Jump to content

Strat bridge question


kr236rk

Recommended Posts

  • Members

Hi, I have a s/h strat. I notice when I bend a string, all the other strings go down in tone, I notice that bending a string makes the bridge move. What is going on - I was told this was a regular bridge, it's unplayable for blues because you can't bend notes without detuning neighbouring notes. Bit fed up.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

In defense of seller, a floating bridge is the regular bridge for a strat. If it is blocked so doesn't float, that info is passed on. I see you are a newbie.... I made plenty of goofs on assumptions when I started out too. Wish there were sites like this then! (there was no internet, BTW). May this event encourage you to seek out more info before parting with your hard earned dollars

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Thanks guys. Placed a piece of plywood, the exact dimension of the lesser tremolo block gap, inside that gap. Now I can bend properly without fighting the floating bridge - which stays put - and I can still lower the pitch with the wammy bar if I want to. It swings back into tune afterwards. Didn't mess with the springs, left them as I found them. Still plays great so I haven't messed up the action. How am I doing please?

3e28858c3b669207c03332c61045bfda.jpg.bd6a363951f057fac01453b0cbeee60f.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
  • Members

Update - Took it back to the shop & the guy 'flat-tailed' the bridge, I could not see what he was doing & he wasn't letting on. Lot of messing with screws & springs by the look of it. What I did notice was he popped a spring into the tremolo hole before screwing the arm back in, and said not to remove the spring - not even to remove the whammy, that's a new one on me. The tremolo bar arm is now 'set', not like my Pacifica, where it flops about all over the place - no spring.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

The spring with a little ball bearing in the trem bar hole is a standard thing to apply tension to the arm. Usually lost within the first year.

 

In your case I'd just leave the arm off, since it's just in the way and might get snapped off if someone tries to use it with the trem decked.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

But you can't unison bend with a floating bridge, the springs react to the pressure and pull the static note out of tune. On the A chord I held the G note (b7) on the B string while bending up to it with the G string, in classic blues style, the result was basically an out-of-tune guitar, then when the bend is released the floating bridge puts the strat back into perfect tune again. That bridge is not designed for old-time blues playing. Modern blues guitarists probably use the floating bridge-tremolo for (up-whammy?) bends, probably Beck does stuff like that as well, together with his faux-slide effects. I am permanently old-school, retro.

 

Was told this is why Clapton has his tremolo blocked.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members
But you can't unison bend with a floating bridge, the springs react to the pressure and pull the static note out of tune. On the A chord I held the G note (b7) on the B string while bending up to it with the G string, in classic blues style, the result was basically an out-of-tune guitar, then when the bend is released the floating bridge puts the strat back into perfect tune again. That bridge is not designed for old-time blues playing. Modern blues guitarists probably use the floating bridge-tremolo for (up-whammy?) bends, probably Beck does stuff like that as well, together with his faux-slide effects. I am permanently old-school, retro.

 

Was told this is why Clapton has his tremolo blocked.

 

It's possible to do unison bends and play in tune.

 

Some players bend the "static" note slighly to compensate. That's the way I do it. It just happens. I don't even have to think about it. Once you get a little more experience you'll see it's not the major obstacle you think it is. Other players gently hold the bar from moving with their picking hand while they bend.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

As mentioned above, I also "bend the static note."

 

It's not a difficult technique to master. If you pay close attention to the pitch of the notes you are bending (something we should be doing all the time anyway) then you will get used to how much pressure you need to apply to maintain the pitch. After a while it will become second nature.

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...