Genesis.....

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Matsumoko-Westone-Genesis-MIJ-Japan-/150779071916?pt=Guitar&hash=item231b220dac#ht_500wt_922

...unfortunate, but redeemable?!

Redeemable? Sure.
But 5 springs?! What's he stringing it with, barbed wire?

Easy there, Barry...some of us use 4 and are thinking about 5!!

I've used 5 but it was being blocked by a little piece of wood ala Clapton. Seems like ALOT of tension, how is it possible unless the bridge is slammed against the body like this Genesis? I like 3 myself, seems to counter the string tension perfectly.

I find that 3 springs are just a little wobbly, simply because I have the bad habit of resting the heel of my hand on the bridge, and having 4 springs makes the bridge more stable. If I'm not going to dive bomb or do other widdly-widdly stuff, then 5 springs should make for very stable tuning, I think.

Check this out for a trem stopper....



... it was on a Spectrum I bought in NZ and works very well!!

WOW, that is awesome John!! I'll bet that thing works. Never seen anything like that before, quite an innovation. Someone REALLY wanted to block their bridge.

It's a beauty, ain't it?! And adjustable!!

I've come to the conclusion in my withering old age, that tremelo bridges are dibolical inventions, most certainly the product of a demented mind.

They take an extraordinarily large amount of time and attention for the relatively little playing time they're in use and for the dubious musical return. Traditional Strat trems in particular are the goofiest things in creation, actually pivoting on the wood! Damn things are never in tune. All others are variation on a theme with varying degrees of reliability and stability.

The only mechanism I'd call consistently reliable is the Bigsby which has few moving parts and virtully needs no ongoing adjustment. Oh, and an honourable mention to the Music Man trem. It's traditional in appearance but a rock solid performer.

corsair wrote: ...Check this out for a trem stopper....

Looks like it was swiped from that artillary gun behind you inyour avatar...

Barry wrote:I've come to the conclusion in my withering old age, that tremelo bridges are dibolical inventions, most certainly the product of a demented mind.

They take an extraordinarily large amount of time and attention for the relatively little playing time they're in use and for the dubious musical return. Traditional Strat trems in particular are the goofiest things in creation, actually pivoting on the wood! Damn things are never in tune. All others are variation on a theme with varying degrees of reliability and stability.

The only mechanism I'd call consistently reliable is the Bigsby which has few moving parts and virtully needs no ongoing adjustment. Oh, and an honourable mention to the Music Man trem. It's traditional in appearance but a rock solid performer.

The Kahler licensed Floyd Rose on my Challenger (Bendmaster FR, I think) is amazing...I've had it for 6 months, done all sorts of diving, and have only retuned once, 2 months ago.

But I generally don't like Floyd Rose trems that much. The Kahler Pro cam-type trems are pretty stable, and Parker ball-bearing trem is pretty good at staying in tune, and I'm about to get an Ibanez guitar with a Zero Resistance Trem...seems like a close variation of either the Kahler Pro or the Parker ball-bearing, but apparently is easy to use and returns to tune very, very well.

If I actually sell the Vandy Custom, I'll have the money to get to a Steinberger with a Trans-Trem. Those are apparently stable enough that you can bend chords, and the chord stays in tune as you bend! But I've never tried one, so I dunno.

Barry wrote:Traditional Strat trems in particular are the goofiest things in creation, actually pivoting on the wood! Damn things are never in tune. All others are variation on a theme with varying degrees of reliability and stability.

Whilw I'm not a huge user/abuser of the tremelo's, I always tune mine using this method here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0Oyc6slYRc

always amazes me how stable it stays

I dont know if you guys are familiar with frudua on youtube, but he has a lot of great ideas and great information regarding tuning stability

corsair wrote:I find that 3 springs are just a little wobbly, simply because I have the bad habit of resting the heel of my hand on the bridge, and having 4 springs makes the bridge more stable. If I'm not going to dive bomb or do other widdly-widdly stuff, then 5 springs should make for very stable tuning, I think.

Check this out for a trem stopper....



... it was on a Spectrum I bought in NZ and works very well!!

WOW!!! Help with sustain?!

Sgt. Vimes wrote:I dont know if you guys are familiar with frudua on youtube, but he has a lot of great ideas and great information regarding tuning stability

Good vid and info. But as good as it is, it reinforces what I've been saying...everybody has a different voodoo to bring to working on these things. They are a royal pain in the RRR's...stretch, pull, screw, push, pull, bend the bar, don't touch the heads, fiddle, fiddle, fiddle...arrrrgh!

Barry wrote:...stretch, pull, screw, push, pull, bend the bar, don't touch the heads, fiddle, fiddle, fiddle...arrrrgh!

dare I say it.......thats what she said!

Hoisted on me own petard!

take it as a compliment barry