More spings, more tone?

[rperks]

Hi,

I have a USA Strat (plus deluxe, with MM pickups) and as I am not a term user, my term is screwed down to the body.  It can do down but not up as is original on this guitar.  To be honest, I never use a trem.

As this has the Hipshot (I think), tuning stabaliser installed originally (now removed), it does not have all springs.

Will installing all the trem springs improve my tone?  Is it worth it - simple job, if nothing else.

Cheers,
Rich

[downrodeo]

Installing more springs will not noticably improve your tone...only increase the tension on the bridge, thus throwing off your string tension and neck relief needlessly. A tremsetter will improve your sustain a bit, but not greatly. So, all in all, more springs does not = more/better tone.

[jordan]

I disagree. I too am a strat owner but not a trem user, and I found that using the full 5 springs added a touch of sustain (when combined with screwing the claw right in). As a result the trem is un-usable, but that's fine with me. More springs will make the guitar feel slightly tighter, more like a hardtail but remaining the strat-with-trem sound, and it will bring the trem block into the body with more tension. This, to me, is what gives the extra ounce of sustain.

There's other important benefits too. Firstly, your tuning is much more likely to remain intact if you break a string with 5 springs. Also, you'll practically eliminate any trem sag (try hitting the low E, then bending up the high E from G to A.....you'll see what I mean).

At the end of the day it's a very cheap and easy mod to make, and to reverse. Best of luck with it.

Jordan.

[Chris1974]

I've noticed the harmonics you get ringing out from the trem
springs, I actually worked out what note exicted the springs most, i think on my 2 starts it was around a concert B or E .......... erm i forgot !!  But when playing clean sounds you can hear the harmonics/overtones ringing away in the background, to proove its the springs after playing a sustained chord let it die away till its nearly stopped ringing out then touch/ dampen the springs, this will cut the last remaining trace of sound off dead, so they must contribute in some way.  I think this contributes a lot to the classic strat sound.

Eric clapton still has them fitted on his strats even though he doesn't use the tremolo arm and has it blocked up, I read somewhere they he thought they act like a mini reverb unit.

[WezV]

I would go with the normal 3-5 springs and block the trem off with a wedge of wood.  A lot of people think  that the springs are part of the classic sound, some people hate the fact they interfere.  Either way its clear they do affect the tone, if you dont want them to you can put felt or foam underneath the springs