Take Back Control Of Your Guitar Part II: Audio Samples Post Vibrato Mod

I went ahead and glued the wood block in place to make my M-207's bridge an up-only vibrato. See the previous post for background.

Before I introduce the recordings I made of this guitar I want to revisit my other options. I could have just lived with an instrument who's action, intonation and tuning changed radically if I changed the gauge of even a single string and put every other string out of tune when I tuned one. I could have upgraded the system with a "tremolo stabilizer" like the HipShot TremSetter that preserved the function of the vibrato but provided more stability. I also could have completely frozen the bridge with a "tremolo lock," either a commercially available one or one of my own design.

I opted to lock/freeze the vibrato in one direction; it can no longer flatten strings. The strings pull the bridge against a block of wood I added to the bridge cavity. If I sharpen strings with the vibrato it returns to rest against the block, exactly where it started. This is the opposite behavior of the dive-bomb-only vibratos found on many inexpensive guitars.

These demos were recorded with two SM57 mics to a Sony MiniDisk recorder and edited in DSP-Quattro (a free version). I played through a Hartke head, an Electro-Harmonix Micro Metal Muff distortion pedal and a Peavy 4-10 cabinet with a horn. One of the mics was on a cone and the other on the horn.

The first audio file features a rhythm part reminiscent of Husker Du's "I Don't Want To Know If You Are Lonely" just to prove that I didn't completely wreck the guitar while modifying the vibrato. You can hear me palm the bridge at the end.

7 String Vibrato Hack Demo1 by DJ Dual Core

Here you can hear several snippets of me using the vibrato, either palming it, bending individual strings with the tuning levers, or actually using a whammy bar like a normal person. The truth is I have never been much of a vibrato user, so it's not all that impressive, it just shows that it works. I also play "I Don't Want to Know If You Are Lonely" again to prove I have not thrown the guitar out of tune.

7 String Vibrato Hack Demo 2 by DJ Dual Core