Thanks for posting this Colin. I installed the same tremolo on my JA-60 over a year ago and have had enjoyed the upgrade ever since. The installation is very easy with no drilling as you pointed out.
I have two Duesenberg Les Trem IIs and love them. I paid 99 euros a piece...You got a great price! You may want to tighten both sides of the tremolo bar. I did get two roller bridges and the tuning stability improved.
Hello Benjamin! What roller bridges did you get? I wanted to use the Schaller one (for the added possibilities) and I have tried to measure everything but I'm not sure if it will fit the JA-60. Coud you please help me? thanks!
Great video! Thanks! I also have this model - lefty. I want to do the same you did with the trem but I wanted it to be gold, and I don't think dusenberg has it in stock. Too bad. Love that you uograded your guitar! Cheers!
Thanks for the detailed installation tips. I've also been thinking about buying the much cheaper GFS Xtrem Stud Mount unit. However if you buy it from Thomann it would cost much more and I can add it to my order without having to pay more than the flat rate shipping to the U.S.A. I'm looking forward to your next follow-up review.
You're welcome :-) The GFS trem looks like a good alternative but I prefered the look of the Duesenberg. I think the next videos will be more songs - I've run out of money for more unboxing. But I will do a comparison of this vs something regarding the pickups - I find they have a very particular sound - lots of mid, which is good in a mix.
Want one for my hb p90 gold top on this system roller bridges are the best route as the strings snap less than on the standard and is a smoother set up, already got roller bridge on mine ready, saving for trem now
Great review and great guitar! I am getting one of those tremolo systems for my HB Aeolus, have fun playing that Jazzmaster! Hope to see that video of you playing her soon, maybe some Surf :)
Sounds great! I love the simplicity of the Dusenberg. Has that nice Bigsby tremelo tone and having that adjustable whammy is superb. That's probably the only trem i would put on my jazzmaster but right now its a Mastery trem. Good video!
"Straight up" is the one direction that tail piece bolts are not meant to go. These after market tremolo units do exactly that, and a bit of glue is all that holds them into place. Eventually, those post collar's will let go because they were actually designed to be replaceable! It is a bad design and it doesn't matter what guitar you use them on.
You may well be right about it failing some time in the future. But I moved it to a different guitar about a year ago and it’s holding out fine being used a few times a week at rehearsals and gigs. If and when something fails I’ll let you guys know. This is a follow up video: th-cam.com/video/bjJv5_fkSkc/w-d-xo.htmlsi=FIAdaEpKIs5t1HBN
I really like the Les Trem. I have one on my old Les Paul. I'm always concerned that other brands will use a non-standard size tailpiece so won't fit. Thanks for confirming that it does indeed fit. I actually ended up buying a G&L Doheny Tribute instead (their version of a JM). A lot more money, but a great guitar, IMO.
I'd not seen that G&L model, just looked it up - hmmm looks good, and reading the spec's I'm certain the hardware and electronics are beter that the HB. Good choice!
Cool vid, thanks. I love the retro Steam Punk looks, and the fact that it’s fully reversible if you should change your mind. I think I’m going to get one for my LTD EC-256.
Iwas very interested in your project because I want to do the same with a lower priced guitar. The Les Trem II is for les paul style guitars which is interesting. I have also seen this JM review a few times and the reviews were great. The roller bridge is pretty much a need maybe.
Yes, I've always admired German craftsmanship, since as far back as my teens. Once upon a time in America, craftsmanship was very good. But manufacturers decided lower their standards, that way they could profit more by selling you the same thing over and over, as opposed to selling you a product that would last a lifetime. So hats off to German craftsmanship, it's the best. In positioning the bar, I would raise it in order to dive bomb without bottoming out on the body.
I don’t do the dive-bom thing myself, but I think then a roller bridge, locking tuners and some nut work would be a good idea. I’m not going that far though.
