I'm putting together a Frankenstrat from some misc parts that I had laying around. I wanted to check wiring so I put two strings on and tuned them up. While tuning, I noticed that I hadn't screwed the bridge all the way down, and it was tilting up in the back, at an angle. I hit the strings a few times and was satisfied with the sound (the Seymour-Duncan Pearly Gates at the neck along with a SD '59 sounds amazing, by the way). Right before I took the strings off to fix the bridge, I noticed something. I plucked a string and the sustain was unbelievable. It would sustain basically forever.

I thought this was a great sign for my new guitar. I screwed the bridge down, put strings back on and... the sustain was back to what I would consider normal. I also noticed slightly less "depth" to the sound. I backed the screws off again to double-check and the "eternal sustain" was back. The bridge is a strat style with the springs in the back. I'm using very heavy springs and I could feel the bridge vibrating. I figured this was a novelty that would likely cause the guitar to detune quickly but nope, it has held tuning just fine after several hours of playing.

So for now, I'm leaving the bridge canted, as ridiculous as it looks, because both the sound and the sustain of the guitar is dramatically better.

It may be useless info but I thought I would share, just for those curious about technical stuff. Anyway, CSB.

Pic (and yes, I am going to replace the silver hardware):

Attached File

Maybe it's your photo angle, but I don't see a "ridiculous" cant. It looks like a typical floating configuration.

I think it's the angle of the photo. It's way up, over 1/2" high in the back. Compared to a regular strat bridge which is relatively flat.

Vibrations will subside fast when they meet a soft object that works against the frequency of the vibration (like a spongy material). Hard materials at either end taper them off too, but obviously not as fast. Some materials dampen vibration better than others, due to density and resonant frequencies...hence longer sustain with certain woods and certain scales, with a certain bridge.

But, it's not always intuitive what will free up the strings to sustain a long time....a happy medium will be hard mounting points, but a spring that lets the string "float" and vibrate longer. Sometimes that spring tension will deaden vibrations quicker than a hard tail, sometimes not.

The tonewood debates always crack me up...it's such a minor player in the design compared to other features or influences, as you've demonstrated. You alleviated contact, and got sustain galore. You essentially took the tone wood OUT of the equation to get long lasting sustain.

Yeah, pretty much exactly that. This body is not high quality tone wood. After I posted this, I began to look at it closer. The bridge is completely suspended against the vertical body (threads) of the screws. In other words, it doesn't rest on the screw heads at all, or on the guutar body. I accidentally managed to balance it with tension from the strings and springs, which is why it vibrates so much, and why the sustain carries for ages.

I think there may be a new bridge idea here.

I always thought the Vega Trem design made more sense.  Lots of contact area.

huh, i thought the knife edges ran the full width of the trem on the Vega. Still a cool design and def improvement on the 6 screw Fender trem.

I figured my accident wasn't original but I still think I can foresee a new type of Trem. If I can get some spare time, I may design it and see what people think.

Yikes! Speaking of designs, that's not good.

its well regarded, has more contact area than a Floyd rose or an Ibanez Edge II.  I like how compact they are. Start at 7:00 for testing..

The Vega Trem looks interesting. For the price, it ought to play the guitar for me!
That's gone into Bigsby territory as far as cost goes!

If I understand correctly they have to do some fine knifemaking level of hardening to the edges of the trem, and the chrome work is a pretty high grade, so a least it justifies the price.

After doing a bit of research, they look like a good development.
I like the "drop in" factor.