[acetrouble]

Hi,

I've been wanting to get a Super Strat for quite some months now and I checked out the Charvel Pro Mod SO-CAL Style 1. The guitar looks totally sweet in Ferrari red finish and comes equipped with a Tone Zone bridge and an Evolution neck:

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/SoCal1FER

However, I have never in my entire life used a tremolo. Even restringing a Floyd Rose-equipped guitar gives me headaches. What's the best way to block a Floyd Rose tremolo? And would it make restringing / tuning as easy as on a hardtail guitar?

At 680 Euros (including case) the Charvel is such a sweet deal! I wouldn't wanna let it pass me by just because I prefer hardtails.


Regards
Ace.

[Speeddemon]

I haven't installed mine yet, but this is what you want:


A Floyd Upgrades Trem Stopper.
I actually got the same guitar in white, and bought their 37mm brass block (for more sustain) and that brass trem stopper. Still need to install them though. Right now the trem is stopped by a glued piece of wood on the original trem block. I installed a D-Tuna on it, which requires a dive-only trem stop. It makes tuning way quicker! Not as quick as a real solid bridge guitar, but a lot better than with a full floating trem.

[acetrouble]

Thank you for the info! I'll tell my local luthier about that trem stopper, in case he doesn't know about it. If I bought the SO-CAL he'd have to set it up for me either way, cause I play in Eb and use 11-50 gauge strings.

How do you like the SO-CAL Style 1? Do you have the Tone Zone / Evolution combo as well or did you swap it for something different?

Edit: I've just read in your thread that you installed a Norton...

[CityofBlindingLights]

Shoving a block of wood that fits *just* right in there also works. It's what Eric Clapton does.

[acetrouble]

Shoving a block of wood that fits *just* right in there also works. It's what Eric Clapton does.

I hope that makes restringing and tuning a lot easier. I've never used a Floyd Rose before. But the YouTube tutorials on how to maintain one made me realize that I would definitely freak out when having to restring it.

It's a pity that most kick-ass looking 80s style guitars come with Floyds.

[Speeddemon]

Thank you for the info! I'll tell my local luthier about that trem stopper, in case he doesn't know about it. If I bought the SO-CAL he'd have to set it up for me either way, cause I play in Eb and use 11-50 gauge strings.

How do you like the SO-CAL Style 1? Do you have the Tone Zone / Evolution combo as well or did you swap it for something different?

Edit: I've just read in your thread that you installed a Norton...

Yeah, so far I'm happy.
I rehearsed 2 days ago with it, but it made me think about the Breed Neck (that's in it now), vs. the Air Norton (that was in before....after the Evo neck ofcourse).
The Breed neck, while fat sounding, has a lot of treble content as well. It actually sounds jangly when hitting the thinner strings hard. I think I'm looking more for a PAF-ish roundness/smoothness, with clarity though. So I'll probably re-install the Air Norton.

So, so far in the bridge there has been:
Tone Zone. Duncan Distortion. Super Distortion. Breed Bridge. Norton

neck:
Evo Neck. Air Norton. Breed Neck.

IMHO, the ToneZone was too loose in the low-end, and the Evo neck is too tight/bright and direct.

[acetrouble]

I actually got a Gibson Dirty Fingers in the neck of my Schecter C-1    It's primarily a bridge pickup and I have used it as such in the past. But in the neck it gives me a wonderful, rich clean tone, kinda jazzy with smoothed out highs. It sounds sweet for those Police-style 9th chords (think "Message in a Bottle").
It does sound a little over the top with distortion. Like I'd be using a fuzz pedal on a moderate setting. Which I do like, though.

By the way, my Schecter is this fine guitar here:
http://www.fuel1racing.com/NAMM09/images/DSC02114.jpg

I also swapped the bridge pickup (EMG-HZs are terrible) for a DiMarzio Evolution and couldn't be happier with it. It's a good contrast to my super-beefy mahogany Ibanez MFM2, which has a lone Breed bridge pickup.

If I should get the SO-CAL I might use my D Sonic on the bridge. If I don't like the Tone Zone that is...

[CityofBlindingLights]

Shoving a block of wood that fits *just* right in there also works. It's what Eric Clapton does.

I hope that makes restringing and tuning a lot easier. I've never used a Floyd Rose before. But the YouTube tutorials on how to maintain one made me realize that I would definitely freak out when having to restring it.

It's a pity that most kick-ass looking 80s style guitars come with Floyds.

Reasons why I hate Floyds. This is one of them.

[KH Guitar Freak]

If you follow simple basic rules, restringing becomes easy...

[slugworth]

My very first guitar had the trem blocked with a #2 pencil.  I laughed my ass off when I found it, but hey, it worked.

[devastone]

I just tightened the springs until the bridge was against the body, it's still pretty level. 

[Speeddemon]

I just tightened the springs until the bridge was against the body, it's still pretty level.

Kids, don't try that at home! 

You've basically put too much tension on the strings, even with a level trem. And probably making dents and pits in the guitar's body by that.

[Matt_B]

I just tightened the springs until the bridge was against the body, it's still pretty level.

Kids, don't try that at home! 

You've basically put too much tension on the strings, even with a level trem. And probably making dents and pits in the guitar's body by that.

Yeah, I wouldn't do that either.

I don't block my trems but I do set them up for drop only, even the recessed one. To do that I just get something like this - a Trem Stopper.

[winger]

Put a Göldo Backbox in my SoCal. (Same one as Speeddemon's.)
Set it up so it lets the D-tuner do it's job, but.... When pulling back on the trem
arm, with a little bit more strength then usual, I can still do some upward bends.
Range of upward bends is offcourse limited due to the trem being non recessed.

[Guitar74]

Shoving a block of wood that fits *just* right in there also works. It's what Eric Clapton does.

I hope that makes restringing and tuning a lot easier. I've never used a Floyd Rose before. But the YouTube tutorials on how to maintain one made me realize that I would definitely freak out when having to restring it.

It's a pity that most kick-ass looking 80s style guitars come with Floyds.

When I was coming up, it seemed like everything had a Floyd. I think when shred fell out of favor, the info on setting up a Floyd got sort of lost. They really aren’t that bad. If you can set up a strat trem to float, then you can set up a Floyd style bridge. The pain is intimating, but once you done one, you don’t forget. If you’re stuck on blocking, you’re missing half of the fun with one, but you ARE gaining being able to drop tune without a complete re setup. So there are advantages to the blocked trem. Wow. I almost talked myself into blocking my Floyd equipped guitars with that last statement.