cruisinon2

Don't even bother. No doubt this falls into the uber-secret, should this info fall into the wrong hands the moon will escape from it's orbit, category. You know, the same class of history-altering data as recommended pickup height....

I'd ask, but I suspect....oh, never mind.

You're not...far from it, actually. Plenty of us didn't much care for the newer Strat models after FW 1.9...they are what they are, and we're stuck with them until they model a different Strat...if they so choose. Fortunately, with a little experimenting in Workbench, you can cobble together a custom model that's closer to the older Strat versions.

Then something is terribly wrong with either the inserts, the holes, or both...I've done this to countless guitars over the years, and never managed to yank out any hardware.

It's not necessary to mess with anything in the routed cavity in back of the guitar. Ruler, paint stirrer, piece of cardboard....anything the bridge can rest on. Just don't use anything that will scratch the finish unless you put something else under it first, hence the polish cloth in the photo.

It's amazing how much confusion this seems to be causing. This is exactly what we've been saying. Shove something back there that will keep the bridge in its neutral position...it's not difficult or supernatural. Anything that's sufficiently rigid and the right height will suffice. Hell, in a pinch you can take the sleeve that the set of strings comes in, fold it in half, and shove that under there, and it'll work just fine...done it a million times. I've been doing the exact same thing on 2-point floating Strat bridges for the last 20 years, and the bridge never shoots across the room...the JTV's design isn't any different.

Why? Unless you're running to two different amps, it's redundant to have the signal going into the 500 twice. Just curious...

I'm always skeptical of those deals. At the very least, you need pictures. "Blemished" can mean anything from "this one's a little dusty" to "a meth-head dragged it behind a truck over 18 miles of gravel". ;)

Yeah, those costumer service guys are only allowed one "above and beyond" response per quarter to keep up appearances, it's an industry standard. Otherwise it's "take a number"...the OP won the lottery. ;)

That's comforting...welcome to the new "normal", where nobody knows, and nobody cares, lol. Ugh...

I wouldn't glue them in...but the size of those inserts do vary slightly. I just put a Wilkinson trem on a Strat re-build, and the inserts that came with the bridge were slightly larger than the stock Fender ones. Turned out to be a good thing, as one of the holes was slightly out-of-round...the insert had been pulled forward a bit over the years. Might work in your case too.

"I don't have much of a portfolio right now...all my money is tied up in staying alive" - Archie Bunker ;)

It's just a matter of keeping the bridge level. If you shove something behind it to prevent it from pivoting, it doesn't really matter if the springs are pulling on it or not. Whatever you put back there just has to be thick enough to keep the bridge in its neutral position. I've used a wooden ruler in the past. Anything that's rigid enough to let the bridge rest against it without too much give.

The middle class is soon to be a minority in this country, if it's not already. These days, once an item crosses the $1K barrier, I pretty much have to "need" it...

I'd be lying if I said that I understood most of that...but near as I can tell, you've got no sound connecting with the VDI cable. If that's what's happening, try another cable...if it persists, then it's either the guitar, or maybe the input settings on the POD.

The 500X is great. I'm never going back to "real" amps...at least not live. While I'm not a full-time pro (anymore), I do a fair amount of commercial recording projects, mostly at the same studio, which is well equipped with a variety of tube amps and tons of mics, which I don't have to set up ;). I just show up with a guitar(s) and play...I've used the POD for a couple of those gigs, but it's just easier to use what's there. Anyway, the point is modeling has come a LONG way since the first iterations 20-odd years ago, and it will only improve. It's so close to the real thing, that even golden-eared engineers and producers get fooled...and that will happen more and more going forward...so I'm done with the bulk, the re-tubing, and carrying around 43 9V batteries for the pedal board. I can show up to a gig with the POD, L2T, and 2 guitars (ok, maybe 3 ;))...and it all fits in the back seat. As soon as the Helix stampede is contained, I'll likely order one of those too...I just refuse to sit around and wonder if it's coming tomorrow or on Flag Day 2019.

Well you ruled out the cables and amps, so it's either the box or the guitar. If you can find a POD somewhere, try powering it that way. If it works, then I think it safe to say the problem is the A/B box.

So the formula is YY/(MM-1)? Strange, but we persevere...

I was under the impression that Sweetwater is an anointed "authorized service center"...so if they choose to offer extended warranties, it should all get taken care of in-house. If not, it will likely be a cluster-$!#/ of approvals, diagnostics, more approvals, etc etc, before anything gets fixed.

I'm not sure there's much you can do as far as re-routing the wires. The sustain block on the re-designed ones are obviously a completely different part. Don't know if the block itself is a serviceable/replaceable part, or if you'd have to replace the whole bridge... Time to consult "The Man"...lol ;) Good luck.

I'm just gonna stick with "if it's too loud, you're to old"...;)

Wrapping wires around moving parts is destined to not end well...I'm not surprised they changed it. As for the tremel-no, it wasn't a tuning stability problem per se, I just don't use the bar, so why have it float? Plus you don't have issues with double-stop bends with a fixed bridge. It also allows me to drop D physically, as I've found that particular alt tuning to be somewhat less than inspiring.

It works. Pretty stable, even when changing strings the bridge stays put. It costs twice what it should, given that from an engineering perspective, it's basically a shower curtain rod. ;) Can't complain though. It works as advertised. I love Strat-style guitars, but I'm so not a whammy bar guy...

You are correct. Nothing wrapping around the sustain block...straight on through.

I love the Soldanos...use them more than anything else for dirt.