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Thread: Skyway Tremolo review, (long).

  1. #1

    Skyway Tremolo review, (long).

    I'm about to build another Strat and have been agonizing over the choice of tremolo. I really wanted to put in a PRS tremolo, (made by MannMade), but found they were
    almost impossible to get. So I posted on a few forums for advice and tried out a few non-locking tremolos, finaly out of a list of about 5 different makes and models I found
    what in my opinion is the best of the bunch, even better than my old favorite PRS, and that's the Skyway tremolo. I was so impressed I had to write the following long
    review.


    I just got a chance to visit with Rick Huff to check out his company's Skyway Tremolo. When it comes to tremolos I'm a real skeptic having seen everything that's come
    along over the years, I always go back to the traditional Strat tremolo or my favorite, the PRS tremolo. I'm very critical about tremolos because use of the arm is a
    cornerstone of my style of playing. After just having a very disappointing experience with the purchase one of the other Tremolos, I was ready to pounce on the slightest
    flaw I could find in the Skyway, I hope Rick wasn't too put off by my "show me" attitude.

    What I first noticed was that this is a very unique concept, nobody has done anything even remotely like it. I won't explain how his bridge works because they are still
    finalizing the security of the design, but, there are no joints where mating surfaces butt up against each other as focal points for the pivoting action which would cause
    wear and inconsistencies, (however small), of the return location of the bridge after use of the arm has been released. It's been my opinion that the cause of going out of
    tune is the loss of purity to the return of the bridge to it's normal position after use of the arm. Anything at the pivot point that hinders a true return of the bridge, whether it
    be a burr, surface irregularity, dirt, wear, shifted blade, variable centering, dried beer, kills the purity of the bridge return position. The technology of the Skyway's pivoting
    defines the purity of the bridge return position.

    One of the things I was skeptical about was the Skyway claim that not routing through the body and putting a huge route on the back was killing the tone. I do understand
    the concept, but from my reasoning, the Strats that I've played with the best tone were the ones with the vibrato because the steel block lent it's magic to the tonal mix.
    No, the Skyway doesn't sound like a steel block tremolo, and to my ears it didn't sound like a hardtail either. You see, everything Rick's work has been focused on is the
    transfer of string vibration into the wood body, the way his bridge couples to the wood contact surface of the body gives a very lively tone that really jumps out at you in a
    way that's more dynamic than hardtails I've played. This is the case to the point I've reevaluated my position on the necessity of the steel block for tone.

    Installation. Though it doesn't have a route that goes through the entire body of the guitar, plus a big area routed into the back like the traditional Strat tremolo, you don't
    just screw it to the surface, it does require some routing. It involves a route about as deep as a pickup cavity. This isn't the kind of routing you can freehand though, the
    bridge doesn't overlap the route like on a Fender. In this case, the route needs to be professionally done with a guide template because the tremolo unit sets into a route
    that's defined by the shape of the perimeter of the tremolo body.

    The Action. Ok, now here's what it all really comes down to for me. How does the arm of the Skyway feel when in use? How does it "play"? This is a personal thing,
    everyone looks for something different from a tremolo so the following is just the impression I got and may not apply to your technique. I use the arm a lot. Let me
    rephrase that, I use the arm a whole hellova lot. I always have the arm between my 3rd and 4th fingers to better integrate it's use into melodic lines. I define a guitar is a
    six stringed instrument with an arm. You get the idea. I don't really use the arm for big dive effects, I use it to add expression to melodic lines with moderate to severe dips,
    warbles, palm hits and backbends. To achieve this with a typical Strat tremolo I have to yank out springs to be left with just 3, I leave 4 springs in the PRS, and with the
    Strat I have to bend the arm down a little. In other words, nothing comes stock to fit my purposes anyway. Rick has spent a lot of time with many players to settle on the
    way he had the guitars setup that he had me play, for my style it was surprisingly close, the action was very smooth and fluid with a very stable feel. I still slightly prefer the
    feel of the PRS arm, but remember, this is the Skyway with no tweaking, Rick told me his design can accommodate the needs of any player, and that it would be easy to
    dial it in to my needs perfectly. On dips I found it to be very smooth and the travel/pitch ratio was nice though the springing was set a little too stiff, on backbends it seemed
    the rate required more travel to achieve the desired pitch than I'm used to but there was a lot more pitch change available. Another cool thing is that where the traditional
    tremolo raises the strings away from the pickups, the Skyway reduces this effect to a large degree. Warble. Ahh yes, warble. Before I went to Rick's he warned me that in
    their current state, he designed his bridges not to warble, (my heart sank), but that he could easily add that back in. But when I played it I did get it to warble right away,
    though I would prefer much more warble, it was there but to a very minor extent. Again, he said that it was not a problem to build the bridge for warblers like me. My
    remaining quibble is that the arm was extremely difficult to pull out of the bridge, but I can't imagine that would be a difficult issue to resolve.

    The Looks. I don't see myself as a form-over-function guy, but a guitar should look cool. The Floyds and Kahlers are all way too massive looking not to mention how all
    that mass dominates the tone, relegating the tonal function of the wood to secondary. Still, tone aside, aesthetically the bridge shouldn't be the most dominant feature on
    the face of a guitar. I would prefer the footprint take up no larger area than a standard Strat tremolo. I have to say that when I first saw pictures of the Skyway I just didn't
    like the looks at all, though it was nowhere near as bad as the Floyds and Kahlers it still dominated the face of the guitar. But when I got a chance to play it and got a better
    feel for what it was all about with all the advantages listed will be smaller. From his answer to my question about how the dimensions will differ it looks like it will be
    smaller but not a whole lot smaller, but that it will be much sleeker and streamlined. The reality is that given the technological constraints, the form will be in line with the
    function, which in the classic definition is perfect form. At least it's not a Bigsby, (not that there's anything wrong with Bigsbys).

    My Conclusion. Hey, I have to say, I'm floored by how cool this tremolo is! I honestly didn't think I would like it. I'm really excited about getting his tremolo in it's new
    shape once it comes out, and working with Rick on getting it setup to work for my style of playing. There is also a coolness factor to the technology of how this thing works
    that has me all geeked up. Do remain skeptical, but absolutely do give this tremolo a try, it will speak for itself.

    John Kelley Brown

  2. #2
    Forum Member Don's Avatar
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    John,

    Thanks for the review.

    I didn't see a web address for Skyway in your review.
    Could you please post it?

    I met John Mann from MannMade at a guitar show a few years ago.
    He's a very nice , though elusive kinda guy.
    He makes really nice stuff.

  3. #3
    Originally posted by Don
    John,

    Thanks for the review.

    I didn't see a web address for Skyway in your review.
    Could you please post it?

    I met John Mann from MannMade at a guitar show a few years ago.
    He's a very nice , though elusive kinda guy.
    He makes really nice stuff.
    Here you go:
    http://www.skywaymusic.com/
    His website is just barebones at this point, but there is contact information and a couple of pictures of the prototype. Give Rick a call with questions.

    I've never met John Mann, I have the highest respect for his product, and in the case upgrading a more vintage looking guitar like a Relic Strat, I would be more inclined to go with the MannMade just because it's a good athestic match. But for me here on out I'll be switching over to the Skyway on guitars I make, have made for me, or I can see a Fender hardtail conversion to Skyway as being a real trick setup.

    Kelley

  4. #4
    Forum Member Don's Avatar
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    Thanks!

  5. #5
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    MannMade

    You can get John Mann trems. I recently bought a MannMade trem from Retro music. Check the site for details.
    http://www.mannmadeusa.com/

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