Don Ramsay

This is exactly what I use. I had a double-ended Snap On feeler gauge set that had all the sizes I needed. It is the type that allows the gauges to 'fan out' which also provides you with a handle. I carefully cut teeth into approximately the first inch, along one edge, of the appropriate sized gauges using a Dremmel with a thin diamond slitting blade. I also rounded the edge of the thicker gauges to produce that round bottom in the nut slot. Works great and was much cheaper than a file set. DR

These are pretty small. Very original design and the ergonomics look well thought out too. http://www.spaltinstruments.com/apex1.html DR

Why a skunk stripe? Pretty much guarantees you won't find one. Those are there for installing the truss rod when a neck is one piece. With a separate fretboard, they aren't required because the truss rod channel can be milled into the neck before the fret board is glued on. DR

There are a number of "exotic" neck woods that Warmoth say's require no finish. So I guess whether it has a warranty depends upon what wood your neck is made of. They presently say "no finish required" on the "showcase" necks made of Bloodwood, Bocote. Brazilian Rosewood, Bubinga, Canary, Goncalo Alves, Indian Rosewood, Macassar Ebony, Padouk, Purpleheart, and Ziricote. DR

Can anyone explain what happened to the price of Bocote? Several years ago, I built a parts Strat. I picked all dark woods and quite simply picked an all Bocote Warmoth because of it’s dark color and wild grain, and because of what little I knew about it’s hardness & strength. When it arrived I did some hand work (taking down the “heel” opposite the nut, dressing and radiusing the fret ends and slightly scalloping between the frets, trying to get it to take in some Tung oil, and hand rubbing) so it closely approximated the feel of my 50 year old Strat. After it some months, often spending hours in the heat of my car’s trunk (in the S. Calif. sun) I noticed “fret bloom”. The neck width had shrunk slightly. I again dressed all the fret ends. Some months later, same thing and another dressing. The neck has stopped shrinking after those initial episodes, and all the while, has remained very stable, straight and buzz free. All in all, it has been a great feeling and durable neck that has broken in beautifully and sounds great. This neck cost me $299 to which I added CZ side markers, an Earvanna nut & locking staggered Sperzels. Out of curiosity, I had checked availability of Bocote neck at Warmoth in the months & first years following. Although Bocote was still listed in the search filter, my searches would come up empty. Some time later, Bocote wasn’t on the list. Recently, I see that Bocote is again available. The 2 “wildly figured” Strat necks in stock are now $995(!), which is as expensive as it gets at Warmoth presently. The only other necks at that price point are 2 one piece Brazillian rosewood necks, which is on the endangered species list. What happened to Bocote? I don't find anything saying it is on the endangered list. I should have put my money into Bocote neck blanks instead of that 401K fund. For reference: http://www.warmoth.com/showcase/sc_guitar_...kWood_filter=42 DR

Do you mean this one? http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.php?showtopic=17037 DR

I really love the sound of my Jeff Beck signature Strat. I was surprised to find the body route looked like this: http://www.geocities.com/jbstratman/JBroute.jpg Don

If you want really small, Fender makes a Squier mini Strat style guitar that I have seen at Sam Ash for around $100. Looks like this one. Sounds like strings bending is almost too easy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGl_-m8nPAw Don

There are some potential problems to consider before undertaking a project like this. Tools steels are indeed sold annealed so that you can machine them. The second two digits in the 4 digit alloy numbers above represent the amout of carbon in the alloy. The medium carbon to high carbon steels (xx45 through xx95) will harden through and through. The higher numbers are considered spring steels and would be the most difficult to machine. These high carbon alloys tend to work-harden if you are not extremely careful with your feedrates, spindle RPMs and coolant use. They can tear up even expensive solid carbide tools because the material can and will harden just in front of your cutter from the heat of cutting. Case hardening, or carburizing, on the other hand, uses a carbon rich atmosphere in the heat treating process to add carbon to a thin skin on low carbon steels (xx18), but the problem there is that the depth of the hardness is very shallow. Another thing that must be considered is the finish you want your finished part. The materials listed above will all rust if they are not plated. There are some stainless steels that will heat treat well (i.e.: 440C) and will also buff up to a chrome-like finish. Heat treating by a professional involves 2 steps. The first step takes the material to its full hardness. In the second step the material is "tempered", or "drawn" back to your specified hardness (i.e: 56 to 58 RC). This second step is very important in that it gives your knife edge its strength. Just doing the first step will give you an edge that is very hard but somewhat fragile and subject to chipping. Don

