Fully floating Trems

grungebob

Hey all, 
im a trem novice, have limited experience of the basics like a bigsby and the fender vintage trems but recently been thinking about a new instrument and the ones I’ve seen that pique my curiosity all seem to have the modern Gotoh 510 series trems that appear to be fully floating. 

I like to go from standard tunings to drop tunings a fair bit and I was just thinking wouldn’t this mess my tuning up? 

On a fender I always have it resting on the body so drop D isn’t an issue but on something like the DK Charvels my guess is this dropping the E down would affect the rest no?
aside from devices like the Tremel-No ( or however it’s spelled) is there a way to have down only ?

Stevepage

Yes tuning to drop D from standard E would affect the tuning of the rest of the strings, due to difference in tension knocking everything else sharp. 

Tremol No units work ok (not a fan myself, I don't think they're very good) but you can also get other things such as the Engl Hardtailer. 




This would give you the option to have full float or down only.

gumbothewiddler

If you do lots of drop d tuning then a d-tuna on a floyd could work a-la EVH/ peavey wolfgangs but they do limit the upward movement of the trem if the rear rout isn’t sufficient to accommodate it.

Funkfingers

Stevepage said:

Tremol No units work ok.

I beg to differ. 

The Tremol-No almost always fails to do what it says on the tin. I only use them to permanently block off a vibrato that cannot be fixed any other way. e.g. The design used on Yamaha YSG and some SG_____T guitars.

ICBM

Any of the many trem-stop/back-stop systems will work - including very simple or DIY ones - as long as they prevent the bridge from moving sharp from the rest position.

But as Funkfingers said, I would not recommend the Tremol-No, it’s the most problematic of all the ones I’ve tried. (Even more so than the Trem-Setter, which does at least work properly, although it’s a pig to install and set up.)

Lewy

I’m thinking of uninstalling the Tremel-No from my recently acquired Charvel GG. I’m not getting the tuning stability that I’d expect and I suspect it’s the culprit. I don’t know how GG manages to make them work…

ICBM

Lewy said:

I’m thinking of uninstalling the Tremel-No from my recently acquired Charvel GG. I’m not getting the tuning stability that I’d expect and I suspect it’s the culprit. I don’t know how GG manages to make them work…

Take it out and check that the hinged joints are moving freely - I’ve come across a couple that have been rivetted too tightly and don’t, which causes the joints to bind, and tuning issues. If so, you can fix it by deliberately bending the unit sideways slightly to open up the joints… which sounds brutal but works.

Even if that’s not the problem I have also never found them reliable or stable enough in use, even with constant fiddling and faffing.

grungebob

Cheers chaps. 

Another quick question if I may. 

How does one adjust one of these trems. 

Say I want to deck it via the springs the front would tilt backwards making the action high. 

I’m guessing you can’t screw the two posts down to compensate and level the bridge plate out?
is the only way to use a trem blocker?

I did like the sound of the guitar but didn’t like how a bend would pull the other strings out of tune. 

ICBM

grungebob said:

Say I want to deck it via the springs the front would tilt backwards making the action high. 

I’m guessing you can’t screw the two posts down to compensate and level the bridge plate out?
is the only way to use a trem blocker?

If the bridge is designed to float clear of the body, setting it low enough that it doesn't and raising the saddles to compensate will cause too many other issues. A trem blocker is the better solution, and some are simple and reliable although do involve some modification to the guitar.

grungebob said:

I did like the sound of the guitar but didn’t like how a bend would pull the other strings out of tune. 

That's inevitable with any floating trem, unless it's set against a backstop and adjusted so there's enough spring tension to keep it in place when bending strings.

grungebob

Thanks @ICBM appreciate the advice.