To cover or not to cover ? (Trem cover)

[MUYFUE]

[Yes, it is a very cool tip. As soon as I get to a point in my playing that I turn my guitar around and start flicking the strings with my fingernail it will come in very handy. hehe!! I'm not understanding the reasoning behind silencing your springs. Has anyone here ever noticed the sounds of your trem springs while playing?
MULLY

Actually yeah, I do. I't not an effect on the 'tone' of the guitar per se, but it adds this wierd 'woo' to empty spaces, like quick palm mutes and such. the springs ring out and make a sound of their own that comes out of the amp.
Silencing your springs is for when you're not playing and want silence. With the springs 'normal', they kind of 'bing' afterwards and can annoy some folks. I don't like it at all. When I play and stop real quick i want the amp to go quiet, not to go, 'woo' because of the springs. It tightens things up a touch. Another positive effect I noticed was a reduction in feedback. I used to use a noise gate, but I don't really need to anymore. In other words, it's an easy mod that doesn't have any negative effects.

I didn't notice a loss of mojo because the springs were quiet. I see what you mean Line 6, about the strat tone, but for some applications, silencing the springs is really helpful. Since it's such a small thing, it's really up to the preference of the individual. I bet the audience can't tell...HAHAHAHAAHA

 

[Watershed]

[Yes, it is a very cool tip. As soon as I get to a point in my playing that I turn my guitar around and start flicking the strings with my fingernail it will come in very handy. hehe!! I'm not understanding the reasoning behind silencing your springs. Has anyone here ever noticed the sounds of your trem springs while playing?
MULLY

Actually yeah, I do. I't not an effect on the 'tone' of the guitar per se, but it adds this wierd 'woo' to empty spaces, like quick palm mutes and such. the springs ring out and make a sound of their own that comes out of the amp.
Silencing your springs is for when you're not playing and want silence. With the springs 'normal', they kind of 'bing' afterwards and can annoy some folks. I don't like it at all. When I play and stop real quick i want the amp to go quiet, not to go, 'woo' because of the springs. It tightens things up a touch. Another positive effect I noticed was a reduction in feedback. I used to use a noise gate, but I don't really need to anymore. In other words, it's an easy mod that doesn't have any negative effects.

I didn't notice a loss of mojo because the springs were quiet. I see what you mean Line 6, about the strat tone, but for some applications, silencing the springs is really helpful. Since it's such a small thing, it's really up to the preference of the individual. I bet the audience can't tell...HAHAHAHAAHA

Also the "ring" is stronger on some notes than others.  Some frequencies make the springs ring, some don't.
What's it?  Resonant Frequency?

 

[mullyman]

[Yes, it is a very cool tip. As soon as I get to a point in my playing that I turn my guitar around and start flicking the strings with my fingernail it will come in very handy. hehe!! I'm not understanding the reasoning behind silencing your springs. Has anyone here ever noticed the sounds of your trem springs while playing?
MULLY

Actually yeah, I do. I't not an effect on the 'tone' of the guitar per se, but it adds this wierd 'woo' to empty spaces, like quick palm mutes and such. the springs ring out and make a sound of their own that comes out of the amp.
Silencing your springs is for when you're not playing and want silence. With the springs 'normal', they kind of 'bing' afterwards and can annoy some folks. I don't like it at all. When I play and stop real quick i want the amp to go quiet, not to go, 'woo' because of the springs. It tightens things up a touch. Another positive effect I noticed was a reduction in feedback. I used to use a noise gate, but I don't really need to anymore. In other words, it's an easy mod that doesn't have any negative effects.

I didn't notice a loss of mojo because the springs were quiet. I see what you mean Line 6, about the strat tone, but for some applications, silencing the springs is really helpful. Since it's such a small thing, it's really up to the preference of the individual. I bet the audience can't tell...HAHAHAHAAHA

Interesting. I've been playing for about 25 years now and I've never noticed the sound of the springs before. Now you guys are going to have me listening for "spring feedback". hehe!! But hey, to be totally honest here, I was thinking about this mod yesterday and wondering if they have that tubing at the local DIY place. HAHAHA!!
MULLY

 

[SustainerPlayer]

Also the "ring" is stronger on some notes than others.  Some frequencies make the springs ring, some don't.
What's it?  Resonant Frequency?

Yeah - the Danish luthier Henning Hansen of http://www.hansen-guitars.com/ has done some experiments were he tunes the trem springs to certain notes and claims that it makes a noticeable difference.

To me it is a little far fetched and anyway I like my trems floating in the right position instead of being locked down and sounding a perfect C or whatever. But these theories has their followers.

 

[vegababy]

No cover. Never. It sounds better (according to Mr. Johnson).

 

[CouchSpud]

If you're lazy like me, you probably won't cover the trem. Plus I would hate to drill more holes into my precious.