Allparts Tremol-No review

Overall review:

Tremol-No is a device which basically replaces tremolo-springs inside your guitar so you are able to lock tremolo-bridge and basically have a hardtail guitar. There is also possibility to adjust tremolo from fully floating to dive-only mode.

I ordered this device for my Stratocaster as I was having problems with the floating tremolo when using drop-D tuning on some songs. Also I don´t use tremolo very often and I like the option to lock the tremolo so the tuning is more stable. Tremol-No sounded like a perfect solution for this, but it leaves some room for improvement.

Installation of Tremol-No is a bitch. Replacing the stock tremolo-claw with Tremol-No is easy, but aligning the Tremol-No “spring” perfectly for smooth operation is hard and requires multiple flies. On the positive side, you don´t need to tinker or drill your guitar body for keeps so you can restore original parts easily (just keep them tucked away somewhere). You cannot fit your Stratocaster backplate anymore after installing Tremol-No, so you better be prepared to go Jimi-style on this. Of course backplate would make adjusting the device on the fly impossible too.

When installed and set in locked position, your guitar feels like a hardtail. This is where Tremol-No shines, you can switch from tremolo-guitar to hardtail with a twist of a thumbscrew (tuning will not be preserved though when switching). Tremolo mode feels a bit different than stock tremolo, probably because the Tremol-No adds a slight amount friction to the tremolo use. If you´re hard-core vintage tremolo aficionado, try before buying.

The biggest gripe I have with this device are the thumbscrews used to switch operating mode of the tremolo. For some unacceptable reason the thumbscrews are not attached to the device and because you won´t have a backplate on your guitar the screws get loose while playing (especially on live situation). I have lost the damn screws several times and searching them from the stage after gig with flashlight is not something you should be doing after rockin´ the house (you get some spares in the package). This is inferior and lazy product design, if Tremol-No people happen to read this: please fix this blunder.

Sounds and features:

Tremol-No does not change the sound of the guitar. Naturally your guitar will sound different in hardtail-mode than in floating setup. Floating-mode is not 100% identical to stock-tremolo.

Quality and reliability:

I already mentioned the flawed thumbscrew design, otherwise the build is good and feels like it is going to last for years to come. There could be more spare-screws in the package considering the amount you are going to lose them if you are playing rock´n´roll gigs with it. I would like to have a option to use backplate, that would require flatter design, but this is not a build quality issue. I am fairly satisfied with this product, but I would probably not install in on my other tremolo-guitars.