Floating the stratocaster bridge is GREAT, until....

[Tim S]

My ‘91 Strat Plus Deluxe came with a Hipshot Tremsetter.

Tremsetter

The Tremsetter greatly improves guitar performance by automatically returning your full floating tremolo to an exact "zero" neutral position, eliminating flutter and sag, so your guitar remains in tune. You can bend strings, play bridge harmonics, aggressive rhythm parts or mute strings and the...

hipshotproducts.com

It’s a spring-loaded pushrod to counteract the trem strings. You can bend strings without the remaining ones going flat and unlike a hardtail or shim, you can still float & use the trem.

 

[drmordo]

To clarify, the issue I'm discussing is not keeping the guitar in tune; it's tuning it. If you change tunings, drop D, whatever - any change made on one string affects the other 5, and tuning the instrument involves several passes across all strings.

Yes, you cannot change the tuning with a floating tremolo.

Deck it and run 5 springs unless your adament about fully using it. I was going to block mine but decided to deck it. You can still use it in one direction. Isnt for everyone. But ive tried decked, blocked, and floating. I thought blocked took away from the strat sound and those tremelo springs may add to the sound. Went with decked and I like the sound the best of the 3.

I still think additional springs and following the above instructions will greatly help or completely solve your issues, but decking the trem is the simple solution. You can still use it, and retuning to drop D will not be an issue. FWIW, EVH always kept his trem decked, even when he moved to the Floyd Rose. For variety, I let the trem float on my Jeff Beck Strat (mostly because it came perfectly dialed in from the factory), but on my EVH guitars I deck it.

With regard to Hendrix, he absolutely could not keep a Strat in tune. With how aggressively he whammied, that is no surprise. He would have much better luck today with a two-point bridge, rolling nut, and locking tuners. But that doesn't change the fact that he ran a bunch of springs in his guitar and that two springs in the OPs guitar is likely not enough.

 

[BlueGillGreg]

I do like my '89 Yamaha Floyd Rose HSS pointy shredder fake Strat. I tune from the middle out: G, D, B, A, hi E, lo E, and then repeat in the same order. If I'm keeping up with playing that guitar and keeping it in tune rather than getting it into tune, two passes always tunes it really well. Worth it.

I always recommend Telecasters against Stratocasters, though, for students' first guitars. Big knurled metal knobs conveniently located on a metal control plate vs small plastic knobs awkwardly located on a plastic scratchplate. Big immobile bridge assembly with lots of tuning stability vs whammy bar. Chance of having a 50 year old Tele that you still play 50 years later.

 

[Stratocast]

... you need to tune the freaking guitar. Each string you either tighten or loosen affects the other five. You'll have to go through all the strings at least three times before the instrument is tuned.

That is all.

I have found that those kind of issues do not stem from the floating bridge so much but as to string stretching. Are you stretching your new strings once you get them partially wound. ? I usually get the strings on the guitar so they are not quite tight and then pull each string about 2 inches away from the guitar sort of tugging and swinging them for about 5 seconds each. Making sure I jerk them hard enough not to break them yet hard enough to let the strings know I ain’t foolin around.

 

[Stratocast]

Yes, you cannot change the tuning with a floating tremolo.



I still think additional springs and following the above instructions will greatly help or completely solve your issues, but decking the trem is the simple solution. You can still use it, and retuning to drop D will not be an issue. FWIW, EVH always kept his trem decked, even when he moved to the Floyd Rose. For variety, I let the trem float on my Jeff Beck Strat (mostly because it came perfectly dialed in from the factory), but on my EVH guitars I deck it.

With regard to Hendrix, he absolutely could not keep a Strat in tune. With how aggressively he whammied, that is no surprise. He would have much better luck today with a two-point bridge, rolling nut, and locking tuners. But that doesn't change the fact that he ran a bunch of springs in his guitar and that two springs in the OPs guitar is likely not enough.

I have Never had any string issues when changing to different tunings with a floating tremolo. Of course I go thru each string and make sure each is in tune. No different than I would do with decked trem though.

 

[Stratocast]

My ‘91 Strat Plus Deluxe came with a Hipshot Tremsetter.

Tremsetter

The Tremsetter greatly improves guitar performance by automatically returning your full floating tremolo to an exact "zero" neutral position, eliminating flutter and sag, so your guitar remains in tune. You can bend strings, play bridge harmonics, aggressive rhythm parts or mute strings and the...

hipshotproducts.com

It’s a spring-loaded pushrod to counteract the trem strings. You can bend strings without the remaining ones going flat and unlike a hardtail or shim, you can still float & use the trem.

Sounds complicated to install does it require any tools to install. ?

 

[Stratocast]

Same - It just makes things less frustrating.


Also this - This is a great way to do it.

Yes the method I have been using for years. String stretching is so important and way underestimated. I never gave tuning issues. Unless I screw up and do not wrap the string properly around the peg or the peg mechanism is bad.

 

[Tim S]

Sounds complicated to install does it require any tools to install. ?

