Fixed Bridge v. Trem

[assMan]

Hi all,

Just had some great responses re: rosewood necks and hope to get some more insight on fixed arm v. trem bridges. Is there a difference in sound, playability, tone, etc.?

Thanks in advance
assMan

 

[ozzyrules]

This will certainly open up another can of worms. Some say that tonal resonance is lost through the trem system,some will argue otherwise. My mm90 Ass has a fixed bridge and I can't get it to come out of tune. I love that attribute of the fixed bridge. My HH Ass has a vintage trem and is (ever so) slightly less stable. It requires some tuning adjustment but not enough to discourage me from using it. It stays in tune 99.9% of the time and is way more stable than my G&L hard tail was.The same with my 25th, and of course the upgraded Floyd on the tribute speaks for itself. They're all incredible guitars, each in their own special way.Hope this helps.

 

[aleclee]

I have two Rosewood SuperSports: one hardtail and one trem. Not a lot of difference between the two in any respect.

 

[LawDaddy]

Personally, I like the Tune-O-Matic hardtail on the Morse guitars.

 

[Spudmurphy]

Clapton favoured a strat with trem (but never used it) 'cos he preferred the sound he got.

I have hardtails I have trems. Out of my guitars my fav is the trem AL (with maple neck sorry )

The last gig I played live I don't remember having to retune whilst playing - very stable system.

I occasionally retune the JP6 - but that is a floater.

 

[Tim O'Sullivan]

I hate trem systems with a passion! Its seems a whole load of trouble for a wobble sound!

Get a hardtail!

 

[Astrofreq]

I only use hardtails these days. I love a trem, but it has to be a Floyd Rose. AND it has to be floating, or else, what's the point?

Since I love the sound and feel of EB Axis guitars, I'm restricted to the hardtail, which isn't all bad.

 

[joe web]

tremolo guitars have a different sound to it.
to me a fixed bridge guitar (tune-o-matic-style) has always more focused mids and not that much low-end and more "wood-sound" as the tremolo versions.
i think it has to do with the more "metal" material you got with the tremolo.
i can´t say which one is better, because it depends on the sound you are looking for.

if you want a tremolo but come close to the sound of a fixed bridge, look out for a "rest-on-the-body" termolo like on the EVH models or the older Morse or Y2D model and change the brass-block to a bigger brass-block. this gives you more of the hardtail sound on a tremolo guitar.