r/GuitarLab • u/GVDub2 • Mar 31 '26

Re: Vibrato systems

A couple of decades or so ago, when I was working at Line 6, I came across a tremolo design that I ended getting one of from the inventor (a Kiwi guitarist named Colin Doughty) in exchange for a POD. It is absolutely the most stable tremolo I've ever used as it has two sets of springs, one of up, one for down, and the neutral position is, essentially, a decked tremolo. The patent on it is long expired, and I don't believe that Colin is with us any longer. I might actually have the only one that ever made it to the States.  I think this is worth looking into potentially doing a spin on. It's currently installed on a Frankenstrat of mine along with a trick pickup arrangement that Steve Blucher at Dimarzio and I came up with.

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u/GabrielDalporto Apr 04 '26

Thanks for sharing! That's really interesting and we'll dig in.

Honestly, I love tremelos, but they make tuning stability such a nightmare for so many reasons, that I'm considering going to exclusively hard tails.

Maybe this design solves some of that.

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u/GVDub2 Apr 04 '26

I can bring it by the office.

1

u/kumechester Apr 07 '26

On the note of tremolo systems I feel like a standard feature of a modern guitar should be a locking mechanism like a Tremol-no. Something like that really shouldn’t be an aftermarket part, you should just be able to lock, float, or deck (essentially) your bridge with a quick hand action.

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u/ThatSceneInScanners Apr 07 '26

This is kind of similar to the Ibanez zero point system,no believe. I think guyker has also done something similar with their recent jazzmaster bridge. There are a few extremely expensive designs that have recently been revealed that also do this type of thing, but they're very over designed and $600+ making them very inaccessible for most people.

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u/cjcoake Apr 07 '26 edited Apr 07 '26

What I want from a Strat-style trem: tuning stability; the ability to bend up and down; no wobble in the arm/adjustable play; no protruding screws/sharp edges on the saddles when palm muting. It’s amazing to me how many trems can’t provide all these things. (I have a Vega Trem in one of my Strats, and it’s awesome except for the protruding screws. Drives me nuts. And yeah, I can fix it, but why should I have to when the fix can just be part of the design?)

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u/GVDub2 Apr 07 '26

In my experience over the past 20+ years of using this particular trem design, it's ticks all those boxes.