Why Do Guitar Players Like Fixed Bridges?!
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- Опубліковано 6 чер 2024
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Why do guitar players like fixed bridges?! What's the hardtail lifestyle about, and why has it attracted legendary players like Eddie Van Halen, Jeff Beck, Zakk Wylde, James Hetfield, Paul Gilbert, Angus Young, Francis Bubbletrousers, and MORE?! On this week's video, your good buddy Uncle Ben is gonna give you 6 of the reasons why hard tail guitars RULE!!!
I made this video due to the immense inspiration I got from my new Schecter USA KM6 Mach III Pro that I got from Sweetwater. This guitar is seriously FLAWLESS! I cannot believe it. Let me know if you all want a full Meet the Machines episode on it, I wanna tell you guys about this one!!
Why do you like fixed bridge guitars? Let me know in the comments!
Gear:
Schecter USA KM6 Keith Merrow signature Mach iii Pro
Horizon Devices Precision Drive
PRS Archon 50
UA OX
Thanks for warning why guitar players like fixed bridges! Get all the goods by supporting my channel for as little as $1 a month over yonder on my Patreon page: www.patreon.com/posts/99866983?
Why do YOU like hardtail guitars?
An easy fix on fixing the bending issues on a trem guitar is by adding an ESP aiming adjuster or an Ibanez Backstop to it and have the Trem rest against it. Steve Vai uses the backstop on some of his guitars
In my humble opinion Strats sound better with a trem block. If you want that classic Strat bell tone buy a Callaham bell steel bloc. If that doesn't get you all the way add '57/'62 pups and save $$$$ on a custom shop
Bro! I know this is random, but you should do a breakdown of the solo from Racer X fire of rock 🤟🤟
I'm a whore I like em all
@@marioippolito8221 isn't that simply half blocking it, so it doesn't go lower?
Ben has finally reached step 12 of the Floydaholics Anonymous program. Congrats, you did it!
🤣
I’m on Step 10.
Doing my inventory for the day. 🎸
Yep, 10 guitars, ironically. 🙏🏼
I accidentally installed one on my 78 dollar acoustic while drinking Evan Williams.
@@baneverything5580accidentally installed one on my violin 😔
Easier to tune and change tunings
If you know how to tune strings in the proper order ( ie: E,E,A,B,D,G ), and always tune UP to the desired note, even if you have to downtune to tune back up, it's not a big deal and the guitar will stay in tune just fine.
I grew up as a fixed bridge LTD/ESP player, but got into strats a few years ago, and both of my Strats (YJM and scalloped Pro II) will stay in tune WAY better than my E-II arrow NT or LTD V300
Edit: also, it's 2024; if you're not putting locking tuners on your guitars, then you're definitely doing string changes incorrectly...also, my strats are floated about 1/2 step
This
That feeling when you restring your Floyd rose to learn a song in E standard, then realising the song is in drop D… literally just done this🤦♂️
100% this
changing tunings with a tremolo is too much of a hassle
Saved me watching
Jake E Lee comes to mind as Anti Tremolo.. I remember watching him bend the neck live for the first time and just blew my mind..
Yep Jake can do anything just about that any tremolo player on his hard tails and it’s actually pretty cool when you see and hear it. What kind of witchery is this ?
It's rough on the joint though. I had a used Kramer and it had a pricey Kahler on it. The guy put the Kahler on because he was using the neck like Jake and the neck got loose.. Funny thing was he didn't fix the joint issue,just put the whammy on. WTF? 😆
@@TribalGuitars I like to call that pole vaulting rat turds .
Jake said he's broken quite a few of them.
Yeah he's said in interviews he developed it as his schtick because everyone else was doing the same whammy tricks. Not really anti-whammy, more trying to stand out from the crowd. (Start with Iommi bending an open string behind the nut on that one song, and keep going from there.) Lately he's been using guitars with long tailpieces and using the strings behind the bridge.
Funnily enough, Lucas Brar has a video out today about “I bought the whole guitar, I'm gonna use the whole guitar” and I thought straight away of Jake E Lee.
