I bought the strat above in sunburst and it is beautiful. However, I have a couple of conerns that I hope someone can help me with. Both relate to the tremolo.

When I had removed the sticker over the tremolo block hole where the bar screws in I flipped over the guitar. I heard something fall onto the floor and picked up a small very hard spring. After a couple of minutes thought the only place it could have come from was the hole. So I dropped it in there. My logic was that it must be to push against the arm when fitted.

So I srewed the arm in and things felt ok. The spring does not now come out though.

So is this normal? Do all tremolo blocks have this spring in the hole? I just can't think of anywhere else it could have come from.

The other question I had concerns the height of the tremolo arm from the pick guard. It seem very high and it makes it difficult to hold whilst picking. Is this normal for this model?

Thanks to anyone who can help me

Rob

Welcome to the Forum.


You did put the spring back in the right place.

As for the second question a picture of the angle would help us to answer it.

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Chet Feathers

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I didn't Lose my mind, I traded it for this guitar.

Thank you Mr Feathers. I do feel welcome.

I'll take a picture but it looks like from some you tube research that the height and angle is normal. I guess the new 2 point trems are designed differently to the vintage style.

About the spring, I have to say I had some reservations and took it back out with a paper clip. The fit and feel of the bar is also good without it. I'm comtemplating what to do.

How did you know that the spring came from there? I see from your myspace you have a 60's style strat. Very nice.

Cheers

That little spring is a spacer for the whammy bar. Fender puts a little sticker over it so it don`t fall out. My sticker wore out so I put a piece of duct tape over the hole so l don`t loose it.

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Yep that little spring goes in that little hole to push against the tremolo bar about the angle of the tremolo bar it should be kind of parallel to the body once the bridge is correctly adjusted floating... read the manual it is all in there...... follow the steps carefully and you will be fine

In answer to your second question, the whammy bar is a bit high on my 08 Strat also so I guess thats normal for that year.

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Thanks everyone for the replies.

I'm still on the fence about whether to take it out and put it away or leave it in. See I move my guitars around a fair bit for gigging etc and since you have to remove the bar when you put it in the case it will annoy the crap out of me to put a sticker over the hole.

I have been doing some experimenting with the spring in and out and can't really find any differnence.

I would also like to get a replacement as it seems as though the spring has bent a little from my original over tightening of the bar (attempts to find a lower bar height!). Yes I know I am stupid. Can you buy spare like this direct from Fender I wonder?

Go to Musiciansfriend.com. They sell a 12 pack for $6.

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for those in the UK you can get them at allparts.uk.com. They have a crap load of Fender parts £3.97 for a pack of 12.

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"For every one person who loves you there are five lined up to just hate you" - P. Westerberg

Put the #$%^& spring back in the *&^%$# hole!

If you can't tell the difference with the spring in or out you're probably screwing the bar too far in. You can tell when the spring is touched because it will become ever so slightly harder to screw the bar further into the block. It will hold its position wherever you put it. You can push it out of the way. You can bring it into position to use. And all because of the little spring. So the spring is a good thing.

As for the bar, you can find various aftermarket bars that might suit you better. Try www dot callahamguitars dot com.. You might have to replace the block.

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