Trem Spring "Groove"

[big_pico]

Hey all, just got my first Fly ('99 Classic with mahogany top), and am LOVING it. It's a beautiful guitar and an amazing feat of modern engineering!

I'm fiddling around with it and getting to know the features, and I'm wondering what people's experiences are with the 3 "grooves" in the trem spring plate.

I currently have it in the groove furthest from the back, in the hopes that when I do a big left-hand bend, the rest of the strings won't go flat as easily, but that doesn't really seem to be making a difference (?). No biggie, but just wondering what people's experiences are with the 3 grooves, and also whether or not they will affect string stiffness when playing, or if it's just the trem action itself that gets stiffer as you set it further from the back.

THANKS!

[mmmguitar]

As far as I can tell, only the perceived trem stiffness is affected. No matter which groove the spring is set in, the tension between it and the strings still requires balance for the bridge to float at the zero-point dictated by the step-stop block. There would need to be a secondary component affecting tension (which, in strat and floyd-style bridges, is often sold as trem-setters/stabilizers) to prevent the other strings from moving during bends.

[big_pico]

Thanks for the insight. I guess it makes sense that the tension gets balanced the same between strings and springs no matter what (when set up correctly), and the string "stiffness" doesn't get impacted by which groove the spring is in.