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I have a Squire Classic Vibe Stratocaster '50s which tremolo bridge feels too tight in action. Can anyone advise how to adjust to make it less firm. Would replacing the bridge with a higher quality replacement be a better option?

http://www.squierguitars.com/products/s ... 0303000503

Hi Reggie,
In my opinion the bridge quality doesn´t have any influence in if it is tight or not. How many springs are fitted in your guitar? Three is enough. Watch the screws which fix the bridge plate to the body, they have to be loose enough for plate to pivot of freely.

dagon1 wrote:I have a Squire Classic Vibe Stratocaster '50s which tremolo bridge feels too tight in action. Can anyone advise how to adjust to make it less firm. Would replacing the bridge with a higher quality replacement be a better option?

http://www.squierguitars.com/products/s ... 0303000503

Have a look here http://www.fender.com/support/stratocas ... _guide.php it should help you set up the trem
Hope it helps

The number of springs will make a difference, but also how far the spring 'claw' is screwed in or out will also make a difference. It ends up being a balance between string tension, keeping the bridge floating and how stiff or free you want the operation of the arm.
Chas.

Number of springs is like number of sugars in coffee IMHO - whatever suits you. I use 4 in Strats and Marvins, Bill Callaham insists that having 5 is mandatory, Clapton puts a wooden block in to hold it 'locked' because he can (yes, it does relate to springs because if he didn't want any there he could simply use a hardtail Strat!) and probably because 'its always been that way' and 'common practice - the right thing to do' most players reduce the number to 3 without bothering to 'test' the feel with different setups. And of course, we should remember that the original designers of the Strat put 5 there because for some reason they wanted to and they could!

Just by the way - what is the standard 'pull' on springs supplied with a Fender Strat? Anyone bothered to measure them? Doesn't necessarily follow that all springs have the same force, cheaper ones may well be a lot less than genuine Fender USA for reasons of economy.

Back to the discussion................

I have a Squier Classic Vibe 'Biffy Clyro' Sign. Strat. I found it necessary to loosen the two screws on the spring claw in the rear routing, slightly & also tighten the two outside bridge screws & loosen the four inside ones. It certainly helps the trem to float properly. I also put some '10' gauge strings on it, replacing the supplied '9s', & it sounds & plays superb for a £260 guitar. I only wish these had been arouned in the sixties when all I could afford was a second-hand cheap Hofner.

Tony.

Thanks guys, for your valuable comments and advice. I found 5 springs under the cover. I've followed your advice (and Fender web site's) to loosen the claw screws, kept middle 4 screws looser on the bridge while keeping the end 2 slightly tighter. The action is "springier" now. I'll play for a while before considering taking out the middle spring. Another additional issue is the screw on tremolo arm which is "clunk-loose" when using. One more turn and it becomes too tight. (just cant find a happy medium) I find the push in arms better to use - like the ones on my '83 Strat Elite and Godin xtSA.

Reggie,

Fender make some coil springs for placing in the trem arm 'screw hole' with the idea that they will put some tension on the arm and keep it in the position that you leave it -however in my experience they are a waste of time and more often than not will end up 'jammed' at the bottom of the whole and do nothing more than cause problems - my suggestion is to forget them. A quick fix is to get some plastic 'plumbers tape' (should be available in hardware shops like Mitre 10 etc) and wrap a small length around the threaded section of the arm before you assemble it, and that will do the trick. Leave the tape roll in your guitar case and replace on the trem arm as necessary, will do the job till you 'move on' to the upmarket trem units in due course!

Hope that helps....

I play with 12's and have three springs in the back in the 'W' formation and it is a fine balancing act really so adjust the claw screws for about 3 mm of back clearance between trem and body and those 6 screws as already pointed out the middle four are out by about 1-2 turns and the outer two about 3/4 of a turn and that seems to with a bit of lubricant be all it needs. I did try 4 and 5 springs in the back but it ends up getting much stiffer. ooer missus !

So players in rock and blues like to put 4-5 springs in and screw the claw right the way in bringing the back of the trem into contact with the body because they believe it sounds better that way and also if you break a string in a performance you may stay in tune somewhat so you can finish what you started ! but that aint what a floating sychronised tremelo was all about really ... and fo Shads stuff it's best to float