Better Tone Trem/No Trem

[Thrash]

Is it just me or do guitars with trems have better tone, more alive. RG's, Strats, PRS, Ernie Balls and others with trems seem to sound better to me.

I'm sure there are exceptions, my fixed bridge RGA121 does sound really good, but I haven't played meny fixed bridges that sound grea

[mfergel]

Well, not sure what you are hearing. You'd really have to compare the exact same guitar with the exact same pickups to make that comparison. Typically, fixed bridge guitars will give you better sustain. A non-floating tremolo (such as a Fender strat) might sound a bit better than a floating trem because of the addition contact with the body. Also, the springs in a trem can function a bit like a spring reverb (I put foam under mine to prevent that).

[Shredder87]

I prefer the sound of trems... don't know why, just prefer the sound.

[ChopTart]

Actually to my knowledge the fender strat trems are floating trems, they just don't have a recession so you can go both ways

I think its all about the sound you want to cultivate. Listen to some recordings on a LP and realize that it's tonal characteristics are way different from a hollowbody trem'ed guitar. Now that doesn't mean its BAD, but it may just be what you're looking for. I personally prefer trem guitars not for the TONE but for the flexibility playingwise

[Demiurge]

Could it be that all the guitars you listed have either a 25" and 25.5" scale-length? Perhaps the tonal properties of guitars with longer scale lengths is actually the appeal, and the presence of a trem is incidental. If you think of it, most guitars that have trems usually are in the category of types of guitars that have longer scale lengths, compared to 24.75" scale guitars that usually have hard-tail bridges.

[guitarslinger213]

I agree. I think the sound of the springs always add a little bit of natural resonance.

I don't care what scale, pickups, trem-model, etc. I always like the trem sound more.

[waylay00]

Tot tell you the truth, I really don't notice a difference in "tone". The only real difference I notice is sustain. I think people get a little too carried away with this "tone" stuff.

[sniperfrommars1]

Originally Posted by waylay00

Tot tell you the truth, I really don't notice a difference in "tone". The only real difference I notice is sustain. I think people get a little too carried away with this "tone" stuff.

The presence of a tremolo almost ALWAYS removes bottom end from the guitars natural sound, after having seen this on countless floyd rose and kahler tremolo additions to guitars in the 80's, i can tell you for a fact the floating tremolo eats raw tone that you cannot get back. Having said that i prefer locking tremolos for the versatility, and i put foam under my springs as that racket drives me insane *(if you cant hear it your deaf!!!*).

I think the tone your going for is almost always more present in a guitar with a locking trem due to the wood and pickup combination more so than the tremolo system itself. I will argue that you will get a great deal more sustain out of a guitar with non floating bridge than you will out of a floating tremolo as well. i think its easy enough for you to say x amount of high end in my guitars sound = better tone. And since tone is subjective then so be it!

[guitarslinger213]

every piece of wood sounds different. fixed vs trem does not automatically equal more vs. less sustain.