It came installed from the factory on my Plus Deluxe. But I did install one on a ‘97 MIM Standard. I’m fairly mechanically inept, and I had no problem. IIRC, the instructions recommended drilling a hole in the cavity to allow the end of the rod to fully extend. But they also mentioned being able to nip off the end of the rod after it was properly setup to avoid having to drill a hole and that worked for me. So the only tools needed were a pencil, a screwdriver and a wire cutter to snip the rod.

 

[Alex_C]

Try restringing a Floyd Rose a few times. Thta is MUCH worse.

That's exactly what I was thinking!

 

[Alex_C]

A tremol-no is one option. You can lock it to make the bridge a hard tail. Handy if you break a string.

 

[jrblue]

Of course. A Strat or any springs-vs-strings system that lets you both raise and lower tones is a poor choice for a player who is going to change tunings. A guitar with a floating trem adjusted to be stable in standard tuning will not be equally stable when you change tunings because the springs are now being opposed by a different amount of total tension. Typically, this will work OK if the tuning/tension change is not major, but it's not going to be perfect. The Fender system is designed around matching the string tension by adjusting the tension of the springs. Change string tension by changing tuning throws this off. How could it not?

 

[Refugee]

@Hey_you

Increasing or decreasing spring tension on one side but not the other does not change the tension on the strings on one side of the bridge. It's the same tension all the way across because the bridge plate is solid and pivots on a single axis. If you're noticing a change, it's due to the overall increased spring tension that results from tightening one of the claw screws. Same goes for spring alignment (/|\ versus |||): it makes no difference.

As an illustration of this, here's a Piper J3 aircraft rudder control cable and how it actuates the entire surface...not just the end where it's attached. The rudder, like the bridge plate, is solid and pivots on a single axis.

Wow, my buddy's dad, when I was about 10 had a Piper Cub. Never got to fly in it, but I did get to take a ride in his 455 HO, Inboard/outboard boat.

 

[Refugee]

Try restringing a Floyd Rose a few times. Thta is MUCH worse.

And how. Not 3X, more like 8-10 or more. But, once you get it right it's awesome!! I wouldn't change strings as often as I should, because it was painstaking. But, if you blew a high E at a gig, you just loosen the locking nut and scootch the whole string down a little (which is why you never clip the E & B too short) quickly readjust the fine tuner on the bridge to middle'ish area, clamp it down and bammo, you're almost back in tune , in under a minute. Make adjustments before the next song and yo are fully back in business.

 

[dasherf17]

This is true. The struggle is real.

But the reward is whammy.

...and it surprises me (in my case, YMMV) how true the tuning stays between uses...

 

[1 21 gigawatts]

It doesn't need to be a struggle.

Loosen the spring tension at the claw.
Add a stack of quarters or washers between the trem block and body to set the height that you want the trem.
Re-sting, tune, stretch strings, tune etc.
Once tuning is stable, remove block. The tuning will go flat because string tension is greater than spring tension.
Re-tune using the claw screws only. Once the two E strings are in tune, all others should also be and the trem height should match what you blocked it at.

Easy peasy- no fighting between tuners and spring tension.

 

[Fretting out]

That’s just the nature of a floating trem

You’re not meant to be able to change tunings/string gauge without making adjustments

It’s a one tuning bridge

 

[GratefulDean]

Are you fully floating? If the bridge rests against the body even when the strings are up to full tension it's not as much of an issue.

Yeah my American Pro 2 has about a semitone float, my Player had a full tone float but I decked it when I switched necks.

 

[Stratocast]

It came installed from the factory on my Plus Deluxe. But I did install one on a ‘97 MIM Standard. I’m fairly mechanically inept, and I had no problem. IIRC, the instructions recommended drilling a hole in the cavity to allow the end of the rod to fully extend. But they also mentioned being able to nip off the end of the rod after it was properly setup to avoid having to drill a hole and that worked for me. So the only tools needed were a pencil, a screwdriver and a wire cutter to snip the rod.

Hmmm I may order one and try it on my favorite strat.

 

[SRHmusic]

A tremol-no is one option. You can lock it to make the bridge a hard tail. Handy if you break a string.

I had one on my #1 that turned into more of a customized partscaster (and great "working" guitar now). One of the issues with the tremel-no is the little thumbscrews don't have too many turns into their holes. Easy to lose one - I almost did. Also sometimes one would be too hard to loosen by hand. I decided against using it for very long and have decked to one side ever since (can still dive). But if I had more time and wanted one more guitar on stage I'd keep one set up full floating and learn to play like Carl Verheyen.

The Hipshot tremsetter is another to consider. I found it puts a bit of a dead spot between pushing down and pulling up, requiring more care to set - even following the different guides and videos they have it still had a dead spot. In the end I prefer the simplicity without either.

 

[Trenchant63]

and that's why I only do hardtails anymore

Same. I’ve blocked trems, put all five springs on the claw and tightened down to flatten bridge on the body, etc. … it is not the same as a bridge on solid wood.