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Fender Vintage Trem vs Fender Standard Trem

lafromla1

Hero Member
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I have two strats with vintage trems, but recently saw a '97 strat with a standard trem which resembles my Wilkinson (which I like a lot better then the vintage trems). Are there any major differences b/t the vintage and standard that I need to be aware of? Also, can they be easily switched?  Can I switch the Fender Vintage trem with the Wilkinson trem without having to do reconstructive surgery?
 
you'll want to plug the 6 screw holes and have to drill for and mount the studds for the wilky might want to re-fin after that bit of fun happens.

Brian
 
Does the Fender Standard use the same 6 screw holes as the Vintage?  I'd rather go that route if it works.
 
http://www.warmoth.com/Fender-American-Standard-Tremolo-Chrome-P544C698.aspx

did you even look at it before you asked?
 
OK quick lesson on Fender Trems. There are three common fender tremolo systems (with a few special edition exceptions etc): American, vintage, and import. The American, pictured above, uses a two pivot system, while the both the import and vintage use a 6 screw mounting system. Be careful though, despite both using the 6 screw mounting system the spacing is quite different and the import and vintage are not interchangable. The big difference as far as overall feel is string spacing. The current American series and import series have a 2 1/16 string spacing while the vintage trem has a  wider 2 7/32.

Replacing anyone of the above tremolo's with another fender tremolo requires pretty serious reconstructive surgery. When you say "saw a '97 strat with a standard trem which resembles my Wilkinson (which I like a lot better then the vintage trems)" I assume you mean a vs-100 type model (there are vintage type wilkinsons as well). A vs-100 mounting system is nearly identical to the american series and is a pretty easy swap assuming you have the body cut for the american series already. Going from a vintage will still require some body work since you seem to have a vintage 6 hole. Cheers.

<<< Long time forum stalker first time poster  :rock-on:
 
Thanks for all the insights....looks like I'm stuck with the ones I've got.  Mental note for next time to make sure the body can handle the trem I like.
 
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