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Upgrading tremolo on a Sterling

TonyEVH5150

TonyEVH5150

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 6, 2006
Messages
1,558
Location
Nashville, TN
I have a Sterling Cutlass I’ve just bought for a project. I’m thinking of changing hardware on it some and putting on a different tremolo.

I have a few ideas of what I might use, and the Floyd Rose Rail Tail is probably the top one on my list. I’m curious if anyone else has done a tremolo change on their Sterling, and what they used?
 
That’s the one I am leaning towards. I rarely use a flutter effect or pull up. I’m definitely in the divebomb category. I’ll report back it that’s what I go with.
 
Here's what I've found out so far:

The Cutlass (or at least the CT50) has a body depth of 1 5/8". Most standard trems (even the Rail Tail) have deeper tremolo blocks, and those would extend out of the cavity. You would either have to swap the tremolo block for a "shorty" block made for thinline bodies, or get a tremolo that has a shorter block installed.

I found one company that makes a tremolo with a shorter block as an option. That's Super-Vee. I custom ordered their Bladerunner trem with the short block installed. I haven't installed it yet, but if it goes well, I might replace the trem I have on the new SBMM JV60 trem I just bought.

as best as I could tell, the Rail Tail won't work. I contacted Floyd Rose, and they felt like it was too deep of a trem block to fit that depth. I have heard of people taking the back cover off, but I can only imagine how that would have a potential for injury with a trem block and springs sitting that close to your belly.
 
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