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Blocking my floating bridge


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I was learning a blues lick with a 1 1/2 step string bend earlier today and broke my thinnest string. Time to replace my set of old strings, clean my instrument and finally try the modification I was planning for a long time.

With the bridge now blocked, bending in tune is indeed easier.

Wim.

IMG_1838.JPG

IMG_1840.JPG

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I'm interested Wim, since I also have a PRS with tremelo. What material did you use? Is it permanent? Is the tuning more stable with the block? Have you noticed any change in sustain? Did the pickups have to be adjusted after fitting the block? Sorry for so many questions, it is something I have thought about but I haven't been able to talk to someone who has actually tried it.

Henk

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4 hours ago, Oldjock said:

I'm interested Wim, since I also have a PRS with tremelo. What material did you use? Is it permanent? Is the tuning more stable with the block? Have you noticed any change in sustain? Did the pickups have to be adjusted after fitting the block? Sorry for so many questions, it is something I have thought about but I haven't been able to talk to someone who has actually tried it.

Henk

Just for info, I'm not Wim obviously, but I 'blocked' the floating bridge on my Strat a few years ago. I'd read that Clapton does it with a block of hardwood, so I asked Greg Voros for advice on the old forum. He said to try just pulling it flat to the body with the two adjusting screws you can see in Wim's picture, so I gave it a go. I did it because my heavy-handed fretting was pulling the intonation out. It did solve that problem, but what surprised me most was an incredible increase in sustain.

Ian (disclaimer: I'm no expert!)

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I gave my Strat to a techie to lock the bridge and he did similar to what Ian did: flatten the trem (by tightening all the springs underneath rather than Ian's method) and adjusted the saddles to reset the intonation. It has worked fine for me for the last 30 years.

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I did this to my friend's Squire Strat. I did not use a block of wood. I just tightened the screws which seemed to work well.

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I hardly ever play my Strat, but I only recently un-decked  the bridge (loosening the springs and doing a new set up) to restore the ability to use the tremolo arm.

Guess I'm out of phase with everybody.  Always someone clapping on the 1 and 3.

 

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16 hours ago, Oldjock said:

I'm interested Wim, since I also have a PRS with tremelo. What material did you use? Is it permanent? Is the tuning more stable with the block? Have you noticed any change in sustain? Did the pickups have to be adjusted after fitting the block? Sorry for so many questions, it is something I have thought about but I haven't been able to talk to someone who has actually tried it.

Henk

@Oldjock

Henk, I followed the instructions from this old YouTube video from Robert Chapman.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkj8p4Z3Rjg

I took off all strings first, loosened the 2 screws you see on the left in my picture to have less pull from the springs, and then put the white block (very dense type of synthetic material) in place. By putting on the new strings, the white block is being clamped to stay in position. 

As for the choice of material, I was looking through my DIY materials and found this hard plastic that had exactly the proper thickness. So the blocked bridge now has the same position as before the modification, and I did not have to adjust the saddles or anything else.

The change is not permanent and can be undone easily.

The modification makes string bends noticeably easier, and that was the prime reason for making this change. I do think the sustain has improved, but that might be partially due to the new strings as well.

Wim.

 

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My Luthier at Maple Street Guitars in ATL did the same by blocking my Fender Strat with a block of wood etc as described , works fine. 

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Thanks for the video Wim, this guy is a real piece of work. I'm pretty sure I would be doing the job on a work bench and not the floor. (I can't believe he was sawing just over the hardwood floor). The information regarding the procedure seems reasonable enough although I would suggest a few changes. First he used a piece of finger joint pine for the block. This is too soft and has a tendency to split (as evidenced when he cut the block), rather I would use a hardwood. Second, possibly redundant, I would make measurements before and after loosening the trem screws. Overall it was a good video of how to get the job done and he is a funny guy.

Henk

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@Oldjock Yes he is a funny guy. You can see him in many of the Anderton videos. He is pretty good player and he seems to know his gear.

Fender Player Series

 

 

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On 11/14/2018 at 2:00 PM, Oldjock said:

Thanks for the video Wim, this guy is a real piece of work. I'm pretty sure I would be doing the job on a work bench and not the floor. (I can't believe he was sawing just over the hardwood floor). The information regarding the procedure seems reasonable enough although I would suggest a few changes. First he used a piece of finger joint pine for the block. This is too soft and has a tendency to split (as evidenced when he cut the block), rather I would use a hardwood. Second, possibly redundant, I would make measurements before and after loosening the trem screws. Overall it was a good video of how to get the job done and he is a funny guy.

Henk

I was hesitating to post the link to this video because it is not really an example of fine craftsmanship ?. But it contained all necessary info for me to make this simple modification.

Wim.

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