Petrucci's tremelo

[JPetrucci DT]

im not quite sure how it works because it cant be a locking tremelo becuz it doesnt have that thing on the neck rite? then how does it stay in tune? and what do you "the people" prefer to use, jp's tremelo or something else?

kind of a beginner with tremelos and whammy bars since none of the 3 guitars i currently have dont have um and im lookin for a new gutiar and the tremelo bar interests me alot so i just wanna know this stuff

any help will be appreciated

 

[blackspy]

The 'locks' are on the tuners themselves, they're the locking mechanism.

As for what people prefer... you'll get the usual opinions, love it, hate it, like it, don't like it, etc... if I'm going to use a trem, I like Floyd's. Though I have no doubt at all that the JP trem is very good.

If you're a beginner to a trem, the JP would probably be a good one, as far as that department goes. It is simpler to setup and maintain than the Floyd system.

 

[Kevan]

-Non-Locking: The string isn't locked anywhere along it's length (i.e. Str*t-type tremolo setup).
-Single Locking: The string is locked at the bridge; not strung thru the the trem block.
-Double Locking: The string is locked at the bridge *and* at the nut (i.e. most Floyd Rose-type trems).

Guitars with locking tuners could be considered "reverse Single Locking", but we usually just say "It's got locking tuners".

 

[Katana6506]

It's a pretty stable trem, though the locking tuners are by no means a substitute for a dual-locking system in terms of the ability to hold tune. It mostly depends on the style of music you're going to play. If your style tends more towards classic rock (pre Van Halen) you'll be fine with this trem, but if you're into post Van Halen-era rock (ie hair-metal pyrotechnics) I would suggest that you look into a guitar equipped with a Floyd Rose dual-locking system, as there is virtually no way to throw the Floyd setup out of tune short of breaking a string. Unfortunately, the Floyd system is a pain to deal with when it comes to restringing and the associated activities, such as setup.

 

[brettlingle]

It's a pretty stable trem, though the locking tuners are by no means a substitute for a dual-locking system in terms of the ability to hold tune. It mostly depends on the style of music you're going to play. If your style tends more towards classic rock (pre Van Halen) you'll be fine with this trem, but if you're into post Van Halen-era rock (ie hair-metal pyrotechnics) I would suggest that you look into a guitar equipped with a Floyd Rose dual-locking system, as there is virtually no way to throw the Floyd setup out of tune short of breaking a string. Unfortunately, the Floyd system is a pain to deal with when it comes to restringing and the associated activities, such as setup.

I have had a Floyd Rose and a Khaler locking tremelo. I must say that out of the three the JP tremelo blows the other two out of the water. I play,pick,use the whammy very hard and the JP trem always stays in tune. I NEVER got that with a Floyd Rose or a Khaler locking trem. Matter of fact I would never go back to either one of them. They take too long to tune as well. You tune one string and the others go flat.With the JP trem you string it up stretch the strings and you are ready to go.
Brett Lingle

 

[puppyonacid]

The JP trem is wonderful. YOu can really whammy away and it does hold it's tuning extremely well. The thing is, if you do go slightly out of tune i find its easier to re-tune with this sort of trem because you are using the tuners themsleves rather than fine tuners on the bridge ala floyd rose. I have an N4 on the other hand with a floyd rose. I swear I could throw it in front of a bus and it just won't go out of tune.

The tuning maybe more stable on a floyd rose because the string is locked twice. But I feel the ease of use on the JP model makes it a far better trem. You can pretty much do anything with it that you can with a floyd rose. But, if you break a string it will still go out of tune. In my band we do quite a bit of drop D stuff. Retuning the JP to drop D still send the other strings out of tune, but not by much. And it is alot easier to tune to drop D as you dont have to fiddle with fine tuners. It's a nightmare trying to D-tune on my floyd rose, especially when i find there isn't enough room on the fine tuners to tune the strings back up whci hmeans unlocking the nuts and so on.

If you want a a trem as good as a floyd rose but simpler to use, the JP model has it!

 

[brettlingle]

The JP trem is wonderful. YOu can really whammy away and it does hold it's tuning extremely well. The thing is, if you do go slightly out of tune i find its easier to re-tune with this sort of trem because you are using the tuners themsleves rather than fine tuners on the bridge ala floyd rose. I have an N4 on the other hand with a floyd rose. I swear I could throw it in front of a bus and it just won't go out of tune.

