a pain).
Another installation problem was my fault, I lost my 2MM (? maybe it was the 1.5, either way) allen wrench. Oddly enough, many allen keys start at the next size up. oh well.
So I fitted the T-No in another guitar just to see what was up and, guess what? <Dramatic Music and Voice>Problem Number Three</Dramatic Music and Voice>. Because there's no standard to where the screw holes go, the claw ended up just a smidge too high and I can't put the back plate on. That's not a big problem, 'cos, well, I never put the back plate on that guitar anyway.
So I put it back on my Squire, got everything all set up and....It's cool. Unlike most people here, I'm using the T-No as a block. I'm not really interested in unlocking my trem. Also unlike most people I use heavy strings, unlike the girly girl strings of people like Kev. As Billy Sheehan said if you want manly-man tone, you need manly man strings. .10 - .52 (sometimes .56) for those who are interested. Yeah, that's for standard tuning.
So far, so good, there hasn't been any string slippage. It holds tune well, bends sound better. I'm not going to comment on sustain, because I didn't play that guitar enough pre-T-No to notice any difference. I'll probably slap it on my GTX which is set up the same as my Squire, but with a non-crap bridge (a TRS 101, one of the better Floyd copies IMHO).
What would I change?
The Loc-Tite thing, there's gotta be a better way to make sure the thumb screws remain secure. The problem with Loc-Tite is, well, it locks tight.
Also, maybe I have fat fingers or big springs, but the thumbscrews are just a little too short for me to grab easily.
That's it, first impressions, more to come