Changing strings on floating trem Strat

Switch625

I have a Mexican Strat that's set up for a floating trem and the time has come to change the strings. I also want to give the fretboard a clean, the frets a polish and change the standard tuners for locking ones whilst I'm at it.

As I'll need to take all the strings off to do this, any tips or advice that I should be aware of? Is it going to be a pain to set up the floating trem with all the strings off - will I need to put something on the front of the guitar body under the bridge to keep it parallel to the body etc?

jaymenon

Don't worry about it @Switch625 ;;;;;

On a strat as each string comes off the bridge will descend until the baseplate contacts the body (unlike a recessed floyd, which will start to 'sink' below the body (so to speak)

Take your time, give everything a good clean, and then once you install a set of new strings, provided they are the same gauge, the tremolo should rise back up to its usual resting floating position.

IF you want the bridge to float higher, loosen the claw springs by 1/4 of a turn. The bridge will rise and the strings pitch fall. When you tighten the strings back up to pitch, with bridge will rise a little further. Enjoy the process, it's not rocket science, and you won't do any damage :-)

ICBM

I just take them all off at once. It's really not hard to tune up again, and nothing else should have changed.

If you're really worried about it, just put a lollipop stick or two, folded cardboard etc under the back edge of the bridge to block it in place before you take the strings off.

jaymenon

Personally I would advise against locking tuners.

Every time you really loosen the strings to do whatever, there is a high chance that you will break strings.

Also there won't be enough length of string left for you to loosen the strings significantly to do anything like fretwork in between string changes.

Good old conventional tuners hold on just as well - the 'waisted spindle' design is ingenious where successive wraps of the strings move towards the narrowest part of the post and tighten upon each other like the coils of a snake...

I quote:
'Modern tuners are designed with a concave radiused profile which is intended to enhance coil compression by causing each coil to seek the narrowest part of the radius as it tightens. Subsequent coils slide into place alongside and are forced into contact by the radius so that the string is clamped effectively on perhaps three or four sides as well as the inside surface of each coil. This means that a top E with four wraps is clamped tightly by self sustaining pressure over approximately a 100mm length. Beat that. Sperzel!''

take a look here (not my website)
http://www.edgeguitarservices.co.uk/rout_serv/restring/

jaymenon

I suppose if you do dive-bombs then the windings around the post may loosen and then come together at at a different location - with possible tuning instability.  However, even for significant moderate tremolo use (I don't mean just Hank-style gentle wiggles) conventional tuners are just fine.

...and if you dive bomb, then you might be better off with a Floyd-Rose jobbie...?

Switch625

Thanks guys, will give it a go and hopefully not run in to any major problems...

Re: The locking tuners, I already have them on hand so will probably give them a go. I bought them mainly for quick and easy string changes, no other reason. I'll only be using the tremolo lightly so hopefully the tuning stability will stay in tact...

thegummy

jaymenon said:

Personally I would advise against locking tuners.

Every time you really loosen the strings to do whatever, there is a high chance that you will break strings.

Also there won't be enough length of string left for you to loosen the strings significantly to do anything like fretwork in between string changes.

Good old conventional tuners hold on just as well - the 'waisted spindle' design is ingenious where successive wraps of the strings move towards the narrowest part of the post and tighten upon each other like the coils of a snake...

I quote:
'Modern tuners are designed with a concave radiused profile which is intended to enhance coil compression by causing each coil to seek the narrowest part of the radius as it tightens. Subsequent coils slide into place alongside and are forced into contact by the radius so that the string is clamped effectively on perhaps three or four sides as well as the inside surface of each coil. This means that a top E with four wraps is clamped tightly by self sustaining pressure over approximately a 100mm length. Beat that. Sperzel!''

take a look here (not my website)
http://www.edgeguitarservices.co.uk/rout_serv/restring/

What locking tuners have you had a problem with?

I have a few different sets and have never broken a string by loosening strings.

jaymenon

Quite a few locking tuners actually. I've got them on s guitar and they work fine,

However:

With a locking tuner the string is 'held' at two points - and the entire string tension is concentrated at these points.

1. The locking point
2. The first 90° angle as the string emerges from the string hole and curves onto the post of the tuner.

With a conventional tuner, the string is held along a much longer length (3, 4 or 5 winds around the post).

So if you loosen the strings to do a fret polish or something (there often isn't enough slack); or take the neck off to do a truss rod adjustment.

...the top E, and sometimes the B have quite a tendency to break.

So if I have locking tuners, I would much, much prefer the truss rod adjustment to be located at the headstock end.

JayGee

ICBM said:

I just take them all off at once. It's really not hard to tune up again, and nothing else should have changed.

If you're really worried about it, just put a lollipop stick or two, folded cardboard etc under the back edge of the bridge to block it in place before you take the strings off.

I’ve come across at least one Strat (or possibly Strat-a-like, I forget...) where if you took all the strings off the holes in the backplate didn’t line up properly with the holes in the trem block making it a bit fiddly to get the last couple of old strings out and the new ones in. That’s the only possible drawback I can see...

Bigsby

I recently replaced the tuners on my MiM Strat with locking GraphTech Ratio tuners; they're not cheap but they really improve the ease of tuning up a floating trem as they're so consistent in response. For a MiM Strat you will need to order the Fender mounting plate, as the included ones don't cover the Fender 2 pin style.