Good question but I don't know. I just compared the JA to 2 other HB's I've got, the white LP and black flying V, and I see all three have slightly different bridges. If you get one and try it please let us know :-)
The trem has been swapped between this and another guitar with a regular tunomatic style bridge. And on both guitars I’ve had no problems with strings breaking at all. So while I get the idea a roller bridge should in theory be better, it just works fine like this. So I disagree with the folks who say you ‘need’ the roller bridge. I use the guitar a lot and enjoy taking it out to jam sessions to show you can have fun with a cheap guitar :-)
It doesn't have the look of a Jazzmaster trem at all indeed. But this way I don't need to drill holes in case I want to change back to the original bar.
Thanks for posting this! I installed the same trem on a HB-35, and straight away ran into an issue - since the tremelo base is kinda floating above the guitar by 2mm (because the posts that you install into are not flash with the guitar), when I pressed it down too hard it seems to have maybe bend the posts forward a bit. Have you experience something like this?
I didn’t have this problem (and still don’t) but I have only had it on a ‘slab’ type body where the screw/posts can be screwed tight against the body. That was on the HB JA 60 and now still fitted to the Epi Firebird. I also don’t press very hard on it to be honest. Just a little gentle bend sometimes. Did you fit it with the washers? I guess they might be needed on the curved body of the HB-35 ?
Great vid! Maybe this is a stupid question, but If i where to buy a Thomann Jazzmaster DIY kit, would this tremolo also fit that guitar? I have a guitar build in mind that I really want to try my hands at. Having basically zero "luthier" experience this style of tremolo seems like the absolute perfect thing for me
I've not seen that kit in real life yet but looking at the info on the Thomann site I think it would fit. It looks like the same parts are used. Bear in mind the trem on it's own is the same price as the guitar kit :-) Good luck with the project though!
@@ColinLPrice Yeah that was I was thinking, they must be the same guitar right? Apart from the JA-60 actually being put together and painted etc. Is the JA-60 very poor quality or is it somewhat playable out of the box? I dont really have alot of experience with setups and stuff, but thats what I want to start learning on this kit!
@@MikaelKonradsson My ready built guitar is very good quality for the money it cost. It plays good, sounds good, looks good, stays in tune, is light, what's not to like :-) I've not got one of the kits (yet...) partly because I know the paint job on the factory finished guitars is very good (I've got a few HB's). And I'd never get near that quality of finish myself. But just putting it together, getting the truss rod, string height and intonation shouldn't be that hard. The HB guitars I have don't have the same quality of hardware as my Epiphone guitars, but they were about 3 times the price.
Good idea... a 'year later' update. I'll get a video out on that. But in short, the trem has been on a different guitar for quite a long time now. It was working fine on this one but I wanted to try it on my Epi Firebird which I use a lot for gigs. And it stayed there because I like it. So the JA 60 is back to stock and gets used mainly at jam sessions. It's light and its 'different' to what most people bring, both for looks and the sound. On the Firebird with stock tunomatic bridge and standard nut the trem works fine for me. No tuning issues with what I do with it.
It moves a little but (to me) hardly noticeable. It acts like a bigsby, where the tension on the strings works against a spring. Since bending a string increases tension on that string it pulls more on the trem reducing tension on the other strings, thus lowering pitch. But hardly noticeable.
It's pretty cool what you did, but as you mention having a €100 upgrade to a €150 guitar seems bizarre. Did you not think about getting a Squier Jazzmaster to begin with....I am curious? Thomann are currently have the Squier Jazzmaster 40th anniversary on offer for about the same money as you spent and it is a beautiful guitar, and much closer to an actual Fender Jazzmaster.
The Squier is a good looking guitar indeed and I had thought of that. I knew how good HB guitars can be though and got it before I even decided to get the trem. That came in mind later when I got tempted by another guitar, with a similar stop bar tail. Then getting the trem that I could try on both became too tempting. And I prefer the cream colour of the HB to the white Squier too :-)
Have you considered replacing the stock 250k tone pot and/or volume pot for the 1M pots used in the Fender Jazzmaster and the Squiers Classic Vibe models? Or maybe 500k pots? I miss the sparkle in my JA-60 SB so I'm thinking of doing that.
