changing strings on trem guitar?

[art027]

Can somebody give me some advise here?
I just purchased an albert Lee with trem. Everything is working fine, but i'm not sure how i should handle when i want to change strings
I never owned a trem equiped guitar before. So what are the things i have to keep in mind?
Can i just take the six strings of, or should i take em of one by one? And what would be the effect on the bridge when all strings are taken of the guitar?
I also noticed that when i bend a note, the other strings won't stay in tune perfectly. for example, when i want to bend the d note on the b string up to an e note while playing also a g note on the high e string, this g note won't stay in tune. So i guess this has something to do with the bridge hasn't it?


Thanks,
Michell (the netherlands)

 

[louisgtr]

As long as the trem is not a floating trem, you shouldn't have any problems removing all of the strings before putting new ones on. If it's a floating trem, you can save yourself some aggravation by changing one string at a time. I have a guitar with a floating Floyd Rose bridge, and I'll sometimes remove all the strings in order to do a better job of cleaning the guitar. I just block underneath the bridge to hold it in place while the strings are off. I'm not familiar with the Albert Lee model, but looking at pictures of it, it looks like the trem rests against the body of the guitar, so you probably wouldn't have any problems removing all of the strings. And yes, when you bend strings on a trem equipped guitar, the other strings will go slightly out of tune. I play bends similar to the one you described, and I compensate by bending the string a little more in order to get the bend in tune. Good luck, I hope this helps.

 

[art027]

Hey Louisgtr, thanks for your respond.
You're right, the bridge on the Albert lee is resting against the body so i guess i won't have any problems with it.
I have some concernes about the other thing i pointed out, i mean about bendings going out of tune.
Isn't there a way to avoid this from happening? Shouldn't the bridge be a little tighter, so i can bend without other strings going out of tune, but still be able to use the trem?
Thanks,
Michell

 

[louisgtr]

The only thing I can think of is adding more springs on the trem. Check out how many springs you have, if you only have three springs, try adding a fourth and maybe a fifth. This will affect the feel of your trem action, but it may help bends stay in tune better. You will also probably have to adjust your truss rod, as the additional springs will put more pressure on the neck, which also means you will probably have to reset your intonation as well. There may be other alternatives, but when concerning trems, it just comes with the territory that the other strings will go out of tune slightly when bending a string.

Louis

 

[louisgtr]

I forgot to mention the Tremsetter made by Hipshot. The Tremsetter will stabilize your trem to help it return to pitch, and it also keeps the other strings in tune when bending a string. The only thing is that it's made to work with floating trems, so I'm not sure if it will work with your Albert Lee or not. I had one installed on a guitar, and it worked as advertised. It will also have an affect on your trem arm action, but it is adjustable. It has some other benefits too, just go to http://www.hipshotproducts.com and their website has all the details, stewmac.com also sells the Tremsetter, and I believe they have a cheaper price if I'm not mistaken.

Louis

 

[lock-ny]

First of all you should always chage the strings one at a time, those strings are 130lbs and the neck might shift a bit if you take all the strings off, if your cleaning the neck thats a different story but I dont believe in cleaning necks anyway...about the trem, you need to tighten the claw a bit in the trem cavity, adding a spring will probably make it too tight unless your going up in gauge strings, just simply screw the claw a bit closer to the body, half turns evenly til the trem doesnt lift, thats all, simple - lock

 

[louisgtr]

To each his own when it comes to cleaning necks, but I have removed all the strings countless times without the neck shifting or doing damage to my guitars. Adjusting the spring claw might work, but I think the other strings will still go slightly out of tune when bending a string, especially on multi-string bends. I only use three springs on my trems, so I just compensate by bending the string more.

 

[art027]

Thanks guys for your help and advise. I'll take all of the advises seriously. I haven't had any expierience with a trem equiped guitar so all of your responds are very worthy to me. I also realize that there can be differences of opinions. No prob.

