Greetings folks,

I recently got me a lovely EJ strat, got a question about the trem arm. I set the trem flat against flush against the body and when I screw the arm in it doesn't seem to go in at a straight angle?
I just wanna check whether this is normal? It screws into the trem block at an angle rather than straight down - I thought this might be to compensate for users who use a floating setup?

Cheers,
Evren

It is and it's the correct way for it to be.

You can bend the arm to shape if you prefer having less clearance. Just put one end in a vice and apply some pressure on the other end. Lots of people do that.

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No no and no

Unless youre going to set the bridge up as a floater, you probably wont need that trem arm. EJ's come with all five springs on the block and it's a b**ch to use the trem like that.

Either do a search on the web for instructions for setting the trem up correctly, buy Dan Erlewine's book and follow his instructions or pay someone to set the guitar up for you.

I've had my EJ for a few years now and it's my favorite. Killer pickups, a nice neck and if you picked a good one, they sound great!

Thanks for confirming guys...
I don't actually use the trem so I put 4 springs and tightened them a fair bit so it's essentially a fixed bridge.

Tho I've been playing a while, this is the first Fender I've owned. Been playing a PRS for the past 16 years and the trem arm in that goes straight in, so I didn't know whether the angle was normal on the Fender vintage trems, which I now know is..

The EJ is awesome for sure! It's a bit more broken now in after 2 weeks of use but i'm defo more intimate with it now. You read the reviews and don't know what to think, but it seems they all nailed it. It really is the most resonant piece of plank I own, the pickups are full of character, and that neck is just orgasmic.. It's pretty lightish (7lbs 4oz) tho you could get lighter ones... mind you I did have a chance to play for about an hour or so on an original '57 a short while back which was 8lbs and that sounded biblical as well. I got mine second hand and saved a few hundred £££ but shoping aroudn and waiting paid off. It literally had no fretwear, or any dings etc. Lived in a case by the looks of it...

Hi Ev!

Yeah, I've always thought that the EJs were kinda special and mine certainly is to me.

Both of mine (Both the first and second one.) Weighed just shy of 8lbs, so you're lucky, the one you have is fairly light. I've heard of them as light as around 6lbs but I've never actually seen one. No matter though, Almost everyone I know who owns one loves it.

One interesting thing is that while Fender says that the neck profile is a "soft V" progressing to a "C", my measuring tool says that it's actually closer to a "C" from end to end. Whatever... It's a nice neck! Loll!!

I recently received a set of "Raw Vintage" trem springs. They're slightly fatter and significantly lower in tension than Fenders current springs and are said to give better tone. We'll see.

Enjoy your new guitar. Its nice starting off at the top, isn't it?

Definitely - I always kinda felt I was missing something...I'm a big Tommy Bolin fan, and everytime I listened to him i felt i was missing something lol. Same thing eveytime I put on Derek & The Dominos, and also good ole' EJ himself. This plank kinda married all of that together for me with spot on playability & tone...

I guess regardless of the weight, the subtleties definitely lie more in the fingers at this stage than anything else, its such a refined instrument...

I can see the C to V transition - it seems very smooth & gradual on mine. But I had one before that I sent back which was the same, as well as a couple I tried in stores...

I've messed about with 3 and 4 springs, and changed the tension a couple of times, and I think I've found a sweet spot I'm happy with, which is 3 springs. They aren't too tight but enough to keep that bridge firmly planted & xfer that extra bit of string vibration to the body.