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Post subject: thread, tremolo arm
Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2016 5:57 am
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first post here but surely not the last!

I´ve an client with an 73 strat. Thread on tremoloarm are worn out. I´ve a lot of ideas but none of them feels just spot on. He really wants the original arm to be used. does anyone have an cleaver solution to solve this?


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Post subject: Re: thread, tremolo arm
Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2016 7:43 am
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Quote:
The sturdy steel tremolo construction of 1954-70, in which the base plate and inertia block were two pieces fused together, was changed circa 1971 to a one-piece die-cast design using an inexpensive but structurally inferior “pot metal” alloy.

That's a quote from Fender - so, you're sure it's the threads in the arm, not the block?

Best solution, IMHO: get a new trem arm, keep the original in the guitar box.
If your client really is strict on that originality factor, there's only so much you can do. Try cleaning the threads properly - maybe even use a thread die, and teach your client to use caution and some teflon tape when he/she/it screws the arm in.
Any other method probably would affect originality more than a new (or new, used) trem arm.

Then again, would your client even notice (except of course on your bill - seventies trem arms can be about a 100$...), if you'd just put in another trem arm (possibly using tea/coffee for aging the tip)..?
BTW, if you have clients and they really pay you with money, let's consider some fee on the advice you get from the forum. This one's a free sample :wink:


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Post subject: Re: thread, tremolo arm
Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2016 7:57 am
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Thank You!
I need to have an serious discussion with the client. All the time i will spent on trying fix this ...?

So function or originality? I vote for making the guitar function as good as possible. replace the arm..


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Post subject: Re: thread, tremolo arm
Posted: Fri Feb 12, 2016 2:18 am
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An arm is an arm. There is no magic mojo to be obtained from a 73 arm (if it is even the original one). Just replace it.

If it is the thread in the block replacements are also available.

Strats were designed to be taken to pieces and have parts replaced. That was core to the concept to allow musicians to keep their guitars playable at all times. It was never the intention that all of the components would last a lifetime, so replacing stuff is all part of the Strat experience.

You could almost say an old "original" Strat shouldn't have all the same parts it left the factory with if it has seen anything of a life.

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Post subject: Re: thread, tremolo arm
Posted: Fri Feb 12, 2016 2:25 am
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jmattis wrote:

....BTW, if you have clients and they really pay you with money, let's consider some fee on the advice you get from the forum. This one's a free sample :wink:


Quote worthy :-)

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Post subject: Re: thread, tremolo arm
Posted: Fri Feb 12, 2016 2:28 am
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Standard Plumbers' credo: "Do it up until it's stripped - then back it off 1/2 a turn".
We are guitar players, NOT plumbers!
Me? I would find a suitable replacement arm and block (if available and necessary) and instruct my "client" as such:
"If it feels wrong to tighten it to the point of stripping it then DON'T!"
Meanwhile, here's my hefty Bill for repairs.


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Post subject: Re: thread, tremolo arm
Posted: Fri Feb 12, 2016 2:36 am
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Thank You John! You are sooo right!


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