Louis, i never heard of this 'trem setter'. Sounds interesting though. I sent hipshot an email and asked if it would work on an Albert Lee. (haven't received an anwer yet) It is something i'll keep in mind. I think i have to find out how much this 'out of tune' thing is going to bother me. Maybe i'll get used to it and eventually learn how to compensate, like you do.

Lock, i did look at the claw at first, but i didn't know if i could tighten it up without causing damage (too afraid to cause some sort of damage to an expensive guitar)
I did put a screwdriver to it though just to try out and see how tight it is. I think a lot of pressure is needed.
Is this something you would do on your guitars without a worry?
Thanks, Michell

 

[lock-ny]

The tremblocker locks the trem into place, it doesnt allow you to use the tem at all, they were created for floyd rose equipped guitars in attempt to lock the trem into place, they actually add tone and sustain to the guitar which is the benefit, as would adding another spring, about the claw dont be afraid, I work on all my guitars and build guitars myself, so I say with confidence not realizing that you may not have much experience setting up your instrument, but the claw is jsut screwed into the body the same way a door is screwed to a hinge, you cant hurt the guitar, you just dont want to make it too lose to whereas the screws are close to coming out of the body, adding another spring will add tone as well, and changing the strings one at a time is safer for the guitar for many reasons, the trem can also pop off the two pivots, it actually happened with my origina EVH axis and it put some nasty dents in the finish under the bridge which is why I always suggest changing them one at a time, when cleaning the neck put a shammy inder the back of the bridge so that doesnt happen to you, good luck dude -

 

[Estin]

about the floating trem thing, i don't think ernie ball even offers a true floating trem do they? i thought they all rested on the body and lowerd pitch only. because of this they have alot more tone and sustain over some randy rhoads floating trem flying v.

 

[lock-ny]

they used to until they lost their popularity, but the original luke model was a floating floyd as was the original silhouette, there is one on e-bay right now actually - lock

 

[Strife]

The tremsetter works pretty good.

I used to have a Jackson with a floating floyd on, and the tremsetter definatly helped.

It did the job fine until i just got tired of floating trems alltogether(especially when you bust a string at gig and your guitar goes all outta wack, that sucks)

 

[The Miracle]

About bending notes on a trem

Art,

As an Ibanez JEM player, I've got the floating trem on my guitar. I've been using floating trems ever since my first guitar, which was a Harmony guitar. (Kind of a model of a Strat)

If you add more springs to the trem, you're going to increase tension, which will add more resistance to the string when you try to bend it. However, whenever you bend, it pulls on the trem causing the other string to lose tension and essentially drop its pitch. This happens no matter how many springs you add to the trem. Bending on a floating trem while playing other strings is somewhat of an art. It comes with a lot of practice. I've found the trick is, when you bend a string, slightly bend the string of the second note being played with it, only more subtley (the string normally that stay's put). For example, If you're doing the good old fashioned "blues" bend, when you play the 14th fret - third sting and 15th fret - second string at the same time and bend only the 3rd string up a half step or whole step, when using a floating trem, you'd also want to bend the second string up (JUST A HAIR) to counter the effect of the trem letting the note go flat. With a little practice, it'll be second nature for playing a floating trem guitar. Give it a try and tell me what you think.


Hope this helps!

 

[art027]

bending on trem guitar

Hey Miracle,
thanks for the advise. I'm playing this trem guitar for a while now, and slowly i start to play and bend like you described. I have to get used to it a little, but you're right this is the way to deal with it. After a while it becomes second nature.
I did put an extra spring but i did this because i went up in string gauche. I also screwed the claw a bit closer to the body. The feel of the trem obviously got a little tighter but to me it feels perfect now. It actually does help (a little)keeping notes in tune, while bending another string. The trem is resting on the body because that is the way i like it, it sort of feels right for this guitar. I play rock and roll and country so i use the trem only for the nice touches, you know at the end of chords. Certainly not the extreme dives.