I ran across this interesting non invasive aftermarket trem for strats yesterday. One thing that comes to mind for me as a potential issue is that you need a well lubricated nut and string tree, also good tuners and properly wrapped strings on those tuners to get the best performance.
What do you think?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNU3WoPMyts


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=478yy9m5EYI


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lp3H5SDi4ys


https://vegatrem.com/guitar-tremolo/

This post has been edited by AK Rich: Apr 3 2018, 06:05 PM

When watched the I suspected whenever you take all the strings off at the same time (like fretboard cleanup times) that bridge might be annoying. Might get deep under the cavity or everytime needs an alignment.

It also doesn't look comfy to rest your hand cause of the bolts. A flat surface (flat saddles) for me is even more important than a floyd type on a vintage type cause of the lesser room.

If not overused I wouldn't expect a guitar that already holds its tune well get too bad after this trem. is installed. Maybe as you said lubrication might get more important.

Yeah it certainly look like you would need to make sure to get your alignment right anytime you change string unless you just change one at a time which doesn't work so well if you want to clean the fret board as well so it is something that needs attention either way.

I see what you mean about the bolts but to me that looks more comfortable than the original where the saddle height adjustment screws can poke you in the hand.

I think you are probably right about the use of lubrication on the nut etc. These are things that need attention in the case of the original bridge as well.

One thing that I just noticed looking at the installation video is that the bridge on my Strat is more modern and doesn't connect to the body in the same way that the one in the video does. Mine has 2 posts that the bridge pivots on. So if I was to replace my original trem with the Vega, I would probably need to drill some holes to attach the fulcrum bar of the Vega to my Strat and possibly do something with the inserts that my existing trem pivot posts screw into. Something I really don't want to do.

[attachment=47274:IMG_2018...3_110544.jpg]

This post has been edited by AK Rich: Apr 3 2018, 08:11 PM

Oh you have the modern type bridge, then I don't think it would be worth the change to be honest even if drilling isn't involved.

If you adjust the neck angle from the neck pocket (with a thicker shim if one exists) you won't have to deal with the tiny saddle adjustment screws. Because the angle is raised compared to the body, the adjustment screws will need to be turned deeper and you won't feel them anymore if needed.

This is something you can do yourself if you know basic guitar adjustments, but I recommend a luthier cause its a bit tiring process as you may need to screw on the neck more than once when trying shims.

You could also change the saddles to modern ones during this process with something like these;

http://www.stewmac.com/Hardware_and_Parts/...e_set_of_6.html

graphtech I think gets praised a lot but standard Fenders are also cool. I never compared tone but wouldn't expect a huge change.

Don't change the bridge on that Strat AK.
If you dig how it sounds, especially the clean and medium dirt tones, you'll lose a lot of that with any other bridge.
The 'two point' bridge with trad saddles is the best Strat bridge Fender has ever made.

I don't really understand the problem this bridge is intended to solve. They go on and on about the typical tonal mumbo jumbo, "highest quality" and tuning blah blah, but the limiting factor for all these non-locking trems is likely the nut. Just looking at it, I think the intent is to shorten the trem body so you can pull up farther and not be limited by the trem contacting the body. If that is a problem someone has then I guess this makes sense, but that seems like a pretty narrow use case.



There's an easier way to fix this problem (in the US at least), just order shorter screws. I got a box of 25 for $6 and always switch them, now no comfort issues.

Strat screws
Tele screws

Thanks Mertay. I have done the neck pocket shim dance before on my old Kramer with a Warmoth neck. It took a few times of removing and replacing the neck to get it right but I was pretty successful in my goal of getting a more consistently low string action along the full length of the neck. I love how that axe plays now as the string action is almost the same at the last fret as it is at the first.

The height adjustment saddle screws on my Strat don't really stick up too much so they don't bother me as much as some other Strats I have played in the past have. Even still I have ordered some of those modern looking saddles not long ago to put on my bridge, mainly because I think they look better but also because I think they may be a bit more comfortable.



Thanks Ken. I was never really considering changing my bridge. I pretty much like it the way it is setup and sounding now with the trem resting against the body. I think I get a better transfer from the strings to the body with that setup and never even put the bar on it when I play it. I had considered changing the pickups in the past as you know but abandoned that idea after I played it more and discovered the FX8 that I bought almost eliminated the Strat hum.



I think that's it, yoncopin. It's mostly about the extended range you get with the Vega, otherwise it's not really much different from the stock trems.

Thanks for the info on the short screws. I seem to remember you posting about those in the past here at sometime. A great and simple solution.