To stir up further discussion... I have seen a number of Rosewoods available: -Palisander Rosewood -Indian Rosewood -East Indian Rosewood (Black Rosewood) -Brazillian Rosewood (Rio Rosewood or Bahia Rosewood) -Honduran Rosewood -Macassar Rosewood -Madagascar Rosewood -Bocote (Mexican Rosewood) (I have one guitar neck of this wood on a Walnut body...love it!) In addition, in the genus "Dalbergia", there is also: -African Blackwood Rosewood -Cocobolo -Kingwood -Tulipwood The list is so extensive, it seems confusing which would be considered the best "tone woods". I also found the following references: "Brazilian rosewood is (was) a popular wood for guitar fingerboards, and acoustic guitar backs and sides. However, due to its protected status (now close to extinction) and spiraling prices, Indian and Madagascar rosewood are being used extensively in its place." And: "The timber trade will sell many timbers under the name 'rosewood' (with an adjective) due to similarities in figure." Palisander is mentioned above as a favorite. I hope so, because Warmoth is asking $699.00 for this one-piece neck: http://www.warmoth.com/showcase/sc_guitar_...kWood_filter=23 Wow! Who knows? Don

Once the protective plating on the parts is gone and rust is well established, you will find the problem returning after all of you efforts. Kahler is back, and parts should be available here: http://www.kahlerparts.com/Other_Pages/home.htm Don

Also a Kahler device. A locking nut (uses clamp levers).

Alembic does some pretty nice guitars too. Here is mine: http://www.geocities.com/jbstratman/Alembic.jpg Heavy guitar, beautiful laminates, neck through, separate on/off switch for each pickup. Not crazy about the trem though. It is a Kahler Floyd Rose licensed (fine tuners, through route, springs in back, etc.) Don

As stated above, McMaster is a builders dream source. If you have trouble finding them, the link is: http://www.mcmaster.com Don

Pete and David, You guys are obviously very knowledgeable and I appreciate your deep consideration of 'trem science'. Only wanted to make a few small points tonight. They are not intended to argue that my design is in any way better than the Stet's design. They are just different. I never laid eyes upon the Stet's design until well after my own patent had been applied for and was "pending". I designed mine to drop into (yes, with some additional routing) the huge hole that was already on my Jeff Beck Strat and to make use of the spring and spring claw that were already there. I have never suggested cutting up any existing or vintage instrument. I was able to order a Warmoth body routed for the Fender 2 post and do fairly minimal extra routing to get my prototype up and running. The few requests I have had so far to cut into a Les Paul or Tele style guitar have all ended with my referral to www.stetsbar.com. I respect the though he put into his approach to his design, his focus upon the reversible "no mod" aspects for after-market installs and I am now very familiar with the many benefits to the linear approach. I do not really want retrofit work, and I will now investigate the possibility of licensing OEM builders. Here are a few "food for though" points. 1. A gear is a fulcrum mechanism. May not look one, but it's teeth are a series of levers arranged in a circle about a pivoting centerline. 2. My springs do not attach to the moving portion of the bridge. They attach only to the bottom of the fulcrum. I hear no spring noise coming through my amplifier (although I do have documented high frequency hearing loss...thanks bandmate Bill). 3. The fulcrum portion, although assembled from several separate parts, is locked together and behaves as one rotating lever assembly. 4. The sliding bridge assembly, which is also assembled from several separate parts (6 saddles, each with 2 height adjustment screws, a length adjustment screw and a separate clamp screw, a base plate with 2 crossed roller "V" guide rails) is also all locked together and behaves as one solid monolithic rolling bridge. 5. The slider is not spring (nor string) loaded onto the roller bearings. It is retained by the bearings in all directions except in the direction of the string pull. You could pick up the guitar by the bridge (unstrung). Cool discussion guys, Regards, Don

Hello all, I appreciate all the thoughtful discusion this thread has inspired. You guys are such a great source for technical information, and for brainstorming input. One bit of explanation as to why I designed around the traditional rear spring arrangement and routing. I wanted to make potential retrofits possible with only minimal additional routing, and I wanted as much as possible, to keep that familiar "feel" that everyone is used to on the front arm. Went on a search starting last week so I could see the "credit" Luke promised for using my trem on the new Toto album "Falling in Between". Kept getting answers about future US release dates out into March or April. Found 1 copy of the Japanese import at a Virgin Megastore yesterday. Love this new album! Here is the credit: http://www.geocities.com/jbstratman/Lukecredits.jpg What a kick start! Will need to start making these things soon. Thanks again for all the feedback. It's all good. Don

Victor, I would say don't do it, or to look very carefully at the set-neck construction issue. When a friend asked me to cut into his Les Paul to put one of my trems into it. I noted the the neck and body on a Les Paul is joined so the the body drops away from the level of the strings far too much at the bridge. The trem would have to be elevated out of the body too much. Had to decline on that one. There is a Gibson Neil Schon signature model with trem that is made especially for the trem. although I've been told it is very expensive, I'd check this out if you have to have that kind of trem. There is also the Stetsbar (www.stetsbar.com) Don

