Hi there.

I have to remove the back plate of My Hot Rod Vintage Strat (V194908) to change my strings as the holes in the back plate don't line up with the ones on the tremolo block...The holes are offset by a quarter of an inch.

Is this normal? Does not seem right to me.

I never had to remove any back plates of any of my Fender guitars to change strings.

Otherwise, the guitar is tip-top, amazing, super reliable.

Thank you for your attention

Simon Bélair

Lounge Guitarist, Azamara Cruises.

Yes, I think it's normal, it's like that on mine. It depends on the angle of the bridge.

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Tune Low, Play Hard & Floor it!

I have the same thing with my AVHR 57, i've gotten to th point where I can squirel the string around just enough to change them with out any trouble.

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I remove all my back plates and never use them, this way they never gets all scratched up.
saves time restringing your guitar, and making spring adjustments if needed.

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1986 Kramer Baretta
1989 Samick "The Samick" Les Paul
2007 Fender Strat MIM Deluxe / 1985 MIJ neck
1990 Epiphone Strat
Marshall JCM 2000 DLS 50 watt / Marshall 1960a 4x12

https://soundcloud.com/jim-slimjim-cassi

Same with mine!
Presently I have ALL trems adjusted to sit on the body, non-floating. This angles the trem slightly backwards, hence the trem block comes a little forward in the back of the guitar, which leads to non-alignment with the holes in the back plate.

You might wanna adjust the setting of your trem OR remove the backplate every time when changing strings (I did that for years!) OR simply remove the backplate and don't use it at all (I do that now!)

I never understood, why Fender wouldn't make the slots wider to cover the whole way of adjusting possibilities, including 2 additional slots to reach the screws of the spring claw.

Ibanez does that!!!!

Since Fender doesn't, it makes most players simply have their guitars WITHOUT any backplate. It's more convenient, faster, less nerving......

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Kindest regards from Germany, Dee
My recordings --> http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_mu ... dID=564337
STRATS ROCK!!! but Teles and Firebirds, too!