Dan Erlewine talks with product designer Trevor Wilkinson about the modern VS-100 Strat Bridge
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- Опубліковано 6 жов 2024
- Dan Erlewine had a chance to sit down with Trevor Wilkinson, the renowned product designer to talk about his ideas for improvements to the classic Fender style bridge.
His VS-100 bridge fits American Standard Strats and Strat Plus guitars without modification and addresses several challenges guitar players have faced for decades.
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I learned more in under 5 minutes than in some full classes I've taken. Thanks!
Such a concise, to-the-point approach, both in his talking and explaining, as well as the design of the parts. Really really enjoy listening to him explain his products.
And hes a top bloke too-I met him once at a trade show,lovely guy and his daughters very pleasant too.
So lovely to hear your story behind your trem bridge! Thank you Trev & Dan!!
I love watching these two guitar experts talking guitar talk ☺
Trev Wilkinson has always been a problem solver. I've been using his parts for years. As far as trade secrets is concerned, I go WAYYY back to when you had to actually READ them. Always have enjoyed Dan's books and tips. Learned a lot from him. :)
Give these guys a show
My (budget!) Wilkinson trem is nothing less than top notch. I go ham on it and the guitar stays in tune. Lovely fellow.
How budget. ?¿??? Very curious. I just want No Floyds
I've had the pleasure of being shown how to set up and maintain guitars at trevs workshop by trev in Southport england. I live ten minutes away from trevor and have sold him his latest stage piano for his daughter.
Great attitude to making instruments and a nice guy all round.
Keep up the good work.
Geat series of videos and very helpful for a guitar tech like myself.👍
I recommend trying the JHS- Vintage and Encore brand guitars that Trevor has had a hand in designing,fantastic value,great playing bits of kit.
I LOOOVE my Vintage V100 Reissued GT...Happy owner for $430 (4 200 SEK)
He’s a really nice guy and a true gentleman.
I have the same VS-100 bridge installed on my 1990 American Standard Strat and it has always presented a problem with the centering of the strings on the fretboard. It was installed by an excellent Tech out of NY who was the touring technician for Eric Clapton for many years. He knows his stuff, builds beautiful bespoke custom guitars from scratch as well. A great tech and luthier. I trust implicitly that it was installed and set up the best it could be given it needed to be a drop-in replacement so I could go back to my stock trem some day if I wanted to.
From what I saw on the Gotoh By Wilkinson site the specs for for the VS-100 show it is actually meant for a wider post spacing (56.8mm or roughly 2 1/4") than two post fender style strats use (2 7/32" or roughly 56mm). It fits anyway because one of the knife edges is a straight edge, which can accommodate different post spacing. However, the way the saddles are centered on a bridge meant for wider posts means the whole group of saddles are slightly skewed toward the high E side of the neck to start with.
Also, All the two post style Stratocaster bridges seem to have 2 1/16 inch (Roughly 52.4mm) string spacing from High E to Low E, and the VS-100 has wider spacing 54mm or roughly 2 1/8" from High to Low E , which further exacerbates the problem.
On my guitar, the high E is almost at the fret edges by about the 12th fret.
I am having the bridge swapped out for a Gotoh NS510TE-FE1 when I have the neck refretted this month The NS version of the 510 has the correct "narrow" string spacing for a two post Strat, and all the 510t FE1 bridges seem to have the right post spacing to fit the strat post positions without requiring a straight edge knife on one side. I am pretty sure that should put things back where they are supposed to be, with almost the same stability as the VS-100.
And I am hoping to get a bit more of the slinky and really delicate ease of doing subtle chordal vibrato that I can't seem to do since installing the VS-100. It very much does want to return to zero, and it is more difficult to move the bar gradually and subtly. My factory strat trem was much more expressive to me, and I believe it is due to where the bar goes through the plate, further back from the fulcrum point, giving more leverage so you don't have to screw around with swapping out trem springs for boutique ones or the like.
