Darn! Every time I think I’ve seen it all, somebody comes along with a piece of gear that literally makes you stop and take notice. If you are a fan of the trem, whether it be the classic Fender style, the even classier Bigsby style or the more contemporary Floyd Rose style, you know each of these trems has their own sound, their own issues and their own short-comings. Each style is limited to a certain installation set-up and therefore is typically limited to a specific body style. Aside from the Floyd you are also (but not completely) limited to flattening the notes as compared to sharpening.
So what do you do if you have a standard Strat style guitar and you want more flexibility in your trem? Or how about a Tele style guitar where your only option would be a Bigsby. Unless you are very skilled, you are looking for a tech to modify your guitar with new holes for screws and/or routes to accommodate a different bridge. Right? Nope. Let me introduce you to VegaTrem!
Isaac Vega, a guitarist from Spain with thousands of hours on stage, and an insatiable love for the instrument, used his experience and a rather creative imagination to design VegaTrem. VegaTrem is not only an answer for the Tele/Strat guy who wants to either install a trem, or increase the flexibility of his S style trem without modifying his guitar(s) but it might just be THE answer. For some people it’s a vintage guitar with value, for others perhaps a boutique or custom built guitar that they don’t really want to modify. With Vega Trem, you now have the ability to add the trem, and even install it yourself!
VegaTrem is manufactured entirely in Europe using the same high quality materials and manufacturing processes used in the manufacture of surgical tools. High quality stainless steel, marine stainless and galvanized steel are machined to the exact specification that allow you to retro-fit your S and T style guitars without routing or drilling new screw holes (depending on the model). These bridges not only function beautifully, but they are also beautiful to look at.
The easiest way to introduce yourself is to go online to Youtube or to the website www.vegatrem.com and take a look at the installation videos. You can also take a look at the very impressive artist roster they have developed in a fairly short time! How do they work, and how do they just ‘fit’ on your guitar? Well that too is on the website, but I will tell you this…imagine a 2 pc bridge plate which pivots on a fulcrum machined into the edges that connect. On the S style, the moving part is held on by traditional springs in the rear cavity and of course your guitar strings, and on the T style, that moving part is held on with springs that extend through the string holes in the body that are attached to specialized ferrules. That should get you interested.
From Alex Lifeson to John Jorgenson, Dweezil Zappa to Greg Howe, VegaTrem obviously has the attention of pros from one end of the music spectrum to the other….Hersel Yatovitz from Chris Isaaks band says it’s amazing, Adrian Belew says fabulous and Dweezil says it’s pretty slinky and is cool for Jeff Beck faux slide. I say it’s worth checking out, and maybe you’ll see it on my next Tele build? Top quality materials, up to 5 semi-tone range, smooth and noiseless and no modifications to your guitar…left and right handed models and a variety of finishes….you’ve been asking about them and VegaTrems have landed at Solo!!! www.sologuitars.com
Watch out for more information and videos on the socials!!
