What to do about my trem?

[Sascha Franck]

The problem might be that what I want is at odds with physics. I rarely use the trem for big dive bombs, I want it to be sensitive for subtle vibrato. The kind of thing where I can just push up a little with a fingertip while playing and get a little vibrato.

But that kind of sensitivity is exactly what’s giving me problems when I’m digging in comping chords.

I gotta say I'm still picking quite hard and don't notice much of these issues, if any. Maybe check out dampening your springs, a little foam goes a long way and usually doesn't harm tuning stability. Also, I've got "silent" springs from HB on two of my guitars and they really reduce spring flutter almost completely.
Fwiw, I actually don't think it's got much to do with the vibrato system actually causing the issue. At least for me it's pretty much always been the springs.

 

[Oddguitar]

There is a slight detent when the magnet engages, but it's extremely subtle and there is definitely no audible "click". You can replace the buffer pad between the magnets for a thicker one to make the detent even more subtle.

If you were playing my strat you wouldn't know it was there unless I told you. I get it that it's not your cup of tea, but for bend stabilization on a guitar with a trem, the Mag-Lok is a great solution.

I had the Maglok setup on one of my guitars by the people at Maglok and there was definitely a center detent, which is what ruins all trem stabilizing solutions for me. I, like Sascha, like to use the trem for subtle vibrato going above and below the note and unfortunately any type of the center detent just ruins the feel for me. The Steinberger TransTrem and Jam Trem have yet to be topped when it comes to offering trem and stoptail performance out of one bridge. I wish Ned would design a new version of the Jam Trem that works with standard guitars...sigh...

 

[Eagle]

I had the Maglok setup on one of my guitars by the people at Maglok and there was definitely a center detent, which is what ruins all trem stabilizing solutions for me. I, like Sascha, like to use the trem for subtle vibrato going above and below the note and unfortunately any type of the center detent just ruins the feel for me. The Steinberger TransTrem and Jam Trem have yet to be topped when it comes to offering trem and stoptail performance out of one bridge. I wish Ned would design a new version of the Jam Trem that works with standard guitars...sigh...

The jam trem is for standard guitars.

 

[mbenigni]

Try a Vega trem ,sensitive to the bar but less to you playing hard. It also has no issues with the design that is detrimental to the performance or tone.

It's not clear to me that this would necessarily be less sensitive to playing hard, but damn, that's a really cool trem.

 

[la szum]

I don't mind when gear/guitars force me to adjust my technique.

I quit electric for ten years and was a Cowboy Chord strummer on
Acoustic all that time. When I finally went back to playing Electric
Both of my hands were a bit crude, and heavyhandedness was my way.

I find something similar with resting/anchoring my right hand when
I went back to playing Floating Trems the [past couple of years. I won't
ever block them. It's not their fault I need to be more refined with
my approach.

And I am getting there. Being more delicate, nuanced, and subtle. Hopefully!

 

[Eagle]

It's not clear to me that this would necessarily be less sensitive to playing hard, but damn, that's a really cool trem.

The fulcrum is shorter. It’s like a shorter lever . It’s noticeably less sensitive to hard playing and double stop bends.

 

[mbenigni]

The fulcrum is shorter. It’s like a shorter lever . It’s noticeably less sensitive to hard playing and double stop bends.
View attachment 60453

This makes sense (and had occurred to me.) But I would think the converse would be true: that the shorter fulcrum would make the bar feel different. It's always a balancing act between getting the bar as responsive as I like (including intentional bar flutter), and keeping the strings from becoming too "agitated" during normal play.

Anyway, yeah. This looks like a great design. I've only got one Strat now, with a SuperVee Bladerunner on it, but if I find another host guitar...

 

[gearJunkie]

The fulcrum is shorter. It’s like a shorter lever

So is it similar to the BladeRunner, but with a "hinged" pivot mechanism instead of the blade (plate) spring?

 

[0XI0]

Is there an option in between those that might work better for me? Ultimately the flutter is the bigger issue for me, but I’d like to be able to use the trem since I’ve got it.

I had a convo with chatGpt about this same thing recently, the consensus is angled springs, 1 or more. the spring rate differential acts to cancel out resonance, a damper.

