Resting picking hand on strat with floating trem?

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#1

Hello. I’m new to MiM and excited about developing more speed (and have watched the pickslanting primer and intro videos).

I play a strat with a very nicely set up floating trem which I like for a few ‘Jeff Beck’ articulations
Regarding DWPS in particular, obviously resting the pinky side of the hand on the saddles/ supinating the wrist would put a floating trem slightly out… anyone have any experience of a successful hand position in this situation? Or do most people use a blocked trem like Troy does in the vids?

Thanks v much!
Jake

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#2

I think a lot of times the detuning comes from too much pressure applied by the side of the picking hand. If you avoid pressing down you won’t put it out of tune. There also might be a sensitivity issue with regard to your tremolo setup.

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#3

I use a floating trem on most of my guitars. Finding the fulcrum resting point and not applying pressure is key I think. It’s placed on the bridge, but not so much pressing on it. Welcome!

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#4

@guitarenthusiast Great, thanks, I’ll try just resting without pressing whenever I do come into contact
@RockStarJazzCat That’s helpful to know, cheers. Do you find generally that you start with the hand on the bridge but if you need to trace down for the lower strings your hand isn’t on the saddles so much but more in front of the bridge towards the neck?

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#5

Not sure I can answer that easily. I use a variety of techniques, and am answering based on having had the same pitch issue you’ve describing, maybe 25-30 years ago. :wink:

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#6

Floating trem freak here

If you’re pushing the bridge out of pitch then you need to either lighten your hand (try using fingertips as a light anchor perhaps?) or you could try using high-tension springs on the trem to steady it. Either that or you need to adjust your hand position to a less sensitive spot on the bridge.

#7

I had this exact same problem. I ended up having to move my picking closer to the neck and totally changing my arm position. For me that was necessary to get a comfortable playing position for Floyd Rose equipped guitars. The fine tuners would always get in the way otherwise. This solved the strat floating trem detuning I had too. It ended up being the more comfortable playing position for me overall in the end so I just play that way on all guitars regardless of bridge now.

#8

Thanks man, I’ll experiment with that, appreciate it

#9

That’s good to know… do you find you palm mute the low E and A strings more often than not in that scenario? Of course that is quite a nice sound on those strings! I’ve tonight tried experimenting with the pinky side heel of the hand lightly resting on just the E and A saddles only which is pretty comfortable as a base @Troy would love to hear your take on this?

#10

I can float my hand a little to not mute them, but yes if I rest my hand at all while playing on those strings they are palm muted.

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#11

There are magnets you can get for stopping bending issues, perhaps there’s a version you can attach to the other side of the block?

Guess it would make it less smooth tho.

To be blunt, you should decide if you want to have that control bridge resting gives for 99 percent of your playing, or some funny sounds.
If it’s anything other than flicking the bar, you could but some sponge material under the floyd gap, that would give you some added support and still allow you to raise the bar.

#12

Thanks, great to hear what you and others have to say on this issue… guess its a balance between having lots of different tools of expression and working within the limits.
I’ll probably end up doing more fast picking stuff on a strat with a blocked trem and keep the strat with the float for the other excursions, finding a way to position the hand for a few fast flourishes as interjections.
Cheers!

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#13

Side note. I’ve seen a lot of players that pick very heavily, exerting a lot… If one hears warbling, one might want to evaluate how hard one is hitting the strings before getting into gear remedies. Not the issue you’ve described, but might save someone from chasing gear to fix mechanics. :slight_smile:

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