All this tremolo/vibrato bridge system talk has prompted me to talk about the problems that are inherent in these systems. Let’s consider the delicate balance and how some chimps can upset things…
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A vintage Strat-style tremolo is relatively easy to block. A fully floating trem bridge is more challenging to do properly. The bridge should be blocked so it’s fixed in its ‘neutral’ position. That needs a little more work…
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Don’t like that wobbly bridge on your Strat? Fed up with it moving about when you bend strings or (oh no) going out of tune when a string breaks? Well, block that bridge.
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The whammy bar is jammed in this Strat Elite. Trapped. Won’t come out. What’s to be done?
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A worn or mangled bridge plate can be a big deal. Left unattended, it can seriously damage your guitar’s top and even bridge. Addressing the problem can often involve having to remove and replace the entire bridge plate. Or, you could repair and patch it.
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Not all cracks in acoustic bridges are repairable. Some require a new bridge, no ifs or buts. Sometimes, though, you can get lucky and repair a bridge in situ.
Check it out…
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Guitars and basses will, so often, require the player to make some sort of compromise. Hardware and setup decisions probably need to be made with some give and take.
Find out more…
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Listen to the sustain… It’s a highly revered quality, the ability to sustain for ages. But what happens if something might impact that sustain, and how useful a characteristic is sustain anyway?
Check it out…
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Why do some guitars have necks that angle back towards the player while some don’t? What’s the reason for this angled neck? Do we even need it?
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Sometimes, it seems like elves visit your music room every night and loosen some of the screws on your guitar — usually the saddle screws. Why do these screws keep getting loose and rattling about?
And more importantly, how can you prevent it…
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More stuck stuff. We’ve dealt with tailpiece bushings and now we’re moving up to tun-o-matic bridge posts. The vintage-style bridge posts can be tricky to remove.
But no longer — Check it out…
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It’s occurred to me that a lot of a guitar repairer’s time is spent removing things from guitars. Sometimes that just involves unscrewing some screws but, other times (often?), some additional effort and knowledge is required to safely remove something.
Like various ‘bushings’. Read on…
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