Recessed Gotoh 510 cavity

[BeachTurtle]

I think for some, it's more for the low profile of the saddles perpendicular to the body.
The entire baseplate of my my Gotoh Floyd is submerged with the baseplate surface parallel to the body surface. I rarely pull up, but I have enough to pull up 1.5 steps on the G string if I want to.

I think you and I would get along like peas in a pod if we could bring guitars to a show and tell. Rock on man!

 

[BeachTurtle]

There's a guy who plays a Strat named Jeff Beck, just to think of one in particular...

Oh man you had to name drop like that huh? JK JB rocks!!!

 

[BeachTurtle]

The range is ridiculously low for pulls. You can pull maybe 1/2 step in most cases
Even if you do some tricks like raising the posts, the base plate close to the arm has a little bump that greatly limits the pulls if it's not recessed - see my other guitar with a 2-point 510.

I think Warmoth should do this recessed thing... not saying it's simple but a lot of people want it.

View attachment 61573

Being able to pull up half a step is better than not being able to pull up at all, so I guess this is a win, albeit a small one.

 

[BeachTurtle]

Ibanez and Charvel are somehow doing this with fender-ish bodies and trem cavities. I’ll take a look tonight to see if the trem posts protrude into the spring cavity somehow on my AZ.

As far as “why” - not all of us use trems for dives and wankery. I use it as an alternate vibrato. Up/down vibrato works great on a semi recessed trem. On a non-recessed trem you have to set it up with extra slack in the springs which angles the bridge, no longer keeping the trem knife edges perpendicular to the trem posts. This affects returning to neutral (or even worse, can cause a double pivot situation where the trem is pivoting off the trem posts AND the body.)

And no, the 510T/T1502/T1802 is not a Floyd, but with a well cut nut, locking tuners, and sharp knife edges, its really, really close.

Do you mean to sharpen the knife edges on a new gotoh 510 trem more than what is stock?

 

[BeachTurtle]

Ha yes Jeff. One of the best guitarists there is and he’d rather build hot rods than play guitar . I wish I had a tenth of an ounce of talent that man has. The man can make a Guitar do things it wasn’t designed to do. Had the opportunity to meet him quite briefly. Seemed a bit offput as I asked about Guitar playing. Simply he said, forget it’s a Guitar, it’s a tool. Use to create what you want.

I guess the saying is true, do not meet your idols. Sucks that he was a little offput, I hope you get another chance to meet the guy and the situation is better.

 

[BeachTurtle]

I so want one of these!!!!

That charvel looks really inspiring to play! The color is just chef's kiss! Normally I am not a fan of all white plastics but now I will throw that opinion out the door. White plastics can look amazing on a guitar, I just got so tired of seeing white plastics on budget guitars growing up. This guitar is changing that for me now.

 

[BeachTurtle]

[quote author=The Aaron]As a point of reference, we sell very, very few semi-recessed Wilky routs.

I have one and it doesn’t look good. I’m over the Wilky too.

As to the Gotoh 510 - which has been without a doubt my favorite trem - I wouldn’t think to recess it.
[/QUOTE]

Your comment really instilled extra confidence on this Gotoh 510 trem, I am building my first partscaster and it was made for a gotoh 510 bridge. I read good things about the bridge but hearing more people say they love the Gotoh 510 makes me look forward to the build. For the record I have the most experience with OFR and then Vega Trem systems.

 

[TBurst Std]

I guess the saying is true, do not meet your idols. Sucks that he was a little offput, I hope you get another chance to meet the guy and the situation is better.

He just seemed to rather have a simple meet/greet. PS Jeff died a couple years ago.

 

[stratamania]

He just seemed to rather have a simple meet/greet. PS Jeff died a couple years ago.

Jeff died last January 2023, about 15 months ago now.

 

[labs_audio]

To throw more fuel on the fire...FU-Tone floyds use a Gotoh route, so a whole group of people who may want more room to pull up.

Would be cool to work in a D-Tuna route as well!