I have the licensed version of the VS-100 on my Carvin, and that guitar is made to work with the string and post spacing for the VS-100 to start with, so the strings and neck are aligned fine. Return to pitch is spot on, however I still notice the same resistance to subtle vibrato input to the bar on that guitar and it has lighter gauge strings on a shorter scale length and hence less spring tension at the claw.
Have you guys at Stew Mac noticed that drop-in retrofits of the VS-100n on american standard strats end up with strings skewed like the warmoth strat in this video? ua-cam.com/video/LjjKbQ_eS88/v-deo.html (NO that is not my guitar, or my playing :) )
The Wilkinson trems are great, I really enjoy them
My two heroes together in one video!
True. To me they are guitar gods
I love these bridges. They always make my guitars look and feel premium.
I saw someone stating it brake strings like crazy, they said it's really bad and way overpriced, it sounds like you don't have any bad experience?
@@DerEchteBold I have three guitars with VS100s. Never had any string breaking issues and they stay in tune great.
Fantastic to hear the in depth explanation from the original creator!
I had the privilege of working with Trev Wilkinson in Brisbane Australia in the mid 1980's. He taught me how to handle a spray gun and a few other useful things. I also jammed with him at the Australian Academy of Music and disagree with his comment about him being a poor guitar player. He is just being modest as he played some great blues and rock guitar on that evening. He told me he wanted to be a millionaire and drive a Rolls and moved to LA with his wife and young daughter. There he collaborated with Fender on their first roller nut. The VS 100 trem is the epitome of intelligent design and has been my recommendation to Strat players with tuning stability issues for decades now. No other non-locking bridge comes close and the materials and build quality is superb. Japanese manufacturer Gotoh was the perfect choice for its production. Well done Trev! Rock on.
Hi, what about w VS50 II, wilkinson trem?, thank you.
TREVOR GETS IT RIGHT
I'M VERY IMPRESSED WITH HIS APPROACH & THINKING
HIS PRODUCTS WORK WELL
ALWAYS AN IMPROVEMENT
ALWAYS TOP QUALITY STUFF
THANKS FOR THIS POST
CARLOS GUITARLOS 90042
Lay off the caps.
Julian Sedor
CAPSCAPSCAPSCAPSCAPS
YOU LAY OFF THE CAPS J S
BY CONVENTION YOU THINK I'M YELLING BUT I'M NOT
DON'T FOLLOW THE CROWD
I USE CAPS SO I CAN SEE
WHAT ABOUT MY COMMENT
ANY RESPONSE TO THAT...
AGREEMENT, DISAGREEMENT
IN 1960 @ 10 I GOT MY FIRST GUITAR & WITHIN A MONTH I COULD TAKE IT ALL APART, ADJUST IT SET IT UP REWIRE IT FOR DIFFERENT SOUNDS
IT WAS FASCINATING TO ME
MY 1st STRAT IN 63 WAS A MARVEL TO ME BUT THERE WAS ALWAYS SOMETHING TO READJUST ON THE GUITAR
WILKINSON IS A SMART GUY
PAY ATTENTION TO THESE TOO GUYS & NOT MY CAPS
CARLOS GUITARLOS 90042
HERE'S A SONG I WROTE
"SAVE A DANCE" 2005
SUNG WITH MARCY LEVY (CLAPTON, ELTON JOHN, SHAKESPEARS SISTER)
LOOK HER UP, SHE WAS IN MY BAND FOR 3 1/2 YEARS
FROM "HELL CAN WAIT"
CAREFUL WARNING DANGER
THE SONG IS IN CAPS TOO
www.carlosguitarlosmusic.com/carlos/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/05-Save-a-Dance-1.mp3
These two legends are fucking awesome! Mr Wilkinson's Trem Units are top notch and really underrated in the market right now! I stopped buying the damn Fender ones because they are just so clunky and often times hard to get to work right.... When I get a chance, I will eventually replace all of my strat units with Wilkinsons! And also, they cost a crap ton less too! Easily buy two of these for an overpriced clunky Fender branded Unit! Anyways - if you haven't replace all of your strats with his units - you should! You won't regret the affordable price and the awesome performance boost from your bridge unit!