Its one of the reasons why I loooove telecaster, they are simple guitars, no gadgets, switches, buttons, just two pickups, one selector, volume/tone knob and that. Plus its a really versatile guitar.
you forgot the twang... hail to the twang baby 🤠
Les Pauls/Eclipses.. :)
@@woolgumsingle cut.
I love to use both. Do yourself a favor and take the time to learn to set up a floyd, not rocket surgery and makes you a better person. Mr. Ben Eller you are the man.
I saw a video of Kiko Loureiro talking about his floyd rose and his way of keeping double stop bends in tune. It's to place his picking hand on the bridge saddles to limit the movement on bends and virbrato and it works. I do it every time now since i watched that video.
Cool solution.
Takes a lot of practice to get right consistently, I imagine.
I'll try that, but probably hard to do on faster stuff.
I just tried this. It works. Eureka!
Kiko is such a virtuoso
Can you give a link or the name of the video?
@@ManMark7 I've looked everywhere for it but I can find or remember where I saw the video. I think it was in an interview he did I just remember that one thing he said about unison bends. Sorry mate that I can't find it
When I saw the title of this video, what instantly popped into my head was " Because I want the damn thing to stay in tune" . And, nearly 19 minutes later, it turns out that tuning issues of one sort or another seem to be the deciding factor.
Especially in a recording situation. Gotta have that tuning locked in as much as possible.
Floyd's stay in tune better than fixed bridges. That's essentially what evertunes are too, single individual floyds for each string.
@@Nibblerrthats true, my Floyd Rose guitar goes never out of tune. Once a Floyd is setted up correctly it's a lot of fun!
I've only ever used fixed style bridges.
It's necessary for hand placement to anchor the palm for devastating chunk.
Just ask Scott Ian.
most of his guitars he plays on stage have a whammy?
When recording, for rhythm guitar I almost exclusively use a turnamatic. Lead however, that's a different story
Funny , Gary Holt says he pretty much exclusively uses guitars with a Floyd . Anything else doesn’t feel right to his picking hand apparently.
@romanlanzas508 not most no, just ones he uses for 'Madhouse' and other tracks where he does whammy leads
"Who's my dirty girl"
Usually gets my guitars to behave when they're giving me flack.
I name my girls myself. Jiva, and Skarlet in my case 😂
One is Tremolo system, and one is fixed which I literally just bought 😂
"Don't look at my feet! That costs extra!" 😆Not gonna lie, came here for that sexy KM6 but this was a great video. Trems have their place and I do love me an Evertune, but totally agreed that there's something about the simplicity of a fixed bridge. It just WORKS.
I prefer a fixed bridge bc it feels way more solid. There is also the fact that I am not a lead player and never write anything that requires a tremelo of me.
... And, restringing a Floyd is the bane of my existence.
I feel that pain. I put off restringing mine as much as possible.
Is not hard at all to restring a floyd if you follow dylantalkstone's method
Gentle trem shimmers with chords work too. Trem usage hasn’t always gotta be all divebombs and dimebag squeals.
@@Jonathan_Doe_ I'm aware of that, I still don't do any of that when I write songs.
I found that I simply really wasn't using it. It wasn't worth the hassle for 1 out of 20 songs
Perfect video! For years and years I was a snobby "I have to have a floating whammy bridge and 24 frets" type of guy. When I finally got a hardtail, it made guitar life and tuning so much easier. I still love me my whammy's but for pure hand-finger practice and focus, I'll mostly go for the hardtail. 20-seconds of tuning and I'm ready to go.
I got a Schecter Sun Valley, and it's a beast. They're really on top of things lately.
I recently got a Schecter Omen Elite-6, and it is a great alternative to an Ibanez RG421 with a narrower nut. Also, the pickups are LOUD with good options to tame them with the selector switch and grippy knobs.
Ive had a sun valley for a few years schecter has always been quality
I added the two extra springs in each of my Strats. It really does improve the tone you get.
Take it a step further = EVERTUNE bridge
Love it
My problem with the Evertune is that running light tension requires spending 300 FUCKING DOLLARS on replacement tension modules.
