Tremol-No hands on review

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...

Easy mistake to make! A lot of people think it's all England anyway,with Scotland stuck on the top,lol.

It's the same with Wales as with Scotland. We like to protest that were fiercly independant from the English (who did invade and pillage our Celtic homelands many moons ago).
We have got our own parliament now but it's more of a symbolic thing than anything else.

Hey,this is getting scarily close to being a political post,best end it now,lol.

After playing fixed bridge for a while then going back to the UV I feel like I'd really dig this gadget.

I think the most important thing on a device like Tremol-No is that the quality of materials and precision of manufacture isn't compromised in the production versions. We all know how much a good Floyd differs from a bad Floyd.

Drew, please make this clear to Kevan in your evaluation

I think Kevan's perfectly aware - he's a high-end Ibanez nut, won't touch a TRS trem, and has a bit of a Concorde fetish, so I think he's really big on the fact that the Tremol-No is made of the same high-quality aircraft grade aluminum (and a surgical steel shaft) as the Concorde.

Hey, whatever floats your boat.

-D

Hey Folks!

I thought you might like a little info from the horse's mouth, so to speak.

I enjoyed your review, Drew. I think it explains the features, the functionality and the versatility of the Tremol-No quite well.

The one thing that I wanted to expand on is the "moving the trem while locked" part. Yes- this has caught a few of my testers off-guard, but they learn their lesson quickly. LOL I designed the unit, as you said, to release/slip before any real damage can be caused to more expensive & crucial parts of the guitar. The thumbscrews are brass, the receiver is 6061 T-6 aluminum, and the shaft is 304 stainless steel. Brass vs. steel? Steel wins. :-) I also used 3 different materials to prevent galling between the parts and to minimize the need for continual lubrication.

The other thing I wanted to say is that the Tremol-No is ***NOT*** like the TremSetter or the Backstop. Both of those units are spring-loaded; the Tremol-No is not spring-loaded.

I'll do a quick Modes List for you guys, to keep it simple:
- Tremol-No unlocked: Bridge functions as normal.
- Tremol-No locked: Bridge is now locked. aka Hardtail Mode.

- Tremol-No unlocked w/Deep-C unlocked: Bridge functions as normal.
- Tremol-No unlocked w/Deep-C locked: Bridge is now set to lower notes. aka Dive Only Mode. Also, in this mode, if you break a string, you will remain in tune. Drop tunings are also now possible, and you retain dive ability with the trem.
- Tremol-No locked w/Deep-C locked: Bridge is now locked. aka. Hardtail Mode.

The thumbscrews can be locked pretty damn tight, but for a permanent lock, I *highly* recommend using the set screws. For 7-stringers, using the set screw on the Deep-C (instead of the thumbscrew) seems to be the best way to go to avoid any slippage. That extra string puts a lotta force on the trem.

The Tremol-No is not a cure-all for tuning issues. If your trem sucked before installing one, it will still suck after installing one.

Fun Note: Last time I spoke with Rusty Cooley, he told me of a cool idea using the Deep-C. He set it up so that his trem could only raise to a specific pitch- 1/2 step, whole step, 1.5 steps, etc. This way, when he's crankin' out a rhythm, he could *feel* where to stop that pitch raise, instead of using his ears. As we know, anything that helps Rusty get to the other notes faster, well....that's what he likes. :-) He said he was going to play around with it more and see what other cool tricks he can come up with. Crazy player...insanely nice guy (and a great interview w/him here on this site!)

JTM- If I may, I'd like to suggest you wait for Tremol-No availabiltiy before blocking off your DE-equipped guitar. As you said, those little wires are quite touchy- one wrong move or slight slip, and your trem is a paper weight.

DP- don't worry about materials quality on the production Tremol-No units. The license is very specific about what materials can be used. We also found a great factory that does quality machining, so no worries there either.

Oh, and Drew- just for the record, I have a MAJOR Concorde fetish. And, I don't mind TRS trems, as long as they're setup properly.

I'm going as fast as I can to get these units out to you guys. If the admins would like, I'll do a separate updates thread to keep everyone current and in the loop (let me know).

Thanks again, guys. If you have any questions, feel free to email or IM me.

Yeah, didn't you buy part of a Concorde control panel, when they decommissioned them? I knew you were interested, but I can't remember if you pulled the trigger or not...

-D

Hows the distro deal coming? CAuse i need 3 of these asap \m/

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....

Sounds good to me man. Keep us posted \m/

haha, yeah, that sounds familiar. I'm sorry, a machmeter'd be one hell of a paperweight, but that or an Audi?

-D

Any pics of this thing installed? I am very interested in this.