Thank you!
I'm in the process of building a parts caster and I know what bridge I'm going to use. I appreciate informative videos.
Very interesting. If my old Strat had that, I would probably still have it.
What a genius. I’m going to do this with my tremolos now lol
I built a strat about 10 years ago using the VS100N. I was lucky enough to find a mahogany body already drilled out for the bridge. Other things I did to help stabilize the tuning was to install locking staggered tuners tusq nut and string trees and I found an old tremsetter (the kind with two spring attachments instead of just one) I have two guitars with floating floyds and this stays in tune just as well as them. See for yourself.
What a fucking legend of a man.
two of my favorite dudes!
This is my favorite vibrato arm.
What a great engineer and he has made guitar player's life much easier. I've not tried this one. I'm looking for a two point trem to replace the gotoh unit on my Ibanez Japanes SV 440 which is a great guitar. The gotoh trem is basically a copy of the Fender twp point trem with a push in arm, but I think these are better. I just don't know if it will fit. Plus, I love the rolled steel saddles on this design you're talking about here. I was thinking of the locking saddle design he has, but I like this one better as far as looks at least.
Always a problem with Strats. I’ve put a Vega-Trem on mine. It allows the same action, "dive bomb", but also it works the other way as well. Well designed and built in Spain but a bit pricey ($260). Return to zero is almost spot on. Ready to solve that with a roller nut. StewMac is an awesome place to find any tool you need or a video to show you how. When I was "just a player" and wanting to increase my knowledge of repairs and general luthier techniques, this is where I started, in their video department. I’ve seen them all at least once. Dan is the man.
Thank you so much for this video I a vintage term player Schafer been wondering about Wilkinson for a while :)
The screw in detail of the arm is brilliant!
The only flaw of the VS100 to me is that screw to put pressure on the whammy bar. All my bridges that have that have somewhat lost that screw over the years. And I have no idea what to buy in order to replace it. Other than that it is one of the all time great tremolo systems. Always great to hear the words from the source, fantastic.
Still have a vs50 from 15 years ago, flawless
There is wisdom in this video (and the previous 2)
Very nice!!
I love these Wilkinson vs100 tremolo units with a mega passion!!!
I quite often go out & buy up old Fender USA Stratocaster's (everything from Standards too Ultra's etc...) & what I do is get one of these bridges fitted along with a Fender roller nut (if it hasn't already got one!!) & hight compensation locking tuners.
I also experiment with different pickups & combinations of them.
I also get my tech too refret them with my preferred jumbo fretwire (my favourite is Jescar Evo Gold 6100 size!!) & some I have scalloped because it's nice to have a variety!!!
But I do this because it's a better way too get a custom guitar without having to pay the premium for a Custom Shop instrument (I have a few & they're incredible!!) & if you know what you want you can save loads of cash!!!!
I have around 40/50 customised Fender Stratocaster's & they're all hard working reliable machines that are all incredible!!!!
@@waagman I only say things as they are through experience of playing in the heat of battle as it were!!
By in large the units that Fender fit are ok but the quality is nowhere near as good as a Wilkinson!!!
I love the VS100 with a passion & also the vsvg is something I'm very fond of & for the vintage fan they're as good as it gets!!
Ok,so their is the Gotoh 510 range which is excellent & let's not forget Hipshot products which are again top of the line too!!But Wilkinson for me (I know that they're now being produced by Gotoh,but that's not a bad place too be considering that PRS hardware is made by Gotoh as is all the hardware for Ibanez guitars & also let's not forget when Edward Van Halen R.I.P. went too Musicman too create his first signature guitar the vibrato unit wasn't made by Floyd Rose as due to licensing issues with Fender he couldn't use one.So this made him shop around & the first prototype had a German made Schaller which had a few issues so he then moved to a Gotoh which he stuck with until he moved too Peavey & his EVH range then moved to his signature series Floyd Rose.) are the best!!!
