Strats: Do you float your bridge or deck it?

[Dru Edwards]

For your Strats and Strat like guitars (non Floyd Rose), do you have it setup with a floating trem or do you have it decked against the body?

In case you're not sure, floating means that in addition to lowering the pitch with the bar you can also pull up to make the note goes up in pitch. With it decked you can only go down because the tremolo unit is flush against the body.

Any reasons why you have it setup that way?

[Davis Webb]

With proper use it becomes like a human voice.

[Tele1111]

None of the above. I couldn’t vote. When I was in Germany a long time ago, I discovered the “Goldo Black Box”. Really simple device that allows you to have the benefits of a floating trem, but returns to the same position each time. You set that position. It’s kind of a hybrid, and I bought a few. I looked here in the states, but never found anything like it.

Mark

[M Hayden]

I used Hipshot Trem-Setters for years but went back to blocked, which sounds more substantial to me.

[Mooh]

Currently, my one Strat style is a Godin Progression. I have it blocked so it only drops with the whammy, and even that takes some effort with 3 springs adjusted tightly. Other than a Bigsby equipped Gretsch, that's all I have with a vibrato, my other electrics are hardtails (two Godin LG's, and two Telecasters).

[clintj]

I float the tremolo on my Strat. It took a fair bit of tinkering, but it stays in tune very well now.

[jdto]

Decked and no bar. I have a Bigsby on my Gretsch that I use for a bit of shimmer once in a while, but I mostly play my hard tail guitars.

[ras1500]

Floating with five springs against .011 - .053 strings. It stays in tune.

[pieterh]

I have mine floating, 3 springs, .010 strings. I like to be able to bend up as well as down when I use the vibrato. I had a setup once where the tech decked it but I hadn’t asked him to and got him to return it to how I wanted it.

As an aside, is it as easy to pull up with a traditional 6-screw bridge as it is with the two point floating? Never thought about it when I have actually tried vintage style Strats...

[DanR]

When I was gigging, I had mine decked and still have it that way. I don't use it that much and when gigging, breaking a string and going out of tune was unacceptable.

[M Sarad]

After selling off the 60s-70s Strats to focus on Gibson’s, I bought a sunburst MIM Strat about a dozen years ago. It is decked. I use three springs and it is ok for mild surf usage. The major improvement was the Seymour Duncan Everything set of pickups.

[Tone Gopher]

I've been playing Strats since the early '70s, and this is the first time I've heard the term "decked" - and I used to set up Strats in a guitar repair shop!

Yes, I set mine up with the spring tension loading the bridge against the top. I prefer this to blocking the trem because it gets more resonance from the springs, imparts a lil' give when bending, and generally holds better tuning.

YMWV depending on string gauge and how heavy you set the spring tension.

[RP]

My feeling is that there are a lot of Strat players who never use their whammy bars. To me it begs the question why Fender doesn't offer more Strat models with a hardtail bridge. The Robert Cray is the only one that comes to mind, and its $924.99 price is not exactly bottom line.....

[jdto]

Originally Posted by RP

My feeling is that there are a lot of Strat players who never use their whammy bars. To me it begs the question why Fender doesn't offer more Strat models with a hardtail bridge. The Robert Cray is the only one that comes to mind, and its $924.99 price is not exactly bottom line.....

Even though I don't use my whammy, I don't know if I'd want a hardtail. I like the sound and feel of my Strat with the bridge decked and 5 springs. And I always have the option of putting the bar on there when the mood strikes me.

[RP]

Originally Posted by jdto

Even though I don't use my whammy, I don't know if I'd want a hardtail. I like the sound and feel of my Strat with the bridge decked and 5 springs. And I always have the option of putting the bar on there when the mood strikes me.

I understand that you and probably many other Strat players enjoy that flexibility; but to me it still begs the question why Fender only makes a single Strat model without tremolo, an MIM Signature Artist model at that, out of the gazillion models of Strats they produce....