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Locking tremelo?

 
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stratoskier



Joined: 24 Sep 2004
Posts: 82
Location: Bozeman Montana

PostPosted: Wed Dec 08, 2004 5:02 pm    Post subject: Locking tremelo? Reply with quote

Greetings,
I was wondering if Guthrie ever uses a locking trem guitar in addition to the Suhr and PRS discussed in the forum. There was at least one cut on the "31 track" CD (not sure what else to call it) where he did some pretty extreme, but tasty, whammy work. I don't have any vintage-style trems that could stand up to that workout. If one exists, I'd like to know what it is.

My favorite trem at the moment is the Wilkinson VSV -- very nice for warbling kinds of things (SRV or Eric Johnson style), but it defnitely has a threshold beyond which it starts to protest.

Just curious...
Bert
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alexkhan



Joined: 10 Sep 2004
Posts: 2783
Location: Chino, CA

PostPosted: Thu Dec 09, 2004 2:31 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I know that Guthrie is not into the Floyd thing at all. I'm not at all into it either although I used to have a few guitars with that system back in the 80's. Difficult to say what guitars Guthrie used for all of those GT instructional clips.

If you set up the guitar properly and lube the nut slots (with something like the Nut Sauce and pencil lead), you'd be surprised how well a non-locking system guitar could stay in tune. That Suhr that Guthrie got stayed in tune extremely well. It just may have been the first non-locking system guitar I got that stayed in tune through some extreme bar abuse.

Also, it's normally the G string that typically goes sharp after tremolo usage, so you may want to yank on that string after a dive bomb (bending that string or pulling up on the trem quickly) to get it back in tune. Sometimes you just need to know what to do based on how your guitar reacts.

Look at Jeff Beck. He does some of the most extreme trem bar abuse around on a non-Floyd Strat and doesn't touch the tuners on the headstock all night. Shocked
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stratoskier



Joined: 24 Sep 2004
Posts: 82
Location: Bozeman Montana

PostPosted: Thu Dec 09, 2004 7:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yeah, I agree that Beck has done some amazing things with a vintage style trem. Guthrie mentions his trem work several times in his books. Andy Timmons and Scott Henderson are also pros with them.

I still have some Floyd/Edge-equipped guitars, but they rarely get played, both because they seem to be tonally handicapped, and also they're such an aggravation when a string breaks. The only time I indulge in the big dives anymore is in the Satriani covers, and more and more, I'm finding that keeping it a little less radical with a Wilkinson trem does just fine. Some nut sauce, and graduated height Sperzels (no string trees) can help a lot.

I'm curious about the Gotoh 1088 Steel Block trems that Suhr equips some of his guitars with. Any experience with those?
Bert
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alexkhan



Joined: 10 Sep 2004
Posts: 2783
Location: Chino, CA

PostPosted: Thu Dec 09, 2004 9:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The Gotoh 1088 is the most vintage-style trem that Suhr offers. It works pretty well, but I personally don't care for the way the arm tends to flop around. Suhr recommends that you use a teflon tape in there or something like that, but I don't like the idea of having to do that. For some reason, Guthrie is not into the Wilkinson bridges. It may be that he prefers more mass on the saddles.

You may have seen this already, but this is John Suhr's take on the various bridges that he offers:

http://www.suhrguitars.com/bridges.htm
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.strandberg* Guitars USA
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stratoskier



Joined: 24 Sep 2004
Posts: 82
Location: Bozeman Montana

PostPosted: Sat Dec 11, 2004 5:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi
Well, as long as we're talking about Gotoh trems, does anyone know if any of the Gotoh trem arms have internal threads? That is, instead of the usual arrangement where the trem arm has outside threads that thread into a hole with internal threads, I'm wondering if any trems have arms that are hollowed out at the bottom, so that the inside of the arm is threaded, and that fits over a post mounted inside the trem block that has outside threads. So this would be the reverse of the usual method.

I'm asking because I have a guitar with a Gotoh 510at trem (looks very much like the 1088), but I can't get a normal arm to thread into it. When I look inside the hole, I see what appears to be a post that has OUTSIDE threads. Ain't that weird? I was planning on backing out whatever is in there with a tap , but then it occured to me that maybe it was supposed to be that way and I just need to find the right (very strange) arm.

Bert
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alexkhan



Joined: 10 Sep 2004
Posts: 2783
Location: Chino, CA

PostPosted: Sun Dec 12, 2004 1:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The Wilkinson/Gotoh VG trem arms have internal threads. A lot of the Suhr and Tyler guitars come with these bridges and at first I thought they were just pop-ins, but they thread in after you pop 'em in. You should check with guitar parts suppliers and I'm sure they can find you the right arm.
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