Howdy! I have a circa 1984 Standard Stratocaster with a Freeflyte Trem system. My parents bought it for me, new, YEARS ago, but the trem arm was never sent with it. I have done some searching, but keep coming up empty handed.

Anyone know where I could find an arm for the trem??

Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

84

Allparts.com I think they will have them.

From what you've described, it sounds like you have an Elite model Strat.This period is generally regarded as the worst. Even CBS already knew things were not going like they ought to, and in the latter half of this period, they were unambiguously looking to sell Fender. It is a period of cost cutting 'improvements' on guitars...

The name was supposed to indicate hitherto unequaled quality. However, certain features of the Elite were not a success. The 'Freeflyte' tremolo system was bad. The three-position switch has been replaced by three push buttons. The jack plug is at the side. There's active circuitry and redesigned pickups, too, which just about sums up the redeeming features. The Elite was only made in 1983 and 1984, then discontinued.

The Freeflyte tremolo system differed significantly from previous Stratocaster tremolo designs. Instead of the normal from-the-back routing to accommodate the spring mechanism, all routing was done from the front of the guitar. A cavity was created where the spring system would reside, and this connected to the bottom of the tremolo unit; the result was an unwieldy, unworkable piece of hardware. The company saved money this way by performing a single, front-sided rout on the guitar to accommodate the pickups, the tremolo, the preamp and the controls.

If you have a good tech in your area, they may have a few of these trem bars around for sale. If not, as Hop suggests, try All Parts, Acme Guitar Works and other online resources.

Good luck!

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For curisoties sake, what makes you think it's an Elite model? Just curious. It has Elite no where on the piece.

I have checked out a couple of the on line sources you guys mentioned, thanks.

Peace,

84

There are a lot of differences between an Elite and the Standard of this era.

The Elite has a neck plate that says "Elite."
The Elite has active electronics - TBX & MDX.
The Elite has 3 push buttons to select the pickups.
The Elite has a side mounted jack - Les Paul style.
Elite model Freeflyte trem - thicker at the rear with the Fender "F" stamped in.

The Standards for 83-84 had one volume & one tone with the middle tone control replaced with the input jack mounted on top - in the pickguard.
Standard Freeflyte trem.

I have an '83 Elite.

Well, it took a little while, but you can get them here :

http://www.fretsonthenet.com/Tremolobars.htm

_________________
Being able to play and enjoy music is a gift that's often taken for granted.

Don't leave home without it!

Mike that must of made hi feel great about his ax.lmfao

To be honest if I ran across one for the right price I would grab it just for histories sake.

This is not the case for the Japan-made 22-fret version of the guitar. Fender Japan made a 22-fret Elite Strat in in late 1983, lasting for about 3 years. The Elites were officially gone from the Fender catalogue in 1986.