I'm thinking about trying it, but I don't have any 1M pots laying around at the moment. I have just installed a treble bleed mod though to see how that changes things - video nearly done... watch this space...
Vous pouvez avoir raison. Je n'en ai pas mais cela semble bien fonctionner sur cette guitare et sur une autre guitare avec un chevalet tunomatic de style régulier. (I hope that's readable...)
Hi Colin ... any further thoughts own this since having and playing for awhile? Particularly with regard to tuning stability? I have this same guitar on order and am considering the mod Like you mentioned .... almost as much for the trem as for the guitar ... lol. Thanks for the vid!
The only adjustments I made (on top of adding the trem)!were slightly reducing tension on the truss rod, slightly lowering the tunomatic style bridge and lubricating the nut. And with that it works great for me. In a few gigs already and holding up fine. Now I switched back to the stock stop bar as I’m trying the trem on a different guitar - but I am tempted to get another one. Once its been there you do miss it when it’s gone :-) Tuning was staying fine with the trem for me. Lubricating the nut is a good thing for that IMHO.
It’s possible but it would take quite some work to make it a tidy mod. The pu mounting is different so it wouldn’t be a simple swap out. If you do it please share some pictures!
@@ColinLPrice I'm thinking of swapping the pickguard with generic ones for fender jazzmaster with humbucker-sized holes in it...I've read somewhere that you need some trimming coz the one installed with the guitar is smaller than the fender's.but it's an easy task so I will try it out once I have the new pickguard.I will post it once it's done
I’m sure you could make one fit. But that means lining up and drilling holes or maybe with a Vibramate adapter plate? But all of those options are more expensive.
Mechanically I think it is, so its probably a similar feel. But the old Hofner trem's I've seen had to be screwed into the edge of the body, like a Bigsby. This just screws in the existing stop bar holes, if you've got them.
That looks very stiff as you're using it. Is there a way to loosen the action on the tremolo? Or does it press down easier than pull up? I'm thinking about doing exactly what you done with this model of Harley Benton.
I don't think it's stiff. If feels very similar to a Bigsby in that respect. I've got a couple of guitars with them on so I tried them for comparison. There's no way I can see of adjusting the pressure needed to use it. I think you'd need a different spring (like the GFS trem comes with) but I like it as it is.
I own a couple of these Les Trem units and love them. If i might add here, you can adjust the length of the trem arm slightly, maybe an inch of motion where the arm inserts into the base. You can slide around within that inch and if you have a lot sticking out the base, it's a bit stiffer play because the leverage is less. If the bar is extended to the max, little to none sticking out the base, you get a bit more leverage and less stiffness. You can also cut it shorter, but I like the length of mine. Some players like a very short trem arm. What is also worth noting is the angle of the arm can also be easily adjusted and locked in with the set screw. Much better than Fender and Bigsby units! I love these Les Trem products and put one on my Firebird and my Les Pauls. Finally, nice video Colin!
@@sdejong9165 can you please confirm what the distance between the posts is for the bridge? I’m waiting for my kit to be delivered and want to install a roller bridge from the beginning.
If you install Trem then you Need Rollers on the bridge. On original guitars offers there was No strings Rollers bridge. You've to buy + bridge with strings Rollers. Most comments didn't noticed that. If you don't install bridge with string Rollers then your strings will wear out quickly where bridge and strings contacts are! Yet Bridge will be moving all the time as you use Trem.
Well done Colin, thanks for the hint!
Thanks for posting this Colin. I installed the same tremolo on my JA-60 over a year ago and have had enjoyed the upgrade ever since. The installation is very easy with no drilling as you pointed out.
Nothing weird in spending money on improving something cheap. The trees that were cut down to make this guitar grew for free.
oh fuck then 10k guitars are made from magical wood that comes from nowhere?
That's a worthy addition to a beautiful guitar!
