• Hardware
  • Wilkinson VS-100 CV (or equivalent) tremolo bridges
2007/12/18 13:33:47
mikk
Hi, Fellow Gearheads,
I just signed up here after a search for my White Whale, my must-have piece of gear. I love Strats, and Fenders in general, there's something about that single-coil pickup sound... probably growing up with Gilmour, Hendrix, then Stevie Ray. Anyway, I have an inexpensive Strat now that I'm customizing into the perfect tone machine. I have locking tuners, an LSR nut and for pickups, I'm deciding whether to use Texas Specials , Lace Sensors, or a combination. I'm also rewiring it with a mini-toggle, so I'll have SEVEN pickup combinations (adding "bridge with neck", and all three). The ONLY thing from keeping my beauty from perfection is my inability to get a Wilkinson VS-100 CV tremolo bridge.
My research tells me they were used in Brian Moore MC/1 guitars, which fetch between $1700-3000, so I'm not bying one of them for parts. A person in THIS forum, who went by "player", talked about the Wilkinson VS-100 CV, which supposedly can only be sold in England now, some legal issue. Everything I've heard or read about this whammy bridge tells me it's the best one ever made, with all the advantages of a "floating bridge", yet none of the disadvantages, like pitch change when bending, broken string, etc. It does this by using a cam at the bottom of bar hole, when bar swings down out of the way, it drops down into a hole, THROUGH the block, and into a HOLE in the BACKPLATE of the guitar, thereby LOCKING the bridge into a "fixed" bridge, when you're not whammying. What an idea!! This Wilkinson's a genius! Anyway, I HAVE to get my hands on one, or get in touch with "player", because his post was about a year ago.
Anyboby know "player", or got any info about the VS100CV (also know as "Convertible", because it converts from a floating to a fixed bridge). Any help will be appreciated!
2007/12/20 14:34:03
krizrox
2015/12/07 23:07:21
Mac Leahy
I am the very proud and happy owner of a '93 Godin Artisan ST-! Ultimate (possibly the finest super-strat ever made, IMHO) which came equipped with a Wilkinson VS 100-C "convertible" bridge. Honestly, I can't say enough good things about this bridge...I freakin' LOVE it!  I can abuse and torture that tremolo arm in ways that should be illegal in some states (ie; 'cause it'll scare both the horses AND the women-folk!) and it always returns to true the instant I let go of it.
 
The tremolo arm is spring-loaded; when you swing it forward, it "unlocks" and becomes a floating tremolo; when you let go of it, the extra-long tail of the arm (which is where the the spring-loading device is attached, beneath the actual bridge plate) slots into a socket on the tremolo cover plate, instantly locking the bridge at the zero point.  The tip of the extra-long tail is nicely beveled, so even if you're a little off when you let go, it'll still "find its way home again."  
 
Some detractors will say "the Wilkinson convertible is a neat idea, but it doesn't really work very well," or "you have to set it up every ten minutes," but they either don't know how to set it up properly, or else they constantly change their tuning/string gauge.  Yes, it can be quite "fiddly" during the initial set-up, and you DO have to commit to a single gauge and brand of strings, BUT if it's properly set up from the get-go, you'll never encounter the kinds of problems these whiners are talking about.  I've used it for years, indoor gigs, outdoor gigs, and never had a single problem.  Also, once the intonation is done, the individual saddles lock solidly onto the bridge, which means your intonation will stay locked in for years!  (Complete specs and set-up instructions can be found on/downloaded and printed from the Patrick Eggle guitars site.) 
 
When putting the guitar in a hard case, you have to tighten the grub screw on the bottom collar, then unscrew the entire arm assembly clockwise...yes, it's a left-hand thread.  To return, screw it in counter-clockwise, then loosen the grub screw on the bottom collar.  
 
I actually have two of these bridges; at one point, I wanted to switch from 9-46 to 10-48 gauge strings, but I stupidly forgot to unlock a saddle before making a height adjustment, so I accidentally snapped off one of the saddle lock-down stems.  I hunted around for several years before finding another one and installing it on my Godin, and it once again handles like a dream!   In order to make the other bridge usable again, it'll need a replacement string block; fortunately, Killer Guitar Components makes solid brass replacement blocks for all three versions of the Wilkinson bridge (Wilkinson {VS 100-C} and the Gotoh {VS 100-G} and Jackson {VS 1oo-N} copies) so eventually I'll be able to install this brilliant piece of kit on one of my other guitars, possibly even my '91 PRS Custom 24.    
2015/12/07 23:17:32
batsbrew
i tried that trem,
but settled on a Hipshot contour trem,
which i found to be superior,
in feel, sound, and function
2015/12/08 00:17:02
Cactus Music
My fix is to  block the front ( towards neck) side of the bridge bottom, this stops it from going up ( or sharp)   add all 5 springs and tighten the crud out of them... I only want a little down bending so this works well for me with any strat type system..even crapo imports. 
You can get a little upwards bend too.. 
Cost-Free
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