A Myth About The Vintage (six-Screw) Stratocaster Tremolo

jaymenon

Conventional wisdom has it that the six-screw vintage style tremolo sounds better than the newer twin pivot bridge due to better contact of the baseplate of the bridge with the body of the guitar.

I was very surprised when John (ICBM) advised me otherwise - and send me a link to an old video he had made. 

He was right (as usual). I have a rear-routed strat (no scratch plate) and so made my own little video:

As can be seen clearly - the baseplate of the bridge does not touch the body.  

Unless pulled backwards either by pulling the arm upwards (or increasing the number of springs, if you want to 'deck' it).

impmann

Ooohhh eck... this sounds just like another one of those Andy Preston threads about Strat Trems.

I'm not going to say anything about this this video. All I will say is *I* have personally heard a massive difference when converting the same guitar from two-post to six-screw - for whatever reason and I prefer the sound of the guitar with the six screw bridge fitted.

If it had been a one off, I would have said it was just a fluke... but I've since converted three other Strats for three friends and all have sounded different, and all have sounded (in OUR opinion) better.

jaymenon

Hi Impmann

I prefer the sound of a 6-screw tremolo too - I'm a total convert.

Its just interesting that the reason is obviously not because of contact with the body (as is widely believed).

I was very surprised by ICBM's video.  But when I put a Gotoh 510 on my Warmoth rear-routed strat - seeing is indeed believing.

sweepy

6 screws give a larger contact area between bridge and body,  plus the tension is spread over 6 points or contact rather than 2 I’ll leave it there 

impmann

This is the picture Leo Fender accompanied his patent application with. Note how the tremolo is set up. It is worth saying that the six screw can be set up many different ways...

TA22GT

Thanks for posting and very interesting!!

DLM

Scott Henderson nose best ok.

jaymenon

I'm getting a distinct feeling that this subject is controversial - though I really don't see why it needs to be. I don't make or market guitar tremolos :-)  No vested interests or affiliations here.

To me too, it seems logical that if the baseplate is 'linked' to the body by 6 screws rather than two posts - this would involve more 'contact'.  That is until ICBM comes along and 'disillusions' me again 

meltedbuzzbox

sweepy said:

6 screws give a larger contact area between bridge and body,  plus the tension is spread over 6 points or contact rather than 2 I’ll leave it there 

thats my thinking. 
Surely you get more transference via 6 screw?

jaymenon

meltedbuzzbox said:

sweepy said:

6 screws give a larger contact area between bridge and body,  plus the tension is spread over 6 points or contact rather than 2 I’ll leave it there 

thats my thinking. 
Surely you get more transference via 6 screw?

I think so too.

Also the video above applies only to the bridge when set up as 'floating', If one uses 5 springs , then the bridge will of course contact the body with the tonal benefits that would accrue...

OilCityPickups

jaymenon said:

I'm getting a distinct feeling that this subject is controversial - though I really don't see why it needs to be. I don't make or market guitar tremolos :-)  No vested interests or affiliations here.

To me too, it seems logical that if the baseplate is 'linked' to the body by 6 screws rather than two posts - this would involve more 'contact'.  That is until ICBM comes along and 'disillusions' me again 

I think everyone is remembering the storm created when the issue came up previously ... 
And there are some more topics that cause blood pressures to rise ... like does tone-wood matter in solid guitar construction?  And 'So Chappers is a good /bad fellow' ... best to don a flameproof suit and tin hat if venturing into those waters :-) 

dazzajl

meltedbuzzbox said:

sweepy said:

6 screws give a larger contact area between bridge and body,  plus the tension is spread over 6 points or contact rather than 2 I’ll leave it there 

thats my thinking. 
Surely you get more transference via 6 screw?

Unless the physics works the other way? That more vibration is transferred to the body when the energy is concentrated through two connection points than than when it’s divided between three times as many??

I don’t have a clue myself. Just throwing another idea in to the pot 

thermionic

jaymenon said:

To me too, it seems logical that if the baseplate is 'linked' to the body by 6 screws rather than two posts - this would involve more 'contact'.  

I can understand this reasoning. However, there is plenty of advice around saying that you should have the bridge pivoting on the two outer screws only, with the inner 4 unscrewed slightly so the bridge isn’t contacting them (the argument being smoother action due to less friction). That’s how I’ve tried to set my Strats up, although I can’t say I’ve noticed any real difference in action or sound.

robgilmo

dazzajl said:

meltedbuzzbox said:

sweepy said:

6 screws give a larger contact area between bridge and body,  plus the tension is spread over 6 points or contact rather than 2 I’ll leave it there 

thats my thinking. 
Surely you get more transference via 6 screw?

Unless the physics works the other way? That more vibration is transferred to the body when the energy is concentrated through two connection points than than when it’s divided between three times as many??

I don’t have a clue myself. Just throwing another idea in to the pot 

Only weight from downforce, its coupling, all the weight is pin pointed to a single point, in this case the forces are towards the point, not ontop of it.

ICBM

jaymenon said:

Also the video above applies only to the bridge when set up as 'floating', If one uses 5 springs , then the bridge will of course contact the body with the tonal benefits that would accrue...

Or not . I think they sound better floating.

thermionic said:

I can understand this reasoning. However, there is plenty of advice around saying that you should have the bridge pivoting on the two outer screws only, with the inner 4 unscrewed slightly so the bridge isn’t contacting them (the argument being smoother action due to less friction). That’s how I’ve tried to set my Strats up, although I can’t say I’ve noticed any real difference in action or sound.

That's because there is no difference. Raising the four middle screws doesn't stop the bridge contacting them at all, the contact point is simply moved a bit further down the shaft. Unless the screw holes are very badly misaligned, the bridge always contacts all six screws because there is enough flexibility in the screws and the wood to ensure it - if only some of the screws are taking the load, they bend forwards until the bridge contacts the others.

The only advantage of raising the middle four screws is to make it less fussy to set the head heights, but that's just laziness really - it's not difficult. (Not saying you're lazy - just whoever came up with this!) Similar to how the 'fan' arrangement for the springs came about - almost certainly just because it's harder to hook the springs onto the outer claws. It has no advantage otherwise and can sometimes cause creaking or tuning issues if there's a lot of friction as the springs try to rotate on the claws slightly.

normula1

The only bridge I've really noticed as having a significant "tone" of its own was the Ibanez Edge I used to have on one of my Strats. I don't think it was any better / worse than a standard bridge, but was definitely different.

Edit.... The unmentional bridge(plate) from South Wales did for want of a better word seem to add some zing over the stock bridgeplate even with the same block.