Kevan, Thanks again. I will try to be more careful on multiple posts. Not always sure when "post" or "sent" really worked. Don

GuitarGuy Is it just me or does this seem like a commercial plug in a non commercial part of the forum? Please note that there is nothing for sale on my page. I am just an individual very proud to have been awarded a new patent. The idea itself is overkill. There are other ways to do the same thing as you are trying to do with this trem with way less work and modifications. I tried to keep it simple and easy. Would love to hear your ideas. Kevan, I'm sure you're an exceptional player. Would love to hear. Have not used Graphtech saddles because of my (perhaps misguided) belief that friction was not my problem. My strings always broke at the witness/flexing point on the saddles (on all my guitars). I'd appreciate any feedback (until they start to feel like needless cheap shots). Please do fix any of my typos if you're willing. I am a crappy typist when allert. Being bleary-eyed and tired makes me even worse. I have been fixing typos most of today and last night. I there a spell checker I'm not seeing here? Don

Why would Ibanez have any comment? They have spent a great deal developing and protecting their own cool trem designs. I was merely an intruder on any relationship they have with Steve. Although they were incredibly helpful in providing me an unpainted wood Jem body and doing a great post-install paint job (at the Vai camp's request), the project was otherwise an issue between Steve and myself. Don

Kevin, I am not dismissing your comments as non-problems. I’ve had to, and am having to deal with them all. I will try to explain as well as I can. Modifications to the guitar body: Yes, there is a shallow recess under the bridge's carrier plate, and another to clear the bearing assembly. This is in addition to the standard Fender through routing for the trem block and the rear cavity for the standard spring arrangement. It seems acceptable to everyone using Strat-type guitars to have a hole routed through the guitar body. To have a pocket an additional .300" deeper into a body with an overall body thickness near 2." does not seem like a huge issue to me when the neck pocket (on bolt-on guitars) is several times that deep. The pivoting front-half of the trem does drop right into a "two post" route (after a clearance bevel has been cut near the front) and can use the two existing posts. The additional pocket is used under the back linear half only. After doing the first guitar, I then went back to the original style trem and made a cover that drops into the additional pocket. So if I wanted to go back to my original trem without leaving an ugly visible scar showing, I could. Personally, I would just use the original body if I wanted to go back to the original trem. I am not recommending that anyone retrofit their guitars and I cautiously used replacement bodies for the first units. Hopefully, I will be able to arrange a body or a guitar ready with the required routing. On a guitar that is prepared, the front half drops, the springs are attached, then the rear half/bridge assembly drops in and is attached using two screws. There are no special talents required to do this install although there would be a learning curve. A properly pre-loaded sliding assembly (which does require some practice) could be furnished to the installer. Once installed, a normal and proper set-up on the guitar is required. The normal intonation adjustments are all there. You can also move the bridge around slightly (for adjusting the string placement on the neck) before tightening, something not possible on a standard trem. You can also adjust the amount of travel on this trem using a single screw. You can set the dive range on the low E string for instance to a full and precise octave before the arms hits the pickguard. One cool thing I was able to do at Scott Henderson's house was "hot swap" strung-up "trems and neck assemblies" between guitar bodies to test body woods, trem materials and pickup differences. We could (1) loosen the strings, (2) un-bolt the back half of the trem and the neck assemblies (leaving the front trem halves and strings installed using rubber bands around the neck and strings), (3) swap the assemblies between guitar bodies and attach and then (4) and tune both. Able to plug in and play within a few minutes. Intonation issues: Any tremolo travels. Intonation is always set with a floating bridge at equilibrium. Intonation consequently is immediately lost when off neutral on any floating trem. As you know, setting the intonation sets all intervals (as closely as possible) to land on the frets with slight compensations made for the string's distance off the fretboard, the stiffness of the individual string, the player's fretting pressure and picking attack. These adjustments are always done at the "neutral" floating position. I have never heard a player that pulls up or down on the trem, then tries to plays harmonious chords or licks. Trems are used to vary the pitch, or add character to already fretted or open notes. Also, when a bridge is set up, the saddles are at different heights and distances from the centerline that everything pivots on. The strings whose saddle "witness points" are closer to this centerline travel less. The strings with saddle "witness points" which are further from this centerline travel further. When all saddles are locked to a common "rolling base" the string travels are exactly equal. I am not claiming this bridge can transpose chords (not to worry Ned) as all strings vary in pitch at differing rates with the same amount of travel. They just vary in pitch less in relationship to each other. Some pairs and triads actually vary well together in a musical and usable way. Exorbitant production costs: It is true that this trem, by its nature, is a costly device. The lowest cost I’ve been able to negotiate for that cute little linear bearing is still over $50 (at 100 piece quantities!). Odd to me, in that this brand is vastly superior in quality to the other "equivalent" brand bearings I’ve used in the past costing twice as much. The expensive “machined from solid” approach is expensive too, but fortunately, is not required on all pieces. Nothing I can do about that beyond having tools made to “forge” the required pieces. Stamping, casting, or using inferior materials in critical places is not an option and would certainly have a detrimental effect on the system. The required precision also requires precision grinding after heat treatment, which is another expensive step. If eventual demand ever does drive overseas knock-offs, the pirates can deal with the consequences of using inferior materials. So it is very true that this trem is not for everyone. Neither are most custom guitars. Check the Alembic guitar of the month gallery. $20,000 for mostly cosmetic options? Go figure! This trem will probably end up in the hands of only the more accomplished, successful and **** players. Have no idea how to make it available to the beginners or the low to mid price range market. Massive quantities would certainly would help, but that is way beyond any current projections I have. Strings break They always have and they always will: This was particularly true for me, perhaps using and fluttering a trem too much. My favorite trems (those without tuners and the smoothest working ones) also had the worst problem breaking strings. My personal favorite, a Wilkinson, had a super smooth feel, would flutter forever (a by-product of low friction), and had very “focused” saddle witness points. I would break new strings the first night out and needed a freshly strung spare guitar standing-by. I purchased string sets by the dozen and went through them in weeks. I could never find burrs or rough spots on those saddles. Something else was breaking them. The “flutter” technique (thousands of “bends” in a very short time) also seemed to hasten the string-breaking problem. First clue that “metal fatigue” was the culprit. Second clue was having to tune back up to pitch after every song. Now I go months between string changes, can go right into the next song still in tune, while using my trem more than ever. I am sure of the fact that this group is light years beyond exceptional in their grasp of guitar science. Since they cannot all do a hands-on demo, I am happy to explain my thoughts, theories and discoveries. Who else will get it? By the way, watched Steve Lukather play a Luke with my trem last night at The Baked Potato. Came home happy, proud and tired at 4:00 AM. I then stayed up all until 7:00 AM obsessing over writing counter-arguments. Not complaining, just how I am. . Regards to all, Don Ramsay

