Quote:
Originally Posted by Steel and wood
Out of genuine curiosity, I wonder if someone could explain to me what the difference is and benefits are with a hardtail Stratocaster compared to a Stratocaster without the tremolo (vibrato) arm attached. (Or why you would block the tremolo (vibrato) system). I feel I should know.
Much appreciated.
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Most strats with tremolos are set up such that the bridge is floating, balanced between the string tension pulling it in one direction, and the springs in the tremolo cavity pulling in the other. So, if you break a string, the balance is thrown off and the whole thing goes out of tune. Or if you like to change strings by removing all six and replacing them all at once, you lose all string tension and the tremolo is pulled completely back by the springs. Which, if you leave the plastic cover plate over the tremolo cavity on the back, can make getting six new strings in place between difficult and impossible - one reason a whole lot of folks leave the cover plate off.
If you like this state of affairs, great - there are those who believe a floating bridge on a strat allows the strat to maximize the "stratty-ness" of the tone. But it's frankly kind of a pain in the butt, useful to most only if they want to USE the trem, and in both flat and sharp directions. To those who don't want to use the trem, most prefer to stabilize the bridge somehow, either by just cranking down on the springs (and sometimes adding a spring or two) and pulling the bridge all the way down against the body such that the string tension would not begin to make a dent in pulling the bridge off the "deck" - hence the term decking.
Or, you can install a wooden block or a stack of coins or something of the sort between the tremolo block and the wall of the tremolo cavity to essentially "block" the system in place. When I've done this, I usually use coins both behind and in front of the trem block, such that the bridge is in it's floating position, but it's not floating at all - it's held firmly in place. And you really only need the block in the larger space behind the block and then you can use spring tension again to pull in the opposite way, so the bridge is effectively locked in place.
So, if you simply don't use the tremolo arm and let the bridge float, you have an inherently unstable setup that doesn't serve it's intended purpose (to allow you to pull sharp or push flat on the trem bar). Most folks who don't want to use the trem, tend to prefer to stabilize the system one way or another...
Or, you can just get a hardtail and avoid the whole thing...
-Ray