Question Possible to Float St. Vincent Tremolo?

[mangrilla]

Hey, I just got myself an EBMM St. Vincent last night. I'm coming to EBMM after playing strats for 17 years, and one of the things I loved about my strat was having the tremolo set to float for little flutters and vibrato.

When I picked up my St. Vincent at Guitar Center last night, I noted that the tremolo was set near-flush to the body. Realizing that this is how many guitars come out of the box, I asked the Guitar Center employee if it was possible to float the trem on the St. Vincent.

He said no - but he also said it wasn't possible on strats either, despite my having done so with my american standard.

I searched the forums - I guess the St. Vincent is still fairly new so I didn't see much about its set up. So, new friends, is it possible to follow the EBMM FAQ instructions and float a St. Vincent trem?

Thanks!

 

[mikeller]

I floated my Cutlass and I believe the bridges are the same. I see no reason why not.

 

[DrKev]

I asked the Guitar Center employee if it was possible to float the trem on the St. Vincent.

He said no - but he also said it wasn't possible on strats either, despite my having done so with my american standard.

What a dumbass! Perfect example of working in a store in and of itself confers no actual knowledge. Tell him to read the fender Strat setup guides, which is a pretty good starting place for any guitar. EBMM bridges are no different and can be set to float easily. On the older vintage style trems we usually just do this...



...which is how the Luke guitar is set from the factory (and how Fender recommend their strats are setup). No reason why you can't do that with the Cutlass trem too. Just loosen the trem claw screws so that you get approx 1/8" (3mm) gap behind the bridge when you are in tune. It'll be great!

 

[mangrilla]

Great news! I'm going to float it this weekend. Thank you DrKev and mikeller for your quick responses!

 

[wasabi__mami]

Did you do it? How did it turn out? I want to do it on mine as well.

 

[jayjayjay]

Did you do it? How did it turn out? I want to do it on mine as well.

Considering the OP started this thread back in 2017 and these two posts are the only to his profile, I don't know that the OP will respond.

That said, I have a Sterling Axis (among other guitars), which has a two-point vintage-style trem, and I floated it - no problem! Factory specs have it decked, but it floats just fine. Looks just like my strat, which also has a floating trem. I raised it the aforementioned 1/8" or so - I floated enough to bend up a step and flutter notes. The only adjustment besides the spring claw I had to make was lowering the saddles a little, as the float raised the strings.

I'd start with getting the guitar action set up to your desired height per the factory setup (decked), then as DrKev mentioned loosen the spring claw and retune until you get the float you want (either measured height or until it bends up the amount you want). I'd suggest loosening the claw until the bridge just starts to lift, then tune back up, as retuning will lift the bridge further. If you loosen initially until it's at 1/8", when you retune it'll overshoot too high. It can be an iterative process, so you may have to loosen and return a few times before it's dialed in. If you go too far, just tighten the claw back up a touch and retune. When it's floating where you want, adjust the saddle blocks if needed to get back to your preferred string height.

The St. Vs have a somewhat similar two-point setup, although it looks like the post spacing is a bit wider than on my Axis. That should make zero difference though - no reason why you can't float it.

 

[mangrilla]

Did you do it? How did it turn out? I want to do it on mine as well.

I ended up just asking for it in a setup. No issues there, though I recently got a new setup on changing string gauges and don't like how it's currently set to float, so I assume I'll be doing some work on it soon. Jayjayjay is right about the process.