Best Way to Keep Guitar in Tune w/whammy

floyd roses will keep you in tune fairly well, but they're more effort to string up and tune in the first place.
you can block a whammy so that you can only whammy lower, not higher. that will keep the strings from stretching and you won't go out of tune as fast.
that's all i know of. i don't even use the whammy on mine. i need to block it again.

It's a lonnng story, and many could add their secrets. I suggest you read: SRV's saddles and trem set up, use lots of lube. :lol:

http://www.tangledupinblues.com/setup.html

floyd roses will keep you in tune fairly well, but they're more effort to string up and tune in the first place.
you can block a whammy so that you can only whammy lower, not higher. that will keep the strings from stretching and you won't go out of tune as fast.
that's all i know of. i don't even use the whammy on mine. i need to block it again.

Thanks Jason, Appreciate the input!

It's a lonnng story, and many could add their secrets. I suggest you read: SRV's saddles and trem set up, use lots of lube. :lol:

http://www.tangledupinblues.com/setup.html

Hey Blue Jay, Thanks for the SRV article! It's funny because one of my guitar teachers, who many say, and I agree, is the best guitarist here in Nashville, plays nothing but Strats (avid collector of many I might add) always jammed and twisted a pencil under the bridge of his guitars. I never asked why. Now I know...It was the graphite. Didn't know that was used as a lubricant!

I once had a Jackson guitar that I had bought because I was told it was the same as one of Becks guitars. It would always go out as soon as I hit the tremelo. Other than tons of lube...Do you know of any systems that are better than others? Any input on Floyd Rose? Appreciate your input!

Hey Blue Jay, Thanks for the SRV article! It's funny because one of my guitar teachers, who many say, and I agree, is the best guitarist here in Nashville, plays nothing but Strats (avid collector of many I might add) always jammed and twisted a pencil under the bridge of his guitars. I never asked why. Now I know...It was the graphite. Didn't know that was used as a lubricant!

I once had a Jackson guitar that I had bought because I was told it was the same as one of Becks guitars. It would always go out as soon as I hit the tremelo. Other than tons of lube...Do you know of any systems that are better than others? Any input on Floyd Rose? Appreciate your input!

Hey Blue Jay, Thanks for the SRV article! It's funny because one of my guitar teachers, who many say, and I agree, is the best guitarist here in Nashville, plays nothing but Strats (avid collector of many I might add) always jammed and twisted a pencil under the bridge of his guitars. I never asked why. Now I know...It was the graphite. Didn't know that was used as a lubricant!

I once had a Jackson guitar that I had bought because I was told it was the same as one of Becks guitars. It would always go out as soon as I hit the tremelo. Other than tons of lube...Do you know of any systems that are better than others? Any input on Floyd Rose? Appreciate your input!

I think that Bill Callaham has perfected the vintage 6 screw Strat bridge for MIM, offshore, and vintage or VRI Americans. I don't have any trouble however with any of my 30 Fender bridges and am packing 5 Strats plus one home-made by me and Bill Nash, a LACE (Huntington) and another non-Fender hybrid with me at the moment with 5 vintage bridges, 2 2-point new Americans and a 1986 MIJ by Kahler, I think, which isn't so great. I don't like Floyd's either, even though they have become high tech and evolved, they'll never be for me, again. It could be the topic of a great debate, I just say "not my cup of tea?"

http://www.callahamguitars.com/bridges.htm Here it is explained, the science is self-evident, and saddle slots are longer. The other key features are a better/smoother rocking front edge, and countersunk holes offering less resistance, surface area and drag. 4 springs may be a good idea too. As one newer two point bridge, I have Wilkinson Gotoh, not expensive and it feels good. The new bridges usually have a cutout or bevelled section of trem block, to allow for deeper dives! :shock:

Fender Dan Smith saddles were fantastic, 1980-83 and the Brassmaster Bridge was a good idea then too, expensive to make. I have one 24K plated Brassmaster which is nice, has lots of sustain, nevermind the old drop D. Silver Nash has Wilkinson. I found 5 pics of different bridges, to explain, and cropped them too, but need to find the Wilkinson yet, later...

Mine stay in tune perfectly

Step #1 Add springs so there are five

Step #2 Tighten screws so tail piece sits flush and springs are tight

Step #3 Screw trem bar counter clockwise till it falls out of guitar

Step #4 Throw trem bar in the case and never touch it again

Sorry, don't mean to be a wise guy. They don't stay in tune for me so I don't use them. I used to have a guitar with a Floyd and it stayed in perfect tune but was a monster to string and reintonate after.

I have read that Eddie VanHalen used to use 3 in 1 oil everywhere and wind certain strings certain ways around their posts, but he did end up using a Floyd didn't he.

WOW!! What a wealth of information! Thanks so much for that and your time as well....Thank you Guitar Noise for for bringing the music and especially the guitar community together like this. You guys truly ROCK!!!!

I've only had two guitars with whammys. The first was a Kramer-Focus-Faux-Strat which I didn't keep for long because the short radius fretboard wasn't to my liking (I prefer 14" radius).

Second is my Parker Dragonfly. It has Sperzel tuners and a graphite nut. The string goes straight from the tuner to the bridge with no bends except for the slight tilt of the headstock.