Try one & you won't be disappointed!!!
Good luck & play it loud & keep it Rock & Roll!!
The best non-locking trem made.
Yes, even better than the one PRS uses.
I'd love to hear him talk about that trem system that "locks" automatically to hardtail mode when the bar isn't being used. I remember reading about it years ago.
Wilkinson Convertible it was called. You can find them from time to time but expect to pay through the nose.
Trev Wilkinson is a genius at the level of Leo Fender.
Love that trem
Cool!
Never was able to keep my strat in tune with the VS-100. Especially G and B string. Ditched the VS100 and threw a Gotoh 510 in and never had a problem again. Also i would sometime get a rattle from it, god knows where it came from, but loosing the saddle lock screws eliminated that rattle ironically enough. If it is something that i liked about it was the smooth action.
Great video, thank you. Would you be able to tell me the size of the three allen keys that are needed to adjust the various components of this tremolo? Thank you for your time.
I have/and/or put this bridge on all my guitars.
Love this trem - very fluid feeling. It's the stock bridge on my Yamaha Pacifica 604W, which was a pretty cheap guitar. It's also got Sperzel tuners, which certainly help. There's only one problem with this trem - you need to make sure the string is seated all the way into the block before tuning up. The end wrap can snag inside the block at the stop for the ball end. I have had to toss away a few strings because they were kinked at the saddle and then popped free under tension. What a drag.
The ball end getting caught can happen with the normal Strat bridge to
@@carloslara7452 So what did you learn?
Seat the the string before tuning.
Check it twice, like your spelling.
My VS100 is a Marshall. But seriously...this mans' stuff is seriously good.
Hi, this looks amazing. Any idea if it's possible to directly replace a wvs50IIK with the VS100N?
Which is why I use VS-100's on my own guitars with whammies, and I recommend and install them in my repair business. Don't look so bored, Dan!
Christ, that warpy edit at the end of the intro had me thinking I was having a fucking flashback lol
This type of bridge comes installed on a brand new Yamaha 612 that also has Grover locking tuners and Seymour Duncan pickups. What to me seemed like a great combo of premium parts. However Yamaha does not supply the correct allen key to unlock the saddles nor the screw needed to adjust the saddle. Seems very difficult to find what is needed here or where to get it. So intonation might be stable but I cannot set it (and it's off by quite a bit how the guitar came out of the box). It doesn't seem to make life easy unfortunately.
StewMac can you sell the little Delrin Bushing. I cant find one :(
Trev, Dan, I need to replace some screws on my VS100 due to oxidization and age. The saddles and bridgeplate are fine. The long and short intonation hex heads in black are what I need. Where can I go?
So is this the affordable option compared to the Vega trem????
Will this bridge fit on a fender player strat?
this bridge fit to stratocaster player ?
i thought the set screw 3:52 was a G&L thing?
I love his point about sustain is about the string being able to vibrate longer. Why people don't understand the physics of that and have to go down 'Mystical Tone Journey' road, I have no clue. I guess it seems guru or whatever.
Wilkinson 5+1 for a brilliant vintage
It's like a blocked floyd rose minus the micro-tuners and look
Amen
Will this fit a 2008 American Deluxe strat? It doesn't have a vintage style trem.
I have a guitar with vs100 and it's a rock solid than v50
What is the largest gauge of string can that bridge hold?
Or more directly can I use it for a Bass VI (with a 0.095" low E string and a high E at 0.025").
I can't find any with 2 1/16 string spacing
The trans trem is the best trem ever designed
I wish they had a 36mm block variant for this. 40mm depth doesn’t fit my strat.
The best
rock and roll
I can’t find a Wilkinson website where I can se products and manuals. Pretty strange.
this is a Gotoh product designed by wilkinson. Check Gotoh and you can find this bridge.