@@Robstafarian Yeah I can understand thats frustrratin!
They way you delivered "...it doesn't suit the narrative" had me rolling! I know the "limitations inspire creativity" premise well, as I've played drums in acoustic and blues/rock contexts for years, but dabbling into guitar and bass for the last ten years or so, tunings like drop D/DAEAc#e/A-standard/Open G Terz are super inspiring for riff/song ideas and just couch-noodling. And like you've pointed out, hardtails make them far less of a PITA than they need to be.
God, I hate to admit it, but the montage on "why isn't my Floyd staying in tune?" is exactly why I sold my Schecter LOL Fixed or decked for me.
Trems are great! Just block them like normal people haha. Serious tho, having a Floyd blocked is IMHO the most stable tuning guitar. Removes the binding at the nut and some of mine stay in tune for weeks. I dont play anything like you Ben
I've got one blocked Floyd, and while it does well, it's not as nice for my palm as good tune-o-matics.
@@rickc2102 I can see that
I'm a former hardtail (or down only) guy converted to Evertune. It's just so much easier to reach for a guitar that is always in tune.
Been waiting for this since your IG post. That guitar looks exquisite
I have an array of both types and love them all. But I'm also so lazy when I'm just playing by myself that my digitech drop pedal is a great tool in my tool kit. Not great for every scenario, but it's useful enough for what it's meant for.
All the reasons you mentioned. My top reasons are:
- no warbling when chugging due to hand bouncing on the trem
- tuning / stability / etc
- no bar to take off, just put it in the case and close it
- less stuff in the way of your picking hand
- perceived sustain especially on string thrus
They also just have a classy clean look. Love it. And that Keith Merrow sig looks like a rocket ship with that neck cutout on the back!
If youre making the guitar "warble" youre pushing on it too hard, and once you tune a floating bridge you almost never have to again
Not necessarily a floating bridge thing per se, but the lack of a locking nut also allows you bend above the nut to alter the pitch of individual strings in a chord or harmonics in ways that are unpossible with a floater
Also, big nod to atomic habits! Can and should be taught to high schoolers. Maybe the NEXT generation will be less dumb and lazy
I heard that the heat of your farts can affect tuning with floating trems. I make sure to never eat spicy food before playing anything on my strat for this reason.
In all seriousness I like to experiment with tunings, and when doing that theres NO WAY I'm going to go through the woes of blocking my trem and adjusting the tuning and tension just to mess around. Hardtails are the best for that.
A) Easier to Tune carefully
B) EasierAdjust tension (gauge and tunings)
C) Arguably, In some cases, the higher mass of being directly mounted to the body can effect the tone / if nothing else ‘feel’. At least in my experience.
First Floyd I ever played I said ‘whoa where is the bass.’ That was acoustically. Plugging it in I felt the same result. Since then I have played many great sounding floating treks (Floyd’s included) but again… arguably there can be a bit of a tonal difference in some cases between a hardtail and a floating. There is a reason people put pipe cleaners inside springs and or block trems to make them basically a hardtail.
Best regards to ya Ben. Awesome content as always. 🤘
that sustain was insane. I do wonder how much of it is due to the bridge and higher quality of wood im assuming
Right? And the volume wasn’t even up loud AT ALL. If I had it cranked it would go all day.
Thanks for the new video I look forward to them you are the best uncle Ben pleas never quit💯🤘🏻
You're the best!
Love the sustain demo😂 truly impressive
That's what She said.
My schecter has some serious sustain but THAT was something else
Love hardtails, and love the video. Fun thing re: bending one string changing the pitch of another: you can use that to dive bomb an open low E (B, F# etc. whatever your lowest string is) without touching the bar. E.g. if you pick the low E and bend the A string right in the middle it'll depress the bridge and give you an instant dive bomb. Kind of jarring picking one string while bending another, but sounds hella cool. You can hear this in the breakdown to Periphery's Graveless, that's where i learned that anyway
I recently found a beat up KM-6 MK-III Standard from 2019 at my local store that just needed a little bit of love and elbow grease and its fantastic. Just an absolute house of a guitar.