Seems pretty easy and sounds great for just a little wiggle. Thanks for posting 👌
thanks for posting. Simple and to the point. Now I need to check if they do them in gold finish
Yes they do: thmn.to/thoprod/319563?partner_id=15901
I have two Duesenberg Les Trem IIs and love them. I paid 99 euros a piece...You got a great price! You may want to tighten both sides of the tremolo bar. I did get two roller bridges and the tuning stability improved.
Hello Benjamin! What roller bridges did you get? I wanted to use the Schaller one (for the added possibilities) and I have tried to measure everything but I'm not sure if it will fit the JA-60. Coud you please help me? thanks!
I dig that tremolo. Looks perfect.
Excellent informative video Colin and a great choice of trem. It really suits the guitar, looks and sounds really cool. Thanks for uploading. 👍
great idea to get closer to a Jazz Master still at a reasonable price, and if you ever decide to sell it can just put it back to original.
Great video! Thanks! I also have this model - lefty. I want to do the same you did with the trem but I wanted it to be gold, and I don't think dusenberg has it in stock. Too bad. Love that you uograded your guitar! Cheers!
Thanks for the detailed installation tips. I've also been thinking about buying the much cheaper GFS Xtrem Stud Mount unit. However if you buy it from Thomann it would cost much more and I can add it to my order without having to pay more than the flat rate shipping to the U.S.A. I'm looking forward to your next follow-up review.
You're welcome :-) The GFS trem looks like a good alternative but I prefered the look of the Duesenberg. I think the next videos will be more songs - I've run out of money for more unboxing.
But I will do a comparison of this vs something regarding the pickups - I find they have a very particular sound - lots of mid, which is good in a mix.
Yeah it's a great Trem I have one fitted to my SG it kicks arse. Originally designed no replace the Bigsby so it feels a bit weird..
Want one for my hb p90 gold top on this system roller bridges are the best route as the strings snap less than on the standard and is a smoother set up, already got roller bridge on mine ready, saving for trem now
2nd video in the last month I've seen about putting a trem on a J/M style guitar. The other one was a Bigsby. I think I like this one more.
Thanks.
Thank you Colin......nice demo
Great review and great guitar! I am getting one of those tremolo systems for my HB Aeolus, have fun playing that Jazzmaster! Hope to see that video of you playing her soon, maybe some Surf :)
Thanks :-)
Now I fixed my amp I'm going to record a few songs - watch this space...
@@ColinLPrice Excellent!
Sounds great! I love the simplicity of the Dusenberg. Has that nice Bigsby tremelo tone and having that adjustable whammy is superb. That's probably the only trem i would put on my jazzmaster but right now its a Mastery trem. Good video!
Glad you like it!
Sounds very cool! Thanks
Hello, From The StateS 🇺🇸
I'm new to your channel.
Thanks for sharing 🎸🎶✌
Welcome! Glad you like it. There’s more on the way :-)
Nice guitar, good trem
"Straight up" is the one direction that tail piece bolts are not meant to go. These after market tremolo units do exactly that, and a bit of glue is all that holds them into place.
Eventually, those post collar's will let go because they were actually designed to be replaceable!
It is a bad design and it doesn't matter what guitar you use them on.
You may well be right about it failing some time in the future. But I moved it to a different guitar about a year ago and it’s holding out fine being used a few times a week at rehearsals and gigs. If and when something fails I’ll let you guys know. This is a follow up video:
th-cam.com/video/bjJv5_fkSkc/w-d-xo.htmlsi=FIAdaEpKIs5t1HBN
I really like the Les Trem. I have one on my old Les Paul. I'm always concerned that other brands will use a non-standard size tailpiece so won't fit. Thanks for confirming that it does indeed fit. I actually ended up buying a G&L Doheny Tribute instead (their version of a JM). A lot more money, but a great guitar, IMO.
I'd not seen that G&L model, just looked it up - hmmm looks good, and reading the spec's I'm certain the hardware and electronics are beter that the HB. Good choice!
Nice guitar 👌.
Hey have been waiting for this one
Pricey mate, would have liked to hear a bit more pressure up and down, you were very light with your wiggle hand.
