Some tremolo setup advice needed.

For guitars of the straight waisted variety (or reverse offset).
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gibs
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Some tremolo setup advice needed.

Post by gibs » Thu Dec 02, 2021 7:25 pm

So after playing my new JM primarily I’ve gotten used to and love the response from that trem system. Has anyone had any luck with making a strat style system a little more loose feeling? Pickup up my PES again, and I feel like I need to re-learn how to use it. I know that it’s kinda par for the course with a through body trem system, but maybe removing a spring (or two) would get me a little more of a spongy feel like a JM type. It’s just so stiff feeling compared to a JM I feel like it’s now impossible to use the PRS trem for just light warble and vibrato.

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timtam
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Re: Some tremolo setup advice needed.

Post by timtam » Thu Dec 02, 2021 8:05 pm

The fundamental characteristic of a trem spring is its "spring constant", that is, its stiffness. That determines how sharply spring tension falls or rises when the spring changes length with strat-style trem arm pulls up or down. And how far the claw needs to be screwed in to reach the tension necessary to balance the torque from the strings (that is acting to pull the back of the bridge up) in the floating position. Given that, it's surprising that no trem spring vendors I know of specify their spring constants. The best you might get is euphemisms like "soft", "medium" "strong". "Low stiffness", "medium stiffness", or "high stiffness" would be better.

Spring constants are additive. So if you have 4 springs and you remove one, you have reduced the total spring stiffness by 25%. Or if you have 4 springs and add a 5th (of the same type), you have increased spring stiffness by 25%. The actual trem arm stiffness you feel is also affected significantly by string stiffness. So the change in feel won't be exactly those percentages. But at least you know how adding/removing springs gets you heading in the direction of what you want to achieve, stiffness-wise. And it rarely involves buying some "special" new springs with mystical "vintage" properties.

So if you want to make your strat trem feel less stiff, remove one spring as you suggest. You will then need to readjust the claw to get the new total spring tension back up to that necessary to balance the string torque, in order for the trem to balance in the floating position. Frudua on youtube has the best method for setting up a floating strat-style trem (2- or 6-screw).
"I just knew I wanted to make a sound that was the complete opposite of a Les Paul, and that’s pretty much a Jaguar." Rowland S. Howard.

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