Howdy friends, I've not been active on guitar forums for a number of years but I've been lurking on this one for the past few weeks and feel I might get a better answer here than most other places. I have an oddly specific question about two-point tremolos that I can't seem to find an answer for...
My main guitar is a parts Strat, the body being from the Fender Player series with a two-point tremolo. So far, I've tried the stock Fender bridge that came with it (didn't care for really anything in regards to actually using the tremolo but I could set it up how I wanted), a Blade Runner Super Vee and most recently a Wilkinson VS100. I prefer to have a tremolo decked, in case I break a string live, want to tune down really quickly for a song live or during a lesson, or rest my palm on the bridge for muting. The main issue I've had with all of these except for the Fender one is that I can't seem to be able to get the base plate to sit right on the body. I had high hopes that the Wilkinson would do this and was assured that I'd be able to deck it from the place where I bought it, but there's a gap between the bottom of the base plate and the body that's caused by the way the studs are made, which doesn't allow them to be screwed far down enough for the base plate to touch the top of the guitar's body. For anyone curious - the Blade Runner had a gap too, due to the nature of the construction, the baseplate and saddles sat up a little higher than the part that connected to the studs (not to mention, it just wasn't so fun to use for me personally).
This brings me to the 510. In looking at some photos, I notice that the studs are the same as what I've got now (I think Gotoh makes all the Wilkinson stuff at this point?) but the area on the 510's baseplate that meets the studs is closer in design to the Fender tremolo, in that the top is flat and the bottom has an angle to it that allows the whole bridge to move when you use the bar. The Wilkinson splits this part between the top and bottom of the base plate, and the blade edge meets the studs right in the middle. My question, after this long-winded exposition, is for anybody who uses a 510 - do you, or can you, screw the studs all the way down to where the baseplate is truly decked and resting against the top of the guitar body? Am I dumb for considering a 4th bridge now for my main guitar? Should I go touch grass? Thanks!!!
My main guitar is a parts Strat, the body being from the Fender Player series with a two-point tremolo. So far, I've tried the stock Fender bridge that came with it (didn't care for really anything in regards to actually using the tremolo but I could set it up how I wanted), a Blade Runner Super Vee and most recently a Wilkinson VS100. I prefer to have a tremolo decked, in case I break a string live, want to tune down really quickly for a song live or during a lesson, or rest my palm on the bridge for muting. The main issue I've had with all of these except for the Fender one is that I can't seem to be able to get the base plate to sit right on the body. I had high hopes that the Wilkinson would do this and was assured that I'd be able to deck it from the place where I bought it, but there's a gap between the bottom of the base plate and the body that's caused by the way the studs are made, which doesn't allow them to be screwed far down enough for the base plate to touch the top of the guitar's body. For anyone curious - the Blade Runner had a gap too, due to the nature of the construction, the baseplate and saddles sat up a little higher than the part that connected to the studs (not to mention, it just wasn't so fun to use for me personally).
This brings me to the 510. In looking at some photos, I notice that the studs are the same as what I've got now (I think Gotoh makes all the Wilkinson stuff at this point?) but the area on the 510's baseplate that meets the studs is closer in design to the Fender tremolo, in that the top is flat and the bottom has an angle to it that allows the whole bridge to move when you use the bar. The Wilkinson splits this part between the top and bottom of the base plate, and the blade edge meets the studs right in the middle. My question, after this long-winded exposition, is for anybody who uses a 510 - do you, or can you, screw the studs all the way down to where the baseplate is truly decked and resting against the top of the guitar body? Am I dumb for considering a 4th bridge now for my main guitar? Should I go touch grass? Thanks!!!
