NGD 1995 Fender MIM Strat

[beagle]

94/95 Mexico didn’t have a factory for manufacturing so the bodies and necks came from elsewhere.

So the rumour mill has it. The 95 MIM body is poplar with alder caps and the sunburst looks distinctly odd, mine did anyhow. The bridge floated ok though, and once the nut had been replaced it stayed in tune.

 

[bh1812]

I'm not sure what the "claw" is, lol. But do you think from looking at this picture that this is the bridge that came with the guitar. It seems to me that it would be. And also just to be clear, this could be a full Floating Bridge with just taking out 2 Springs?

Thanks

 

[awasson]

The claw is the part opposite to the bridge that the springs are hooked onto. It has those two long screws used to adjust tension on the springs. That looks like the tremolo that I would expect to see in that guitar.

In order to float that type of tremolo I’ve had good success with the following process

1. I’ve removed all springs and removed the strings
2. Then I’ve adjusted the 6 screws so that the tremolo Block can move all the way forward and back. I use the 2 outside screws to adjust tension so that it rocks but so that it isn’t loose and sloppy. Then I install the 4 inside screws about 1/4 turn higher than the outside ones. That way they don’t interfere with the settings of the outside screws.
3. Then I install 3 springs, install the strings and tune up to pitch.
4. Once the guitar is tuned to pitch, I check the back of the bridge plate to see if it is flat or slightly raised. I want it to be raised about 1/8 to 3/16 of an inch so that I can rock it in both directions. If it is still flat against the body, I’ll back out the screws that hold the tremolo “claw”. It’s a little tedious as I’ll give each screw half a turn out, tune back up to pitch, check the bridge plate and repeat until it’s where it needs to be.
5. I also lube the nut so that the stings glide nicely. I’ve been using cocoanut oil on all my guitars for a few years with good success. I oil and clean the rosewood fretboard with it as well. I put some on, let it soak in for 5 or 10 minutes and wipe it off.

There are a few good articles about setting up floating tremolo bridges on the web. It’s not all that difficult to do as long as the bridge is in relatively good condition. Yours should keep pretty good tune with those locking tuners too. I’ve got split shaft tuners on mine and it stays in pretty decent tune. I don’t tend to do dive bomb whammy bar stuff, just Stevie Ray Vaughan type warbling from time to time.

I think @beagle is right about the Poplar with an Alder cap on those sunburst guitars. As far as I can tell my 94 is straight Poplar. It’s quite a soft wood.

 

[bh1812]

The claw is the part opposite to the bridge that the springs are hooked onto. It has those two long screws used to adjust tension on the springs. That looks like the tremolo that I would expect to see in that guitar.
There are a few good articles about setting up floating tremolo bridges on the web. It’s not all that difficult to do as long as the bridge is in relatively good condition. Yours should keep pretty good tune with those locking tuners too. I’ve got split shaft tuners on mine and it stays in pretty decent tune. I don’t tend to do dive bomb whammy bar stuff, just Stevie Ray Vaughan type warbling from time to time.
I think @beagle is right about the Poplar with an Alder cap on those sunburst guitars. As far as I can tell my 94 is straight Poplar. It’s quite a soft wood


Thanks, awasson, good to know. So, I think the first thing I will do is get a whammy bar that fits the MIM strat, lol. And see how I like the tremolo as it is. Happy to hear that it is the tremolo/bridge that came with the guitar. Looking at the "ding" on the bottom of the guitar it does look like a vaneer layer on top and then bare wood underneath; is that what you and @beagle mean about the "Alder cap" on the Poplar body? One last question, it is ok to use the tremolo as it has been set up (the bridge adjustment you detail is beyond the limit of my "tech" guy I think) ?

So all in all, I got the action lowered, thanks to the shaving of the 6 frets, pickups wired correctly, intonation set, and a little bit of tremolo on a 1995 MIM Fender with upgraded tuners and upgraded pickups, strap locks and a great sound and playability!

Thanks again for all the info!!

 

[awasson]

Thanks, awasson, good to know. So, I think the first thing I will do is get a whammy bar that fits the MIM strat, lol. And see how I like the tremolo as it is. Happy to hear that it is the tremolo/bridge that came with the guitar. Looking at the "ding" on the bottom of the guitar it does look like a vaneer layer on top and then bare wood underneath; is that what you and @beagle mean about the "Alder cap" on the Poplar body? One last question, it is ok to use the tremolo as it has been set up (the bridge adjustment you detail is beyond the limit of my "tech" guy I think) ?

So all in all, I got the action lowered, thanks to the shaving of the 6 frets, pickups wired correctly, intonation set, and a little bit of tremolo on a 1995 MIM Fender with upgraded tuners and upgraded pickups, strap locks and a great sound and playability!

Thanks again for all the info!!

It looks to my like your guitar guy has set the tremolo so that it can lower the pitch and then comes back to a flat position. That’s sometimes called a “decked tremolo”. It’s a very common way to set them. I would think that using it the way it is set up should be fine as long as there isn’t too much tension on the springs. I’ve seen tremolo bars bend from too much tension when they are set up that way. It should be apparent whether it has too much tension.

That’s a great guitar you’ve got there and it came with some great upgrades.

 

[pokett]

If you’re looking for Strat setup info, especially proper trem floating, Dave’s World of Fun Stuff on YouTube is a channel with a number of great videos detailing (and showing) Strat setup. From memory it matches exactly what @awasson was saying (but may be helpful for the visual learners).

https://www.youtube.com/user/davey4557

 

[schmee]

That's a $100 ding. Get that much refunded.
You have some birdseye in the neck! Cool.
In about 1999 I saw a MIM Strat at GC locally that was loaded with birdseye.