I think im a trem guy for one reason only...

[Russ73]

Slinkier strings with same gauge than the HT...I have 3 S2 standard 22s with trems that I can rip on as opposed to the vela and Mira with 10s...I don't ever use the trem btw lol

 

[vchizzle]

Yes definitely a different feel. I’m mostly a stoptail guy but historically I’ve always used heavier strings too. More recently I’m using 10’s more again.

 

[Geo408]

Agreed…I’m a trem guy, too. Started out on a harmony hollow body with a bigsby trem, which was great. It had killer action, and the trem was smooth. I got very lucky that my 1st real guitar was really good player. After a few years, i got to see Hendrix in Greenwich village, (watching through the window..I was too young to get inside) and that made me want a Strat…Soon after, I got to see Cream at the Westbury fairgrounds. Several years later, I bought a “used” Fender Strat, ( which was a beat up looking, but excellent playing 1963 sunburst ) which I played for many, many years.
I got my 1st PRS in ‘89, and they’ve been my go-to guitar ever since. I’ve owned over 130 guitars in my life, and the majority have been trem models. SG’s with trems, Anderson tele models with trems, and so many others. The slinky feel, and the tricks you can do with a trem, that you can’t do on a stoptail, is what works for me. I also own several guitars without trems, and I enjoy them for different reasons. Bottom line: Embrace the trem!

 

[Russ73]

Agreed…I’m a trem guy, too. Started out on a harmony hollow body with a bigsby trem, which was great. It had killer action, and the trem was smooth. I got very lucky that my 1st real guitar was really good player. After a few years, i got to see Hendrix in Greenwich village, (watching through the window..I was too young to get inside) and that made me want a Strat…Soon after, I got to see Cream at the Westbury fairgrounds. Several years later, I bought a “used” Fender Strat, ( which was a beat up looking, but excellent playing 1963 sunburst ) which I played for many, many years.
I got my 1st PRS in ‘89, and they’ve been my go-to guitar ever since. I’ve owned over 130 guitars in my life, and the majority have been trem models. SG’s with trems, Anderson tele models with trems, and so many others. The slinky feel, and the tricks you can do with a trem, that you can’t do on a stoptail, is what works for me. I also own several guitars without trems, and I enjoy them for different reasons. Bottom line: Embrace the trem!

I'm more interested in your life haha...great stories...

 

[DreamTheaterRules]

It's a catch 22 for some players. Yes, it's a slinkier feel when you bend, but you get less pitch change when you bend further,compared to a fixed bridge, as the vibrato comes up so the pitch doesn't go up as much for the same amount of bend. I like a decked vibrato, as it gives you the more solid low end of a fixed bridge, and you can still go down with the vibrato, AND you can balance your springs to not give much on big bends.

I own fixed bridge, floating and decked vibratos. Like all three for various things and guitars.

 

[Rider1260]

I became a Trem guy when as I started playing PRS in the early 2000s first off it stayed in tune and wasn't a Floyd , then there is a zing ( reverb ) to the PRS Trem I love . Really like the wrap bridge BUT tone wise I keep coming back to Trem guitars

 

[sergiodeblanc]

I have phantom limb pain if I’m playing a guitar without a trem. I keep grabbing for it, and can feel it, but it’s not there.

 

[deathworlder]

"Slinkier" feel?
Tried a short scale(594)?

 

[alantig]

I keep grabbing for it, and can feel it, but it’s not there.

 

[dmatthews]

I have phantom limb pain if I’m playing a guitar without a trem. I keep grabbing for it, and can feel it, but it’s not there.

Some players are TREMendous, but cannot stop a tail...

 

[xxxadixxx]

I am a never-Trem guy. Playing all rhythm and more aggressive music, it was always an unnecessary distraction. Add in the extra setup attention (even if minimal) and it’s only hard/stop tails for me. This is after having Ibanez (Floyd), BC Rich (Khaler), Fender and PRS guitars with trems.

It is one of the really cool things about music/creativity. The exact same observation can lead two people to very different responses. More power to the Trem people who love them.

 

[Gtrbldr]

Interesting. I prefer the stiffer, more direct feel of the fixed bridge and the neck angle it brings along. However the trem gives all kinds of musical possibilities for soundscaping. That is why you should have both.

#gas is not a disease, it is something you put in your car

 

[dogrocketp]

Having both trem and non- trem is like having both salt and pepper. Because I’m a bending guy, I like to bend up and then bend a leedle bit higher by pressing down on the bar. Gimme them quarter tones!

 

[Alnus Rubra]

I have phantom limb pain if I’m playing a guitar without a trem. I keep grabbing for it, and can feel it, but it’s not there.

Band name:

The Phantom Wangs

 

[walrus]

I also don't use the tremolo on my S2 Standard. I would have been totally fine without it, but I love the guitar anyway.

Question - it seems to me that the guitar is a bit louder unplugged with the tremolo "opening" in the back than if it was completely solid. Is that possible?

 

[tedtan]

I also don't use the tremolo on my S2 Standard. I would have been totally fine without it, but I love the guitar anyway.

Question - it seems to me that the guitar is a bit louder unplugged with the tremolo "opening" in the back than if it was completely solid. Is that possible?

I don’t think it makes the guitar louder in and of itself, but the springs in the cavity will vibrate sympathetically giving a bit more volume and a reverb-like effect, so my money is on the springs.

 

[László]

Crassus : Do you eat oysters?
Antoninus : When I have them, master.
Crassus : Do you eat snails?
Antoninus : No, master.
Crassus : Do you consider the eating of oysters to be moral and the eating of snails to be immoral?
Antoninus : No, master.
Crassus : Of course not. It is all a matter of taste, isn't it?
Antoninus : Yes, master.
Crassus : And taste is not the same as appetite, and therefore not a question of morals.
Antoninus : It could be argued so, master.
Crassus : My robe, Antoninus. My taste includes both snails and oysters.

 

[MarcWink]

I very much prefer hardtail bridges, however, only two out of my current 6 electric guitars have them. Reason I prefer hardtail to trem is because the hardtail makes for easier setup changes when setting the guitar up for different gauge strings to accommodate lowered tunings, and the hardtail doesn't fight me with pitch fluctuation on big bends. Generally I can get around the pitch flux a little bit by adding some vibrato, but there are times when it's not called for and I need a long sustaining bend and that can be difficult when the trem bridge is fighting against me on it.

 

[danktat]

I have had my share of both. What I have found is that I don't really even put the bar in my trems as I almost never use them. In the studio, when playing one of my parts and we were looking for something to fill a different sound space I popped it in. But other than that, they exist on some of my guitars, but almost never get any use.

 

[TheCraftsman]

I’m no dive bomber but the term (for now) has been attached always and used sparingly to add a bit of colour or shimmer to notes / chords. It’s tremendously sensitive so a little touch can do a lot (TWSS)