Strat Floating Trem Spring Angle?

Fuengi

Watched and read a few tutorials on setting up a floating tremolo and predominantly they use three springs between the claw and the block with two at an angle. 

If you are looking for maximum stability and even distribution across the springs it would seem blindingly obvious to me to have all the springs span the same distance, ie all straight. Perhaps better still would be to use all five springs with much less tension. 

Is this an artifact of guitar tech woo-woo, or is there some genuine science behind this method? 

thermionic

The idea is that the two outer springs are already stretched more than the inner, so it feels smoother. Hooke's Law says this is BS.

What probably happened is that people found it too fiddly to hook the two outer springs into their correct holes, and inserted them into the outer holes instead. Sausage fingers.

ICBM

Straight, always. The reason for the ‘fan’ is as thermionic said - laziness - it’s difficult to hook the springs onto the outer claws with your fingers.

The ‘fan’ can actually cause odd noises and tuning problems because the two outer springs rotate slightly on their attachment points and can sometimes stick.

There is a difference in feel with more springs set loosely vs fewer set tighter, but neither is inherently better. More can sometimes give marginally better tuning stability, but other factors are usually more important.

tone1

Yeah but it looks cool....

https://i.imgur.com/QerRE1q.jpg

ICBM

tone1 said:

Yeah but it looks like a Chinese Strat copy

FTFY... they usually come like that too, must be quicker for the child labourer to do.

Fuengi

First time I've taken a guitar to pieces, I'm really surprised how rudimentary the engineering is. 

The screws / claw / springs / block stuff looks very Heath Robinson but I guess it has worked. 

Also modern standard tuners really are a crap idea. 

ICBM

Fuengi said:

Also modern standard tuners really are a crap idea. 

Why? I tend to find they work better than the Kluson-type ones. I admit I like the 'Safe-T-Post' slotted ones though, they stop your hands or your gig bag lining getting snagged on sharp string ends - although they require some learning to get the lengths right when cutting the strings for the best results.

Fuengi

ICBM said:

Fuengi said:

Also modern standard tuners really are a crap idea. 

Why? I tend to find they work better than the Kluson-type ones. I admit I like the 'Safe-T-Post' slotted ones though, they stop your hands or your gig bag lining getting snagged on sharp string ends - although they require some learning to get the lengths right when cutting the strings for the best results.

It's just badly thought out in my opinion. The slot head system works ok, at least it considers that the string has to be held in place before winding. 

ICBM

Fuengi said:

It's just badly thought out in my opinion. The slot head system works ok, at least it considers that the string has to be held in place before winding. 

I'm not sure I understand...

Every machinehead holds the string in place before winding, with a sharp kink through the hole. Personally I do the 'half back turn and trap under' method which is totally slip-proof.

I also do something similar on slotted posts for the top two strings, which can otherwise slip out of the hole under tension - poke the string down the hole as normal, but then go a half turn the wrong way round the post, back across the slot, then wind on normally.

Either of those are as secure as locking heads and only take slightly longer once you get the technique.

Fuengi

ICBM said:

Fuengi said:

It's just badly thought out in my opinion. The slot head system works ok, at least it considers that the string has to be held in place before winding. 

I'm not sure I understand...

Every machinehead holds the string in place before winding, with a sharp kink through the hole. Personally I do the 'half back turn and trap under' method which is totally slip-proof.

I also do something similar on slotted posts for the top two strings, which can otherwise slip out of the hole under tension - poke the string down the hole as normal, but then go a half turn the wrong way round the post, back across the slot, then wind on normally.

Either of those are as secure as locking heads and only take slightly longer once you get the technique.

I'm glad you like them. I'll have a set for sale very soon