Your trem is not blocked, it is decked. Eric clapton blocked it, with a physical block of wood. Your trem is simply resting against the deck of the guitar body.

Don't you mean "decked," not "blocked?" I've always heard "blocked" to describe a piece of wood block wedged between the trem and body, and you wouldn't then bend up or down. Think Clapton. Anyway, thanks for the vid. I like a decked Strat also.

Fortunately, Scott Henderson and John Suhr have disproven your "one man's opinion" that a six-screw vintage floating trem is unstable.

Wow. This guy must not have a good luthier. Floating does not mean unstable. It is dynamic. Different from a hard tail, yes, Unstable or bad, far from it.

The bit about sustain on a blocked tremolo being better isn't necessarily true, go listen to some Jeff beck.

I float the bridges on my vintage Strats. Yes, it does cause tuning nuances, but that's part of the charm to me. If you're going to block, you might as well get a hardtail guitar. Decked is a reasonable alternative since you can still use the trem. Ah well..... To each his own. PLAY ON!

Isn't blocked with a physical block behind the tremolo? and decked is pulled to the body with tension? From sound testing alone, the block (piece of wood behind the tremolo) sounds better imo the notes have better sustain. I think both of the terms are valid here. There is no blocked guitar in this video. Good job in any case! Cheers

A floating tremolo has two advantages (and I never use the whammy bar). The biggest cool advantage of a floating bridge is that when you do deep bends the bridge moves higher which gives you more fret clearance for good notes that ring out better! And the second cool factor of a floating bridge is that when you do a deep string bend the bridge moves higher and the note goes flatter which makes it easier to hit the exact note you want! That's the reason people often feel something is "off" when they go from a tremolo bridge to a hardtail bridge. The floating bridge really is one of the most ingenious devices on a guitar and is what makes the Strat so beloved. If you like doing Gilmour type bends you definitely should float your bridge!

Yeah... Tell that to Hank Marvin and Jeff Beck... It really depends on your playing style. There's stuff you just CAN'T DO with blocked tremolo.

For a guitar manufacturer that's iconic for blues and lead guitar playing, why Fender still send Strats out of the factory setup with the bridge floating is beyond me, it just causes many problems. The majority of the famous Strat players (with the exception of Jeff Beck and a few others) deck or block their bridge.

Strats either have a fixed bridge ('hardtail") or a tremolo bridge. Most guitar techs (including myself) will refer to how the tremolo is set-up by saying it is "blocked", "decked" or "floating". Fender uses this same terminology.

Very nice, Anthony. You present a strong case on decking the tremolo, and I may give it a try.

Dean is right. It's not called "Blocked" Blocked is blocking off the bridge in the spring cavity with wood or some other materials. When you Block a a trem bridge it can't move up or down. I'm not sure what your doing is but "Decked" sounds about right

I had mine decked. & blocked because of tuning issues. Was talkin the fun out of it. I like the whammy sound, but not enough to wind up frustrated & not wanting to pick it up anymore. In the long run, a small sacrifice! I enjoy staying in tune! Glad this works for you tho

Thanks for this tip! Tried it on my SX (Alder body, Maple neck), which has a brass block and solid Stainless Steel saddles now, and had some "old" springs in my drawer. Works great---fattened up the tone and sustain, and it stays in tune. Works just like you said!

I've always known "blocked" as physically putting a wood block in to keep the trem from moving, but then again I've never head the term "decked" either. At any rate, yours is a good explanation on taking some of the fussiness out of a tremolo. Thanks!

I have been playing on stage for over forty years and I never liked to using the trem bar, so I keep the tremolo bridge a little up off the body and use the palm of my hand for vibrato when I need it (which is often). I could never get use to the whammy bar so I did what was comfortable to me. If I need to dive bomb I just grab the bridge with my finger tips and pull. It hasn't slowed me down yet, so whatever works for you. Just my 2 cents worth. Peace.

I've got two strats at the moment. Set up completely differently. One I use for srv kinda stuff which has 11 gauge strings and a blocked trem, the other I use for Jeff beck/David gilmour kinda stuff and has a floating trem and 7 gauge strings (yes, 7 gauge. It's like playing horse hair, but bending is so smooth it encourages me to bend more. Plus vibrato is beautifully smooth)

O and to answer Jason Wise question I believe the velcro on the back of the guitar is there to mount the guitar to a free stand for camera work on Anthony's lessons.

Great points and thanks for all the lesson videos! I have two Strats, one with a floating trem and one blocked. I love the floating trem and use it a lot for subtle vibrato (no dive bombing, etc.) and don't have tuning issues. With the blocked trem I can't get that same sweet vibrato.