They’re seriously outstanding
Man what a tone you have dailed in there !! Nice looking guitar & some great playing !!🎸👍🏻
Glad to see my old Purple Ibanez is still getting some love!
Love it!!!
I bought a Charvel San Dimas MIM Hardtail as a workhorse guitar and ended up loving it more than I thought 🙂
Man, you nailed it. My newest electric and previous are both hard-tail for many of the reasons you stated. Tremolo is fun, but there's a real cost.
Love this video love you playing all those things you said totally make sense and the way you explained it is understandable for people that haven’t ever touched a guitar too
I like both hard tail and trem bridges. With recording tho I prefer using a stop tail for all rhythm parts, and lead sections that don’t have tremolo use. Just feels more solid. I’ll record sections with a tremolo bridge guitar when I need to. Another cool video Uncle Ben!
Totally agree with the decked trem. I have a Fender American Ultra Luxe Strat, and I have no need for the trem. Decked, it stays in perfect tune all the time. No muss no fuss.
Just added the tremolo stopper from FU-Tone on my Charvel San Dimas and am loving it. With it locked at the nut stays in tune, bends, double stop bends all in tune and the dive bomb is ready at will. Unlock the nut, drop tune to D and good to go. It’s been a great addition for me.
Love that tuning heads on that KM signature series guitar.... It's so unique and different from the rest.....❤
Amazing as always!
It's good logic if you are going to have just one guitar 🎸 My solution is several hard tails and several trem guitars with different tunings to cover all bases😊 Some things can only be done with a trem and vice-versa 😮
That guitar is super sick! I didn't know Schecter made $4000 guitars, crazy!
Made by hand, one by one!!! Legitimately world class. This thing is unreal.
Schecter are on it at the moment, their specs are great even at the £1500-2000 range. I’ve been an Ibanez fanboy forever, but the recent Schecters are seriously turning my head…..
Hey man. Great Video!! Very informative. I've been watching your videos for a good while now because i love guitar and seeing someone play extremely well is he best kind of pick me up. I watched your videos so much that in November I started trying to teach myself guitar via UA-cam, then by December I felt like quitting because it's really hard lmfao, and then I saw your section of the 2023 shred collab and thought to myself "Yep. I wanna do that. I want this. I'm gonna stick with it no matter what".
I'm actually a very big Halloween fan and that'd how I found your channel a couple years back was seeing you cover the movie theme and it was so badass that I kept watching and I'm so glad that I did because I probably wouldn't be playing right now if it wasn't for you. And you inspired me to keep going, so thank you Ben. It's getting easier and I'm really starting to get the hang of it yet, I've got a long way to go but your videos really help me. Plus I don't wanna play like a step dad so I feel like your the man to learn from. 🙏
Damn bro that's one badass looking and sounding ax I love the matte finish on it I've never seen anything like that
Marty Friedman too.
I've played so many Scheters and been like "damn this punches way above its weight class but it looks like it was designed by Monster energy" Glad to see this US one is a step in the right direction, definitely easier to get than the Japanese ones too.
I didn't even know Japanese schecters exist. Thanks!
You made very valid points in the video👍Tremolo guitars feel slinkier and sound like there is less midrange frequencies. I converted my vintage 6 screw Strat into a hardtail by wedging a block of wood in the rear cavity. I put some tape on the springs to mute the reverb effect. Hardtails sound punchier and thicker because of the solid connection to the body.
Nice, you introduced me to some tremolo problems that I never knew existed since I´ve never used a tremolo. I like the structure, some time of talking and then straight into shreddy solos. It´s nice to find new interesting stuff!
"Did you have a banana today?" LOL...all of those reasons had me rolling 😆
Being completely honest, I prefer a Floyd Rose. If you know what you're doing, it's not as hard as everyone says they are to setup and deal with.