The tuning maybe more stable on a floyd rose because the string is locked twice. But I feel the ease of use on the JP model makes it a far better trem. You can pretty much do anything with it that you can with a floyd rose. But, if you break a string it will still go out of tune. In my band we do quite a bit of drop D stuff. Retuning the JP to drop D still send the other strings out of tune, but not by much. And it is alot easier to tune to drop D as you dont have to fiddle with fine tuners. It's a nightmare trying to D-tune on my floyd rose, especially when i find there isn't enough room on the fine tuners to tune the strings back up whci hmeans unlocking the nuts and so on.

If you want a a trem as good as a floyd rose but simpler to use, the JP model has it!

I don't agree with you at all on the Floyd Rose stability it takes forever to get it in tune because you tune one string and all the others go out of tune and its the same when a single string goes out of tune you have to reapeat the whole process all over again.I never get that with the JP tremelo.
Brett Lingle

 

[blackspy]

I don't agree with you at all on the Floyd Rose stability it takes forever to get it in tune because you tune one string and all the others go out of tune and its the same when a single string goes out of tune you have to reapeat the whole process all over again.I never get that with the JP tremelo.
Brett Lingle

Pehaps with a 'floating' Floyd, a flush mounted Floyd doesn't have this problem. Besides, if the JP is set up to float, wouldn't the same thing happen?

 

[blackspy]

I have had a Floyd Rose and a Khaler locking tremelo. I must say that out of the three the JP tremelo blows the other two out of the water. I play,pick,use the whammy very hard and the JP trem always stays in tune. I NEVER got that with a Floyd Rose or a Khaler locking trem.

You were doing something wrong then.

 

[brettlingle]

Pehaps with a 'floating' Floyd, a flush mounted Floyd doesn't have this problem. Besides, if the JP is set up to float, wouldn't the same thing happen?

I don't know what the difference is between floating and non floating.I just played the other two and I think the JP is far superior.
Brett

 

[Mail2Jackbutler]

With any "floating" trem...proper set up and stretching the strings thoroughly is a MUST..I use the the trem for a lot of different techniques..everything from vibrato to dives to attacking the note during legato passages.. I have a few floyd guits as well as my JP6 and once the strings are thoroughly stretched both the Petrucci trem and the floyd are completely stable..although in regards to pulling a note up, my floyds have a little more range and ONLY due to the depth of the trem cavity itself and NOT due to any performance issues with the Petrucci bridge.
Some once told me when I was really young.."you either play guitar or you play tele"..lol..I kind of view use of the floating trem in the same regard..I teach my students who use floating bridges an entire class on set, use and maitenece of the thing..you have to remember that in regards to "stability", you're balancing string tension versus spring tension...this is what can cause one string to go flat or sharp as another is tuned or broken..its kind of a live by the sword/die by the sword thing that just comes with using one..
in my experience the easiest way to balance the bridge is to start with the low e and tune, then the a and back to the e...e, a, d...e, a, d, g and so on...this seems like a long process and in the beginning, it is; but once you're used to it..it doesn't take any longer that setting anything else up.
Sorry for the long post...
Kevin

 

[Tim O'Sullivan]

Or use a hardtail ;o)

 

[brettlingle]

Or use a hardtail ;o)

Nah those kind of guitars are for people who don't know how to play very well. Or play boring three chord rock.
Brett Lingle

 

[edensdad]

I love the JP Trem. With my older guitars - Fenders and Jacksons, I would pay someone to turn it into a hardtail - with springs or blocks or whatever.

I never used a tremolo at all before because of the tuning issues, the sharp set screws and fine tuners, and the fact that I play metal and the way I palm mute didn't work with an unstable bridge.

I still don't use it much - about as much as JP does - I use my fret hand to bend up and control vibrato mostly - and dive bombing went out when hair bands did

 

[puppyonacid]

I don't agree with you at all on the Floyd Rose stability it takes forever to get it in tune because you tune one string and all the others go out of tune and its the same when a single string goes out of tune you have to reapeat the whole process all over again.I never get that with the JP tremelo.
Brett Lingle

That was the point i was making. You must have mis-read what I said. It is way easier to tune the JP. But, with the floyd rose trem double locked, once it is in tune and the strings are stretched, it should stay in tune better than the JP. I am not saying it's a better system though. And neither am I saying that it will stay in tune better than the JP. Only that it should. I have one of each. The floyd rose just wont go out of tune no matter what I do. But the trem on the JP holds it's tuning almost as well to the point where it's negligable. And it is easier to work with.

