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Epiphone Tremotone Vibrato Tailpiece Tips

RAB

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Joined
Mar 17, 2005
Messages
2,122
Hi y'all...I just acquired a near mint 1962 Epiphone Riviera, stickered mini-PAF pickups and has the Tremotone "E" vibrato tailpiece. I don't use a whammy so I removed the bar and put it away for safe keeping. I then re-strung the tailpiece to make it act more like a standard trapeze by reversing the direction that the strings are inserted into the tailpiece. This has a couple advantages, most importantly increasing the angle and tension of the string as it crosses the tuneomatic bridge piece. Bending relatively light guage strings with the routinely-strung Tremotone can cause the string to pop out of the saddle slot. Another advantage is the revised stringing approach reduces the overall string length. Using a Tremotone can be problematic for standard string lengths for the "D" and "G" strings...:peace2
 
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RAB

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Mar 17, 2005
Messages
2,122
Let's hear from other vintage Epi thinline fans! Sheraton, Riviera and Casino models qualify! :jim
 

RAB

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Mar 17, 2005
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Gulp...no Kalamazoo-made, Classic Year Riviera, Casino or Sheraton fans out there? I know there are!
 

JimR56

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Joined
Oct 20, 2012
Messages
588
Hey RAB, I just joined the board after being an occasional lurker for a long time. Just posted on the other recent thread ('64 Rivera discussion) where you mentioned your patented "Tremo-tip". :)

I have a '62 Sheraton (that's it in my avatar), and although I'm currently happy using the Tremotone, at some point I may try your idea and see if I prefer the resulting sharper string angle over the bridge.

Oh, I just remembered something you mentioned in another thread. You used to own a couple of pre-'63 Sheratons? Do you still have any photos? I'd love to hear more about them.

Mine has the one piece mahogany neck, and it's almost 1 3/4" at the nut (which I love). Dream guitar. It's just too bad it took me over 30 years to realize I wanted one of these.

You can see photos of it (and many other vintage Sheratons) here: http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?p=11411759#post11411759
 

RAB

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Mar 17, 2005
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2,122
Thanks for your posting...:) Your red '62 Sheraton is insanely gorgeous and rare! Almost certainly one of a very few made! Congrats and I'm sure it sounds excellent too!:frank:
 

Chaplain Will

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Joined
May 27, 2015
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1
Hey RAB, I just joined the board after being an occasional lurker for a long time. Just posted on the other recent thread ('64 Rivera discussion) where you mentioned your patented "Tremo-tip". :)

I have a '62 Sheraton (that's it in my avatar), and although I'm currently happy using the Tremotone, at some point I may try your idea and see if I prefer the resulting sharper string angle over the bridge.

Oh, I just remembered something you mentioned in another thread. You used to own a couple of pre-'63 Sheratons? Do you still have any photos? I'd love to hear more about them.

Mine has the one piece mahogany neck, and it's almost 1 3/4" at the nut (which I love). Dream guitar. It's just too bad it took me over 30 years to realize I wanted one of these.

You can see photos of it (and many other vintage Sheratons) here: http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?p=11411759#post11411759

Hello!

I know this is an old post. But, I have been searching the web looking for info re: an Epiphone Tremotone unit. I was recently given a 1964 Epi Crestwwod Deluxe that is nearly all original. I have the arm for the trem unit but I was told there was a spring missing. From what I can tell, it must have used an internal spring of some sort. There's no indication of an external one as found on most Bigsby units. Can you provide any info for me on that subject? I'd really like to get the unit back to it's original condition. If you could help me to understand how the spring was attached then maybe I can find a suitable replacement.

Thanks in advance! Chaplain Will
 

RAB

Active member
Joined
Mar 17, 2005
Messages
2,122
Hello!

I know this is an old post. But, I have been searching the web looking for info re: an Epiphone Tremotone unit. I was recently given a 1964 Epi Crestwwod Deluxe that is nearly all original. I have the arm for the trem unit but I was told there was a spring missing. From what I can tell, it must have used an internal spring of some sort. There's no indication of an external one as found on most Bigsby units. Can you provide any info for me on that subject? I'd really like to get the unit back to it's original condition. If you could help me to understand how the spring was attached then maybe I can find a suitable replacement.

Thanks in advance! Chaplain Will

No visible spring like on a Bigsby. The device works via some sort of internal tension rod I believe. I sold a mint Tremotone for cheap recently and you see them on eBay fairly regularly...
 

chasenblues

New member
Joined
Jul 3, 2006
Messages
1,228
Hello!

I know this is an old post. But, I have been searching the web looking for info re: an Epiphone Tremotone unit. I was recently given a 1964 Epi Crestwwod Deluxe that is nearly all original. I have the arm for the trem unit but I was told there was a spring missing. From what I can tell, it must have used an internal spring of some sort. There's no indication of an external one as found on most Bigsby units. Can you provide any info for me on that subject? I'd really like to get the unit back to it's original condition. If you could help me to understand how the spring was attached then maybe I can find a suitable replacement.

Thanks in advance! Chaplain Will

Just did some Googling and came across the thread,

http://forum.gibson.com/index.php?/topic/49091-epiphone-wilshire-1967/


From reading some of the post's and looking at some of the images i get the impression that there is no internal spring, but like Rab said some kind of pinned tension rod/bar.
 

