Fender Vintage-Style Standard Series Stratocaster Tremolo Assemblies

I have a very inexpensive S type guitar I purchased as a project. When I disassembled it to repaint it, I noticed the trem block was very thin and unimpressive. I put in new electronics, did all the fretwork, and painted the body and it worked fairly well but with average sustain, and I was not surprised. The cheap trem (nobody should have a trem where you fear being cut by how thin the baseplate looks) had the wrong size saddles, and it was cheaper to buy this trem and get the saddles too. Upon receiving this I was amazed at how beefy it is, and by the quality of the part (and all the smaller parts that make it). I measured the recipient body before I ordered this and compared against Fender's published specs, and it looked like it would drop right in. When I got it, the holes lined up perfectly, but corners were (un)cut on my project guitar and I had to route a small bit of wood (about 4mm x 20mm of cap) because the guitar body would not fit a full sized bridge plate on the term arm side. After removing that small bit of wood this trem dropped in perfectly (as it did when I tested it in a Squier Strat body that is my other project). After buttoning the guitar back up, I was not surprised to find better sustain characteristics. As an experiment, I checked this guitar's sustain against a sample recorded with the old bridge and it was a clear upgrade. This bridge is also better than the one that came with my Squier project Strat (and it fits without modification), so I'll be getting another one. All in all, I've never been a "genuine Fender" kind of person, but I am impressed and delighted by the quality of the genuine Fender parts I've purchased to date, and it's why I will continue to buy these parts for all my project guitars that fit the "S" or "T" body shapes.

Guitarists looking for a lot of Strat-style guitar for not too much money have lots of choices today. Computer guided machinery enable companies to churn out at low cost enormous numbers guitars with consistent quality that'd be hard to have found on instruments several times the price even a few years ago. But in their quest to keep prices down corners are sometimes cut on hardware, and on a Strat-type guitar that often includes the use of a light-weight trem unit with cast pot-metal saddles. -- both things that can hurt the guitars tone and its ability to hold tuning. Fender's Mexican-made guitars are often a step up and their parts often interchange with those on less expensive Asian-made instruments (such as Fender's own Squier line). This vintage type trem is a perfect example. It is a drop in for the inferior units on the less expensive Squiers and ups their game significantly. I installed on one a low end, but amazingly fine playing, Affinity model, and could not be more pleased. "Drop in" meant just that. Remove the strings, unscrew the old trem unit, screw in the new one. Yes, and do a full set-up for spring tension, saddle height and intonation. The Affinity has a shallower body than Fender and even other Squier models have. That means that the rear cover can not just be screwed back on as it will contact the trem's block and springs. Some owners just leave the cover off -- a common thing among pro players who sometimes need to make quick string replacements mid-set. Others find a way to deepen the cover to allow the trem to have unhindered movement. That is what I did -- using some adhesive backed plastic material meant for use on a bathtub surround (see attached pic). But either way that, and some upgraded Alnico 3 staggered pickups, turned a bargain-basement guitar in a first class player and looker. Highly recommended!

Not to sound cliche, but I hardly ever write reviews; this product worked so well that I am compelled to! I've recently expanded my guitar playing hobby (obsession) to modifying lower-end guitars. My Affinity Strat has been the victim of a number of upgrades to include pick guard, pickups, and the addition of a humbucker. The Tremolo block seemed like an obvious upgrade and I was pretty happy to find this genuine Fender part on Amazon. Many of the earlier reviews discussed using this part on a Squier with somewhat mixed results and I stared at this part in my browser for weeks before taking the plunge. I'm very happy that I did...first of all, it dropped right in with the screw holes matching up perfectly. Granted it is as thick as the Affinity body so it prevents the rear cover from going back on but I plan to remedy this with some plastic spacers. Amazingly, the saddles were nearly perfectly set-up out of the package and the intonation on this Affinity has never been better; no adjustment necessary! What really gets me though is the sound; the thicker and heavier block makes a huge difference in tone and gives a new voice to the guitar. For $27, this is a no-brainer; I'm going to order another one to upgrade my Squier CV50s Strat ( a guitar I never planned on modifying). The difference from stock is amazing in both looks and sound...just order one; you'll be glad you did!

Works really well good quality fender brand.

The Fender standard trem block is a lot beefier than what comes stock in most Squier models, as well as some other cheap off-brand Strat guitars out there. Was easy to remove the old one and install this trem block. Takes around 15-20 minutes. Most difficult part is getting the springs off and back on (make sure you loosen the claw quite a bit for easier remove and installation of the springs). Don't over tighten the mounting screws or you'll run into binding issues when using the whammy bar. Leave them about 1mm above the plate surface. The trem should sit level on the guitar when installed properly. The one complaint I have is that Fender doesn't appear to be machining these trem blocks consistently. I've ordered two of these and one of them had quite a bit of a slant within the drill hole for the whammy bar, so the whammy bar fits awkwardly when installed. Not sure if this is a rather common issue or not...the whammy bar threads in my 2nd Fender trem block (same model) also weren't the greatest. Not a clean fit (and I'm using Fender brand whammy bars). Otherwise, this tremolo block does give the guitar a little more sustain and helps hold tune better overall. It's an inexpensive part (~$25) and makes a noticeable difference once installed. Definitely a worthwhile upgrade for less expensive Strat models which have the smaller/thinner trem blocks.

fits usa style holes

Perfect for what I wanted. I’m modding a Rogue guitar, and have replaced a lot of (Very cheap quality) parts that came on the guitar with Fender parts. Still a lot cheaper than buying a Fender guitar, I get to make it how i want it and also a fun project. This bridge is great stuff. Twice as heavy and better made than the factory rogue one. I was expecting have to drill holes in the body, but it fit perfectly with the holes already. It’s a very well made bridge, the saddles are smooth and came virtually intonated except for a slight mid height raise. Between this and a Tusq nut, it stays in tune phenomenally. From what I can tell it actually has made some tone improvements too. I wouldn’t hesitate to buy another on the future. Seller was great, very quick on delivery and was well packaged too.

Work perfect