Trem Arm Slop

[Strat Cat]

I've noticed a lot of slop in my trem arm's movement. You can move it up and down a bit without it actually moving the bridge plate. The threaded part of the arm has a lot of slop inside the threaded hole. What can be done to tighten up the fit a bit? I was thinking maybe wrapping the threaded part of the arm with Teflon tape. I'm thinking this would only be a temporary fix though since the tape would probably begin to fray after a while and allow the arm to become loose again. Anyone have any suggestions as to what to do for this problem?

[Johnny64]

Try these...



Screw the arm down onto these to stiffen it up,while still remaining moveable.

Available here

[JAM]

Strat cat,

I've got the same problem with my Strat Plus. The tremolo arm is the one that came with the first Strat plus I had that was stolen. The threads fit looser than I seem to recall compared to the first Strat. I wonder if there's some very slight varaition in the way the threads are cut? Even with the little springs like Johnny64 posted there's some play side-to-side. I rarely use the bar, but it would be nice to have it fit without play.

[Strat Cat]

Will these springs stay in the hole? I've discussed this problem with others and several people have said that the screws fall thru the hole in the bridge plate. The hole in my MIM Strat is a thru hole and it looks like those springs would fall right thru.

[music-n-motorcycle]

I keep turning my arm til it is tight in the hole. then just back off enough so it is in the playing position. that is how I thought it was suppose to work, and so far it has worked good for me.

[JAM]

I keep turning my arm til it is tight in the hole. then just back off enough so it is in the playing position. that is how I thought it was suppose to work, and so far it has worked good for me.

Yours must fit OK to be able to do this. Even all the way down my Strat arm has some play. My Ultra is different, it's a 'snap in' type and the block has adjustments for how tight the arm fits. (Not a vintage looking arm - no knob on the arm end)

[Strat Cat]

I keep turning my arm til it is tight in the hole. then just back off enough so it is in the playing position. that is how I thought it was suppose to work, and so far it has worked good for me.

If I do this with my guitar the arm hits the volume knob. When I back it off enough to clear the knob I get the slop back.

[photoweborama]

Mexican standards won't take a spring. The hole goes all the way through.
On some MiM's you can tighten them, but eventually they thread themselves all the way through the back. Believe me. I know....

The only thing I know of that works, though no solution is permanent, except the spring, is to go to your local coffee house and ask for a cold drink. We have Java City here. The plastic is just right on those cups.

Cut a strip about 3/4" by 1/4". bend it down the middle and then stick it in the hole just so the plastic goes a tiny bit into the threads. The thread the arm in.

It will thread the plastic in with the arm. Works better then any tape, or etc..

Well, it works for me. I've been doing it for years. I just keep a bunch of strips in the gig bag and thread a new one in each time I have to take the arm off.

If you never play out, like me, you only have to do it once.

[Strat Cat]

The Teflon tape seems to be working pretty good for now. Since I only play here at home it should be good enough. Thanks for the input everyone!

[hawkeye2u]

Will those springs fit in a 62RI MIJ Strat??
I have the same probl, sloppy sloppy sloppy

[photoweborama]

I think it will work on MiJ.. The ones I've worked on has a decent blocks.

[music-n-motorcycle]

Yeah it has been a while for me to remember, I have been playing with floyd rose trems lately. I don't know what they were thinking when they made my fat strat deluxe in 98, the body was not routed for the floyd rose, except the forward part of the bridge was routed a little wider to accomodate the posts. other than that, there was no real routing to fit the floyd. I did discover that the body was routed to accomodate a humbucker in the neck position and a switch cavity was routed too. I may be modding as soon as a can find an appropriate pick guard.

[jim in texas]

I've got an open pack of springs.

Ya'll send me your address's and I'll mail you one and you can try it.

[NeoFauve]

I'm using the Teflon tape now.:yay

I've also used a strip of a white pencil eraser with the arm screwed down until squishes against it.
This and the spring seem to work best if you leave the arm in, so they don't fall out.
That's why you see the round sticker over the hole in all the shops.

[JAM]

Hmmm I've got some of that teflon tape around here somewhere, gonna give it a try.

[music-n-motorcycle]

When all else fails, DUCT TAPE.

[hawkeye2u]

I jst got a spring and some picks of
JIM IN TEXAS
Thank You very much!
Spring fitted perfectly in my MIJ 62RI, problem solved!!
Thanks again

[JAM]

I found the teflon tape and forgot what I was going to do with it!

DOH!!

[Strat Cat]

This is just a little FYI for those of you that may have the same problem.

I just installed a Callahan trem block and my trem arm slop problems are gone. Why Fender doesn't do something about this is a mystery. Seems like a no brainer to me.

http://www.callahamguitars.com/blocks.htm