I no longer have any guitars without locking tuners, I love the speed and simplicity of string changes with locking tuners. Personally I would avoid fitting the Grovers with the rotating tops (rather than the thumbwheel on the back), they're not as quick to use, and I did have one that broke top 'e' strings - though in fairness Grover sent a replacement, and I've had no issues since. Never had any other problems with locking tuners.

As for string changes, if I'm doing a little cleaning on a Bigsby equipped guitar I'll sometimes leave the low 'e' on, clean one side of the board, put the top three strings on, then clean the other side - getting that first string on against the spring pressure can be awkward, whereas changing pre-bent strings with the spring compressed is really easy. 

jaymenon

The way I see it, string breakage is most often caused by metal fatigue. With locking tuners, the entire tension of the string is transferred to the edge of the tuner’s eye. 

This creates a severe bend in the string which is stressed every time the string is tuned.

In contrast, with a properly done friction-compression wrap, the wrap provides a cushion, taking up most of the string tension, so that the section of the string going through the eye, once the compression and friction has built up in the wrap is relieved of a lot of the stress. 

I have locking tuners on a couple of guitars and they do work. But that doesn’t change the fundamental physics involved.

in my opinion of course.

thegummy

jaymenon said:

Quite a few locking tuners actually. I've got them on s guitar and they work fine,

However:

With a locking tuner the string is 'held' at two points - and the entire string tension is concentrated at these points.

1. The locking point
2. The first 90° angle as the string emerges from the string hole and curves onto the post of the tuner.

With a conventional tuner, the string is held along a much longer length (3, 4 or 5 winds around the post).

So if you loosen the strings to do a fret polish or something (there often isn't enough slack); or take the neck off to do a truss rod adjustment.

...the top E, and sometimes the B have quite a tendency to break.

So if I have locking tuners, I would much, much prefer the truss rod adjustment to be located at the headstock end.

It's a theory but, I mean, all my guitars have locking tuners and I've never had this happen once so I dunno about it being a high chance of snapping.

How many times have you snapped a string in that situation?

ICBM

My experience from working on a lot of guitars is that locking tuners are no more prone to break strings than any other type.

You may think that intuitively that multiple wraps would allow a bit of movement and relieve the stress, but that's not so - the string almost always breaks where it flexes at the final take-off point on the last wrap, and which is not exactly at the lip of the hole even on a locking tuner - assuming the hole doesn't actually have a sharp edge.

If you have anything like 100mm of string on the post you have *far* too much wrap anyway! Except for the G on Fender-type guitars with no second tree.

I use the lock-wrap method mostly with only abut half a full turn on the post, and that's no more prone to breakage either.

axisus

Easy enough job, my preference is to stick a bit of wood in the trem cavity to keep it roughly in the same position. Not that necessary but just makes life a bit easier.

jaymenon

In fairness, I have not broken the string on an instrument with locking tuners whilst actually playing.

If you take the neck off (to adjust a truss rod for example) however the matter is very different. 

And truly, it isn’t a theory but a fact - that with a locking tuner, the string is held at one locking point and then the 90° bend.

Switch625

P.S. I have the Fender locking tuners which are hopefully of good quality.

ICBM

jaymenon said:

And truly, it isn’t a theory but a fact - that with a locking tuner, the string is held at one locking point and then the 90° bend.

It is true, but there's a substantial amount of friction even on the small part of the string that's in contact with the side of the barrel - if there's none at all and it literally comes directly from the edge of the hole, you've pulled the string far too tight before locking it. I pull them pretty tight and I still end up with about a quarter turn on the post usually.

I'm pretty sure I've broken just as many strings - proportionately, in reality actually far more since they're on the majority of guitars - with conventional tuners as locking ones. I certainly wouldn't list it as a major concern when working on a guitar.

jaymenon

I suppose if the edge of the string hole were to be slightly rounded/radiused as opposed to a sharp 90° bend that would help reduce breakage. Perhaps the more expensive locking tuners have this?

ICBM

jaymenon said:

I suppose if the edge of the string hole were to be slightly rounded/radiused as opposed to a sharp 90° bend that would help reduce breakage. Perhaps the more expensive locking tuners have this?

I'm pretty sure all good ones do - in fact all good tuners should have. It can be a tight bend as long as there isn't actually a burr or sharp edge on the hole, and it won't cut the string.

Musicwolf

I usually stick something between bridge and bodywork to protect the finish but also so that the strings are easier to remove through the holes in the back plate.

Locking tuners on most of my guitars to spped up the process (they don't do anything to improve tuning stability over and and above a conventional tuner which has been strung correctly).

I put a sticker on the back of the headstock showing string gauge and date changed.  'H' for Hybrid (9-46) + date changed (24th Nov)

thegummy

Musicwolf said:

I usually stick something between bridge and bodywork to protect the finish but also so that the strings are easier to remove through the holes in the back plate.

Locking tuners on most of my guitars to spped up the process (they don't do anything to improve tuning stability over and and above a conventional tuner which has been strung correctly).

I put a sticker on the back of the headstock showing string gauge and date changed.  'H' for Hybrid (9-46) + date changed (24th Nov)

That wild rock n roll lifestyle!