Three Springs versus Five Springs

[Spudman***]

It may have changed the bridge resting on the body. If you only have 3 springs now and didn't do any retensioning of the trem springs then the strings probably pulled the bridge offf the top of the body and now you have less contact with wood. That would chage the sound.

Also, if you remove the mass of those 2 springs that will probably have an effect on the sound as well.

Where is the bridge now? Is it pulled back against the body? Is the back slightly up and off the body? Is it over a river? sorry I couldn't resist.

[ted s]

Is it over a river? sorry I couldn't resist.

The bridge is by the river...... shot it's baby..

sorry, I couldn't resist :

[just strum]

The bridge is against the body, although I see some very, very slight movement when I bend the strings. I keep the bridge screwed down tight.

Tough to tell from there photos, but it is against the body.

[wingsdad]

The trem cavity itself acts like a resonance chamber. The looser the trem (float), the more the resonance effect of a 'springier', livelier tone.

If you want the trem 'clamped' because you've little use for it as a matter of style or you want an edgier tone, use all 5 springs. If you want a 'floating' trem, use 3. There's more adjustments to the bridge screws to set the gap tight to or off of the body. The tone will generally be more 'acoustic'.

As a rhythm player, or one who prefers the 'latex quack' of the 2 & 4 pup positions, my STRAT has been set up with the 2 & 4 springs out since the day I got it (81), with about a 3mm gap between the trem briege plate and the body. My 5 spring is slung at an angle, from the 5 lug at the bottom end to the 4 lug up top, and the 1 spring is alos angled, goes from the 1 lug at the bottom to the 2 lug at the top. The 3 spring is straight, 3-3.

EDIT: Here's a diagram I found that shows on the right what I tried to describe about my trem spring setup. On the left is the 'usual' 3-spring setup, with the 2 & 4 springs simply left out.