With practice and understanding of the process I only need 10 minutes to restring mine. It took me a while but I'm persistent and I'm pretty sure people quit before learning
I learned it and now I've got it down pat. Easy peasy
Yup same with kahler! And you can just lock a kahler
Lol. I figured it out real quick. In 1990 my father bought me my 18th Bday present. A 1990 Charvel DLX. Never had a Floyd. I took every string off the first time I changed them.🤦🏼♂️ I had to learn the hard way. They aren’t that bad. If it’s all out of tune you just need to loosen all the strings and retune. I really don’t use them much I have a newer Charvel Pro Mod, and a Jackson soloist. Both have Floyd’s. I just love the way they POP on a guitar. They just make the guitar look sharp. I have one of those new Epiphone LP Custom (KOA) very nice with Grover tuners and hard ware! Gibson under patent pick ups. Very nice guitar. I’m currently looking at one more Charvel. I don’t need the Floyd but, like I said they look nice!!
It took me a minute but figured out it was just a balancing act between the strings and the springs
I love being able to change tunings and easy string changes
Yes to a Meet the Machines on this beast of a Schechter
Been drooling at this guitar for a while. Looks smooth.
I like fixed bridges because it sucks when they’re broken. 🤪
Great vid as always! I'm a big fan of hardtails for all those reasons. I want to get Tremol-noes for my two main axes, then I have a whammy it if I need it and switch it in a hot second but basically I get to treat my guitar as a hardtail without having to block it.
It would be great if you had a lesson on unison bends. 🤘
Brandon Ellis is my favorite guitar player and it made my day to hear Ben bring up Brandon's distinct bends. Ben knows what's up!
Just bought my son his first descent guitar, & sought out a fixed bridge guitar. Ended up getting him the squire stratosonic, I was pleasantly surprised, looks & played great & stays in tune.
I still love tremolos, and VegaTrem is the best of them all. But the bending resistance it true. And your videos are always interesting and fun!
I thought I needed to have a trem back in 1985 when I started since all of my heroes played them. But I never really utilized them in my playing so they were more trouble than they were worth. My 3 main guitars today are an Ibanez JS2000 with a LoPro fixed bridge, a PRS Mark Holcomb SE with Evertune and an Ibanez Q52.
great video uncle ben! let's go - let us meet that machine!
Uncle Ben I really haven’t heard many people mention the way bends work with a non-fixed bridge guitar. Thank you for the wisdom
Ben, this might have been your best video yet.
Why thank you!
Really dug this video. Subscribed. Oh and i ordered that book. Hopefully it helps me.
Hope you like it!
Great video! I just ordered mine from SW. Hoping to see your meet the machine vid on this one!🤖
Got 3 7 string fixed bridge, I think Ben just explained to me why. Cheers👍
All my guitars have floyds but i specifically bought the hellraiser and dean z for the tone pros set up because i still like the response of the string when its anchored
I’m a lefty whose first guitar was a flipped-righty that had a tremolo: it was a double whammy (pun intended) keeping it in tune! I didn’t know about blocking the tremolo at that time!
I'd luv to see a video on the gear you use (besides the guitar) to get that tone
So true. I've blocked the trem on most I own that have them, left one floating for the rare occasion i need it.
I had the blue Keith guitar a few years back, soooo nice, congrats!
Awesome video! Thanks!
Still looking for a nice Ibanez Sabre without a tremolo. Love my S 520 and would love to have a fixed bridge version.
I realized I liked fixed bridges when I started touring and realized I did not want to deal with a tremelo setup/maintenance on the road. Not having one for a while definitely "forced" me to get better with my vibrato game, too.
I gotta have 1 though because they are too and cool and very rock n roll.
Paul Gilbert taught me to love fixed bridges! At one point he said that he “liked getting vibrato with his hands”, so I said to myself that I too want to get good vibrato with my hands, and it went from there. I still enjoy using a trem but thanks to Paul Gilbert, I now lead an active fixed-bridge lifestyle!
Ben, I moved on - one P90, tone and a volume - all you really need. Love my Hamer XT LPJ - it kicks ass!!!
I really like the EVH approach to the Floyd Rose, decking it tight to the body so it can be a fixed bridge for most of the time, can go into drop D no problem but always ready for a dive bomb. Obvs you need a cavity-less body but its my go to for Strats but you do sometimes miss the flutter and smoothness of a nicely setup floating trem.
