Hello All!

I just installed a new Fender Vintage American trem on one of my strats and I'm having some issues with the trem arm. First, the trem arm seems awfully wobbly when screwed into position -- lot of play in the hole. Second, when the bar is being screwed in it constantly hits by bottom tone knob everytime around -- when in use it also gets hung up on the same tone knob. I have to lift it up and over every time I want to use the arm. I've got vintage trems on my other strats and I've never had this issue. Any suggestions? Thanks!

Bud

Keep on pickin' -- what else is there?

increase the angle in the right angle bend until it clears the tone knob. make sure the spring is installed with the trem arm.

But don't try bending the arm in to shape while its still on the guitar, could end up doing some damage to something, grip the arm in a vice an give it a tug to put more of an angle on it so it is clearing the pots.
As far as the play in goes try some PTFE tape (white plumbers tape) couple of wraps around the thread should sort it out nicely !
Good luck .

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Dan...

Fender 1987 MIJ Stratocaster, Texas Special Loaded.
Fender 2007 MIA Jazz Deluxe.

When you say "increase the angle" are you suggesting that I place the arm in a vice and bend it? I was thinking of doing this but I didn't want to snap the arm. And as for the spring-- I've had questions with this spring before, such as "where exactly does it go?" My new trem came with what I thought was an extra saddle spring. I placed it into the hole where the trem arm screws in, screwed in the arm, and it didn't have any effect. It just kept falling out when the guitar was flipped onto the front!

Bud

Keep on pickin' -- what else is there?

You answered my question as I was posting it -- thanks! I figured on the vice but wanted to make sure it wouldn't snap my bar. Plumber's tape is a good idea -- I'll try that as well. Still, I'd like to know where that damn spring goes!!

Bud

Keep on pickin' -- what else is there?

It sounds like you got the wrong trem arm for your bridge.

The vintage style trem arm for vintage style bridges WILL NOT work with modern style bridges (American Standard or Mexican Standard for example).

Believe me, I tried it. The angle is different so that is why the arm hits your knob. The threads are different too so that is why it is extra wobbly. Putting the tiny little trem arm screw in the hole won't help unless you use the correct trem arm. Don't continue to use that vintage style arm because you might ruin the threads in your trem block.

My advice is to let us know what Strat bridge you have and we can suggest what trem arm will be best suited for it. Don't bend the trem arm if you want to take it back and exchange it for the correct one.

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Obligatory gear list: Fender, Rickenbacker, Gibson, Gretsch, Vox, Martin, and more Fender.

I bought the whole trem assembly brand new in the box straight from Fender -- the arm came with it, along with the trem springs, claws, all screws, and the string tree.

Oh that makes things simpler than. Sorry for the previous long post. I thought you got the trem only, not the whole BRIDGE assembly.

I've had great success with using the little spring dropped in the trem arm hole to both:

a) keep the trem arm from wobbling
b) clearing the tone knob, since the spring makes the trem arm sit slightly higher than screwing it in all the way.

Just drop the little spring in the hole and screw in the trem arm until it is snug against the spring. Don't over due it!

Rock on!!!!

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Obligatory gear list: Fender, Rickenbacker, Gibson, Gretsch, Vox, Martin, and more Fender.

Probably should've wrote that i bought the whole assembly! Sorry for any confusion! Anyway--
I've tried that before and it didn't seem to make a difference -- so maybe I put the spring in wrong? I do notice that the play goes away when I tighten the arm to the max(without over tightening) -- but then it doesn't swing freely. Also, should the spring fall out without the arm in?

Bud

No you didn't put the spring in wrong. There is only one way for it to go down the hole for the trem arm.

Is your bridge floating quite a lot beyond Fender's suggested spec? An abnormally high floating bridge will change the angle of the trem arm.

Yes the little spring will fall out without the arm in place. That's why you see a silver sticker over the trem arm hole on new Fenders that come stock with the spring in the hole. To prevent the spring from falling out when the arm is out and the guitar is in its case, some people out a dab of vaseline on the bottom end of the spring before dropping it in the hole and it will stick in there. Some people reuse the silver sticker or use tape to cover the hole and keep the spring in.

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Obligatory gear list: Fender, Rickenbacker, Gibson, Gretsch, Vox, Martin, and more Fender.

The bridge has about 1/8 inch or less of float, so I don't believe that's an issue. Thanks for the tips about the spring (tape -- duh?!!). I'm going to try the spring thing when I get home -- I'm also going to bend the arm slightly to see if that helps as well! I'll post my results -- hopefully not a pic of a broken trem arm!

Bud

Keep on pickin' -- what else is there?

Sounds like you covered all the bases then. Worst case scenario is that Fender drilled the hole for the trem arm at the wrong angle. Does Fender cover replacement bridges under warranty? Probably not, so it sounds like it's time to bend the arm. Too bad you have to do that on a new bridge, but I hope it's an easy fix. Do you have a guitar tech in your city? Good luck to ya!

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Obligatory gear list: Fender, Rickenbacker, Gibson, Gretsch, Vox, Martin, and more Fender.

Before you bend the trem arm make sure that the tremolo block and bridge are at the right angle. In other words the the top plate should NOT sit flat on the guitar body. You should be able to bend up and down. To adjust this you would unscrew the two screws that hold the tremolo claw until top plate is at the proper height. Remember string tension comes into play as well. Just play around with it until you get it right.

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98 MIA Strat, 07 MIM 60's Reissue Strat, Mustang l, Mustang lll