Tremolo cleaning, removing the saddles

Lbushwhack88

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Joined
May 27, 2014
Messages
34
Hey everyone,
Quick question for ya:

When I clean my tremolo units, I usually use q tips to get most of the hard to reach areas, but even those can only go so far with all the small pieces on the trem blocking access to certain areas. I am thinking about removing my saddles so that I can really get full access to the trem unit to clean the entire thing and clean around the saddles without having to remove the trem unit from the guitar, as that sounds like a petrifyingly scary fiasco for someone like myself who isn't too guitar tech savvy.

Do I just unscrew the screws on the back of the trem and take the saddles off? If so, how hard would it be to set intonation again after putting the saddles back in? Thanks!
 
Bump! No one's tried doing this before? It's impossible to get a good deep clean of the trem with the saddles on!!
 
Yeah, go for it. It's not hard to set intonation again but, it all depends on your skill level or if you think it's worth the hassle. I guess you could mark the saddle position on the baseplate with a fine pencil and then scrub it off if you're a little intimidated.

I don't know.. I've never taken the time to clean under the saddles. I guess I'm a dirty guy.
 
Intonating your guitar is super easy and something everybody should learn. I think youtube has a video where a guy intonates a Custom 24. Usually if i wanna clean my trem i just put a microfiber cloth on the back ubder the trem and take all the strings off, the cloth makes it so the trem doesnt hit the body and scratch it. They usually have a little bit if play allowing me to lift them and clean underneath and around them. The intonation is not the part that is a pain abot taking the saddles off to me, matching the fretboard radius without the little radius tool is harder. If you have a radius tool then putting that saddles back on and intonating is usually a breeze.
 
I like to think I take good care of my guitars. I gig them all in hot and humid environments like tomorrow's wedding reception, where I will be using my 2004 Santana II and my old Oxblood R4.

When I get home, I will clean both instruments. Well.

However, I dont see the need to clean under the bridge saddles. This would be a chore that accomplishes what? It will not help the performance of the guitar at all. Lastly, if you are a newbie at this work, chances are the guitar will be a mess set up wise after the cleaning.
 
I'm just sayin, I had a McCarty with a stoptail that had the metal literally flaking off of it due to neglect. I'd like to avoid that on my trems, especially when they cost a few Benjamin's to replace, and that's not even labor. I'm all about a relic'd look with most guitars also, don't get me wrong, but I feel like PRS guitars don't look as good with crappy looking tarnished hardware. It's like having a Porsche with rusty rims.

I didn't consider taking the radius into account, so that complicates things a little. I'll check out that video and see if it's feasible.
 
Hey it was a subjective statement! I just don't want my trems to start flaking or becoming susceptible to irreplaceable damage, that's basically why I was asking about this.
 
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You're all good, bro! Have at it. I kind of agree with you. I had a Studio that was pristine in all ways, except the stop tail looked like someone dipped it in seaweed and then baked it in the oven for an hour. It just looked like crap. Kind of like your Porsche analogy. But, I do really dig the honest wear on things like un-plated trems! Some is all good, and some is all bad.
 
Agreed man. Yeah when I sold that guitar, and my cu22 that had the same thing happening to it, I replaced the bridges with tonepros just to avoid possible claims of the buyers receiving items that were damaged etc. Just crazy that such an expensive guitar has hardware that just gets eaten alive by acidic sweat, and unfortunately my sweat is very much acidic, it chews up and spits out hardware like stoptails and pickup ring screws.
 
Take the saddles out with the back screws. I set them on a piece of paper in order so that I don`t have to reset the radius, which is a pain in the Tuchus. I then put car wax on all the metal after using metal polish. This was on a used CE 24 that had more hand funk on the bridge than I had ever imagined possible. I put it back together, reset the intonation to my liking, and haven`t touched the intonation in 2 years. By the way, the PRS bridges are nickel plated. The Mann made milcom tremolo is chrome plated so, in theory, it will hold up better. They do make the same guitar sound different. Paul believes that brass plated nickel is more musical than a chrome plating. I have it both ways on 2 different guitars. They`re just different. Better is subjective.
 
Take the saddles out with the back screws. I set them on a piece of paper in order so that I don`t have to reset the radius, which is a pain in the Tuchus. I then put car wax on all the metal after using metal polish. This was on a used CE 24 that had more hand funk on the bridge than I had ever imagined possible. I put it back together, reset the intonation to my liking, and haven`t touched the intonation in 2 years. By the way, the PRS bridges are nickel plated. The Mann made milcom tremolo is chrome plated so, in theory, it will hold up better. They do make the same guitar sound different. Paul believes that brass plated nickel is more musical than a chrome plating. I have it both ways on 2 different guitars. They`re just different. Better is subjective.

NOT CORRECT !!! Both PRS and MannMade USA bridges are NICKEL plated. The 2000NOS (Mil-Com) bridges sound different because the bridge is a one piece casting made from a Red Brass grade of metal as opposed to the 2 piece PRS unit which is Yellow Brass material. There are a few other factors involved, which you can find on older posts...
 
Thank you for the correction, John. The plating on my Milcom was much more brilliant than my PRS, even a new one. I assumed that it was chrome.
 
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