Boogie Rail 6 point trem replacement (and Graph Tech String Saver saddles)

[AutoBat]

I haven't seen any other topics on this other than when Mayfly plugged them, so here is my install, initial comments, then later I'll add more of a review.

So, I finally got my Boogie Rail to replace my old Fender MIM 6 point trem (52mm E-e for those that are curious)
The install went very smooth and with regular hand tools and trying to be quiet whilst others slept, took about 1 1/2 hours.  That included time to double check their install vid to make sure I was doing it exactly how they were.
I'm counting action & intonation in my time here, as well.

In my mail I recieved:

and

Unpackaged:

It even includes a special tool in case I want to remove the trem arm insert!

Here is a closeup of the Boogie Rail:

The old Bridge, Saddles, and Trem Arm (available if anyone wants a 52mm naturally mildly reliced peice, sans block) (circa 1993)

And then after install & setup:

^^although the intonation looks funny, my tuner assures me that is spot-on. I have my doubts, but it will do for now.

First reaction: Works well so far, and the biggest noticeable difference is that when depressing the wang bar, the overall string height goes up instead of down, so no more does my low E get the loving embrace of the magnet from the middle & bridge pups.

 

[t.coyle]

How do you like it? Is it in your opinion a good design with quality workmanship and is it worth the money?

 

[AutoBat]

After a day of playing with it. I have no complaints yet.
The design seems solid and I can't imagine it failing as the rail isn't going to get loose with those 6 screws through it, and the fulcrum works just fine.

I nearly set it up with a bit of a float, which is much easier to do than with the vintage trem.

If you look for replacement trems and you've got a body routed for 6 screw, the choices are definately limited.
Plus, who doesn't love the classy all metal screw in Floyd wang bar?

 

[Cagey]

It's a much better design than the vintage 6 point bridges. They come in colors, too. My only concern would be that there's so much surface area at the pivot that it may not return to neutral reliably due to friction. But, I imagine a bit of lithium assembly lube would take care of that problem. Plus, since it seems to be designed primarily as a diver rather than a vibrato, you can tighten the springs up to the point where it'll come back whether you like it or not. There won't be a "neutral" point to worry about.

 

[AutoBat]

I assembled with vaseline per the boogie rail vid, lithium grease should work even better, I would imagine.

 

[t.coyle]

Sorry for all of the questions but if you were ordering a body from Warmoth would you go with the boogie rail? or would you go with a wilkinson or a hipshot or something similar?

 

[nexrex]

My choice if I was ordering a new body from W, would be to go with the Wilkinson. It is a far superior trem to both the vintage fender and the boogie rails

 

[AutoBat]

I affixed this Boogie Rail to my 93/94 Fender MIM Strat body, of which I have a W neck.
I didn't really have a say in what bridge it had on it, especially since I bought it from my brother-in-law around 1997.

 

[AutoBat]

After several days of playing, the strings are a bit broken in, the Boogie Rail performs as advertised.
Tuning stability is very good, which I presumed as I've got graph tech on both ends now.
Sustain doesn't seem up or down and I haven't noticed any tonal changes from changing saddles or bridges.
Trem's a little easier to depress than the old, but I spent some time tweaking the screws & springs, so I could have done that before anyways.

I had been looking for options on replacing the 6 screw trem for a while now, and without filling & redrilling couldn't find a better option.
I wouldn't really consider this right out of the gate, but it seems to be a great replacement bridge.  The only thing stock left on my strat is the wood, paint, output jack, and strap buttons.
And yes, I love having my guitar customized to how I like it. The Floyd wang bar looks better than the F bar, since it lived most of it's life in the guitar case, it was whiter than all the other hardware.

(sidenote) My Warmoth neck is nearing 1 year and I have never had buyers remorse or second thoughts about it.  If I were buying it today it would be different wood choices, but I am beyond pleased with the quality from Warmoth.

 

[AutoBat]

10 days of use and it performs much much better than the 6 screw trem. I've been diving like crazy and it keeps coming back in tune. The Floyd arm is quite pretty and although I would've loved a chrome finish, the satin works very well with my colour scheme. (black & silver, ooh, real tough match!)
I was seriously worried that the black String Saver saddles would look off or be overly noticeable, but I think it gently reinforces that this is not a stock guitar.

It was after installing the Boogie Rail that I discovered the Wilkinson VSVG was another option for replacing the stock bridge, and as of right now, I'm very happy that I decided to go with something I knew no one around me had.

 

[AutoBat]

Four month update (necropost perhaps?)
Broke my first string (high e) after several months of Van Halen-esque whammy acrobatics and crazy bends.
I'm still amazed how well it returns to pitch.  The trem is very smooth on actuation and just begs for more.

Since I changed more than one thing at once (bridge & saddles) I can't credit this to either one specifically (perhaps it's the combination)

I haven't been able to detect tonal differences between the bent metal saddles and the graph tech's. The bridge is a fair bit different.
As I mentioned before when 'dive bombing' the string height rises instead of falls like on the 6 point trem, so before when I would go down the strings would stick on the magnets on the trem, now they just have the freedom to keep vibrating.

Hope this helps anyone that has a 6 point trem and wants something different without making any physical wood modifications.

If anyone is interested in a 52mm string spacing / 52mm screw spacing (import (MIM) spacing) bridge, saddles, and trem arm (sorry, no block, that component is still in use) they are available for the price of postage rounded up to the nearest dollar.