Recommend a replacement tremolo for my Strat

scottp

scottp

Fractal Fanatic
I want to replace the stock 2 point tremolo with 2 7/32" stud spacing.
I am looking for a drop in replacement, if possible.
I like the feel of a Floyd.
No screw in bars!
I want a push in bar that remains snug with no play between the bar and the tremolo.
Thanks.

Trem.jpg
 
So the 510's you all are talking about, Can I use that with the existing Fender pivot studs?
 
It's really close, but not a drop in replacement. It will fit on the existing Fender studs, but the nut that holds the trem arm bushing onto the plate makes it a little bit wider than the American Standard bridge on the underside. The trem block route needs to be made a tiny bit wider on the treble side to clear it. A good file or Dremel can handle this pretty quick. If you want to use the Gotoh locking posts, the threads are different, so you'd have to pull and drill out the bushing holes to 10mm from the stock 3/8" size Fender uses.
 
The 510 stud bushings will fit in the same post holes that Fender drilled, But as said above a slight tweak to the rout is needed to accomodate the arm mech. Very quick with a dremol and not visible then the Trem is installed. I have done this more than 20 times in the past few years. The Wilkinson locking saddles are very good too if you can get a set.
 
Absolutely the vegatrem.. It costs a lot but it s fantastic..no works to subsitute no holes in your guitar.. No liuther.. You can do by yourself.. Absolutely recommended
 
Except the video is not actually very good at saying WHY anything works or doesn't. The conclusions are backed up with nothing.
 
Seems to me we could use some kind of poll which ordered the popular upgrade trems by preference, and places the price alongside their names. If I "had my 'druthers" I'd use a kind of Choice Voting System where you could order each option as your 1st choice, 2nd choice, etc., and then tallied up according to the usual "Single Transferrable Vote" procedure. It's the most nuanced way to rank multiple choices I know of.

I'm not sure how to create such a poll, though.

Anyway, here are the options I know of, together with some approximate prices that I see here and there on the web (I've excluded the Floyd Rail Tail because it's up-only):

Gotoh 510 (~$120)
Wilkinson Gotoh (~$130)
Hipshot Contour (~$170)
Super Vee Blade Runner (~$180)
Sophia (~$250)
Mann Made ($275)
Vega Trem ($280)

P.S. I've never heard anything but glowing recommendations about Mann Made, but can they really ask such a steep price for something that, feature-wise, doesn't seem very different from products available at half the price? It made me question whether perhaps the Gotoh 510, Wilkinson, or Hipshot trems would have a reputation for inferior quality, but when I look at reviews, I see no evidence of that. Odd.
 
Dr. Dipwad said:
P.S. I've never heard anything but glowing recommendations about Mann Made, but can they really ask such a steep price for something that, feature-wise, doesn't seem very different from products available at half the price? It made me question whether perhaps the Gotoh 510, Wilkinson, or Hipshot trems would have a reputation for inferior quality, but when I look at reviews, I see no evidence of that. Odd.
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When people say, "I want it made in the USA!" this is the part they fail to reconcile: Mann's pricing reflects what it costs to make his tremolos in the USA. Niche market. Low volume. Small shop. USA labour rates. That adds up.

Gotoh 510s are made in Japan. Wilkinson manufactures in China and Korea. Super-Vee doesn't say where their products are made.

Hipshot is USA-made so kudos to them for finding a price point with a margin that sustains a business. They have a bigger product catalog so they might be able to sacrafice margins and make it up in volume.

Sophia is made in Taiwan. Vega is "made in Europe" is all they say.
 
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Saw the vega tremelo at namm wanted to see it for a while, man is it well made, and allows upward pull if you want too. The guys were super nice as well.
 
@iaresee:

Thanks for the informative reply!
iaresee said:
When people say, "I want it made in the USA!" this is the part they fail to reconcile: Mann's pricing reflects what it costs to make his tremolos in the USA. Niche market. Low volume. Small shop. USA labour rates. That adds up.

Gotoh 510s are made in Japan. Wilkinson manufactures in China and Korea. Super-Vee doesn't say where their products are made.

Hipshot is USA-made so kudos to them for finding a price point with a margin that sustains a business. They have a bigger product catalog so they might be able to sacrifice margins and make it up in volume.

Sophia is made in Taiwan. Vega is "made in Europe" is all they say.
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That's good to know.

I wish I knew where Super-Vee was made; I had been seriously considering replacing the trem on my Pacifica with one.

But part of that is because I had presumed the Vega Trem was unavailable in gold. Now, I see they've added a gold finish. Hmm. Hard to decide!
 
Guys I really appreciate the discussion!
Especially the fine details of having done this 20 times etc and using a Dremel tool to make small clearance adjustments.
 
The supervee has issues with fatigue in the spring and after a while it doesn't return to the original spot. Also it is a very poor use of spring steel from an engineering perspective. To clamp a flat spring closely and bend it back and forth in a very narrow band creates considerable internal friction and rapid failure . The mann trem has issues too. it is not really possible to line up six wood screws with a notch and get then all to evenly distribute the friction. The two post idea is self aligning so better in this application. The use of brass for the knife edges is also suspect. In practice they settle together and wear according to the mismatch (so never adjust the six screws once you get it installed.) They can work but from a design standpoint poor again. Hipshot get a lot of thing made in Korea and the knife edge is again a cost cutting design not ideal. The 510 really is the best.
 
I have used everything except the new Floyd rail tail.
The Vega kills everything I have used. The feel is incredible. I don't even care about the pull-up feature
 
One last thing is if you want traditional strat tones you are going to need bent steel saddles and a similar construction to vintage so another + for the 510. Yes the Vega is good if you want modern tones and a well built good design (unlike many.)
 
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