Italian luthier Galeazzo Frudua demonstrates this method on his RU-vid videos (he's also a great musician and expert in Beatles vocal harmonies) and I've been using this elegant method ever since. Along the way I discovered an overlooked component not dealt with by his method - control of the action increase that the method introduces - and added a 'fix' to his method as shown/discussed in the video and listed below. The great thing about this method is that it is consistently repeatable and gives guaranteed results every time. If you get the nut slots right (cut to the right depth and free-flowing / no friction) and your strings are fully stretched out then there's no reason that a floating 6 screw tremolo won't work perfectly even on the cheapest of guitars.
Here are the steps. FYI I didn't do the 1st 4 bullet points on the list because my tremolo plate was already level with the body. Additionally, the action I started with was very low because I've already fret-levelled this guitar. You may not have done that with yours in which case, it can be set at the optimum playing action that the guitar will allow as YOUR starting point.
Frudua+ tremolo setting method
The way the screws are set in the front of the tremolo plate is critical to smooth operation of a 6 screw bridge in floating mode. They must NOT be screwed in tight because that will remove the freedom of movement the front of the plate requires. Follow these instructions to ensure the plate has room to move:
• Raise the 4 inner screws to 2mm above the baseplate (out of the way)
• Raise the 2 outer screws until there's no less than 0.5mm space between the front of the plate (the tip of the plate bevel) and the guitar top
.
• Screw in the 4 inner screws to the same level as the 2 outer ones
[My addition to Frudua's method to control the action height change during this setup]
• Set the playing action to your ideal height (as low as your frets will allow)
• Then reduce EACH string's height as measured at the last fret by 0.5mm (= one half turn on each of the saddle grub screws). Ignore whether this causes strings to buzz or choke; setting the tremolo will raise the action again by the same 0.5mm.
• Tighten tremolo claw bolts until the rear of the bridge plate touches the guitar top
• Get a 6mm block of Post-it notes
• Put the tremolo arm in and push forward and fit in the amount of Post-its needed to hold the plate horizontal i.e. parallel to the guitar body
(if required, ignore if not)
• Tune the G string to pitch
• Remove the Post-it pad
• Depress the arm until the G string detunes to E and place in enough Post-it notes to hold the tuning precisely at E
• With the Post-it note still in place, tune all strings to standard pitch
• Remove Post-it notes
(the notes will all go sharp as the springs pull the tremolo plate back to the body)
• Unscrew the 2 tremolo claw screws
in the back of the guitar until the G string is showing 'G' on the tuner
In writing this looks more complicated than it is, and it will become 2nd nature if you do it often enough.
28 авг 2024
