When I use the tremolo arm on my strat it does a lot of noise when moving the bar, and also it cuts the note's sustain a bit. Also, when I drop it, it makes a loud clang when it hits the input jack.

Could someone give me some advice on how to remedy this annoying issue please?

Please be more specific:

Exactly what kind of noise does it make when (and how) you move the bar and where exactly does the noise originate from?

Exactly how are you moving the bar so that it cuts down on sustain?

Do you mean when you let go of the arm, it swings back and hits your input jack?

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It seems to be two issues, when I drop the arm, it swings the input jack, as you mentioned. And when I'm moving it downwards it seems to wobble in the hole causing some noises that get amplified, this also makes notes lose sustain and die quickly.

Martian, could you be so kind to help me out in other issue I'm having? I would really appreciate it, as your advice has been always very helpful and informative in the past.

There are a couple of things you can do to fix this. You could visit a guitar store and buy the little spring that drops into the hole where the trem arm goes. Then, when you screw in the arm, it compresses the little spring and does a nice job of getting rid of the wobble. It's real easy to lose the spring when you remove the arm, though. The spring happens to be the stock, Fender setup.

Or, you could wrap a little bit of plumber's teflon tape around the threads of your trem arm. When you thread the arm into the hole, the tape takes up the slack. You'll need to replace the tape now and then (just keep the roll in your case), but this will be very effective in fixing your problem. Also, you're not going to run into the problem of losing the spring.

Also, don't hesitate to clamp the short section of your trem arm (the threaded end) into a vise padded with a couple wood scraps, and bend it to suit your preference. Trial and error...you're not likely to break it. Bend it so it's easy to grab when you're playing. Those who like to adjust their trem springs so their trem unit rests on the top of the guitar (for down bends only, but more tuning stability and sustain), will have to bend their trem arms a little so they're not too high at the playing position. Those who like to "float" their trems will bend their trem arms differently.

If you don't have a vise, channel lock pliers or vise grips will work too...just be sure to pad the jaws or you mess up the threads on the trem arm.

Oh...one more thought on fixing the trem arm wobble. Bear in mind, this is just my opinion. The Fender tremelo arm attachment is simply a bad design. Bear in mind that Leo Fender had one hell of an idea when he designed the original, but the arm attachment needs some attention from Fender.

The Calaham bridges have fixed the problem very nicely. Ditto for the Wilkinson Gotoh bridges. I can appreciate Fender's desire to limit the amount of changes they make, as there are so many players who resist change and prefer "vintage". Me, I just want the dumb thing to work right.

This one's easy: Your arm is too loose in, and/or for, the block's threading. I see brother, "siamese" has already got you covered quite thoroughly on this issue though. My only addendum is that you might want to consider a helicoil if his remedies for your existing system cannot be achieved. Worst case scenario, you'll need a new block.

I do have on point of disagreement with his assessment though: The original Leo designed system is not defective, per se. Rather, it was designed for a specific, albeit, casual purpose. Hence, in today's stylings, a better choice of words would be that it is somewhat 'restrictive'. It has to be set up just so and once that's done, it will work like a champ, again for only its intended purpose.

As, "siamese" has noted too, there are multiple quality systems out there, more accommodating to present day stylings. That is, if you want to spend the money and only you could answer this question.



Certainly. Point me to it and I'll try to be of assistance.

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First of all, thank you very much, siamese, for your suggestions regarding my tremolo arm issue. I will get some teflon tape soon and report what happened.

Martian, thanks again for wanting to help me, it's great having someone as knowledgable (is that a word?, srry my english isn't very good) as you around these forums.

1.- I'm having some trouble when bending strings, it's pretty annoying. When I bend any of the first three strings, the string that is up the one I'm bending sometimes gets caught in my finger, and sometimes it slips. Is there anything I can do to remedy this string slipping? I know it has to do with the guitar's action.

2.- I need to press down harder than normal on behind the first fret, closest to the nut. Is this a problem with the nut?

3.- Not an issue, but I was wondering about frets. I was thinking about changing to jumbo frets, because I tried a friend's guitar with those, and really liked them, but it wasn't a strat. Do you recommend them on a strat? What are your opnions on these? Does having bigger frets impact tone in someway? Do jumbo frets help with fret buzz or not?

I hope so many questions aren't overwhelming

There are a lot of reasons why strings may buzz against the frets where the frets are NOT the culprit at all. So, regardless of size, premising that the frets are properly installed, crowned, etc. and that all the prerequisite work to the fingerboard is done along with the post requisite work such as the nut, etc, they will be virtually buzz free.

And no, all these questions don't bother me in the least.

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Hey martian, it seems that your response didn't get posted completely or am I missing something?

Yea, I got choked off on this one somehow. Well, let's try again:

1. This is directly related to your guitar's action. If your finger is slipping off the bent string, apparently your action is too low as you can't get a good grip on them as you bend.

2. If you have to exert excessive pressure to finger the first fret, yes, your nut is most likely improperly cut.

3. There are a lot of reasons why strings may buzz against the frets where the frets are NOT the culprit at all. So, regardless of size, premising that the frets are properly installed, crowned, etc. and that all the prerequisite work to the fingerboard is done along with the post requisite work such as the nut, etc, they will be virtually buzz free.

Sight unseen, I perceive your guitar really needs a thorough setup. The reason I say this is because apparently, your strings are too low on the upper frets, too high on the lowest frets and you have fret buzz.

And no, all these questions don't bother me in the least.

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About the strings slipping; the action isn't too low, it's probably medium, some people used to low action ibanez guitars have told me they don't feel 100% comfortable with my strat's action.

As you said, the strings feel low on the upper frets and a bit high on the lowest, I thought this was normal. The problem is in the nut?

Again, based on your complaint, I stand by what I've said: For YOU, NOT the general populace of Ibanez players, the action on those high strings/frets is too low. It is irrelevant what they perceive your action to be.



Here too, I stand by what I've said: Sight unseen, I perceive your guitar really needs a thorough setup. Yes, PART of the problem is the nut; PART of the problem is also your action, a warped neck and your intonation.

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This is bad news for me, there's only one luthier near the area I live, and I he knows how to fix all these issues . I can understand how a bad cut nut give me problems, but what's a warped neck?

If that person near you is a luthier, he should know how to fix all these issues as they are rather routine to any competent one.

A warped neck is a neck which has too much of a dip or an arch in it from the first fret to the last fret. Sometimes, a warped neck can be a bit twisted too.

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Is it important for the strings to be at the same height? or can I put the first three strings one higher than the last one for better grip?