Number of springs in the back of Axis tremolo

[opie]

Greetings fellow balls!

I just switched from .9´s to .10-46 gauge strings on my beloved Axis. The two springs originally installed in the back seemed way to weak so I added a third (original) one in the middle. That seemed a bit over the top so I have tried to loosen the claw screws but don´t want to go too far out for obvious reasons.
The trem arm still feels too firm to use in a natural way so here´s the question:
How do you guys set up your Axis with 10-46 gauge strings?

My apologies if the answer has been given countless times before but I couldn´t find anything.

Best regard,

Opie
soon to be a proud JPXI owner as well!!

 

[Jack FFR1846]

I run 3 in my Supersport with 10s and also in my Axis with 9's. I first tension the claw down so that the trem is decked. I then go further and bend the B string and listen for any e string tone change. I tighten until there isn't any. That's tighter than most people would like it, so you could certainly skip the second step.

Have you angled the outside springs? That will reduce the effective spring rate of them. If you really needed, you can actually angle all 3 springs. Here's a guitar that I did that with:

 

[opie]

Thanks for your reply Jack!

Yes the two outer springs are already angled to reduce the tension. When set up from the importer the guitar had two springs in the back, both angled. I had to add one more. I´ll just experiment with it some more I guess.

 

[DrKev]

Actually, just to avoid confusion - if the trem claw and bridge have not moved, angling the springs makes them longer, which means more extension, which means more tension.

If you had a floating bridge with angled springs and you changed the springs to straight you will have less tension on the springs, the bridge will lift from the string tension and you would have to tighten the trem claw to get the bridge to float in the same way it did before.

I´ll just experiment with it some more I guess.

Absolutely! Find what works best for you.

 

[opie]

Thanks for clarifying DrKev!
I was kind of overthinking this and got it the other way around. Of course if the spring`s physical length is the same, it has to stretch more to compensate for the increased distance and so the tension is increased. My head focused too much on angles for a moment