 

[Brutalc]

I have one question:

A couple of months ago I had a nut replaced on my JP6 and when I first used tremolo after that, low E string went out of tune for more than a half tone. I contacted local luthier (which replaced the nut for me) and he said, that I just have to be really agressive with the tremolo for a week or sth. so that the nut starts functioning properly. So I did that And now the tremolo in functioning fine, but after that I became almost obsessed with checking my tuning after every moderate tremolo use. So I found out, that sometimes (not always) the string before tremolo use is tuned like this:
b- - - - - - O - - - - - -#
(O led on my tuner is lit, - it's turned off)
after I use tremolo, it is sth. like that:
b- - - - - - O o - - - - -#
(o led is slowly blinking, O led is lit)
Tremolo is still in tune, but it is a bit more sharp than before.

So my question is: is this normal and I am just exaggerating with this, or should I worry about this? The trick is, that before the nut replacement I wasn't too worried about this, I checked the tuning every two weeks, corrected it a bit and then played normally, now I check my tuning almost after every dive I do and it's almost driving me crazy

 

[Kevan]

1. http://www.petersontuners.com/
StroboStomp is your friend. Hefty price tag, but worth every dime.

2. http://www.tremol-no.com/cleanandlube.asp
That applies to ALL trems.

 

[SteveB]

All the guitars I've owned for the last two decades or so have had Floyd's, except for my JP6.

I like the JP's trem better. I'm a moderate tremolo user, I tend to use it to add some 'warble' to chords or high notes while soloing. I like to bend both up and down.

In my application, I find the Petrucci tremolo more stable. Your mileage may vary, but this is my experience. I also find that string changes are much easier with the Petrucci trem.

(I also own a Strobostomp tuner, which is indeed your friend as Kevan said!)

 

[brettlingle]

I have one question:

A couple of months ago I had a nut replaced on my JP6 and when I first used tremolo after that, low E string went out of tune for more than a half tone. I contacted local luthier (which replaced the nut for me) and he said, that I just have to be really agressive with the tremolo for a week or sth. so that the nut starts functioning properly. So I did that And now the tremolo in functioning fine, but after that I became almost obsessed with checking my tuning after every moderate tremolo use. So I found out, that sometimes (not always) the string before tremolo use is tuned like this:
b- - - - - - O - - - - - -#
(O led on my tuner is lit, - it's turned off)
after I use tremolo, it is sth. like that:
b- - - - - - O o - - - - -#
(o led is slowly blinking, O led is lit)
Tremolo is still in tune, but it is a bit more sharp than before.

So my question is: is this normal and I am just exaggerating with this, or should I worry about this? The trick is, that before the nut replacement I wasn't too worried about this, I checked the tuning every two weeks, corrected it a bit and then played normally, now I check my tuning almost after every dive I do and it's almost driving me crazy

Wow!!!You have to be kidding man!It is only off that much? That shoudn't even be noticeable. That' not even considered a semitone. If you are bothered that much by it going barley a baby's hair sharp you have the hearing of Superman himself!The only thing I can think of that would be causing that is maybe the G string is sticking in the nut or something or the guitar may not be set up properly course that's just my opinion.I have heard that if your trem angle is off it could cause tuning problems also.I do alot of whammy bar antics like hitting the tremelo arm causing it to vibrate real fast like Petrucci does in the Under A Glass Moon solo,dive bombs,really wide George Lynch type stuff and my trem on both my JP guitars NEVER goes out of tune not even the slightest. I think it is the best trem ever made to be quite honest I don't know why they just didn't do them like this in the first place.
Brett Lingle

 

[rrhea]

After owing a JP6 for about a year, I have decided to sell it in preference to a Y2D with a Floyd. My Y2D is on order now, and should take some time to arrive... but it will be worth it.

As Brutalc mentioned, I too am having the slight tuning issues with my JP trem with all the unwounds usually going a few cents sharp after some moderate use. I have tracked this down to the bridge saddles binding... and it's very frustrating. They always snap back after some micro bends, but it just really bugs me. Except my two Strats (which I've gotten to work really well, btw) all my other trems are double locking. I just prefer this over the non-locking type because they do hold their tune better and longer that the non-locking trems in my experience.

Very favorable results can be acheived with any good tremolo system, and it really all depends on your playing style and what you are trying to do with it. Lot's of people like to down tune and many people almost never touch the bar when playing... and I think for most of these players a Strat trem, Wilky or the JP trem is just fine. People who are coping Vai licks or EVH might find themselves having to re-tune between sets or even songs if they are not using a double locking trem.

The double locking system was invented for a reason, and it does work if you know what you're doing and know how to set them up. I think the JP trem works as advertised but just not quite as well as my locking types, IMHO.

Ryan