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"The Super Vee Blade Runner vibrato unit can be retrofitted to most Fender Strats and copies thereof. There are a couple of significant differences between this and the standard Fender tremolo, though.
The slots at the front line up with the outer four holes in a sixscrew bridge with enough leeway to accommodate the various versions, but the front edge of the plate screws hard down to the guitar body. The baseplate comprises two parts: the 'screwed down' leading edge is joined to the main section via a thin piece of sprung steel (the blade), and this bends to provide the necessary movement without incurring friction. Highly polished block saddles further reduce friction. Aluminium is used, as tests apparently showed it gave more sustain than the alternatives.
Another welcome feature is the screw-in arm, which has a pin protruding from the body end that locates in a damping mechanism in the block, to eliminate slop, and to keep the arm in position when released. You can make the arm rotation stiffer or looser using a screwdriver.
On a 'bitsa-caster' Strat clone, installation added two minutes to the time it took me to change the strings. With new strings and minor adjustments to the saddles for height and intonation, I was ready to go.
In use, the guitar had a more lively sound from the outset, and there was a little more sustain. The vibrato felt much like a Fender model, but with no unwanted play, and it seemed less prone to creaks and groans. Tuning was very stable, once I'd polished and lubricated the nut on my guitar, and I felt very comfortable with the upgrade. Having a livelier tone, no floppy arm, no creaks and better tuning stability are real benefits when you're recording."
Paul White
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"…the first couple of things we noticed were 1) the high-quality, well-machined look and feel of the parts and 2) the visually unusual locking nut assembly. Unlike most locking nuts, this one requires no modification or routing. Simply pop out the stock nut and install the new nut/clamp assembly…
"The SuperVee's bridge isn't significantly larger, bulkier, or taller than a stock Strat bridge, and sports a couple of innovative features like its six-piece bridge-end string clamp/fine tuner assemblies and six separate saddles instead of the standard all-in-one piece. This allows the saddles to be individually adjusted for height and intonation, like standard Strat saddles, with no saddle shims or time-consuming intonation/setup…
"The other innovative feature is the bridge pivot point, or in the case of the SuperVee, the lack of one. Instead of a bridge that pivots on two screws or a "knife-edge", the SuperVee uses a piece of industrial spring steel that bends to connect the bridge plate and mounting plate. This essentially eliminates any metal-on-metal wear and tear, and ensures the tailpiece returns to the same position after each use…
"The SuperVee performs very well, staying in tune even with repeated heavy use, including dive-bombing… and the fine-tuners at the bridge offer enough travel to allow for drop-D tuning without having to loosen the locking nut…
"Overall, the SuperVee vibrato is a well-crafted, well-conceived unit that offers solid performance without having to modify your guitar…"
Download the full review here
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MusicMart - June 07
"Visually distinctive, no protruding parts, very stable tuning, no need to modify your valuable instrument" . Download the Adobe PDF file (7589k) here
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Guitar Player Magazine (USA) - Oct 07
"I don't have a crystal ball but this guitar has returned to pitch everytime over days of serious abuse in the style of Van Halen, Vai, Gillis and Beck. Try as I might I could not get it to go out of tune " . Download the Adobe PDF file (7589k) here
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Guitar Buyer Magazine (UK) - Nov 07
"For those of us lucky enough to own a vintage Strat, the fact that this is a completely reversible mod will be the most attractive feature of all, and with that in mind, its a very nifty piece of kit" . Download the Adobe PDF file here |
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