I hear you! I’ll be making another video with mod #2 soon. I’ll include more bending and you can hear how well it recovers (or not :-)
Cool vid, thanks. I love the retro Steam Punk looks, and the fact that it’s fully reversible if you should change your mind.
I think I’m going to get one for my LTD EC-256.
Exactly, I'm probably going to move it onto another guitar to try that out too.
Iwas very interested in your project because I want to do the same with a lower priced guitar. The Les Trem II is for les paul style guitars which is interesting. I have also seen this JM review a few times and the reviews were great. The roller bridge is pretty much a need maybe.
It seems to stay reasonably in tune without a roller bridge. I did lube the nut though - that helps.
Yes, I've always admired German craftsmanship, since as far back as my teens. Once upon a time in America, craftsmanship was very good. But manufacturers decided lower their standards, that way they could profit more by selling you the same thing over and over, as opposed to selling you a product that would last a lifetime.
So hats off to German craftsmanship, it's the best.
In positioning the bar, I would raise it in order to dive bomb without bottoming out on the body.
I don’t do the dive-bom thing myself, but I think then a roller bridge, locking tuners and some nut work would be a good idea. I’m not going that far though.
Hey Colin, do you think a Schaller Roller bridge Will fit this model? I know the tonepros Will fit but I would prefer to use the Schallerm
Good question but I don't know. I just compared the JA to 2 other HB's I've got, the white LP and black flying V, and I see all three have slightly different bridges. If you get one and try it please let us know :-)
I have a bass VI I'm strongly considering adding one of these to. But the strings are probably too big
Try it and let us know :-)
It sounds a cool idea!
A roller bridge for another £16 or so would be a worthy upgrade surely?
Sure, but it also works fine for me like this. Check the size of the bridge posts to make sure it will fit.
Looks great! :)
After one year, did you change the bridge to a roller bridge or is everything fine ? Do the strings break more often than before?
The trem has been swapped between this and another guitar with a regular tunomatic style bridge. And on both guitars I’ve had no problems with strings breaking at all. So while I get the idea a roller bridge should in theory be better, it just works fine like this. So I disagree with the folks who say you ‘need’ the roller bridge.
I use the guitar a lot and enjoy taking it out to jam sessions to show you can have fun with a cheap guitar :-)
@@ColinLPrice great! Thanks for the answer:)
I guess I will upgrade my HB JA 25th Firemist with this tremolo without the Roller Bridge:)
Can you still fit it in the Harley Benton case, if you have one? Thanks for the tutorial!
It fits in a gig bag no problem. I twist/turn the arm to the back of the guitar.
👍🏻👍🏻
You almost doubled the value of that guitar 😅 Sounds great and the Dusenberg tremolo seems top (German) quality.
And the tailpiece is missing also.....doesn't sound too bad though.
It doesn't have the look of a Jazzmaster trem at all indeed.
But this way I don't need to drill holes in case I want to change back to the original bar.
Thanks for posting this! I installed the same trem on a HB-35, and straight away ran into an issue - since the tremelo base is kinda floating above the guitar by 2mm (because the posts that you install into are not flash with the guitar), when I pressed it down too hard it seems to have maybe bend the posts forward a bit. Have you experience something like this?
I didn’t have this problem (and still don’t) but I have only had it on a ‘slab’ type body where the screw/posts can be screwed tight against the body. That was on the HB JA 60 and now still fitted to the Epi Firebird.
I also don’t press very hard on it to be honest. Just a little gentle bend sometimes.
Did you fit it with the washers? I guess they might be needed on the curved body of the HB-35 ?
Great vid! Maybe this is a stupid question, but If i where to buy a Thomann Jazzmaster DIY kit, would this tremolo also fit that guitar? I have a guitar build in mind that I really want to try my hands at. Having basically zero "luthier" experience this style of tremolo seems like the absolute perfect thing for me
I've not seen that kit in real life yet but looking at the info on the Thomann site I think it would fit. It looks like the same parts are used. Bear in mind the trem on it's own is the same price as the guitar kit :-)
Good luck with the project though!
