tremolo making my guitar going out of tune

[marshall_law]

Hi

I've just a new guitar. It's a ibanez SA120. This is my 1st tremolo style guitar. I've noticed that whenever i did a whammy abuse, my guitar would go out of tune. Is there anything i can do to stop this? The tremolo got 3 springs and it's a SAT30. I'm thinking off adding more springs to the tremolo. Is it feasible to do this?

 

[penta-tonic]

hey u can try installing de hip shot trem setter. also when ure tuning do a few dive bombs to 'season' de guitar so it goes out of tune less often. hope this helps. one more thing, u might wanna try getting locking tuners.

 

[vernplum]

If the SA120 has a non-locking tremolo (which I think it does) then you can expect it to go out of tune if you do dive bombs or waggle the bar more than just a little bit for some shallow vibrato. Non-locking tremolo is not designed for such use.

Aside from the other suggestions, you could try lubricating the nut with some kind of stuff (e.g. graphite, vaseline, grease, silicone based lubricant) that will stop the strings sticking after you lower or raise the pitch.

Otherwise, upgrade to a Floyd Rose.

 

[ChanMin]

i would never even attemp to dive bomb on my strat trem.. i would bet money on it going out of tune..


but i dun understand how does malmsteen do it?.... he really abuses his trem.. and is still in tune!!

 

[vernplum]

i would never even attemp to dive bomb on my strat trem.. i would bet money on it going out of tune..


but i dun understand how does malmsteen do it?.... he really abuses his trem.. and is still in tune!!

Not really - Yngwie doesn't do nearly as much trem abuse as Vai or Satch, but what he does do, is change guitars on almost every song live, so he gets a nicely tuned axe for each new number. Also, on occasion you'll see him tune a string while he plays (though I think he does that more to show off rather than actually needing to...)

 

[ChanMin]

hahahahahha... true true... but even for that 5 mins.. in one song.. his 1-2 dive bombs surely would cause him to go out?.. but he doesnt?..

the tuning the string thing is confirmed showing off la... kinda reminds me of davis uncle.. and that stuck up younger dude...

 

[marshall_law]

Looks like i've gotta spend more money again! Does adding springs help?

 

[vernplum]

hahahahahha... true true... but even for that 5 mins.. in one song.. his 1-2 dive bombs surely would cause him to go out?.. but he doesnt?..

the tuning the string thing is confirmed showing off la... kinda reminds me of davis uncle.. and that stuck up younger dude...

Don't forget that his axes have a brass nut which probably grip the string less so should be less out of tune trouble - even so, although the non-locking Fender trem isn't perfect for doing whammy abuse it's still a very good trem and should be okay for moderate use in that manner, but seriously, I don't think he dive bombs even as frequently as once per song.

 

[vernplum]

Looks like i've gotta spend more money again! Does adding springs help?

No - adding springs will just pull the trem back and increase the tension. Won't address your out of tuneness.

 

[ChanMin]

does the brass nut help in anyway?... hmmm his guitar is truely a souped up machine man.. \m/, my hero~~

 

[subversion]

adding springs won't help if you still do whammy. only add more springs if you want your vibrato bridge to stay put, ie. you don't wanna whammy any more... like what i did with my Strat here:

non-locking vibratos are bound to pose tuning problems, especially after a whammy abuse. you can help remedy this by:

1.Lubricating your nut so that there's unhindered movements there
2.Strecth your strings well before playing
3.Get locking machine heads
4.Instal roller nuts
5.For Ibanez guitars, use .009 set, otherwise, file you nut if you choose a thicker gauge set.
8)

 

[penta-tonic]

i do quite a bit of whammy-ing on my prs but it doesnt haf any probs. just gotta let de strings season. n locking tuners do help a lot cos theres no winds on de peg to overrun.

 

[ChanMin]

prs has graphite nuts.. which really really keep the axes in tune... their whammy is pretty well designed too.. mine is still working perfect after 14yrs.. what a machine.

 

[pooo]

Never had any problems with whammy on my strat. I got it modded to malmsteen specs, scallops, brass nut and all and it works fine keeping tune well.

Otherwise, upgrade to a Floyd Rose.

Just becareful not to buy a guitar with the lo trs liscenced trem equipped.

 

[ChanMin]

OMG! how did you do it?..
are the mods expensive?..brass nut and scalloping?.. hows the scallopped neck?... i tried the yjm model a few years back it had brown strings.. (rusty) ..so i really couldnt test it at all...

 

[pooo]

Every mod done by Kelvin at GC. Yea, the mods are expensive. Bread and water for a few months just to save up for it hehe. But otherwise it plays really well. I really love the control one can get using scallops. The only thing that's different is that i'm using .10 strings, a little more tone there.

 

[penta-tonic]

got pic?

 

[pooo]

Man i can't provide pics for the moment. It's at GC having a set up. When it's back i'll be sure to load up close ups of it

 

[penta-tonic]

cool. wat strat did u mod btw?

 

[pooo]

Fender Standard mexican. Midnight wine satin finished. Maple neck