How Many Springs Do You Use On A Floating Trem?

dk_ace said:
Yeah if it’s in a context like this where the note static note goes by pretty quick it’s not that big of a deal. The thing that bugs me most is longer bends against and a sustained open string. That sounds bad, and there isn’t anything you can do but just not do that when playing a floating guitar (or if you were super committed I guess you could use the bar to raise the pitch of both to where it rings in tune, but I’m not that dedicated I’ll just use a guitar that doesn’t have a trem for that…).

D
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Gearzilla said:
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Gotta say don't get along with any of these. Had the very first incarnation of those things already (I think it was the Rockinger Blackbox beginning of the 90s or so) and while they've certainly gotten much better, they all have one thing in common: There's no smooth vibrato around the zero position. And quite obviously, you can't do anything about it, it's just the nature of the idea.
The only thing that ever did a great job (and it was a pretty much perfect job) has been the Steinberger TransTrem. Grab the bar = free floating vibrato smooth as butter, put bar back down = fixed bridge. Really, it doesn't get any better. Just that the guitars IMO sucked big time, which is why I sold mine (in retrospective, I shouldn't have done so, though).
It's pretty weird that nobody ever came up with another decent version of a vibrato lock, it'd be all doable, even as an aftermarket thing and for pretty much all vibrato types.
 
Sascha Franck said:
Gotta say don't get along with any of these. Had the very first incarnation of those things already (I think it was the Rockinger Blackbox beginning of the 90s or so) and while they've certainly gotten much better, they all have one thing in common: There's no smooth vibrato around the zero position. And quite obviously, you can't do anything about it, it's just the nature of the idea.
The only thing that ever did a great job (and it was a pretty much perfect job) has been the Steinberger TransTrem. Grab the bar = free floating vibrato smooth as butter, put bar back down = fixed bridge. Really, it doesn't get any better. Just that the guitars IMO sucked big time, which is why I sold mine (in retrospective, I shouldn't have done so, though).
It's pretty weird that nobody ever came up with another decent version of a vibrato lock, it'd be all doable, even as an aftermarket thing and for pretty much all vibrato types.
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Typically I just go floating or hard tail. A couple of people I know have had decent luck with the Tremol-No. I had a Charvel at one point with one that seemed pretty stable.
 
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In E standard tune with 9-42 gauge or D# standard with 9-46 gauge strings, I'll use two for a sensitive response from the bridge, and 3 when I want more stability...with heavier strings and lower tunings I try to find a middle ground of the two responses with however many springs it takes...this is with double locking Floyd type bridges
 
Sascha Franck said:
Gotta say don't get along with any of these. Had the very first incarnation of those things already (I think it was the Rockinger Blackbox beginning of the 90s or so) and while they've certainly gotten much better, they all have one thing in common: There's no smooth vibrato around the zero position. And quite obviously, you can't do anything about it, it's just the nature of the idea.
The only thing that ever did a great job (and it was a pretty much perfect job) has been the Steinberger TransTrem. Grab the bar = free floating vibrato smooth as butter, put bar back down = fixed bridge. Really, it doesn't get any better. Just that the guitars IMO sucked big time, which is why I sold mine (in retrospective, I shouldn't have done so, though).
It's pretty weird that nobody ever came up with another decent version of a vibrato lock, it'd be all doable, even as an aftermarket thing and for pretty much all vibrato types.
Click to expand...
Which Steinberger did you have and why didn’t you like it?
 
Eagle said:
Which Steinberger did you have and why didn’t you like it?
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The one with the wooden body. The reason I didn't like it enough was the extremely narrow string spacing (at the nut but - interestingly enough - even more so on the bridge side of things), the rather "cold" sound (could've gotten away with that, though) and the rather large amount of caretaking it demanded to operate perfectly (and you want nothing but perfect operation with a TransTrem).
Also hated having to purchase double ballend strings, the ones available over here (I think from La Bella) were horribly expensive and they were breaking quite often (due to the nature of the TransTrem game which is taxing E1 a *lot* more than any other vibrato system). Always wanted to buy a nut adapter so I could use normal strings, but those adapters seemed to be unobtanium back then in Germany.
I also never liked the headless look - but obviously, that was the price to pay for the form factor, which I found to be just excellent.
 
Sascha Franck said:
The one with the wooden body. The reason I didn't like it enough was the extremely narrow string spacing (at the nut but - interestingly enough - even more so on the bridge side of things), the rather "cold" sound (could've gotten away with that, though) and the rather large amount of caretaking it demanded to operate perfectly (and you want nothing but perfect operation with a TransTrem).
Also hated having to purchase double ballend strings, the ones available over here (I think from La Bella) were horribly expensive and they were breaking quite often (due to the nature of the TransTrem game which is taxing E1 a *lot* more than any other vibrato system). Always wanted to buy a nut adapter so I could use normal strings, but those adapters seemed to be unobtanium back then in Germany.
I also never liked the headless look - but obviously, that was the price to pay for the form factor, which I found to be just excellent.
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The neck is actually only slightly narrower( less than1mm) than a strat but I get it . Particularly the TT set up. You can almost 100% prevent string breakage by soldering the wrap by the ball end. This works for Kahler too. The value of these is on the serious up these days.
 
SteinbergerGMPro.jpg

I love my Steinberger. This one is kind if unique in that this body style came out of Gibson's Nashville plant, but it has a Newburgh serial number

I still play it regularly, but need to replace the scratchy pots.

PXL_20230509_152454985~2.jpg
 
Eagle said:
The GM7 TA . Great guitar and pretty rare these days.
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I bought it new, but by the time I sent in my registration card the Newburgh shop had closed and my registration was "returned to sender".

Gibson ruins so many brands they acquire. My KRK K-rocks couldn't be repaired, my Cakewalk Producer lifetime subscription abandoned, and of course Steinberger. I just hope they don't fuck up Mesa Boogie. 💯
 
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