Hell yeah that guitar is killer looking.love hard tails.
Would love to see more about the guitar, Ben! I picked up a Schecter Banchee Mach 6 a while back and was astonished at how great it was for the price!
I have a partscaster which looks like a John 5 tele…it stays in tune like a beast and I can change tunings by twisting the knobs up at the headstock 🫤
I like hardtails for all the reasons Ben stated. I also just tried the same test Ben did on my guitar with a Kahler tremolo. It doesn't move when you bend the strings like a Floyd or other 2 point trems.
That's probably because the Kahler rollers turn when you bend the string. Since each string has its own dedicated roller and the bridge doesn't move, only that string is affected by the bend.
Nice axe Uncle Ben
You should do a tour of your studio.
I just bought the Schecter Tempest about 2 weeks ago,, good ol' tax return guitar! I haven't gotten it in the mail yet, but the main reason I went with this sexy beast was the simplicity/badass'ness of the guitar. Can't wait to get this thing in my hands. I need to sign up for your patreon,, and push myself more to improve.
Very true. Good video!
You mentioned vibrato, but not in the way that made a difference to me. My first hardtail after years of playing exclusively on a Floyd was a decision I made because I wanted to try a multiscale. After I tried it I realized that my vibrato technique had really suffered over the years of using the whammy bar as a crutch instead of left hand vibrato. Having to concentrate more on that left hand technique again has been a wonderful reawakening.
I totally love my h50 LTD fixed bridge. She hasn’t let me down in sound while mashing her rope
Perfect Sunday afternoon video.
Was I entertained? Yes.
Was I informed? Also yes.
Thanks, Uncle Ben!
Yes please do a full on video about the guitar Ben
Challenge accepted!
I used to insist I'd NEVER be caught dead with a floyd rose, kahler, or similar trem, but I have a few guitars with them now, and I love them. I'm a blues, country, rock, pop player
I love the sound of a Les Paul, and that happens to have a fixed bridge. So fixed bridge for me, it is
I don't get too much use out of a Floyd live but I use it for vibrato. I have to change keys on the fly like I breathe air so having one without a tremolo pays off most of the time.
All the reasons you mentioned, plus setting/adjusting intonation.
My hardtail 7 string super strat is my favourite guitar I've ever owned.
I really really want a KM7 😅
I need to add the tones in this vid are some of the best I've heard from you.
One of my favorite guitars I’ve ever played was a single bridge humbucker, single volume knob, fixed bridge strat my guitar teacher had and let me play.
The schecter axe is gorgeous!!
I was a diehard Floyd Rose trem player UNTIL the creation of the new Virtual Jeff Pro trem system. The Virtual Jeff Pro gives you more options for tuning than a Floyd and allows you to convert a hardtail guitar to one with a whammy. Since the Virtual Jeff Pro never touches the strings they are never affected and you can easily tune up at any time.
Same! It would be great if Uncle Ben would do a video review if Virtual Jeff - but I’m already a convert.
That's an amazing guitar, I want a video on it! Schecter guitars that are $1,000+ are just generally great guitars that hold their own against any brand. Super underrated, though I think that's slowly changing.
Great point at 9 minutes. My guitars with a Floyd Rose-style bridge have a locking tremolo system. So I can only use the whammy bar to lower the pitch. Is there a Floyd Rose-style bridge that doesn't go out of tune during bends and vibratos (except for the Evertune)?
By the way, killer guitar! Great video, Ben! Congrats!
I was hoping you would talk about how the tremolo "fights" against you when you do vibrato / bends when I clicked on this video haha. I've always noticed that for the same string gauge and scale length bends / vibrato is always noticeably more difficult on tremolo guitars. And like you said , nobody ever talks about that!!
Beautiful guitar! That’s interesting. All modern Jeff Beck live performances are with tremolo with such subtle but great tones.
I had a Kramer SM1-H for a bit, and while I loved it, I REALLY wanted a hard tail version (everything else the same). I recently picked up a Solar s1.6pp and am happy to be back in a HT. And I know it's not the same, with the Evertune... but yeah, the floyd rose 1000 and I didn't get a long.