 

[mbenigni]

I had a convo with chatGpt about this same thing recently, the consensus is angled springs, 1 or more. the spring rate differential acts to cancel out resonance, a damper.

View attachment 60455

File under "What Happens When You Load 40-odd Years of Old Wives' Tales Into an LLM".

 

[Eagle]

This makes sense (and had occurred to me.) But I would think the converse would be true: that the shorter fulcrum would make the bar feel different. It's always a balancing act between getting the bar as responsive as I like (including intentional bar flutter), and keeping the strings from becoming too "agitated" during normal play.

Anyway, yeah. This looks like a great design. I've only got one Strat now, with a SuperVee Bladerunner on it, but if I find another host guitar...

The bar does feel different. More linear.

 

[Eagle]

I had a convo with chatGpt about this same thing recently, the consensus is angled springs, 1 or more. the spring rate differential acts to cancel out resonance, a damper.

View attachment 60455

There is a considerable amount of bollocks in this.

 

[Eagle]

So is it similar to the BladeRunner, but with a "hinged" pivot mechanism instead of the blade (plate) spring?

The spring in the blade runner acting as the fulcrum gets tighter the more you bend it. This contributes to a more traditional feel countering the repositioning of the fulcrum . The Vega is a knife edge so no flat spring changing the feel.

 

[Oddguitar]

So is it similar to the BladeRunner, but with a "hinged" pivot mechanism instead of the blade (plate) spring?

Perhaps in principle, but they feel completely different. I replaced the BladeRunner in my Strat with the Vega Trem and couldn't be happier.

 

[Oddguitar]

The jam trem is for standard guitars.

That's why I said new version, because the Jam Trem hasn't been in production for years and is only available as NOS or pilfered from another guitar. I've also read that the quality of the materials used at the time wasn't necessarily the best. Perhaps I can talk RWB Engineering into making them again...

 

[mbenigni]

That's why I said new version, because the Jam Trem hasn't been in production for years and is only available as NOS or pilfered from another guitar. I've also read that the quality of the materials used at the time wasn't necessarily the best. Perhaps I can talk RWB Engineering into making them again...

And unless I completely misunderstood what I was looking at in that video, the Jam Trem would require considerable (and fugly) routing.

 

[metropolis_4]

I don't mind when gear/guitars force me to adjust my technique.

I quit electric for ten years and was a Cowboy Chord strummer on
Acoustic all that time. When I finally went back to playing Electric
Both of my hands were a bit crude, and heavyhandedness was my way.

I find something similar with resting/anchoring my right hand when
I went back to playing Floating Trems the [past couple of years. I won't
ever block them. It's not their fault I need to be more refined with
my approach.

And I am getting there. Being more delicate, nuanced, and subtle. Hopefully!

What I do mind is when gear/guitars prevent me from playing in a way I want to be able to play.

The ability to dig in hard when I want to is more important to me than the ability to use the trem for subtle vibrato

 

[Eagle]

That's why I said new version, because the Jam Trem hasn't been in production for years and is only available as NOS or pilfered from another guitar. I've also read that the quality of the materials used at the time wasn't necessarily the best. Perhaps I can talk RWB Engineering into making them again...

It was steel.

 

[Oddguitar]

Back in the day I had a Kahler Auto-latch setup in my Yamaha RGX 1212. It was a pain to set up, but worked great (most of the time).


View attachment 60255

https://reverb.com/item/62493468-vintage-1980-s-1990-s-kahler-auto-latch-system-for-palm-muting-2700-series-spyder-steeler-killer-new-old-stock-packaging

My Steinberger TransTrem is still awesome after 30 years of use.

I'm very tempted to get a Kahler Steeler Pro with the Auto Latch, but it sounds like it needs to be tweaked perfectly and often for it to work, which then takes the joy out of it. The TransTrem does it perfectly every time without needing any kind of adjustment.

 

[Oddguitar]

And unless I completely misunderstood what I was looking at in that video, the Jam Trem would require considerable (and fugly) routing.

A little bit of extra routing on the back of the guitar to get that extra functionality would be *totally* worth it to me. But to each his own...