@@ColinLPrice Yeah that was I was thinking, they must be the same guitar right? Apart from the JA-60 actually being put together and painted etc. Is the JA-60 very poor quality or is it somewhat playable out of the box? I dont really have alot of experience with setups and stuff, but thats what I want to start learning on this kit!
@@MikaelKonradsson My ready built guitar is very good quality for the money it cost. It plays good, sounds good, looks good, stays in tune, is light, what's not to like :-)
I've not got one of the kits (yet...) partly because I know the paint job on the factory finished guitars is very good (I've got a few HB's). And I'd never get near that quality of finish myself. But just putting it together, getting the truss rod, string height and intonation shouldn't be that hard.
The HB guitars I have don't have the same quality of hardware as my Epiphone guitars, but they were about 3 times the price.
Good info, so one year on, how's the tuning? Did you change to a roller bridge? Graphite nut? New Tuners? Cheers!
Good idea... a 'year later' update. I'll get a video out on that. But in short, the trem has been on a different guitar for quite a long time now. It was working fine on this one but I wanted to try it on my Epi Firebird which I use a lot for gigs. And it stayed there because I like it. So the JA 60 is back to stock and gets used mainly at jam sessions. It's light and its 'different' to what most people bring, both for looks and the sound. On the Firebird with stock tunomatic bridge and standard nut the trem works fine for me. No tuning issues with what I do with it.
Here's the update video on where the trem is now :-)
th-cam.com/video/bjJv5_fkSkc/w-d-xo.html
@@ColinLPriceThanks and good to see it's still working out on the other guitar, thanks for the info 👍
I really like the idea
But what happens when you bend a string does it stay or move a bit?
It moves a little but (to me) hardly noticeable. It acts like a bigsby, where the tension on the strings works against a spring. Since bending a string increases tension on that string it pulls more on the trem reducing tension on the other strings, thus lowering pitch. But hardly noticeable.
It's pretty cool what you did, but as you mention having a €100 upgrade to a €150 guitar seems bizarre. Did you not think about getting a Squier Jazzmaster to begin with....I am curious? Thomann are currently have the Squier Jazzmaster 40th anniversary on offer for about the same money as you spent and it is a beautiful guitar, and much closer to an actual Fender Jazzmaster.
The Squier is a good looking guitar indeed and I had thought of that. I knew how good HB guitars can be though and got it before I even decided to get the trem. That came in mind later when I got tempted by another guitar, with a similar stop bar tail. Then getting the trem that I could try on both became too tempting.
And I prefer the cream colour of the HB to the white Squier too :-)
Have you considered replacing the stock 250k tone pot and/or volume pot for the 1M pots used in the Fender Jazzmaster and the Squiers Classic Vibe models? Or maybe 500k pots? I miss the sparkle in my JA-60 SB so I'm thinking of doing that.
I'm thinking about trying it, but I don't have any 1M pots laying around at the moment. I have just installed a treble bleed mod though to see how that changes things - video nearly done... watch this space...
One doesn't "dive bomb" this type of tremolo.
Very useful video, thanks !
Avec ce système de vibrato il est plus prudent d'installer un pont avec des rouleaux
Vous pouvez avoir raison. Je n'en ai pas mais cela semble bien fonctionner sur cette guitare et sur une autre guitare avec un chevalet tunomatic de style régulier.
(I hope that's readable...)
@@ColinLPrice si cela ne vous occasionne aucun problème je suis heureux pour vous et je souhaites que vos coordes ne cassent jamais 😀
Hi, great video..i have one question..will the dusenberg trem damage the finish of the guitar if we use it often? Thanks
I can't see how it might damage anything. Its certainly not done it on my guitars.
@@ColinLPrice thanks
Hi Colin ... any further thoughts own this since having and playing for awhile? Particularly with regard to tuning stability? I have this same guitar on order and am considering the mod Like you mentioned .... almost as much for the trem as for the guitar ... lol. Thanks for the vid!
