Angled claw?

[tedmich]

whats the point of this?

Some people say this changes the amount of pitch change the trem arm has on individual strings, how is that possible?

Isn't the function of the trem block and bridge plate to sum the total spring tension?

[eschertron]

I haven't seen this before, and I echo your sentiment.
The strings in an representative set are selected for a fairly uniform tension across the neck. We shouldn't need to increase tension on one side or the other.
But if we did want to adjust the tension, driving the claw's mounting screws in or out could provide the offset needed.
And why more tension on the higher strings? I'd think the opposite would be desired.
At any rate, unless the trem block could move in other axes other than the one provided, you are right that the forces are distributed along the whole mechanism.

I do know a guitar tech who is proud of his ability to set up the guitar so that full 'down' on the bar changes string pitch by exactly 1 whole step for the wound strings and 1/2 step on the unwound (I think I got that right). I don't think this device above would change that?

[Richard]

The point is to get your money. Unless there is appreciable flex in your bridge (which there shouldn't be) it shouldn't make any difference more than microscopic. It shouldn't even make a real difference in spring tension and feel.

[eschertron]

The point is to get your money. Unless there is appreciable flex in your bridge (which there shouldn't be) it shouldn't make any difference more than microscopic. It shouldn't even make a real difference in spring tension and feel.

Not MY money

[tedmich]

This ($60) product seems to be related to posts Carl Verheyan has made about trem setup, regarding string tension and trem float. He seems to believe certain illogical assertions although he's an undeniably talented player.

Many of the misconceptions were pretty well rebutted by David Collins (of Ann Arbor Guitars) over at Seymourduncan.com.

[robthequiet]

yup, I drank the trem setup koolaid and found that trying it caused one spring to get warped around one of the claws and resulted in some lovely snap and pop when it detangled itself. I can see how this device would address that problem, but I found the pitch intervals didn't get any better on a whammy pull. Also worried about long term gouging of claw screw holes leading to loose screws. Not to mention extreme cases of the uneven wear and tear on bridge pins. I think implementing a pedal steel kind of b-bender thing to tune your whammy for specific chord changes would have been done by now if it were possible for an average strat. Or has it?

[Richard]

I've never played a Steinberger Trans trem but it was supposed to maintain tuning when lower or raising pitch. I think it had a function where you could raise or lower the pitch by moving the trem instead of using a capo. I'm somewhat incredulous that a tremolo can detune each string equally, especially considering differing string gauges.

[dmartn149]

The Washburn Wonderbar gave the ability to adjust the amount of pitch change for each string. The angled claw is just crap, and $60? pffft!

[James Welsh]

Looks like another product made for a problem that doesn't exist. Like anything, setting up a trem properly has a learning curve, but can be done properly with standard/stock parts.

The wire connector also suggests this is a product for people that don't know what they're doing.

[John Kolbeck]

I do know a guitar tech who is proud of his ability to set up the guitar so that full 'down' on the bar changes string pitch by exactly 1 whole step for the wound strings and 1/2 step on the unwound (I think I got that right). I don't think this device above would change that?

I don't see how that's possible, or how that claw makes a difference: there is a single axis that is perpendicular to the strings. In order to have the strings behave differently from one another, you'd need either two or more axes, or an axis that isn't perpendicular so that the amount of travel will differ from string to string. Adjusting the saddles height and alignment would change the travel string to string, but you have to take action and intonation into account when setting those, so that's off the table as far was vibrato goes.

[James Welsh]

I don't see how that's possible, or how that claw makes a difference: there is a single axis that is perpendicular to the strings. In order to have the strings behave differently from one another, you'd need either two or more axes, or an axis that isn't perpendicular so that the amount of travel will differ from string to string. Adjusting the saddles height and alignment would change the travel string to string, but you have to take action and intonation into account when setting those, so that's off the table as far was vibrato goes.

I have a feeling the tech mentioned here is talking about the Carl Verheyen way of setting up a strat trem. The trem is floating and when you pull back on the bar you will have exactly a semitone up on the high e, a full step on the B and a step and a half on the G when the bridge hits the body. Here is a video of Carl talking about it. At about 30 seconds in he demonstrates the open string pitch raise:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVQCaQxdSH0

A couple years ago I spent some time and set up a guitar to do this, just to see if I could. It worked as described and I couldn't knock it out of tune if I tried. I'll leave it to someone else to decide if it's practical or useful, but at the very least it is possible. And for anyone wondering the guitar was a stock mid 90's Yamaha Pacifica I had lying around.

[dmartn149]

I watched the Carl Verheyen video, and it all sounds good except the angled claw. I think that the gauge of each string is the biggest factor in getting that set up to work.

[John Kolbeck]

I have a feeling the tech mentioned here is talking about the Carl Verheyen way of setting up a strat trem. The trem is floating and when you pull back on the bar you will have exactly a semitone up on the high e, a full step on the B and a step and a half on the G when the bridge hits the body. Here is a video of Carl talking about it. At about 30 seconds in he demonstrates the open string pitch raise:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVQCaQxdSH0

A couple years ago I spent some time and set up a guitar to do this, just to see if I could. It worked as described and I couldn't knock it out of tune if I tried. I'll leave it to someone else to decide if it's practical or useful, but at the very least it is possible. And for anyone wondering the guitar was a stock mid 90's Yamaha Pacifica I had lying around.

OK, I just did an "angled claw" test to an extreme, I angled the claw per instructions AND tried it with all the springs on one side as in xx||| for a very tight hold, and then |x|xxx for a much looser hold.

First I did the tighter arrangement, with the three springs on the clamped side of the claw. This made the trem deck. I tuned up, attached a headstock tuner, then depressed the trem until the high E was a perfect D#. Then, while holding the trem perfectly still, I plucked the G string to see where its pitched ended up. Almost a perfect D#, but one whole octave lower. A few cents sharp of a D#

Next I tried a loose arrangement with only two springs on the looser side of the claw. The bridge floated at this point, I tuned up. Plucked the E, pressed it down to D#, plucked the G string, and again, a D# one octave below where the E string landed. This time though it was a perfect D#, so there was a difference of a few cents, not even half a step.

My finding is that focusing pressure on one side of the trem block or the other makes almost no difference in the string to string pitch shifting when the wammy is pressed. When you have one string dropping half a step, and another dropping a whole octave, it just seems wildly implausible that any tweak will radically fix that, so as to detune a whole held chord half a step. I imagine you'd have to use strings that are all approximately the same size so that the amount of tension is nearly equal, and therefore decreases in tension at equal rates as the wammy is pressed.

He has a lot of good tips mixed in there, such as lubing the nuts slots, making sure they're cut right, etc. but I think the part about the string to strings becoming closer in interval is a mistaken notion that somehow found it's way in among actual good advice.