G**tar question, to tremolo bridge or not to?

Here's the deal. I'm looking at getting a 7 string guitar right now, but would prefer to spend as little as possible for now, primarily to see what I think of it. If I like it, I figure I can upgrade the guitar or sell it and buy a new one. Anyways, the cheapest 7 string I can find right right now is an Ibanez for around $233. Thing is, it comes with a tremolo bridge, and my emphasis with the guitar will be the aggressive muted rhythm guitar sound, ala if Jon Schaffer played a 7. Most of the great rhythm guitarists I've seen as such play guitars with fixed bridges, and I believe you can throw a tremolo bridge out of tune if you palm mute too hard. If I were to play lead guitar with it, truthfully I do not see much of a use for it. Anyways, my main question is whether the tremolo bridge will get in the way of what I want to do or not. If the guitar in question just had the aformentioned bridge as an option, I'd skip it for the fixed, but considering that I'd be paying roughly $300 for the cheapest fixed 7 I could find, I'd prefer to spend less for now.

Anyways, thanks for your opinions if you have any!

[blipndub]

Depending on the type of tremelo set up you can adjust it so it wouldn't be a problem. You should be able to detatch the arm and tighten up the spring in the tremolo cavity so it won't respond. That's the way Fenders are anyway. or you could just replace the bridge with something. IMO you should get the hard tail unless you plan on using the bar, otherwise it adds weight and bulk to the playing surface.

[vindy500]

in general with the 7 string ibanezes ive seen is they have the floyd rose type bridge, this goes both ways, so yes palm muting could pull your tuning out, and theres no cranking that baby up... but if its a standard strat type, i.e you can only slacken the strings go for it

[Christopher]

Having a tremolo bridge on instruments with lots of string tension, like a 7 string guitar or any bass guitar, is generally asking for trouble. If you're going to be doing heavy rhythm playing, there's absolutely no use for a tremolo anyway.

Fixed bridge all the way.

[lemur821]

It won't be a big problem for palm muting (after all, you press on the strings, not the bridge), but if you don't need it, don't get it. It's just another hassle, especially if it's a Floyd Rose.

[vindy500]

have you ever palm muted on a floyd rose lemur? its quite hard not to push it down, also they are such a pain in the butt to tune. i cant stand the things.

Sounds like I'll pass and wait for the next opportunity then and wait for a fixed bridge 7 stringer. If anyone has any thing else to say, you have plenty of time to say it, but thanks for the opinions to those who posted!

[lemur821]

Originally Posted by vindy500

have you ever palm muted on a floyd rose lemur? its quite hard not to push it down, also they are such a pain in the butt to tune. i cant stand the things.

I honestly have no idea. I have palm muted on tremelos that go both ways, since I used to own one, and I've played a couple of FR equipped guitars, so I probably have. I don't recall any special difficulty, since palm muting doesn't take a lot of pressure and there's no call to be doing more to the bridge than brushing it.

[phxlbrmpf]

A guitarist friend of mine is beginning to hate his Floyd Rose (he plays an Ibanez RG Prestige series which should be a decent guitar) and the damn springs in the thing even react to temperature and humidity changes and love to drop his guitar out of tune whenever they feel like it.
My guitar is a Les Paul copy which means no tremolo action for me but I'd love a guitar with a simple Strat-style tremolo sometime so you can add some vibrato to chords the way it's done in surf music, I love this effect for some reason.
My band's guitarist uses a modified Strat but never uses the tremolo.

[Spector_Ray]

Originally Posted by blipndub

Depending on the type of tremelo set up you can adjust it so it wouldn't be a problem. You should be able to detatch the arm and tighten up the spring in the tremolo cavity so it won't respond.

Just use a block of wood to lock the tremolo in place. It works for my brother even during heavy touring and playing. He used to use it a lot, but over the years, he's moved away from a floating tremolo to a fixed bridge. It's a lot less of a headache. In any event, if you don't do a lot of antics or unusual playing, you really don't need it.

[steve21]

For 300 bucks, I'd stay away from all Floating Trems.

For 300 bucks, Ibanez RG 7321 (Fixed Bridge) is a pretty decent guitar.

In general, Original Floyd Rose, Floyd Rose Pro, Schaller Floyd Rose, Gotoh Floyd Rose, Ibanez Edge, Ibanez Lo-Pro, and Ibanez Edge Pro are the best double-locking tremolos. Some licensed ones are relatively decent, but have a higher chance of having the knife edges dull out.

[All_¥our_Bass]

Check out this site.

www.sevenstring.org