sevenstring guitars   sevenstring registry   photo gallery   subscription   spy 
Sevenstring.org - The Seven String Guitar Authority

Go Back   Sevenstring.org > Interviews, Reviews & Tech Articles > Gear Reviews
Click to visit LuthierTalk.com   LIKE SS.org on Facebook FOLLOW SS.org on Twitter
  
Gear Reviews Sevenstring.org's fully interactive gear review database.

Comment
LinkBack Review Tools Display Modes
Tremol-No Hands-On Review
Drew
04-03-2005
Ok, I've had one of these suckers in my UV7PWH for about three weeks now, so time for the good, the bad, and the ugly.

First a bit of history - way back in the day, before I discovered the Ibanez Edge and an extra string, I was a strat player. I'd run five springs so the bridge would be flush with the body and wouldn't raise when I did bends, so when I first started playing a guitar with a fully floating bridge, compound bends were a source of considerable frustration for me. I gradually just stopped doing them, especially while recording, but I've always loved the sound of unison bends and faux pedal steel licks, so when Kevan Geier started hinting that he had something in the works to fix this, I was pretty interested. Finally, after about two years of begging and pleading, I managed to get Kevan to send me one of the prototypes (this tactic, namely being annoying, was so effective that I've started in on Mick Jagger. Expect to see me on his next solo tour (or in...
  #25  
By Metal Ken on 05-10-2005, 10:17 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kevan
Thanks again, guys. If you have any questions, feel free to email or IM me.
Hows the distro deal coming? CAuse i need 3 of these asap \m/
  #26  
By Kevan on 05-10-2005, 10:37 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by HateBreeder
Hows the distro deal coming? CAuse i need 3 of these asap \m/
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kevan
I'm going as fast as I can to get these units out to you guys.
As of right now, that's all the info I have.

While typing this out, I'm breaking my stare of the fax machine...DYING for that license agreement to come over the wire.....
...checking paper....
...checking ink.....
...checking power....
...checking fax line....



Drew- I was going for several items when Air France disassembeled one of theirs and auctioned off the parts. I *really* wanted the machmeter, but....it went for over $30,000. A tad bit more than their estimation of $2500. LOL I'm still looking though....someday....heh heh....
  #27  
By Metal Ken on 05-10-2005, 10:42 AM
Sounds good to me man. Keep us posted \m/
  #28  
By Drew on 05-10-2005, 10:47 AM
haha, yeah, that sounds familiar. I'm sorry, a machmeter'd be one hell of a paperweight, but that or an Audi?

-D
  #29  
By TheReal7 on 05-10-2005, 01:42 PM
Any pics of this thing installed? I am very interested in this.
  #30  
By Metal Ken on 05-10-2005, 01:44 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Drew
In my defense, I'm American, and if we've never invaded it...
Solution to this problem: Invade Everything.
  #31  
By Drew on 05-10-2005, 01:55 PM
You know, there's actually an American Global Domination party - that's not their exact name, of course, but their platform is to take over the world.

If you think about it, it's a rather novel solution to the question of how to bring about world peace...

-D
  #32  
By Metal Ken on 05-10-2005, 01:56 PM
Well, my voters card says Republican (needs to be changed to independant, im pretty much in the middle...).. Is that what you were talking about? lol.
  #33  
By Drew on 05-10-2005, 02:02 PM
hahahaha, sometimes I wonder.

Na, the republican party does it under the pretext of "spreading democracy." (to be fair, the democratic party does it under the pretext of "preserving liberty"). These guys just do it because it's there so why the hell not - IMO, a much better reason.

-D
  #34  
By Kevan on 05-10-2005, 02:42 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheReal7
Any pics of this thing installed? I am very interested in this.
Go to the Players page on Tremol-No.com.
Click on the players name.
Voila!
  #35  
By Drew on 05-12-2005, 11:48 AM
You know, I never posted pics, did I?

I'm on it, hopefully tomorrow.

-D
  #36  
By Kevan on 05-12-2005, 01:05 PM
Drew- your checkered spandex pants are in the *other* box.

Remember: If you don't look good, you can't play good.
  #37  
By Drew on 05-12-2005, 01:10 PM
Gaddamn it, Kevan, where'd I be without you?
  #38  
By zak on 12-15-2005, 09:02 PM
Kevan, I've got a quick question. Say if the Deep-C is in place, if you kept to guitar in say a half step down, would you get full use of the tremblo or just downwards on it?
  #39  
By Kevan on 12-15-2005, 11:34 PM
Zak- Let's do this scenario:
Fully floating trem....standard tuning of BEADGBE (because we're on a 7-string board. LOL).

You want to do some drop tunings. No problem.
1. Make sure you're in tune.
2. Lock the Tremol-No using the two thumbscrews.
3. Slide the Deep-C up against the Tremol-No receiver, and lock it in place (7-stringers should use the provided set screw to lock the Deep-C).
4. Unlock the two thumbscrews on the Tremol-No receiver.
5. Do all the freaky tunings you want, and dive bomb away!

This is called Dive-Only mode. In this mode, you trem will only be able to drop/lower the pitch of the strings.

If you break a string in this mode, your guitar will remain in tune.

(Holy crap. I sound like that guy in the demonstration video!)
  #40  
By The Dark Wolf on 12-16-2005, 12:34 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by HateBreeder
Well, my voters card says Republican (needs to be changed to independant, im pretty much in the middle...).. Is that what you were talking about? lol.
A republican death metal dude?

