Tremolo sliding down trem screws - vertical drift?

jaymenon

I found this video interesing...



Is there a simple solution?

Andyjr1515

Hi
This has caused great controversy over the past years - and probably why no one's responded yet

- By all accounts, the Wudtone trem is a good product and many users are very pleased with them


- There is nothing inherently wrong with the operation of a traditional Fender-type trem if correctly set up and therefore there is no fundamental problem that needs a solution


And that is all I'm going to say on the matter 

jaymenon

I find myself wondering if countersunk tremolo screws would achieve the same thing...

ICBM

Andyjr1515 said:

This has caused great controversy over the past years - and probably why no one's responded yet

- By all accounts, the Wudtone trem is a good product and many users are very pleased with them

- There is nothing inherently wrong with the operation of a traditional Fender-type trem if correctly set up and therefore there is no fundamental problem that needs a solution

And that is all I'm going to say on the matter 

This, exactly.

Gulliver

I've not used a Wudtone trem - but I have used their finishing kits and liked that a lot. However Andy from Wudtone made shitty comments on pictures of my bitsa-strat because I used a different trem to his so if you want good customer relations I'd look elsewhere.

EDIT: The trem I used instead was a Wilkinson with modern saddles because it was the trem I was used to, and was super comfortable on the Chapman ML-1 I was using at the time.  That was set fully floating and never had tuning issues.   Here's me using it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9iDLPaGMO0

Andyjr1515

Gulliver said:

EDIT: The trem I used instead was a Wilkinson with modern saddles because it was the trem I was used to, and was super comfortable on the Chapman ML-1 I was using at the time.  That was set fully floating and never had tuning issues.   Here's me using it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9iDLPaGMO0

Very nice rendition of a great number

jaymenon

As you depress the tremolo arm, the back part of the baseplate rises - and (at least theoretically) the upper surface of the baseplate can foul against the inferior surface of the dome of the tremolo screws. 

That is of course what the facets on the surface of the Wudtone trem baseplate attempt to achieve.

I thought I would invest in a set of countersunk screws with a view to avoiding this.

The first step was of course to inspect my own tremolo carefully...

I found, on the rear side (saddle side) a 1mm gap between the baseplate and screw dome that allows plenty of tremolo movement without the baseplate fouling against the dome of the screws (please see pictures).

Therefore it seems a waste of time and effort.

https://i.imgur.com/LiwUV43.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/JTGT99t.jpg

ICBM

I've posted this video before but it's worth seeing it again. This is how they work when set correctly - no creep, no contact with the top of the body other than when pulled back fully, and returns to pitch perfectly - and that's with some really quite aggressive movement.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/2fmospyy7thwq6e/AriaBridge.mov?dl=0

jaymenon

Thanks John - very much inspired by your video, I made one of a rear-routed strat of mine (no pickguard, so easier to see the tremolo baseplate).

It confirms what you say:
 - the baseplate does not contact the surface of the body.
- it does not contact the dome heads of the tremolo screws (unless you really dive bomb)