Strat tremolo adjustment

lincolnblue

My Strat copy has three springs but the tremolo arm is very stiff (it's not floating). To adjust tension is it literally a case of removing a spring? Any other adjustments needed?

boogieman

You don’t need to take a spring out, just undo the screws at the claw end a bit at a time till you get the tension where you want it. You’ll have to keep retuning as you go along. 

richardhomer

boogieman said:

You don’t need to take a spring out, just undo the screws at the claw end a bit at a time till you get the tension where you want it. You’ll have to keep retuning as you go along. 

This.

The screws that adjust the claw set the ‘point’ where the bridge floats above the body - the number of springs alter the tension ‘once’ it’s floating. If you’re using 10 gauge strings - or lighter - three springs should work well. Two with a floating trem will be ‘very’ light and likely to cause tuning issues if you rest your hand on the bridge.

Henrytwang

All of the above but if your term is fixed to the body with 6 screws check that they’re not tightened right down as they will impede the free movement of the unit.

notanon

This video should help out

lincolnblue

I've not got round to changing this for various reasons but want to give it a go to give me some flexibility in using the arm As you can can see in the photo the screws are totally screwed in to the body which must be the reason it's so stiff. If I unscrew then (gradually) is it just re-tuning I need to do or will it need set up adjustment?

ICBM

Is the bridge flat on the body at the moment, or is there a gap under the back edge?

What string gauge are you using (and tuning if lower than standard)?

lincolnblue

ICBM said:

Is the bridge flat on the body at the moment, or is there a gap under the back edge?

What string gauge are you using (and tuning if lower than standard)?

The bridge is flat to the body which is what I want ideally. I use 10s on it in standard E tuning

ICBM

lincolnblue said:
The bridge is flat to the body which is what I want ideally. I use 10s on it in standard E tuning

In that case you should be able to simply undo the claw screws until just before the point the back of the bridge lifts.

It's unfortunate that the ground wire has been soldered to the claw hook or you could reduce the tension slightly further by putting the springs parallel as well (as they should be).

lincolnblue

ICBM said:

lincolnblue said:
The bridge is flat to the body which is what I want ideally. I use 10s on it in standard E tuning

In that case you should be able to simply undo the claw screws until just before the point the back of the bridge lifts.

It's unfortunate that the ground wire has been soldered to the claw hook or you could reduce the tension slightly further by putting the springs parallel as well (as they should be).

I can always re-solder it. Where would it go? Just on that plate?

FelineGuitars

richardhomer said:

boogieman said:

You don’t need to take a spring out, just undo the screws at the claw end a bit at a time till you get the tension where you want it. You’ll have to keep retuning as you go along. 

This.

The screws that adjust the claw set the ‘point’ where the bridge floats above the body - the number of springs alter the tension ‘once’ it’s floating. If you’re using 10 gauge strings - or lighter - three springs should work well. Two with a floating trem will be ‘very’ light and likely to cause tuning issues if you rest your hand on the bridge.

If you are using 9s and want a reliable return to pitch I advocate dropping down to two springs and tightening up the claw  till you get the correct spring tension to balance the string tension. 

One overlooked issue in  tremolo return to pitch performance is that is is unlikely or much harder if the springs are so unstretched that they risk getting fully closed up at the zero point .

Yes you have to balance that against how heavily you palm mute , and maybe learn to be less heavy handed if need be. 

ICBM

lincolnblue said:

I can always re-solder it. Where would it go? Just on that plate?

In the middle of the plate usually. The difficulty is soldering it on - you'll need a huge iron.

I prefer to do it by taking the claw off the guitar and heating it in a gas flame until you can melt the solder onto it, then adding the wire into the hot solder.

lincolnblue

ICBM said:

lincolnblue said:

I can always re-solder it. Where would it go? Just on that plate?

In the middle of the plate usually. The difficulty is soldering it on - you'll need a huge iron.

I prefer to do it by taking the claw off the guitar and heating it in a gas flame until you can melt the solder onto it, then adding the wire into the hot solder.

Ah ok -  that might be a bit beyond my capabilities!