Floating a Tremolo on a Fender Stratocaster - it's not that hard to do! You need a magic stick...

String & Pickup height gauges fir sale:

A customer dropped off this 2019 MIM Fender Stratocaster for a setup - he wanted to have the tremolo floating instead of hard to the body. A few simple steps makes this process relatively easy. Enjoy the video and please Like & Subscribe for more content. Thanks for watching!
-Steve
Manotick StringWorks
Ottawa, Ontario
#fender, #stratocaster, #tremolo

[Callisto]

Thank you very much! Following your setup steps had fixed my Strat issues and made it beautiful to play.

[davidwellings]

Really nicely shot instructional video! To the point, clear thinking and well narrated and explained! Wish there were more like this! 🥰🥰🍷🍷🎸🎸

[allancrow]

Recently I've been watching a bunch of Strat trem setup videos. This is something I learned to do pre-Youtube. Your vid is one I would recommend for its clarity and simplicity. Just a word of caution to those new to a floating bridge. There is a delicate balance between spring and string tension that makes this function properly. If you are heavy-handed with a strong vibrato you will have intonation problems. The bridge will lift and cause your notes to go noticeably flat. It may require an adjustment in your touch, even to the point of sacrifice. With a decked trem and good spring tension this isn't a problem, so be careful what you wish for. Cheers.

[leemerrell]

That's a really good, easy to follow video. I will bookmark this to be my Strat set-up reference guide. Thank you so much! From a new subscriber.👍😎

[AndreaPaesetti]

Awesome video… I just take back my guitar that I was using “improperly” when I was 15. And what you showed I’ll be probably my job of the night!!

[serranodavid]

Awesome thanks for the video, did the same procedure, and everything is back to normal 😀..

[RodrigoMancillaPhoto]

Excellent video, thanks for making this.

[JunkBondTrader]

I was looking up string changing on a strat, as it is my first time with locking tuners... Buddy doesn't mention the trem at all, so I was confused when it suddenly didn't pull and kept hitting my guitar upon releasing it. This video helped point out the now obvious... Out of curiosity I looked at other videos, and rarely they mention floating the trem, even if they are using a guitar with a trem as an example.

[michael_caz_nyc]

Great stuff explained & presented here. I recently purchased your maple string-height gauges = very nice & well made. I hit like & subscribe.

[tbone]

You make it look so easy. I’m having no luck at all floating the trem on my 2011 American standard. It’s a two point, how tight should the two point screws be tightened?

[stilldreamin]

Very nice instructive video, one of the cleanest and most straight forward I've seen. I made several notes while watching your video. All my Strats are nicely set up and have floating trems. What is the secret to keeping your Strat in tune? I have two Strats with LSR Roller Nuts, but the guitars still go way out of tune, I'm constantly tuning and I'm not doing any dive bombs. I wonder if a graphite nut might even be better than the LSR? The other two Strats have Wilkinson Roller Nuts on them and stay in tune better but still need constant fine tuning especially if you do any whole step pushing or pulling on the Trem. I notice Jeff Beck almost never tunes his guitars while he's playing and he's using a standard Fender Tremolo Bridge and always with the Wilkinson Roller Nut and he gives his Trems a serious workout on practically every song. I'd love to hear any suggestions you might have? Again, nice video, I'd love to hear from you.

[toddl.p]

How do you adjust the 6 screws in the front of trembolo . Also thankful for your works . Great technician . You'r videos have helped me . 😁

[stringbender]

Nice job Steve! Nearly my same set-up procedure. Good job on the video. Now subbed!

[davidsummerville]

Really enjoyed this, so much info! Thanks so much.

[niteboatermusic]

very clear and helpful, thanks for sharing this video. Ive always let others do my setups and mods, but got curious after purchasing a Strat Ultra. Yes the float is a bit off, and some string buzzing here and there, just hope I can do it justice!

[guitarfreak]

Brilliant! Great trick with the stick.

[rick]

Thanks, my squire strat tremolo was flat against the body. Plays great for a cheap guitar. I like a little tremolo, not much. This helped a lot. Subscribed.

[LEONPRES]

after 23 years with my American Standard I finally floated the tremolo. the difference in action is incredible. you could breath on the strings and play a note, and no buzz. AWESOME!!! I should have done it a long time ago. That guitar never really played great, It does now.

[deandee]

I do it different, I put the shim in as you do, then tighten the blocks screws to the spring claw so its fairly tight, then I tune guitar, stretch strings re-tune so forth, then remove the shim, it should go out of tune sharp, it will be tuned too high .. when you tune the guitar back down it will be balanced, or synchronized, as much tension on the springs as you have on the strings, this way the block always reports back to zero and in tune when block is moved one way or the other .. its basically the same thing you have done here, if you do it my way the shim will just barely slide under the rear of the plate ..

however I like to go one step further, I will use ringed trem screws, as used on PRS, they are like a ring shank screw, they have a groove or ring cut out about 1/8th below bottom of head, this way I can elevate the front of the trem plate as it rests in those grooves, get em all exact the same off the deck so the trem plate fits in the ring grooves perfectly all the way across you don't want one screw higher or lower..

then I use the shim and synchronize the trem.. this way the bridge plate sits parallel off the deck like a dual fulcrum or a floyd rose... I always look at the edge of the trem plate that sits int he grooves and insure at each hole the thickness is the same for precision, I find the tuning action is dead on long as strings do not stick anywhere, strings on nut, tuner poles, or saddles, those saddles they sell at stumac work well as they reduce the break angle and string tend to not get hang up on the saddle leading edge, I'll soften that contact point as well and perhaps loob..

then at the nut I was the string slot cut at the same angle the string runs down to the tuner post, so you want to determine where your string will contact the post depending o tuners you have, with locking you have the choice, the string can head up to the nut where the hole is drilled thru the post, OR you can wind the string down the pole where you like.. just figure that out then angle your nut slot to that point, close as you can get... then I want the breaking edge of the nut to be sharp, from leading edge back I want to fan the slot out a bit, give the string plenty of room so its not fighting a tight slot..

so few wraps on your tuner post the less movement of the strings means the string will return back to where it came form when you use the whammy or loosen the strings, if you have a lot of wraps, they can loosen and maybe not go back the same way and be tighter or looser, out of tune, so focus on that aspect as well, you can salve all of that and have better stability with a behind the nut locker.. like old charvels used if no locker is used then I suggest locking tuners and before locking the string point the hole at the nut and pull the string fairly tight with pliers whatever this eliminates any wraps going slack and fubar when whammy is employed, and if down the road you do have a wrap around the pole from string stretch, unlock and tighten again, I like staggered tuners to keep the string hole close to the headstock as possible, this eliminates any tuner post wobble.. the old vintage with the hole down thru the post if you don't wrap the string way down near the headstock if you lave it high the post will bend when using whammy if you pull up, it goes back obviously but when you fret a chord will it tugg hard enough to bend posts and knock out of tune any? 2 cent whatever? hmm, I look at em while i pull up see if they bend at all, even chording and string bending, I look see whats happening, allover, the nut, the saddles, have a look see whats happening is anything getting hung up so forth? lube helps, different string up techniques whatever

[thomassblaquelourde]

Excellent Excellent Excellent, clear concise full of information I just subscribed maybe best I've seen