Having only two springs in the vibrato unit

by Ian
on 2023-10-10

Question
I bought another amp recently and a used and slightly neglected Strat copy came in the deal. Strat requires a bit of work, one of the springs on the bridge is missing. Can I just replace the one or do I need to replace them all?

Many thanks

Answer

Hello Yan, enjoy your new gear!

You can replace just one spring, you might place it in between the two existing springs.

Also, you might like having just two, I used to have a guitar in which I temporarily removed the middle spring on purpose to make the bridge "floating" and be able to shift the pitch not only down, but up as well.

I remember I tightened up the two screws which attach the springs to the guitar body some more to increase their tension which partially compensated for the missing one, without this adjustment the bridge was inclining towards the guitar head way too much.

Note that if you play using thicker strings (0.10 or more for the upper E string), this might not work for you.

All the best
Electric-Fire

Return to Home Page

This article was last updated on January 18, 2024