Strat Question??

Bellycaster

If I play a Strat with a Floating Trem and I play the Low "E" string open and then whilst that note is still vibrating I bend a given "fretted" note somewhere on the Fretboard, will the Low "E" note alter?

I am totally ignorant of floating trems and set ups of Fender Strats, I only ask as I once played a Strat Plus years ago and it did exactly this, I thought there was something wrong with it.

If it's normal, then WTF basically, I'm sure this technique is common in Guitar playing, like if you play the Guitar intro to Teenage Rampage by Sweet.

Thanks.

Bellycaster

I'm asking also because I eventually want a regular Fender Strat and need to know how best to have it set up to my style of playing, that is if I don't decide to get a Hardtail version, even then does the Hardtail make any real difference to the sound of the Guitar?

richardhomer

Yes - though if you use all five springs it will minimise the drop in pitch - at the expense of making the trem harder to use.

If you only want to use the trem to drop the pitch, you can set it so it’s flat against the body and adjust the spring tension so it doesn’t move when bending strings.

Bellycaster

Thanks @richardhomer ;

Is the Floating Trem the most common/preferred way amongst Stratees

It's weird that it's normal, because I'd assume that any set up that restricts something would be thought of as "undesirable", admittedly, it's only 1 mini technique, but, you know?

Maybe I don't know enough about Strats or the Players, I thought I did, but maybe I just don't know how they had their Strats set up. I mean, we had SRV, Hendrix. We've got Yngwie, Hank Marvin. All players who are very expressive.

I'm probably confusing you more than myself.

Keep the Strat info coming though.

Thanks.

ICBM

What richardhomer said.

Yes, the detuning is normal, because bending another string pulls the bridge forward slightly against the spring tension. Players who use floating trems get used to working around it.

You can set the bridge flat against the body with a little extra spring tension if you want to stop this but still use the trem for downbends, or with a lot of extra spring tension if you don't want to use it at all. (Be careful how you do this, there is a right way and a wrong way!)

A hardtail does sound different, even from having the trem bridge set flat. Listen to Robert Cray or Nile Rodgers for the classic hardtail Strat sound - it's more percussive and less 'airy' than a normal Strat. Eric Clapton in the 1970s is a good example of a trem Strat with the bridge blocked.

Lebarque

I bend a lot and those sort of things bother me too. However, that drop in pitch is just one of those little quirks that you just get on with. It doesn't bother me in the slightest. It's part of the character of a strat and after a while, you don't notice it. 

Hardtail strats do sound different. You can get a bit more sustain, but the quintessential strat springy boing tone comes with the floating trem and springs. Keep it traditional is my advice, and leave the hardtails for the teles and LP's

richardhomer

I have mine floating - yet I hardly ever use the trem. To me they seem to sound (and feel) better that way. The detuning when I bend doesn’t bother me, as I rarely play another note at the same time - and if I do, I usually bend it in tune. I’ve played a Strat for so long I guess I’ve just adapted to them.

Hard-tail Strats have a more ‘direct’ attack - much more Tele-like.

Bellycaster

Thanks, it's all good info. I have a S-Style (HSS) Guitar, it was a Custom Build, but is "Decked" and with a Gotoh Trem and Locking Nut/Trem system. So the regular Strat is still mainly uncharted territory. I did find it odd playing that Strat Plus though.

I assume that most Strats come Floating as stock/out of the box?

ICBM

Bellycaster said:

Thanks, it's all good info. I have a S-Style (HSS) Guitar, it was a Custom Build, but is "Decked" and with a Gotoh Trem and Locking Nut/Trem system. So the regular Strat is still mainly uncharted territory. I did find it odd playing that Strat Plus though.

I assume that most Strats come Floating as stock/out of the box?

Yes, unless it's a special model like the Clapton Strat which is blocked - with actual wooden blocks, as well as the springs fully tightened - Fender set them floating.

It's even odder about the Strat Plus, since they came with a Hipshot 'Trem-Setter' fitted, which is a gadget that replaces the middle spring and is supposed to stop exactly this problem! But they are a bit of a pig to set up properly, so it either wasn't, or it had been removed since a lot of people don't like the way it changes the feel of the trem.

Bellycaster

ICBM said:

Bellycaster said:

Thanks, it's all good info. I have a S-Style (HSS) Guitar, it was a Custom Build, but is "Decked" and with a Gotoh Trem and Locking Nut/Trem system. So the regular Strat is still mainly uncharted territory. I did find it odd playing that Strat Plus though.

I assume that most Strats come Floating as stock/out of the box?

Yes, unless it's a special model like the Clapton Strat which is blocked - with actual wooden blocks, as well as the springs fully tightened - Fender set them floating.

It's even odder about the Strat Plus, since they came with a Hipshot 'Trem-Setter' fitted, which is a gadget that replaces the middle spring and is supposed to stop exactly this problem! But they are a bit of a pig to set up properly, so it either wasn't, or it had been removed since a lot of people don't like the way it changes the feel of the trem.

Thanks @ICBM ;

It wasn't my Strat and I knew very little about Guitars back then, it did have the Lace Sensors and TBX, I do recall that, don't know about the rest of it though, it might have been removed

stratman3142

The vib bar on both my Strats is floating and, as others have said, it does cause the dip in pitch you notice. For example, when I bend a string whilst playing a note on the next high string (e.g. for country style bends) I push the higher string up slightly to compensate for its drop in pitch.

My oldest Strat is a Strat Plus which came with a Hipshot Trem-Setter. I removed it because I really didn't like the notching feel of it, and the fact that it prevented me doing the whang bar warble.

Bellycaster

Thanks again. I forgot to ask about Palm Muting or Funk Strumming etc, is a Hardtail Strat more conducive for that?

impmann

Bellycaster said:

Thanks again. I forgot to ask about Palm Muting or Funk Strumming etc, is a Hardtail Strat more conducive for that?

Not really.

Although it depends on your right hand technique as to whether these styles will affect the sound. For example: I can't get on with two post modern trems due to my heavy handed right hand technique - I get chirping. By that I mean that my heavy pick plus strong wrist attach fractionally detune the string for a split second and then as it 'boings' back to pitch the attack is compromised. I don't get this with 6 screw trems (I've experimented *a lot* with this) and so I just avoid them - and I've even converted some two-post guitars to 6 screws.

RandallFlagg

I float the trem with a gap of 4/64" between the plate and body (not the 8/64ths Fender recommends, which feels too high on a traditional vintage bridge) set with 3 springs but no trem arm fitted.

At 4/64ths I can palm mute and play without really noticing that the bridge is floating but have the options to add some wobble with my palm when required

I used to have the trem decked but quite like the marginal float now.