Guitar Nerds Anonymous

@rickster absolutely clean and yeah missing it. The guy was saying you can pick them up cheap on eBay but I think the standard ones for sale wouldn't fit. Looks to push in and twist round not screw in (hopefully the pictures make that make sense)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tbgfi92RCy8

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think it needs a FreeFlyte tremolo which is not cheap. They appear to be like Hen's teeth https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1983-1984-Fender-Stratocaster-Elite-Freeflyte-Vibrato-Tremolo-Whammy-Bar-Arm/124029583177?hash=item1ce0bd3f49:g:QAQAAOSwq15eCjX1

I think you’re right.

That said - looks like the sort of thing you could make in a hot minute if you've a friend with access to a lathe. I've no idea if 80 strats are any good but it does look clean.

800 buys a chunk of Strat though - I've seen some beautiful partscasters on Reverb for that sort of money with fancy neck wood, stainless frets, boutique pickups etc if you don't care about the whole Fender thing.

I may be shifting a US Tele sunburst from 2001, if anyone’s interested

Very much so!

I was gonna get 70N5LEN before I realised I already had diamonds in my backyard...

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Went for it! Just felt right

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Was in tune yesterday when I tested it out. Just plugged it in and started tuning it here as it seemed out of tune. I'm always mindful to tune gently as I once snapped a string by tuning the wrong peg and getting frustrated that it wasn't adjusting (when I was a kid)
Anyway, wouldn't stay in tune at all and tightening a string even slightly pulls the bridge up. It's like the bridge isn't fixed down to the body. Hopefully it's just loose? Not really sure why this has happened and I've been so gentle with it, can't be anything I've done. Any ideas? I've texted the seller to mention it straight away with a video

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isn't that just part of the tremelo? so you can bend up and down?

disclaimer! I only own hardtail guitars

Yep. Strat bridges balance between the tension of the strings and the tension of the springs in the tremolo cavity on the back of the guitar. You can tighten the screws in the claw (will make sense when you look in there) to pull the bridge towards the body. But detune the strings slightly first or you’re fighting ever-increasing string tension.

Setting up a Strat requires a bit of patience.

Cheers @Sparky
So nothing is wrong with it? This model has no back plate so must be done from the front somehow? Roughly makes sense on this video to me as a layman at 14:40 https://youtu.be/Q6aAAtYC9a4

Since you've got no trem arm anyway, can you screw the claw at the back right in to bring the bridge right down into contact with the guitar - i.e. no float. Then you should get much more stable tuning. Slacken the strings before you do this, then tune up afterwards.

How odd - Never seen one of these before. Pretty thing though!
Do you adjust trem tension with that central screw on the bridge?...

Planning to buy a trem arm but not at this price, keeping my eye out https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F124029583177

Thanks everyone for the advice and please keep going! I'll note it all down and mention it to my old teacher who is going to fit some new strings for me

Looks like tension is adjusted on the screw I mentioned above. If that doesn't work you have to destring and remove the scratchplate!

https://www.strat-talk.com/threads/simply-key-to-use-properly-freeflyte-tremolo-system.448049/

I haven't had a trem arm on my strat for a decade plus and I've never missed it. Tuning stability is pretty shite even without it. If there's someone local that knows what they're doing, a pro set-up always ends up feeling good. Otherwise, just be prepared for a good bit of trial and error to get tuning and intonation good.

Hope the finger's better soon so you can have a proper noodle!

Ah, yours is from the one year that they routed all the cavities out of the top to save money. Same principle entirely but a bit of a freak of a Stratocaster. Fun.

I never use the trem arm on my Strat. Quite fancy buying a 70s hardtail version if I spot the right one.

Unlike you chaps, I use the trem arm on my strat all the time and I don’t find tuning stability to be too bad. You have to play a little differently with palm muting but half the fun of a strat is bendy chords!

I'm with you, I love the trem on a strat... Don't see the point of them without one TBH...

Mine goes massively out of tune after a good spanking, I think I need a new nut and possibly new saddles to keep the tuning a bit more stable...

I'm not sure I even would know what to do with one these days. I've had my strat for 23 years and I can still remember the chagrin that I couldn't crush a 5th down in drop D with the trem. Shortly after that I took it off.

Still it didn't compare to the disappointment of plugging it in to my old man's shitty Peavey combo for the first time and wondering why it sounded like a weird acoustic. Took it back to the shop and they sold me a Boss super overdrive. After that everything was much better.

The GAS is hitting hard at the moment.

I'm selling that seven string Ormsby I acquired in a trade and I had been planning to use the money to put towards a Fender Player Precision Bass w/maple fingerboard in Buttercream finish.
All good so far.

I the became aware of the Epiphone Thunderbird Vintage PRO which looks bloody amazing. It's basically an exact replica of the original 1963 Thunderbird with a few of the flaws worked out and I think I have to have one...

To top it all off, having been playing this fanned fret Ormsby a little bit, I'm really interested in getting a fanned fret 5-string bass, something that would be a real soloists type of thing just for messing about on my own.

I came across this amazing looking Dingwall refinished in shell pink on instagram and I'm in love. Slightly considering getting my PRS Custom 22 refinished and then flogging it to fund one of these if I'm not in a way of purchasing one otherwise by then...

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That T bird is awesome.

Doing god's work on a borrowed guitar - tho you might need to know who Laurence Fox is for this video to make sense.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIkdaP0aVxc

Very difficult to beat a P-bass! They might not be as flashy as the other two but they do just work.
Always liked the looks of Thunderbirds but found it hard to get the sound to sit nicely in a band environment (though that could of course be down to me or the band or both!).
My mind just can't process fanned frets so have never tried a Dingwall but they get a lot of love on Bass Chat.

You now have a new Bandcamp follower....