Steve Rieck: One quick tip for any beginners out there that have a tremolo equipped electric guitar and that would be most of the beginner electric guitars you will see out there in the Fender style guitars. There are different types of tremolos and this is a PRS guitar and it is little bit of a different shape. It basically is a Fender style tremolo. Some tremolos have locking nuts, which are like Floyd Rose tremolos and that's sort of different scenario, but by far the most common one is this standard Fender style tremolo.
One thing that I see a lot of beginners doing and actually it is not their fault, they come from the factory in many cases this way, is where they have the tremolo floating. What I mean by that is, this tremolo is basically balancing between the string tension, the tension of the strings pulling the tremolo this way and the springs that are actually in the back of the tremolo.
So if you see the picture up on the screen, you can see the back of the tremolo of the guitar and you will see the springs that actually pull the tremolo block and that actually counterbalances the string tension. So it is sort of the springs versus the strings in terms of how this tremolo balances on the guitar. Well, one thing that I could never understand is, why these sometimes come from the factory with them floating.
What I mean by that is, the tremolo is not flush with the guitar top when it is at rest. What will happen if it floats, in many cases you're going to have dramatic tuning problems, if you have a floating Fender style tremolo. The reason for that is, if I were to have this tremolo just balancing between the string tension and the spring tension, if I tune one string higher, if I were to tune a string up, then what it is actually going to do is, it is going to pull the bridge up ever so slightly.
Just the tension of that one string being brought up, it's going to pull the bridge up a little up. Effectively, what that's going to do is, it is going to make the other five strings go flat. So by tuning one string up, the other five go flat. It starts this vicious cycle where it becomes very, very difficult to get the guitar actually to stay in tune.
Now the way to actually fix that problem is, to make sure you have enough spring tension in the back of the guitar. Make sure you have enough springs, most come with three springs. You can put five on there or tighten the claw hook in the back, all the way in the hole in the back of the guitar. So that would actually just pull the tremolo flush against the top. By doing that, when you tune a string up, the other five won't be affected.
I want to mention that in some cases, it is just a really beginner thing per se but as you get more intermediary events, some players do prefer that, like Jeff Beck tends to that where he has a floating Fender tremolo. But it really is one of those things where you always have to be watching out for how your tuning is and if you are a beginner, certainly that's not something which you really want to have happening in the beginning stages of learning to play guitar; being in tune is so important.
So just make sure you have enough spring tension in that back of the tremolo and make sure that when the guitar is at rest, that bridge is flushed with the guitar top and your guitar should stay in tune as it should. That's a little bit about Fender tremolos for beginners.
Giles Martin: This is Giles Martin, I am here at Abbey Road Studios to talk about 'Come Together.' 'Come Together' was recorded in July, 1969; that's part of the Abbey Road sessions, the last album The Beatles made.
Steve Rieck: So that starts with the first finger at the tenth fret of the sixth string and third finger on the 12th fret of the fifth string and the fourth finger on the 12th fret of the fourth string.
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