Do you like tremolos or not?

[s2y]

Originally Posted by LouieAtienza

Buddy Blaze.... Yes couldn't remember the name! My Stegemaster had a FR Pro, and the low profile tail was a huge improvement. I think when EVH left around 1988 that spelled the end for Kramer; they were for a time the largest electric guitar manufacturer! After EVH, some maligned ideas like endorsees Gorky Park. I heard stories about the Neptune, NJ "factory" that could be the story for a Larry Flynt dive. They did associate with some great local luthiers like Paul Unkert and Phil Petillo, but everything 1981-closing was parts subbed out (necks from hockey stick manufacturer LaSiDo and ESP), one of the reasons EVH broke ties. Eddie really went aboard because Kramer was smart enough to be the exclusive distributor of the Floyd Rose in '81; but by '86 other manufacturers were able to get one.

I was a Roman's Fairfield shop, and you wouldn't believe what I saw there; for all his rants he was pretty hypocritical. He (or his shop since he'd passed on) also has the largest stash of NOS BC Rich stuff (including neck-thrus) I've ever seen. Not to mention the J. Frog guitars he sells with Kramer neckplates.

Buddy Blaze is still making Nightswans, which is kinda cool. If I didn't have mine, I'd probably want to order one, probably with a different pickup config. Never really understood the original Nightswan pickups.

Was the FR Pro on your Stagey original? I thought the Original was standard hardware on everything but the Nightswan II and ProAxe series.

I think Kramer's main problem was that they were spending insane dough on advertising and endorsements. EVH leaving and grunge probably wouldn't have killed the company had they not been spending about as much money as they had been making. I'd like to think they would have simply started using upgraded maple tops and more vintage style instruments.

I've seen pics of Ed's stash of bodies and necks from pics. The odds of something being original seemed a little too slim, plus the prices were outrageous even if stuff were original. On the bright side, I stumbled on GMW after almost dealing with Roman and found that Lee is a great builder at a great price.



Got this for about $1k less than an ESP Lynch model.

[pitner]

I just put a Mastery Bridge and a B5 tremolo on my tele. Have not played it out yet but it sounds real good at home. My Gtretsch has a Bigsby on it as well. They are fun and cool to mess with and the ones I have stay in tune real well.

[LouieAtienza]

Originally Posted by s2y

Buddy Blaze is still making Nightswans, which is kinda cool. If I didn't have mine, I'd probably want to order one, probably with a different pickup config. Never really understood the original Nightswan pickups.

Was the FR Pro on your Stagey original? I thought the Original was standard hardware on everything but the Nightswan II and ProAxe series.

I think Kramer's main problem was that they were spending insane dough on advertising and endorsements. EVH leaving and grunge probably wouldn't have killed the company had they not been spending about as much money as they had been making. I'd like to think they would have simply started using upgraded maple tops and more vintage style instruments.

I've seen pics of Ed's stash of bodies and necks from pics. The odds of something being original seemed a little too slim, plus the prices were outrageous even if stuff were original. On the bright side, I stumbled on GMW after almost dealing with Roman and found that Lee is a great builder at a great price.



Got this for about $1k less than an ESP Lynch model.

It was a later Stagemaster and I was the second owner. The original owner didn't play it and instead had it in it's original case for a long time.

While Kramer was spending a ton on endorsements, so was Ibanez and they snagged Satch (who played a heavily modded Kramer Pacer) and Vai (from Charvel/Jackson). The list of Kramer endorsees was like a who's who of rock; it seems everyone from the 80s played one at one time. The whole vintage movement helped kill the pointy headstock/Floyd combination as well. As to Eddie, he claimed he didn't know that Kramer was assembling guitars from imported parts; then again he claimed to have never been an endorser of Kramer guitars, despite having several built for him by Paul Unkert.

I had a few '81 Kramers with Strat headstocks; the neck shape, dot placement and materials, finish, truss rod, were exactly the same as a few ESP guitars I owned.

I can attest to the originality of the Roman stashes seeing them first hand, as he bought out the surplus from the Kramer and Class Axe "factories" when they shut down, as well as Steinberger. It likely wouldn't be worth it to build a ton of parts that noone would buy. There was literally a whole 10 x 10 room filled with BC Rich parts! There was also a soffit under a balcony that had necks hanging off it - Kramer, Charvel, Fender, Jackson, BC Rich... even PRS necks! He charged what he did because there's likely no othe place on earth you could purchase a PRS neck.

I was a fan of Lee's stuff especially back in the late 90s; I had some nice Charvel replica bodies that I wish I kept. Not the biggest fan of their newer headstock, but the Nagel graphic is really cool!

[s2y]

I'm not the hugest fan of Lee's headstocks. I think they're largely the result of a "few" companies threatening to sue him. I'll cut him a little slack because the headstock and volute are very thick, especially when he can build me stuff for about 1/2 of what many retailers might charge.

