Here's a couple of suggestions. 1.) Remove the cover on the back of the guitar to expose the whammy bar=20 springs. Replace them with a solid bar(s) or maybe solid wire to prevent=20 movement. It should be possible to rig this up for a test w/o any=20 machining of the guitar itself. 2.) Try Guitar Center or Musicians Friend for a "hard tail" bridge. I'm=20 guessing (haven't looked) that Fender makes such an animal that would=20 install w/o too much trouble, being it's a Strat. Some times the problem with whammy bar intonation problems has more to=20 do with the nut than the whammy mech. Take a close look at the nut on=20 Jeff Beck's Strat. He has a special one and I believe it uses rollers to=20 facilitate return to the proper location after a "whammy event." This=20 may also solve your problem. Les Paul's are nice, but don't have the wide tonal range of a Strat,=20 IMO. However, they do seem to have augmented "punch" when compared to a=20 single coil pickup. Even the HB in the bridge position on a strat sounds=20 thinner to me. Mark Skeels Engineer Competition Electronics, Inc. TEL: 815-874-8001 FAX: 815-874-8181 www.competitionelectronics.com On 4/11/2011 9:51 AM, V G wrote: > On Mon, Apr 11, 2011 at 10:39 AM, John Gardner wrote: > >> Or try a Les Paul - Also Deity-approved, I believe... >> > I'll get a Les Paul somewhere down the line, but not now :( --=20 http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist .