Tell me about trem blocking

[pistolsteve]

I've just about decided I'll block the Edge trem on my old Roadstar, but I don't know a lot about the process. Note: I've considered the Tremel-No, but think I'd rather go for a good old-fashioned block of wood. A few questions:

1. If I wood-block my floating trem, does it completely negate the trem function, or only the ability to bend upward? In other words, if I block my floating trem, can I still use the trem for downward bends (divebombing or subtle Bigsby-type use)?

2. How "permanent" is wood-blocking a trem? If I decide to later sell this guitar, can I unblock it without much trouble or without causing too much damage?

3. Will wood-blocking a trem improve my guitar's sustain? I know increased sustain is one of the stated benefits of the Tremel-No; would this also be the case with wood-blocking.?

4. Will wood-blocking the trem improve my guitar's ability to stay in tune and make oblique bends possible? (The inability to pull of a good oblique bend is one of the main beefs I have with my floating trem.)

Thanks for any input.

[jb4674]

Here are some answers:

1. Yes, you won't be able to do anything with the trem, it'll be in a fixed position.
2. It's as permanent as you want it to be (however long you keep the wood block in the cavity). Obviously if you just insert the block or blocks without screwing them into the wood, it would be ideal but, I've seen people screw their wood blocks onto the wood and causing irreversible damage to their guitars
3. It's debatable. The wood blocks aren't a part of the body in theory, so they may or may not increase or improve the sustain on your guitar.
4. Again, this is debatable depending upon how the wood blocks fit into the cavity, if the trem has any play after the blocks are installed, etc.

Personally, I would get rid of the guitar if having a trem isn't your thing. That's like using a supercomputer to run dos.

Jimmy

[wandereruk05]

i've had a tremol-no and its a quality little piece of kit.

easy to install - just remove the claw and replace, there's a 20 mins instruction vid on youtube by the inventor he goes into a lot of detail on how to install perfect.

i did it on one of my edge pro guitars but the edge guitar i have it fantastic, stays in tune like a dream.

i'd go for the tremol-no, once its installed it can be easily switched off/on/dive only

[pistolsteve]

Originally Posted by wandereruk05

i've had a tremol-no and its a quality little piece of kit.

easy to install - just remove the claw and replace, there's a 20 mins instruction vid on youtube by the inventor he goes into a lot of detail on how to install perfect.

i did it on one of my edge pro guitars but the edge guitar i have it fantastic, stays in tune like a dream.

i'd go for the tremol-no, once its installed it can be easily switched off/on/dive only

I may go this route. Where can I buy the Tremel-No? I know the official website says you can get it from All Parts, but I'll be danged if I can find it on the All Parts website.

Quick question on the Tremel-No: Once installed, do you have to leave the back plate off your guitar or will it fit over the Tremel-No?

[bakerman]

1. No, if you only block the trem from being able to pull up. I use a block of wood between the trem & wood in the back of the guitar, under where the springs hook onto it. I also glued a thin piece of fabric on the side that the trem block rests on, which reduces the audible clunk when you return to 0.

2. I use a piece of double-sided clear tape that remains stuck to the block and occasionally gets replaced. The block takes about 20 seconds to install/remove: take spring off, install/remove block, replace spring. At worst there might be a trace of adhesive that can easily be cleaned off.

3. Maybe; it lets you hit/pluck a note really hard without making the bridge flutter, which sounds better and might preserve string energy.

4. In my experience, when the knife edges/posts don't quite allow perfect return to zero, switching to dive-only makes that undetectable. Since the bridge is being pulled into a stable block, knife-post friction that might leave you a few cents sharp/flat when floating won't have the same effect. Oblique bends will stay in tune to a certain point, depending on how much spring pull you want to add (screw claw in or add a spring or 2). If you set it so the bridge moves once you reach a certain interval, you can use your palm to hold it in place during larger bends. It's possible to set the bridge so it won't move during any possible bend, but that also requires more force to begin a bar dive.

The Tremol-No is on the Allparts site; be sure to spell it correctly if searching. ("Tremolo" is a word, "tremelo" is not.)

[pistolsteve]

Originally Posted by bakerman

The Tremol-No is on the Allparts site; be sure to spell it correctly if searching. ("Tremolo" is a word, "tremelo" is not.)

Thanks. I found it. I also feel like a dork.

I knew how to spell tremolo, but for some reason thought it was intentionally misspelled in the product name (seriously).

$70 seems a bit much, compared to a piece of wood, but I like what I've read about the product.

[C.Thep]

In my opinion, it significantly improves tone, sustain, and tuning stability.

[wandereruk05]

Originally Posted by pistolsteve

I may go this route. Where can I buy the Tremel-No? I know the official website says you can get it from All Parts, but I'll be danged if I can find it on the All Parts website.

Quick question on the Tremel-No: Once installed, do you have to leave the back plate off your guitar or will it fit over the Tremel-No?

I had to leave the back plate off if i wanted to change around a lot - the thumbscrew to use is just a bit too big - plus if your fingers that that small you can get into the gap you have to be about 5 years old lol

you could try **** - i got mine from there a lot cheaper (although I'm UK so all prices are hiked up for stuff like that - same guitar will set me back $300-600 more here)

[toneboy]

Originally Posted by pistolsteve

$70 seems a bit much, compared to a piece of wood, but I like what I've read about the product.

Yeah, don't buy it from Allparts. You're paying full retail from them.

Look on this auction site and you can get one for $48.99 shipped.

I prefer a Tremol-no to a piece of wood because I can change the trem's mode of operation (hard tail, dive only or fully floating) on the fly.

[j.p]

the tremol-no is the best solution.you can block the bridge or you can use your trem as you like.the other solution is to sell your guitar and to buy another with fixed bridge.

[andrewgosline]

I made something similar to this tremolo stopper from floydupgrades.com:

http://floydupgrades.com/index.php?m...1ku27vcvsr6ee0

I had to put in a piece of wood on the end of the screw to reduce the audible 'clunk' as another poster already mentioned. I don't have a high end tremolo, so my knife edges are not that good, but with the tremolo blocked, it stays in quite good tune. A pal of mine had his tremolo blocked with a piece of wood superglued in. Of course, every year or so, the piece comes unglued, and he has to re-glue it. As a result, I prefer the idea of screwing it in to glueing it in.

Sustain is improved with the block, especially if you have non-locking trem posts. At least that's what I've noticed. I notice a sustain difference with my cheapo LRF (between blocked and floating), but on my ibanez edge, the difference is hardly noticeable.

[hall]

1. I used a wood block that's wedged in between the body cavity and part of the tremolo and it really only "stops" you from pulling up on the bridge. I could still dive-bomb (and the wood blocks would fall out !!) if I wanted to. Kinda hard since I don't have the arm installed.

2. As mentioned, mine is only wedged in place. If I want to remove it, I just would put the arm in, dive-bomb it, and let the piece fall out.

3. After doing this to mine, I noticed a slight change (improvement) in the sound and a slight increase in sustain.

4. I have a Lo-TRS (the guitar is a 2000 RG320) that wouldn't stay in tune for sh*t until I did this. It's still not as rock-solid as my RG550, but it's a huge improvement.