Blocking Tremolos, who has done it……

[Sybo]

Is this something you guys have benefited from sound wise, or is this bad voodoo.. I am contemplating blocking my S2 Standard today. With THIS guitar I have always increased the tension on the trem springs so the back of the trem is touching the body. Then I didn’t have tuning issues on this particular guitar. I also liked the way it sounded BETTER with the base of the trem touching at the back rather than being level with the body.

Sure I lose the trem if I block, but my use of a tremolo is so limited and I’ll use my vibrato setting in my fingers. My S2 is really coming into into its own with mods!!!​

 

[Bill SAS 513]

Naaaa, its not too hard at all...and since you've already maxed out the trem springs (a la Boscoe France) ...
Just get a square block of wood that fits in the rear opening, between the trem-block and rear wall of the cavity, or buy one of the many trem-blocks...

 

[Aahzz]

Is this something you guys have benefited from sound wise, or is this bad voodoo.. I am contemplating blocking my S2 Standard today. With THIS guitar I have always increased the tension on the trem springs so the back of the trem is touching the body. Then I didn’t have tuning issues on this particular guitar. I also liked the way it sounded BETTER with the base of the trem touching at the back rather than being level with the body.

Sure I lose the trem if I block, but my use of a tremolo is so limited and I’ll use my vibrato setting in my fingers. My S2 is really coming into into its own with mods!!!​

I normally deck the tremolo, but I did block it on my last CE. I used corks from wine bottles - cut into 4 pieces, 2 on each side of the block, since I wanted to leave it in the floating position, but stable. Worked great, sounded great, and was ridiculously easy to remove when I decided to sell it.

If I do end up with an S2 Standard 22 as my next guitar, I'm going to start by just decking it - I do occasionally like to use a trem for a slight downward dip, but never pull up, and appreciate the stability.

 

[Sybo]

I have done it a number of times with a wood block, I just ordered an aluminum block I’ll pick up in an hour, $8. Anybody used aluminum? I can’t believe I’m so excited about this small project!

 

[bodia]

It seems to work well for Clapton!

 

[Sybo]

Well there ya go………….

 

[aphantomvaper]

I always wanted to try blocking the trem with a piece of brass 'cos its a more musical metal. Still have yet to make the effort. I'm surprised to hear the cork worked well as I'd assume it would absorb vibrations.

Good luck it will be interesting to hear the result.

 

[GADonis]

I put a Tremol-no on one of my Strats because sometimes I wanted to lock it and sometimes I wanted it unlocked. I didn't care for it. I don't know if I did a crap job installing it, but it never seemed to fit very well and was a pain in the butt. I have another Strat that I "decked." I put a full complement of springs on it and tightened them down quite a bit. I have no plans on ever using the tremolo on this Strat. I've had no issues with it.