Even though it has a graphite nut, I put pencil lead in the grooves when changing the strings.

I gig with this guitar. I tune it up, wiggle the whammy, and re-tune. It stays in tune all night after that.

It's simply the best guitar I've ever owned.

Notes

Hey Bob, Never heard of the Parker Dragonfly. Any pics or info on it? Like to know more.

Mine stay in tune perfectly

Step #1 Add springs so there are five

Step #2 Tighten screws so tail piece sits flush and springs are tight

Step #3 Screw trem bar counter clockwise till it falls out of guitar

Step #4 Throw trem bar in the case and never touch it again

Sorry, don't mean to be a wise guy. They don't stay in tune for me so I don't use them. I used to have a guitar with a Floyd and it stayed in perfect tune but was a monster to string and reintonate after.

I have read that Eddie VanHalen used to use 3 in 1 oil everywhere and wind certain strings certain ways around their posts, but he did end up using a Floyd didn't he.
:lol: :lol: I have to say that has been my feeling also. The last one I messed with [a real cheap china knock off granted] I ended up just blocking the thing fixed becouse it was more work then it was worth.

Hey Bob, Never heard of the Parker Dragonfly. Any pics or info on it? Like to know more.

It was originally called the DragonFly, then Parker ran into problems with a trademarked guitar no longer in production called the Dragonfly, so they changed it to MaxxFly. Mine was sold as a DragonFly but does not have either the DragonFly or MaxxFly name on it, so in the tradition of the old Nocaster, I like to think of mine as a "NoFly" and I play in the "No Fly Zone" ;)

It weighs about 5 pounds but sustains better than my 8 pound ESP/LTD Les Paul Clone, it has 2 Duncan single coils, a Duncan tapping sc/humbucker and a fishman piezo under the bridge (sounds great). The body is alder, the neck is maple, the fretboard is ebony and the frets are hardened stainless steel so strings bend like a hot knife through warm butter. With the straight through strings from tuner to bridge and the Sperzel tuners, it stays in tune.

I owned a Kramer and I now own a Kalamazoo Gibson, Korean Epiphone, Indonesian ESP/LTD and the USA Parker DragonFly, and it is by far the best of the lot.

I tried to post some pictures of mine, but the board won't let me post anything over 600 pixels wide, and most of my pictures are 640 pixels wide :-( so here are the URL's of the pictures. You can right-click (Option Click for Mac) and open them up in a new window or tab:

Here's the Parker site URL http://www.parkerguitars.com/MaxxFly-Radial-Neck-Joint-Models/ mine is the DF524

Notes ♫

Thanks so much Bob, can't wait to try one out if I can find one locally. I'll give you my review when I do. Unfortunately all my gear was stolen last year when my home was broken in to. Lost my '58 Les Paul to which I'll never get over! Next purchase is another Strat. Is there any guitar you can compare the Parker to in terms of sound?

I always wanted a Strat. I had a Kramer-Focus-Faux-Strat once, with a 9" neck radius and I never liked the curved fretboard. It got in the way of string bending when the action was low, and for some reason the arch of the strings slowed down my right hand.

My partner has a Parker PM10 Hornet, which is a discontinued Korean LP-ish model, and the build was excellent. Without taking it in the sun, you cannot even see where the neck meets the body. Just the slightest hairline - and because of the Ken Parker neck joint, there is no heel. And the neck is super-fast!

Fast forward a few years and nobody around here currently stocks Parker guitars anymore :-( and I'm in the market for something strat-ish. I read about the DragonFly/MaxxFly in those catalogs that appear in my mailbox regularly. Knowing the Parker quality build of my partner, I call my local Ma and Pa shop (always my first choice) to see if they can get one - no luck.

So I call Sweetwater (my second choice) and they don't have the color I want (I wear dark clothes on stage, so I wanted a light guitar, and I really like to see the wood). So I get one from another retailer with free shipping and a 45 day return policy. What followed that is a long story and was posted here on another thread - but it's not important to this thread.

Anyway, by the time I got it into my hands, there is no letting it out.

It sounds very strat-ish - and should because the Duncans in it are what many strat players replace their stock pickups with. When the bridge pickup is in the HB position, it sounds quite LP-ish. The mid and bridge (in the SC position) sounds a bit like a tele to my ears, but I've never owned a tele so take that with a grain of salt. The Fishman on the bridge does sound like an acoustic guitar. It has the jangle that most acoustic guitar simulators do not have. It's a bit thin though, it doesn't sound like a big jumbo flat-top -- but if you mix in some of the magnetic pickups it fattens the sound up very nicely. Like flat top with a mag pickup but standing where you can hear both.

I like it so much my Gibson is hanging on the wall gathering dust, my Epi is on a stand doing the same thing, and my ESP/LTD/LP is in the case and probably won't see the light of day for a long time. It will be my backup gigging guitar but the Parker is so well built, that unless I have an accident, it probably won't be played. Perhaps I'll raise the action and see if I can learn to play slide.

I took a chance on the Parker, figuring I'd only be out return shipping if I didn't like it. I'd rather not buy a mail-order guitar, but prefer to hold it in my hands, but there was no way to do that with this guitar around here. And right now I'm glad I took the gamble.

Notes ♫