JimR56

Member
Joined
Oct 20, 2012
Messages
588
Hi y'all...I just acquired a near mint 1962 Epiphone Riviera, stickered mini-PAF pickups and has the Tremotone "E" vibrato tailpiece. I don't use a whammy so I removed the bar and put it away for safe keeping. I then re-strung the tailpiece to make it act more like a standard trapeze by reversing the direction that the strings are inserted into the tailpiece. This has a couple advantages, most importantly increasing the angle and tension of the string as it crosses the tuneomatic bridge piece. Bending relatively light guage strings with the routinely-strung Tremotone can cause the string to pop out of the saddle slot. Another advantage is the revised stringing approach reduces the overall string length. Using a Tremotone can be problematic for standard string lengths for the "D" and "G" strings...:peace2
Hey RAB, I'm hoping you're still hanging around here? I had recently referenced this thread in a discussion I started on another forum about G.E. Smith's '62 Sheraton (which is here: https://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?threads/g-e-smiths-vintage-epiphone-sheraton.2071027/). I've been daydreaming a bit about bypassing the vibrato aspect of my Tremotone, and wondered if you could elaborate on what you did. I think by removing the "bar", you meant that you removed the "handle"? The discussion in the thread (linked above by chasenblues) about the tailpiece on the vintage Wilshire is interesting too, but that tailpiece is a very different design. Anyway, the more detail the better, when it comes to knowing what was involved for you (and possibly G.E. Smith). Was it as simple as threading the strings through in the opposite direction?

I'm a little confused by what I'm seeing in this photo of Smith. Can't tell if he did something other than removing the handle.

May%20GE.jpg


Almost looks like he's got a gap between the piece anchoring the strings and the "axle". Compare the appearance of his setup to this photo:
EpiVIBRATO.jpg


Another related question I have, which comes from yet another Tremotone thread (https://www.lespaulforum.com/forum/showthread.php?179787-Epiphone-E-vibrato-any-infos). The OP asked about the function of the three screws in this photo, but got no answer:

Epivibratoscrews.jpg


I'm just curious about this. It looks like their only function is to hold the two sections of the Tremotone together, but I wondered if they might have been designed for a further function of some sort.
 
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RAB

Active member
Joined
Mar 17, 2005
Messages
2,122
Jim, yes, I removed the Tremotone vibrato handle. I then reversed the direction of the string when restringing, bringing the sharp string end into the tailpiece from the rear similar to stringing a standard trapeze tailpiece. Advantages were steeper “break” over the bridge saddles and reducing the string length required to reach the tuners. Hope this helps and enjoy your gorgeous and rare cherry ‘62 Sheraton! I recently had the chance to buy back my old ‘62 blonde Sheraton but decided to stick with my ‘62 Riviera and save myself a boatload of greenbacks! RAB :peace2
 

JimR56

Member
Joined
Oct 20, 2012
Messages
588
Jim, yes, I removed the Tremotone vibrato handle. I then reversed the direction of the string when restringing, bringing the sharp string end into the tailpiece from the rear similar to stringing a standard trapeze tailpiece. Advantages were steeper “break” over the bridge saddles and reducing the string length required to reach the tuners. Hope this helps and enjoy your gorgeous and rare cherry ‘62 Sheraton! I recently had the chance to buy back my old ‘62 blonde Sheraton but decided to stick with my ‘62 Riviera and save myself a boatload of greenbacks! RAB :peace2
For anybody else who may be reading this, and is interested, RAB and I exchanged a few off-board messages earlier today. He agreed that the anchor bar (the squared bar that the strings go through) on G.E.'s guitar was moved closer to his bridge. That's even better in terms of adding more to the break angle over the bridge and shortening the string lengths. The question becomes how he managed to do that, and what those three screws were designed to do. Please jump in if you have more ideas on this, or are familiar with Tremotone adjustments. RAB suggested putting a spacer in the newly created gap between the two bars, and using longer screws. An interesting idea, but it doesn't appear that G.E. needed to do that.

Edit: found an even better close-up of G.E.'s guitar...

i-bD44m7p-X3.jpg


Anybody care to guess as to how he achieved this adjustment? I suppose he could have done a "permanent" mod on the Tremotone (or a replacement, while keeping the original).
 

miczap

Active member
Joined
Oct 31, 2018
Messages
213
For anybody else who may be reading this, and is interested, RAB and I exchanged a few off-board messages earlier today. He agreed that the anchor bar (the squared bar that the strings go through) on G.E.'s guitar was moved closer to his bridge. That's even better in terms of adding more to the break angle over the bridge and shortening the string lengths. The question becomes how he managed to do that, and what those three screws were designed to do. Please jump in if you have more ideas on this, or are familiar with Tremotone adjustments. RAB suggested putting a spacer in the newly created gap between the two bars, and using longer screws. An interesting idea, but it doesn't appear that G.E. needed to do that.

Edit: found an even better close-up of G.E.'s guitar...

i-bD44m7p-X3.jpg


Anybody care to guess as to how he achieved this adjustment? I suppose he could have done a "permanent" mod on the Tremotone (or a replacement, while keeping the original).

That's got to be custom. I imagine he simply welded a string 'stop' onto the flat bit at the top of the tremotone.
 

JimR56

Member
Joined
Oct 20, 2012
Messages
588
That's got to be custom. I imagine he simply welded a string 'stop' onto the flat bit at the top of the tremotone.

Just came across a new video of him playing the Sheraton, and there are a couple of places where I paused it to look at the tailpiece. I think you're right, and I think he used the original string anchor from the trem-o-tone. The way he did it, he's going to get a bit more of a break angle over the bridge compared to just re-routing the strings without moving the anchor up. Anyway, I ain't doing his mod on my '62!

 
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