? for guitar gurus

Fender Strats have a tremolo bridge that require springs. They are just usually covered by a plate with screws. Jimi just liked to keep his plate off.


Generally, the more contact the bridge has with the body (i.e. the lower the position), the better the sound transfer will be into the body. A warmer sound with increased sustain is the result.

Tremolo bridges usually need to be suspended in some way, which reduces contact. Most tremolo designs today use a group of springs in the guitar body, which oppose the tension of the strings. Some players feel that the vibration of the springs affects resonance in a way that makes the guitar sound better; others disagree. Naturally, it all depends on personal preference and the musical style of the individual player.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridge_(instrument)

 

Those shows were good huh? I used to rent the one JH movie from Blockbuster all the time back when I was 20 or so back around 1990 baked as hell.

 

I never use a tremelo....the two Strats I've owned over the past 25 years both had tremelos. I removed both the plate and the tremelo bar on both guitars, but I included them in the sale when I sold both of them.

I just never got into using a whammy bar (that's what we used to call them back in the day )

 

Actually, nobody answered why Jimi had the plate off the springs.

Jimi would take the plates off so he could use those springs to get sounds from them. He would pluck them with his fingers or run his pick along them to get some unigue sounds while using his effects pedals.

 

Really?

I just assumed the reason he'd take the plate off was because he "modded" his guitar by putting more springs in there, and was too lazy to put the plate back on.

That's me with my strat (that I don't ever play anymore). Tremolo/whammy bar ... it's good for pulling your guitar out of tune. So adding more springs keeps your bridge from getting so out of whack in a hurry.

 

Jimi used standard Strats. His pedals were built to his specifics, but his guitars were not altered in any way.

 

Except, on occasion, when he set fire to them