Tremolo Gotoh 510 series

[Bruno]

Hy all,
I sorry for my long absence (if anyone noticed it  :binkybaby  - and for my very bad English, of course  :laughing3: -

I wanted to fix one of my guitars built by a young (but not very capable) luthier,  but considering the prices and waiting times, I decided to give up.
So: new showcase body and neck from Warmoth and ok import taxes, VAT etc. ... "You only live once" or not?  :icon_thumright:

Ok, now that I've said I want to ask you: gotoh tremolo 51' series
510T-SF2 (6 screws): http://www.75x.eu/url/=jdttje
510T-FE1 (2 pivots): http://www.75x.eu/url/=tetdoe

in your experience there's no real difference between these two tremolo?
Some say that the six screws "sounds better", other than 2 pivots allow greater playability (dive bomb?).
Fantasy or reality?

Thanks in advance

 

[stubhead]

The two-pivot ones are more accurate as far as returning to the same pitch. They also tend to have a wider range - you can see that on the six-hole unit, there is a bit of metal in front of the screws, which is going to set some more limitations on the range. And the screws they're supplying aren't notched - PRS and others who use this type use screws with notches , so that the plate always stays in the same place.  I have read, and heard about, the relative woodiness of the 6 holes vs. the dual pivots, but I've never had the opportunity to test it well. I like to play in tune, so it's not likely I ever will own a six-screw guitar again. There are all sorts of tricks and methods and strategies around for making a six-holer work better, but with the two-point bridges they work correctly free of "tricks."

The woody/steely parameter can be adjusted for in a number of different ways. It wouldn't surprise me a bit if the six-hole bridges do sound woodier, as they do have more contact points. But in considering what that means, it seems like a direct tradeoff -
most amount of pivot contact = more woody,
least amount of pivot contact = better return to pitch.

I consider playing in tune to be pretty important, without that (and timing) there's not much left that you can do to sound good. :icon_scratch: But I am not in the least bit worshipful of vintageness (vintageosity?), I think maybe because I played in bands in the 70's, I remember more about how awful a lot of music sounded. The reason people got all gushy and bubbly and proselytized about Santana/Allman/Page etc. was because it was so rare to sound really good.

 

[stratamania]

Two pivot Gotoh, all the way gets my vote. In fact I am using one on the build I am currently doing but the 510TS-FE1 which has a steel block.

Vintage six screw is just that, and these two pivot Gotohs sound great in any case.

 

[Cagey]

Two point fulcrum pivot, always. The six-hole design was poorly considered. Leo was not a mechanical engineer by any stretch of the imagination. All of his bridges suck to the Nth degree. The six-point was the best of the lot, but that's like saying intestinal cancer is better than lung cancer. It's instructional to note that when he did Music Man, and subsequently G&L, all his bridges were two point fulcrums. Somewhere along the line, he got religion. Probably from Floyd Rose, who finally pointed out the obvious.

As for woody vs. steely, what you're talking about is dead or alive. Those may be too strong of words to describe it, but that's what's happening. The six-point is going to eat some high end the two point won't. Better to have it and filter it out later in the signal chain than not have it and wonder where you're going to get your next guitar when you wanna get some nice harmonics.

Then, there's the repeatability issue that's already been mentioned, The six-point units have too much friction at their fulcrum points to behave themselves. That's why they're a bitch to tune, or keep that way.