The only adjustments I made (on top of adding the trem)!were slightly reducing tension on the truss rod, slightly lowering the tunomatic style bridge and lubricating the nut. And with that it works great for me. In a few gigs already and holding up fine. Now I switched back to the stock stop bar as I’m trying the trem on a different guitar - but I am tempted to get another one. Once its been there you do miss it when it’s gone :-)
Tuning was staying fine with the trem for me. Lubricating the nut is a good thing for that IMHO.
It’s Bigsby-like.
Install two 500k pots for sound and volume and it almost equels a Jazz Master
Maybe, but I like how it sounds with the pots that it came with to be honest.
I have the same guitar...can the pickups on this replaceable with humbuckers?
It’s possible but it would take quite some work to make it a tidy mod. The pu mounting is different so it wouldn’t be a simple swap out. If you do it please share some pictures!
@@ColinLPrice I'm thinking of swapping the pickguard with generic ones for fender jazzmaster with humbucker-sized holes in it...I've read somewhere that you need some trimming coz the one installed with the guitar is smaller than the fender's.but it's an easy task so I will try it out once I have the new pickguard.I will post it once it's done
Get new strings and a roller bridge! You'll be a happy skinflint, I promise!
New strings will go on soon - I'm thinking about that bridge - which probably means I'm just delaying hitting the 'buy it' button...
Any idea if a bigsby fits ?
I’m sure you could make one fit. But that means lining up and drilling holes or maybe with a Vibramate adapter plate? But all of those options are more expensive.
@@ColinLPrice Yeah im gonna do the same you did with the dusenberg, if I drill even slightly to the left or right the whole thing is ruined
Similar to the Hofner tremolo
Mechanically I think it is, so its probably a similar feel. But the old Hofner trem's I've seen had to be screwed into the edge of the body, like a Bigsby. This just screws in the existing stop bar holes, if you've got them.
That looks very stiff as you're using it. Is there a way to loosen the action on the tremolo? Or does it press down easier than pull up?
I'm thinking about doing exactly what you done with this model of Harley Benton.
I don't think it's stiff. If feels very similar to a Bigsby in that respect. I've got a couple of guitars with them on so I tried them for comparison. There's no way I can see of adjusting the pressure needed to use it. I think you'd need a different spring (like the GFS trem comes with) but I like it as it is.
I own a couple of these Les Trem units and love them. If i might add here, you can adjust the length of the trem arm slightly, maybe an inch of motion where the arm inserts into the base. You can slide around within that inch and if you have a lot sticking out the base, it's a bit stiffer play because the leverage is less. If the bar is extended to the max, little to none sticking out the base, you get a bit more leverage and less stiffness. You can also cut it shorter, but I like the length of mine. Some players like a very short trem arm.
What is also worth noting is the angle of the arm can also be easily adjusted and locked in with the set screw. Much better than Fender and Bigsby units!
I love these Les Trem products and put one on my Firebird and my Les Pauls.
Finally, nice video Colin!
Thanks for the tips Steve - I'm thinking of trying it on the Firebird I recently got as well.
Roller tune o Matic 😁
The excuse I can think of for 'needing' one is that I can also put it on a different guitar at some point. But it might indeed be upgrade no.2.
@@ColinLPrice tuning stability with trem is better, and they are not expensive...mine is from Boston
@@sdejong9165 can you please confirm what the distance between the posts is for the bridge? I’m waiting for my kit to be delivered and want to install a roller bridge from the beginning.
@@trevoreriksson-pattinson7746 all mine are 74,5 mm(don't know in inches, sorry
@@sdejong9165 thanks for confirming. It's been surprisingly difficult to find the measurements anywhere else. 👍
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If you install Trem then you Need Rollers on the bridge. On original guitars offers there was No strings Rollers bridge. You've to buy + bridge with strings Rollers. Most comments didn't noticed that. If you don't install bridge with string Rollers then your strings will wear out quickly where bridge and strings contacts are! Yet Bridge will be moving all the time as you use Trem.
Maybe, but it holds out fine for me like this and there doesn’t seem to be exceptional string wear.