Interesting that your Stagey was stock. I wonder if that was intentional or if an employee grabbed the "wrong" trem.

I'm a fan of the hair band era of music, as my guitars might suggest. I always hope that panache comes back in style some day. Guys like George Lynch were heavy influences because they and a signature style and each music video showcased a new and wicked custom guitar. Music has fixed this by everyone using the same stuff. Oyve.

Fortunately for me and unfortunately for Roman, I was also able to get some old Kramer necks and Steinberger parts.

It never really bothered me that Kramers were basically parts guitars. Bolt-on guitars don't need to be crazy custom to be good. Hell, the recipe is pretty easy. Neckthrough and set neck might take a little more effort.

[arie]

Originally Posted by s2y

How are you guys knocking Floyds out of tune? Mine stay in tune a really long time once the strings are stretched. The amount of fine tuning is minimal, compared to my fixed bridge guitars and a heck of a lot less than my Bigsby guitar. It's generally time to replace the strings if they're needing a lot of fine tuning.

i hit the fine tuners with my hand

[kmcmichael]

Stratocasters sound different when you have them hard on the deck. I like the sound of a floating trem and use four springs. I cut the whammy bar off to about four inches and usually have it back out of the way, as I often have my small finger on the volume knob an constantly manipulate both the volume and tone knob. One can still use the tremolo without the bar by simply using your palm on the bridge. I pretty much only use the bar on chords.

[s2y]

Originally Posted by arie

i hit the fine tuners with my hand

I can see how that could be a problem. They sell devices that can block the trem from being bent upwards. The FR Pro and Ibanez bridges are lower profile. My fretting hand generally doesn't touch the fine tuners because my picking sweet spot is somewhere between Strat pickups or in the middle ground like on a Tele or Les Paul.

[guitararmy]

I'm always afraid of breaking a string and throwing my guitar out of tune so I either deck my trems or block them...

[s2y]

Originally Posted by guitararmy

I'm always afraid of breaking a string and throwing my guitar out of tune so I either deck my trems or block them...

IDK, most of my broken strings were from strings that needed to be changed long ago.

Steinberger had a nice option of locking in place.

[jazzrat]

I'm a strat guy and have always floated the trem...until recently.
I found myself relying to heavily on that effect.
So for now I pulled the arm off.
I use Raw Vintage springs which I like a lot.
5 have about the same tension as 4 typical springs.
I do not have the trem decked hard but I did take my usual float out
so it's just touching.

[Dru Edwards]

Originally Posted by kmcmichael

Stratocasters sound different when you have them hard on the deck. I like the sound of a floating trem and use four springs. I cut the whammy bar off to about four inches and usually have it back out of the way, as I often have my small finger on the volume knob an constantly manipulate both the volume and tone knob. One can still use the tremolo without the bar by simply using your palm on the bridge. I pretty much only use the bar on chords.

Doesn't Eric Clapton block his trem? I think he's said that it gives the Strat a different tone too.

[LouieAtienza]

Originally Posted by Dru Edwards

Doesn't Eric Clapton block his trem? I think he's said that it gives the Strat a different tone too.

EC had been quoted saying he didn't like the sound of a hard tail... I personally like both.

[Sombras]

Originally Posted by kmcmichael

Stratocasters sound different when you have them hard on the deck. I like the sound of a floating trem and use four springs.

Totally agree. I preferred the tone of my Strat with the floating bridge, but the improvement in playability once cranked down more than made up for the loss "airiness".

[LouieAtienza]

Originally Posted by Sombras

Totally agree. I preferred the tone of my Strat with the floating bridge, but the improvement in playability once cranked down more than made up for the loss "airiness".

The "correct" v-trem setup has the plate slightly raised. It actually comes in handy if you do some "dives." A quick tug up and back can get the strings back in tune. I tried decking my v-trems, but I hated when i returned the bar back from a small dive I'd hit a stop, and it didn't sound "right" to me.

[Sombras]

Originally Posted by LouieAtienza

The "correct" v-trem setup has the plate slightly raised. It actually comes in handy if you do some "dives." A quick tug up and back can get the strings back in tune. I tried decking my v-trems, but I hated when i returned the bar back from a small dive I'd hit a stop, and it didn't sound "right" to me.

Sounds familiar. I did everything--bridge angled up, angled down, level, micro-filed nut, set up after set up. Nothing resulted in tuning stability and I had to resort to "the tug" or the "palm-push" to snap strings back in place. Very frustrating. I "flat-decked" the bridge at first, but didn't like the action or tone, so I backed the claw out a little, raised and angled the bridge back to touch the deck, and then locked it down with five springs and finally found my guitar. I've kept like that for six years and have never regretted it.