Nothing wrong with the modern Fender two stud vibrato (or tremolo) except that Fender still refuses to put a collar in their tremolo block around the stem of the tremolo arm with a set screw to remove the wobble in the arm.
The Wilkinson on my 510V is a six screw and has nothing to secure the bar. If you lean over, it falls out.
Why doesn’t Trevor sell narrow spaced tremolos? Most modern guitars are narrow spaced.
Is it rust-proof? I used to use the Wilkinson bridges for my Teles, and they didn't last long!
Are you close to the sea? High humidity? Is the guitar in some sort of old case with a sweaty strap attached?
@@onpsxmember
None of those. Usually I just hung the gtrs in the air-conditioned studio. The other gtrs w/ stop-bar tailpiece or Bigsby are still in good condition after more than a decade under the same treatments. (Well, sometimes we're too lazy to clean 'em up)
@@donkqdonkq1747
Thx for the reply. Then the plating was crap on those bridges you bought, if the others are fine and are played the same.
The only other reason would be certain acidic sweat, but that would affect the other guitars too. What bridges showed that problem?
@@onpsxmember
Well, the Wilkinson mostly
Donk'Q Donk'Q
EMAIL THEM
EXPLAIN THE SITUATION
PROVIDE PICTURES OF THE GUITAR ON THE WALL AND IT'S PLACEMENT TO THE AIR CONDITIONER AS WELL
SHOW THAT THERE'S NO REASON FOR THE FAILURE OF THE SURFACE OF THE PART
ASK TO RETURN IT AT NO CHARGE & GET ANOTHER AT NO CHARGE WHATSOEVER
THEY BELIEVE IN ALL OF THEIR PRODUCTS I'M SURE
I'VE RECEIVED SATISFACTION FROM SOME OF THE BETTER QUALITY AFTERMARKET PARTS MANUFACTURERS
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in Highland Park 90042
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Gostei ✌✌✌
Wilkinson makes great stuff, but once I tried a Super Vee bladerunner, I wont use anything else.
Ol trev
Nothing wrong with a good quality vintage vibrato (or tremolo) !
Ask Trev Wilkinson why his vibrato systems don't come with instructions and why he doesn't do customer support.
Vibrator and tremolo are two two different effects, and mechanically works in different way, why people confused by this is beyond my comprehension.
THIS IS A VIBRATOR BAR! It vibrates when engaged, it make no tremolo effect in any way shape or form!
For the love of god open a dictionary.
I think Dan didn`t agree do much. Neither I.
99% of these trems do not Line Up with the holes on most strats. Do not listen to these UA-cam scammers there very dishonest
Omg I just boought this lmao
Fuck the advertisements are working I should stop that
So is stewmac just done making cool videos for actual repair techs and luthiers and only focusing on beginners and hobbyists? I dont think I've seen a video worth watching for about a year, which is a massive shame because I used to learn alot from these.
A stable trem is important. Hardly just for beginners.
Cameron Baum Yes, I've noticed. Many times over the years I've either broken the (Soft & Drilled much bigger than the bar, Through the "Sustain Block. This time through a 61' Vintage Strat. Initially Bought a D Temple Titanium "Vintage replacement. But the sound is Very Ping'y (Uber Treble) I still Can't find an EXACT Replacement ( Where the bar & Block have VERY little play. I've lost an Old Best friend, a Blonde Ash, Slab board. & I miss it. HELP !
They’re product adverts, not training videos. Simple as that. There’s not enough ‘techs and luthiers’ working (who are willing to spend 3x what the same products are available for elsewhere) to keep them in business ... so they’re now marketing to all players.
@@soundpainter2590 that had nothing to do with what I was talking about thank you
@@adozensparrows As far as being a professional tech yeah it's pretty beginner. My point had nothing to do with a trem, my point was that they dont put out videos that are actually useful to professional techs and luthiers anymore
Vintage trems have been working since 1954. Why mess with them?