To you nay-sayers in this thread: I would never have tried to build this trem if I hadn't already had many years of experience in designing and building precision measuring and positioning systems using "frictionless" bearings. I just added 3 short videos to my homepage to demonstrate the key "frictionless" element that makes it all work. http://www.geocities.com/jbstratman/Guitar.html There is nothing "sliding" in the assembly. There are only high precision, highly polished, high hardness rolling elements making contact. These bearing elements" retain their frictionless feel even with hundreds of pounds of side load applied. I would never have spent the money to patent this thing if the prototype hadn't already proven itself. Ask Thomas Nordegg, who witnessed the Hipshot/Peterson tuner & Peterson tuner booths tests at NAMM last year. It is, in theory, correct that there is no true "frictionless" slide (except for an air bearing...which would not be practical here), but the rolling contact "friction" in a clean (and they seem to stay that way without special efforts) and properly pre-loaded bearing set is negligible in this application. It certainly is negligible to the ear, and to your tuner. Additionally, when you bend a wire, do you notice that it wants to stay bent? The heavier the gauge, the more pronounced this effect. This has a huge effect on "return to pitch" in a pivoting system although I've never seem that discussed in any group. It has in fact, a much greater effect than the "friction" mentioned above has on a linear system. Next, there is the much-ignored metal fatigue problem. I had never heard this topic dicussed either, although I know it's effect is very real. When I was a kid, I used to make things from wire. I would break (rather than cut) the wire (even hanger wire) by bending it repeatedly. On a microscopic level, when a wire is bent (particularly under tension), the metal on the outside of the bend strecthes beyond it's elastic limit. When you straighten it again (again...under tension), the metal on the inside of the bend stretches beyond it's elastic limit. With repeated bending, the metal in the bend zone continually grows longer, thinner and weaker until it breaks (not to mention the string pitch continually going flat). This should explains some of the science I applied in figuring out why my old systems didn't work well and what I needed to do about it. Kevin, I would like to hear about the list of "inherent problems" Pete, Perhaps you could share some of the details of your prototype and I could help diagnose it's problems. Rhoads, I do not intend to squander any money on a useless patent. I plan to... A Tremol-no will fit in back just like on others, it will be soon, there is nothing turly similar yet, and I just gave you a prize. Don

Believing that metal fatigue and that the bending of the strings (not friction) was responsible for tuning issues and broken strings, I had to design something different. It worked! http://www.geocities.com/jbstratman/Guitar.html US patent issued, Canada, Australia, China, Japan, Eropean PCT group, and other pending. Don Ramsay