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The genius of Ken Parker's Fly design
Specifically the trem in this case. A 5 or so years ago, I was "done" with floating trems. So I set my Fly Deluxe up with the trem "decked", there is an internal mechanism for that, and I cranked up the spring tension.
My desire was to be able to bend the bar down, but to have a lot of resistance for double-stop bends to keep the other strings as much in tune as possible like a hardtail. Well a couple days ago I got a hankering for some light "bigsby-esque" wiggles. So with the trem decked, I tuned up, and started relaxing the spring. I switched into floating mode, and kept releasing tension until the 6th string it was in tune. I figured that would happen close to where the bridge was level/even with where the bridge was decked. It was that simple. It was close enough to in tune across all the strings that all but the pickiest player would have played it on stage. At least for Rock This may not sound significant if you've never had to deal with a floyd rose.
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I only play technologically cutting edge instruments. Parker Flys and National Resonators |
#2
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Just did a similar project on a floating trem.
It is a very big deal!
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Fazool "The wand chooses the wizard, Mr. Potter" Taylor GC7, GA3-12, SB2-C, SB2-Cp...... Ibanez AVC-11MHx , AC-240 |
#3
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Quote:
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#4
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I actually bought a spare 9 and 10 spring ages ago, and second trem arm. Unfortunately the backup trem arm is a modern round one, and not the hex arm. I'm got supplies for the long haul for my fly. If I ever sell it, I'm sure the "extras" will raise the price.
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I only play technologically cutting edge instruments. Parker Flys and National Resonators |
#5
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I use tremolo very sparsely but when I do I like it to float for the most musicality. That said, guitar tremolos have always bugged me. The Floyd Roses and Khalers, although very stable were always a pain to dial in, and aesthetically ugly in my opinion. Of the all the stratocaster tremolos, the one I like best is actually the G&L fulcrum trem which seems to hold tuning well, but on my G&L I have it decked, so only down trem on that one. But, lately, when needing, a total floater, I've been enjoying the offset trem on my Jaguar made by Halon parts out of Greece. It's a very precision machined tremolo. The thing always comes back in tune, and the arm can be tightened so there is no play. I love that. The bridge moves back and forth with the strings, as it rides on two knife edge points at the base of the bridge posts. Offset guitars get a bad rap because of a pretty big lack of info on the proper setup, but when dialed properly they are extremely musical...
I use the tremolo so little that I'm far from an expert of the subject, but when I use it, I like to finish little phrases with it, like in this song @ 22 seconds in where I do it with a little chord and then a harmonic where I wanted the note to just waver slightly up and down... |
#6
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Fender's Trem for the offsets are definitely my favorite! Even with the TOM bridge it works wonderfully.
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I only play technologically cutting edge instruments. Parker Flys and National Resonators |
#7
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And as for the offset trem, I was totally put off by it at first, but then I did some research and learned how to set it up properly. Now I couldn't imagine liking a trem more. I had a AVRI trem on it at first, which I got dialed in after working on the contact point of the hinge plate with a file and sandpaper. By the time I was done with it, it was SILENT, with no mechanical noise. Smooth as silk!!! The reason I went with the Halon Trem is that, I loved the bridge so much, that I had to try the trem, especially 'cause I could get the arm tension as tight as I wanted. I just use trems lightly, surely nowhere like you would have used them in your surf band. Funny thing, I love surf music, but have never played in a surf band. In my solo set, I play Sleepwalk, Pipeline, Walk Don't Run, etc, and I'm sure my versions pale in comparison to what you were doing with a full band, but they add to what I'm doing, and make the set more fun. I programmed my HX stomp for a good surf sound, with a Twin Reverb amp sim, and a trem and reverb. It splashes pretty good! |
#8
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I have the schematic on my computer somewhere if you're interested!
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I only play technologically cutting edge instruments. Parker Flys and National Resonators |
#9
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I don't have a Jaguar with humbuckers
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#10
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gotta think outside the Jag... Set up a 4 pot dual humbucker guitar with master volume and tone and use the other 2 pots for Humbucker/split duty.
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I only play technologically cutting edge instruments. Parker Flys and National Resonators |
#11
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Well if I ever get that itch, I'll know who to call
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#12
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By the way, thanks for posting this. It's an interesting site!
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I only play technologically cutting edge instruments. Parker Flys and National Resonators |