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It's what he said, Bill.

The article has been quoted several times over the years, and not only by me. February 1976 edition of "International Musician". I've still got my copy out in the garage in a tea-chest.

JN

Jim,

I don't doubt he said it, as I said he may have 'changed his mind'. Sort of like an ex wife I suppose, great for the time, but..........

I think I'm staying out of that argument...it's all about looks -and such things are VERY subjective!

Bit like arguing whose girlfriend is the best looking...?!

Darryl,
Rather than faff around with extraneous hunks of hardware, bits of rubber etc., why not simply set up the vibrato unit so that it sits on the face of the guitar, i.e. with no back tilt? The feel won't be as fluid as that of a fully floating unit, but you'll still be able to flatten notes via the arm and won't suffer any pitch changes induced by downward palm pressure on the bridge.

Darryl,

What Paul is suggesting is a more common practice than many may think. Bill Callaham ( http://www.callahamguitars.com ) says the following:

"When installing a new bridge or checking the set-up of your current bridges, I recommend the following:

On vintage styled bridges the pivot screws need to be down almost to the top plate. I screw the screw down until it touches the plate and lifts the back off the body. Then back the screw off until the plate rests back down on the body. You should feel small movements, side to side and forward and back of the bridge. It pivots fully up and down. Too far down and the bridge will bind. Too far away and the bridge will slide up the screws. Both mistakes cause tuning problems.

I recommend a minimum of 4 springs for the bridges. They should be set so that if you are doing double stop bends, the guitar remains at pitch. This means the top plate will have a slight pressure against the body. Sorry no pull ups with a vintage bridge, unless you can live with pitch problems."


I have set my Strats up like that for some time, and really have no pitch problems relating to trem movement that I know of. Eric Clapton of course has a wooden block permanently jammed in the trem cavity of his Strats to stop trem movement completely, but that is as good as a 'hardtail. IMHO, and probably not what you are looking for.

Hope that helps...........

I always preferred a wooden block jammed in the cavity....

'Roach,

That would make you a member of a 'splinter group' wouldn't it?

No Bill, I gave it up for Lent...

I've never been a user of the de-tuner arm on any guitars I've had!