Strat Players - Pickup Selections and bridge/trem preference

slash-ed · Post by **slash-ed** » Thu May 11, 2006 11:40 am

tune-o-matic?

Gelato · Post by **Gelato** » Thu May 11, 2006 11:50 am

Vintage 6-screw trem, hard against the body in a Strat.

I don't even know where the whammy bars for my non-FR guitars are, it would just be asking for trouble to put them in and use them. In saying that, I can use the trem on my Strat, and it stays in tune. I suspect the brass nut helps that, but I have been known to speak utter bollocks on these matters in the past...

Post by Bg » Thu May 11, 2006 11:58 am

I used to use the classic trem a bit on my strats but I've found I get more control using finger vibrato and I'm much better at it, so now I've blocked the trem on my original strat and I like the hardtail on the new one

Unfinished · Post by **Unfinished** » Thu May 11, 2006 12:10 pm

I don't have a problem with hardtail, but if I was going for a tremolo, it would be a VS100 / VSVG (what's the difference between the two anyway?)

johnny mullet · Post by **johnny mullet** » Thu May 11, 2006 1:05 pm

If you want a whammy bar get a superstrat and go the whole hog. If you want a strat go hardtail. My thoughts if I was to own a Strat. Anyway you get superior sustain with a hardtail and maybe if you don't carve out the back for the springs it might improve the bridge tone. Does that make sense?

slash-ed · Post by **slash-ed** » Thu May 11, 2006 1:55 pm

nah mate, not a shred of sense there. if you want sustain, you increase the gain knob

ash · Post by **ash** » Thu May 11, 2006 3:00 pm

bluesgeek wrote:I like the hardtail on the new one

How's that going so far, BG? Is the girly art stuff done, or is it still in surgery?

ash · Post by **ash** » Thu May 11, 2006 3:05 pm

Unfinished wrote:VS100 / VSVG (what's the difference between the two anyway?)

VS100 is a 2-point fulcrum floater with solid stainless saddles.
VSVG is a six-screw vintage style thing with bent steel sheet saddles.

VSVG is definetly the way to go for pure vintage vibe, but the VS100 is more stable and can be fitted with Graphtech Ghost piezo saddles, which is always a good option to have up your sleeve. Actually, they can probably both take Ghost saddles, but its kind of defeating the purpose of specifying bent steel saddles if you're only going to replace them...

Post by Bg » Thu May 11, 2006 3:09 pm

ash wrote:
bluesgeek wrote:I like the hardtail on the new one
How's that going so far, BG? Is the girly art stuff done, or is it still in surgery?

still waiting for the arty farty girly designer to get her A into G... also I like it too much to dismantle at the moment

ash · Post by **ash** » Thu May 11, 2006 3:19 pm

Have you noticed any tonal or feel characteristics attributable to the hardtail (ignoring of course that it has different pickups and wood from your others..)?

I would expect that it feels a little firmer to play and is more twangy than shimmery...

Post by Bg » Thu May 11, 2006 3:28 pm

its definitely firmer, the strings need just a little more effort to bend - which is a good thing

I've really got to sit down and do a good A/B comparison WITHOUT the POD as that tends to colour most guitars the same way. Hopefully I'll get some free time this weekend to do it, instead of working 20 hour days

Jenesis · Post by **Jenesis** » Thu May 11, 2006 9:28 pm

I've got a 2-pointer which is floating at the moment, even though I never use the bar.

Rog · Post by **Rog** » Fri May 12, 2006 12:54 pm

I don't even know where my tremelo arm for my Strat is, so I'm down with hardtail.

My Strat pups are Bill Lawrence noiseless, with a twin blade at the bridge, controlled by a Fender TBX tone control.

I only ever use bridge pup when I want to cut someone's ears off, otherwise, I'm happiest at neck pup.

Oh, yes - and maple all the way!

Post by **GrantB** » Sat May 13, 2006 4:10 am

Ash, a single coil sized P90 in the bridge is a great option. Still single coil but fat with bite. I have a manufactuere if you want names...otherwise it has to be pure single coil all the way...a Strat is a Strat is a Strat....

Tsuken · Post by **Tsuken** » Sat May 13, 2006 7:27 am

While I'm not "a strat guy", the only thing I would want a strat for is "the classic strat sound", which as BG has said, really comes down to three actual single coils.

As for bridge, like Gelato I've never had any luck actually using the bar and staying in tune on non-FR guitars ... but then they've always been crappy non-FR guitars

I think it'd be nice to have the option, so it's locks down when you're not using the bar (or with a string break) as you mentioned.