Them 2 don't seem to go together too well.
  #41  
By zak on 12-17-2005, 01:35 PM
Hey, Kevan. How would you like to send me one! I'm a CFH columnist if that's enough to put down for a resume.
  #42  
By Drache713 on 01-12-2006, 12:14 PM
I have a quick question for anybody that has used the unit...

when in fixed bridge mode or dive only with the deep-c, is there enough room with the fine tuners to tune down to drop d/drop a, or do you have to unlock the nut and then tune down the string with the regular tuner?
  #43  
By Drew on 01-12-2006, 12:18 PM
It takes most of the range of your fine-tuner, so you have to set up your guitar accordingly... but yes, you can.
  #44  
By AsIAm666 on 01-16-2006, 01:09 PM
Whats happenin guys, I'm new here and I REALLY want the Tremol-No for both my Strat(vintage trem) and (see sig)Carvin 7 which has a floyd. I noticed, Kevan, that you said 7 stringers should use the Set Screw....what the hell is that? Lol When you say its provided with the Tremol-No, do you mean its already on the Deep-C or its just included? Also, with the Tremol-No, can you still flutter? Thanks a lot, Marc
  #45  
By Drew on 01-16-2006, 02:23 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by AsIAm666
Whats happenin guys, I'm new here and I REALLY want the Tremol-No for both my Strat(vintage trem) and (see sig)Carvin 7 which has a floyd. I noticed, Kevan, that you said 7 stringers should use the Set Screw....what the hell is that? Lol When you say its provided with the Tremol-No, do you mean its already on the Deep-C or its just included? Also, with the Tremol-No, can you still flutter? Thanks a lot, Marc
I'll take this one for the time being and let Kevan elaborate anywhere he sees fit when he gets a chance.

First, that's a gorgeous Carvin.

The set screw is a small allen screw that you can swap out the thumb screw for on the Deep-C. Because you tighten it with a hex key and not by hand, you can apply a lot more torque to it, and in turn a loty more pressure to the Tremol-no's shaft, meaning it will lock down that much firmer. On a seven string, while you CAN get away with using just the thumb screw, it's not that hardto jostle the Deep-C enough to make it shift, as there's so much more tension on the entire system due to the extra string. So, if you want it to lock down with that much more stability (especially for dive-only use when you'd just have that one screw securing the trem), the set screw is really the way to go.

Flutter is still possible with the Tremol-no, too. My experience has been that flutter is actually slightly tighter and faster with a tremol-no than without, but the difference is pretty subtle.
  #46  
By AsIAm666 on 01-17-2006, 08:02 PM
Lol, thanks man. I had the wrong URL up there but I just changed it so now theres a bunch more pics of it. Is the set screw just one of the screws like from a locking nut? That sounds totally stupid but I still dont really know what it is. Does it come with the Tremol-No, just not ON the Deep-C? Thanks again, Marc
  #47  
By Kevan on 04-03-2006, 11:08 PM
Drew- We're at the 1 year mark!
Wanna toss us an update on how the Tremol-No has held up over the past year?
  #48  
By Drew on 06-05-2006, 12:09 PM


I'm just seeing this now.

Well, I got the production Tremol-no instaled in my UV the other night - I'd been putting it off because I also needed to do a full setup anyway, but finally got around to it Saturday (I'd had a pretty big Friday, so I stayed in to practice, and then got bored and decided to do the install).

Installation was pretty painless - it helps that I've done it a couple times now, between my CST and UV. I think all told, for pulling the prototype Tremol-no, installing the new one, and then re-shimming the neck for a slightly steeper angle (I used a complimentary admission card for a local strip club a buddy'd given me - this is either pretty damned metal or prtty damned false, depending on how you want to look at it, lol) and adjusting the bridge angle, I had the guitar put back together again and in tune within an hour.

Performance-wise, the production version of the Tremol-no stomps all over the prototype. The proto was very obviously hand-machined in small batches - it gives it a cool industrial sort of vibe (you gotta love raw machined aluminum ), but the final one is much smoother, a little more rounded, and an overal more "finished" looking bit of gear. My one main problem with the original design, the impractically-small claws for the trem springs, has been vastly improved on the final problem, and I had absolutely no problems getting the springs seated.

Kevan would have to confirm this too, but it seems the shaft (a little smaller, appears to be a better grade of steel, too) seems to have been designed to provide a litte bit of side-to-side wiggle room that was absent in the original, wich makes it significantly easier to dial in.

Aside from that, I don't have a hell of a lot to add. I've had a blast with the thing for the last year and change, if nothing else solely for the fact it still cracks me up to no end to be able to do in-tune compound bends on my Universe, and because I can now jam along with my Tool albums without spending an hour tuning down to drop-D/A. While I've got essentially zero progress done on my album to show for it, the thing's a godsend when it comes to tracking rhythm parts - lock the thing down and even if you really slam at the low strings it sounds a lot more "stable" because you can't throw the trem into oscillations. Chording just sounds better, even with the heavy-ass strings I use - I'd imagine it's even more pronounced with lighter strings, where there's much less tension on the trem.

Basically, it's just fun. It makes playing guitar even more enjoyable, and that's all you can ask of any peice of gear.
  #49  
By vampiregenocide on 02-18-2009, 05:39 PM
I just got one o these installed in my xiphos. Love it. All trems should come with them
Comment

Bookmarks

Review Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are On



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 11:48 PM.


Our Network: Luthier Forum | SG Guitar Forum | Les Paul Forum | Marshall Amp Forum | Acoustic Guitar Forum

SS.org proudly supports St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

Copyright © 2004-2013, SevenString.org. All Rights Reserved.


Review powered by GARS 2.1.7 ©2005-2006