The Fender American Deluxe Stratocaster  and the American Standard Stratocaster both feature a 2-point synchronized tremolo bridge. This is an upgrade from the 6-point vintage style tremolo bridge used on the Standard Stratocaster and the American Vintage Stratocaster. Fender has been using the 2-point synchronized tremolo since 1986. It is similar in design to the Floyd Rose 2-point locking tremolo although it doesn’t lock the strings like the Floyd Rose. There are some big advantages in using the deluxe 2-point synchronized tremolo over the vintage style tremolo or even the Floyd Rose locking tremolo.

Better Tuning Stability

The biggest advantage of the 2-point synchronized tremolo is tuning stability. It’s obvious that the fewer friction points you have on your floating bridge the better it will stay in tune. So removing 4 of the mounting points present in the vintage style tremolo reduces the number of friction points by that same amount. Floyd Rose developed the 2-point tremolo for the very simple reason of increasing tuning stability. Fender, taking a cue from the Floyd Rose, uses a knife-edge design for the two pivot points. The knife-edge rocks on the two studs mounted into the body. I always lube these two pivot points with a shot of Big Bends Nut Sauce to reduce the friction even farther. The Nut Sauce makes the pivots silky smooth.

Solid Steel Block Saddles

Another big advantage of the Deluxe 2-point tremolo over the vintage-style tremolo is that it uses solid steel string block saddles for the strings to rest on. I much prefer them to the bent steel saddles present on the vintage tremolo unit. I like the solid block saddles because of their more massive feel which I believe gives the string better sustain.

Speaking of sustain, the deluxe 2-point tremolo also features a solid block of metal to increase the sustain of the strings. The metal block also helps to counterbalance the pull of the strings against the pull of the tremolo springs.  The 2010 American Deluxe Stratocaster features a pop-in tremolo arm that mounts in this tremolo block. Adjustment screws on the tremolo block let you control how easily the tremolo arm pops in and how easily it swings out of the way.

2-Point Synchronized Tremolo VS. Floyd Rose Locking Tremolo

As for the Fender Deluxe 2-point tremolo’s advantage over the Floyd Rose locking tremolo. Personally, I don’t like to have to clip my strings and bother with locking them in place every time I change the strings on my guitar. Which is what I have to do on my Floyd Rose equipped guitars. The Fender deluxe 2-point tremolo has a string-through design. This design lets you simply pull your string through the tremolo block and up over the bridge saddles. It makes the stringing process a lot easier and a lot faster. Tuning stability on the Fender 2-point synchronized tremolo isn’t quite as good as the Floyd Rose locking trem. Although, the Fender 2-point synchronized tremolo is plenty stable for every type of tremolo style except dive bombing.

Get Your Nut Sauce

As I mentioned before I use Big Bends Nut Sauce on the pivot points. I also apply the lube to all the bridge saddles and the nut slots where the strings slide through. Finally I put a little nut sauce on the string tree and my American Deluxe Stratocaster stays perfectly in tune. Even with the occasional dive-bomb on the tremolo. I’ve been very happy with Fender’s deluxe 2-point tremolo system over the years and I highly recommend it.