Bridge problem and paranoia

Hook

Sorry to take so long getting to this. First, I want to congratulate you for attempting this adjustment on your guitar. The only way to learn this stuff is try it for yourself.

And you've learned a very valuable lesson when making any adjustment on your guitar:

ALWAYS MARK OR MAKE NOTE OF THE ORIGINAL POSITION OF AN ADJUSTMENT SCREW SO YOU CAN RETURN TO THAT POSITION IF NECESSARY.

You probably know that now. :D

OK, lets see if we can fix the problem. You actually have two problems. You want to block off your floating bridge because you don't use the bar and you want sustain.

There might be differing opinions on this, but I have done this by simply inserting a block of wood under the rear of the floating bridge. A floating bridge should be parallel to the body when the guitar is properly tuned. So....

1) Tune your guitar to pitch and note if the bridge floats parallel to the body of the guitar === . If it is pulled forward /, then you need to tighten the springs underneath. If the bridge is pulled back , then you need to loosen the springs. So make the necessary adjustment and tune back to pitch each time. It may take you 3 or 4 attempts to get the bridge to float parallel to the guitar's body with the guitar in tune.

A special note here, lots of folks like downtunings today. This decreases string tension which will tend to pull the bridge back . So if you use down tunings you will probably need to loosen the springs underneath. Later if you go back to regular tunings, you will probably have to tighten the springs. If you use various tunings (I used to do this in a band), set the guitar up to the tuning you use the most.

2) Now that you have the spring tension correct when the guitar is in tune, find a spacer or block of wood that will slide snuggly under the rear of the bridge. Just guessing here, but the spacer should probably be 1/8- 3/16" thick, that is about the right space the bridge should float above the body. The spacer does not have to be big at all, and if you slide it under nobody will see it. Some people also put a block in the space between the body and where the springs attach to the bottom of the bridge on the underside of the guitar. But I have always just slipped a block between the bridge and body on top.

Now if you find the right size block and slip it under the bridge, you now want to slightly increase the tension of the springs to lock this block in place and also get the extra sustain you are after. If you use the other method with a block on the underside of the guitar you will have to loosen the strings.

Hope I am not confusing you with all this double talk.

Now for problem # 2. The reason your E and A strings are out of tune now is you have altered the intonation when you made your adjustment. You probably did not return the bridge to the original position when you adjusted it back. Make sure the bridge is parallel to the body when looking from the rear of the guitar toward the headstock, not higher or lower on one side. The bridge should float parallel from every perspective.

Intonation very basically means that each string length is correct with the 12th fret being almost exactly (but not exactly) in the center of the string.

To set Intonation:

1) Tune all strings to pitch (if you use down tunings, tune to this tuning)

2) Tune your bass E string to proper pitch (if you use down tunings, tune to the pitch you use). Try to get this note as perfect as possible.

3) Now fret the bass E string at the 12th fret and see if it is in tune with the open string. If the fretted note is sharp (very common) then loosen the string a little slack and adjust the saddle on the bridge back toward the rear of the guitar. If the fretted note is flat (rare), loosen the string and adjust the saddle forward a bit. Tune the string back up to proper pitch (check the others as well), and compare the note fretted at the 12th fret with the open string again. Just like the spring tension, this may take you 3 or 4 attempts to get correct. Just go slow and take your time.

4) Once you have the bass E string correct, go to the A string and repeat the steps above.

5) Repeat this procedure for each string.

When you are finished you should have a bridge that no longer floats and is parallel to the body of the guitar. And all strings will be in tune up and down the fretboard.

You will be very pleased with how well your guitar sounds.
8)
Wes

Wes is correct, a two-point floating bridge must be blocked in the parallel-to-body ("level") position. Only a "vintage" style, six-screw synchronous trem can be pulled flat to the body. However, it's very easy to block a two point floating trem. Maybe even a little easier than described above: Just put a the right-sized block under the rear of the bridge -- between the bridge plate and the body, so that if you pull up on the whammy bar, the block stops the bridge when it's parallel to the body. Once you are sure you have the right sized block, slide it in and tighten the trem springs until the bridge plate presses and holds the block in place -- then tighten a bit more and/or add another spring to make sure the springs hold no matter the string tension or tuning.

Now, do all the individual string set-up and intonation work Wes describes -- that's really the harder part.

Hey!

I'm sorry for the delayed answear, I forgot about this thread after a couple of days...

Anyway, i have now blocked the bridge with a 3 mm. thick woodpeace. The diffrence is amazing!
Now i dont just have sustain, i actually have TONE. Before when i dugg in hard on a relatively high note i just got an almost instant decaying highpitch rattling sound. I thought it was either my amp or i had very bad stringbuzzing against the frets. Even my girlfriend hears the difference now.

This sure is helping me evolve as a guitarplayer. Now i feel the resonance in the guitar and i can actually make pleasant notes! It sure stresses you if you cant. ;)

Thanks alot guys, and i really appreciate you detailed instructions Wes!

/ Hook

I'm always amazed at the differences in results we all get from different setups of our guitars. I really didn't feel that I had good tone from my strat-copy until I set the vintage trem to a floating position, it just really opened up the sound and didn't have a negative impact on sustain at all. Others don't get a good sound until they block and lock everything down, I guess that's what makes playing guitar so interesting, everything is unique to our individual styles and instruments. :D