 

[viking_kong]

Did this on my strat..but got a little deeper..now it floats almost like FR getting up to 2 whole step back (pull) and can do dime squeals..however, it's not stable and can't stay in tune when using the whammy bar.. without the whammy bar, it's stable even when bending but as soon as I use it, tuning will get messed up as hell..even with locking tuners..i don't know what's wrong here.. (maybe doing it is my mistake in the first place).. ordered tremolo stabilizer hoping it will make any improvement..

 

[aarontunes]

Did this on my strat..but got a little deeper..now it floats almost like FR getting up to 2 whole step back (pull) and can do dime squeals..however, it's not stable and can't stay in tune when using the whammy bar.. without the whammy bar, it's stable even when bending but as soon as I use it, tuning will get messed up as hell..even with locking tuners..i don't know what's wrong here.. (maybe doing it is my mistake in the first place).. ordered tremolo stabilizer hoping it will make any improvement..View attachment 61679View attachment 61680

That's a neat routing job! Two questions:

1. Is this a Fender body, or a Warmoth body?
2. Did you find after doing this that the tremolo studs now poke through into the trem-spring cavity?

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

Check for contact at the lower bass side corner as depicted. I’m not sure, but I’m wondering if there is contact. If so, that’s a friction point.

Additionally, you may need to lube the knife edges. And, is that a stress crack that I see behind the treble post?

 

[BeachTurtle]

Check for contact at the lower bass side corner as depicted. I’m not sure, but I’m wondering if there is contact. If so, that’s a friction point.

Additionally, you may need to lube the knife edges. And, is that a stress crack that I see behind the treble post?

could you elaborate more on that for us that could learn more? Thank you I really appreciate you taking the time to type.

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

could you elaborate more on that for us that could learn more? Thank you I really appreciate you taking the time to type.

In the pic, on the lower left side of the baseplate, is it contacting the wall of the cavity that you routed? If so, That is a friction point and could be causing the trem to not return to its “zero” position.

 

[BeachTurtle]

In the pic, on the lower left side of the baseplate, is it contacting the wall of the cavity that you routed? If so, That is a friction point and could be causing the trem to not return to its “zero” position.

Ah okay thank you I finally saw it. I had to look at the first top picture and not the second photo to see it. Thank you for the info, I hope the guy with the issue reads your comment and can look in to that, however for me it is nice to read that and learn from your knowledge. Thank you again.

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

Yes, the first pic, sorry.

 

[Bab212]

But why

just for the aesthetic?

Realistically, does someone going to pull back on one like a F to the Lloyd?

Absolutely pull back, dive or anything else you would do like a FR. I started using them on my first Sterling by Music Man. I now swear by them. When setup correctly, and using a Graphtech nut they perform every bit as good as a Floyd. Tuning stability is superb.

 

[Bab212]

Also as an FYI, the Gotoh 510 in Charvel guitars has a shorter block. I am not sure if a standard block would stick out the back of a guitar if it was recesses into the top.

Also as an FYI, the Gotoh 510 in Charvel guitars has a shorter block. I am not sure if a standard block would stick out the back of a guitar if it was recesses into the top.

I replaced the Gotoh unit that came in my Charvel DK24 with the 510T-BS1. While the one that comes stock with the Charvel is a Gotoh 510 it is different in that the base holes for mounting the counter weight are narrower. I wanted the Brass counter weight. When I got the new 510 the weight is a 42mm which is too deep for the body. I took the brass weight and ground it down to fit and re-drilled the spring mounting holes. Works perfectly.

 

[Bab212]

Did this on my strat..but got a little deeper..now it floats almost like FR getting up to 2 whole step back (pull) and can do dime squeals..however, it's not stable and can't stay in tune when using the whammy bar.. without the whammy bar, it's stable even when bending but as soon as I use it, tuning will get messed up as hell..even with locking tuners..i don't know what's wrong here.. (maybe doing it is my mistake in the first place).. ordered tremolo stabilizer hoping it will make any improvement..View attachment 61679View attachment 61680

Definitely appears that the Routed cavity is not cut properly on the sides. There should be at least 1/16 in clearance all of the way around. Also when tuning I always flutter the trem as I am adjusting the tuning for each string. In doing this, when the guitar does go out of tune all you need to do to go back in tune is flutter the tremolo and it will go right back in tune. An old friend of mine taught me that trick and it works very well for me.