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Thread: Low-Angle Vibrato Bar for a MIJ 62 RI?

  1. #1
    Forum Member lure555's Avatar
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    Low-Angle Vibrato Bar for a MIJ 62 RI?

    My Strat hasn't been my #1 for about 17 years, but I'm kinda falling in love with it again after doing some work on it. In the years since I've really gone for the feel on Bigsbys and Jazzmaster vibratos and want to get as close as possible with that Strat. I've always set it up floating (only using 2 outer mounting screws, raised an 1/8" in the back, Graphite nut) and going to using 2 springs (set: / \) really helps the sponginess with 9s. The problem is that the bar now feels super-awkward. Long ago I Swapped the stock bridge for a no-name one that doesn't have a full block, so I don't know what I have in there now. The bar is probably at around a 100 degree angle.
    Any suggestions on who makes a bar that's at about a 90 degree angle and feels more like a Jazzmaster version?

  2. #2
    Forum Member Don's Avatar
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    Re: Low-Angle Vibrato Bar for a MIJ 62 RI?

    Can you get the result that you want by bending the bar that you have? I've done that with mine in the past.

  3. #3
    Forum Member lure555's Avatar
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    Re: Low-Angle Vibrato Bar for a MIJ 62 RI?

    Quote Originally Posted by Don View Post
    Can you get the result that you want by bending the bar that you have? I've done that with mine in the past.
    I was worried about compromising the strength of the bar after bending it. I don't get all Steve Vai with it, but it was something I thought about.

  4. #4
    Formerly Tele-Tubby TT100's Avatar
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    Re: Low-Angle Vibrato Bar for a MIJ 62 RI?

    Quote Originally Posted by lure555 View Post
    I was worried about compromising the strength of the bar after bending it. I don't get all Steve Vai with it, but it was something I thought about.
    I'm thinking you're fine with bending it, unless it has some OEM value.. Remove it, find a few nuts to thread down onto it to protect the threads, clamp it in a vise and slowly bend it. Below is what mine looked like when I bought this guitar. The PO preferred the bar curved, it like it stock. Not an angle adjustment at the bend like you're asking about, but I've leaned on this one pretty hard just to see what would happen, and it's fine. I only use the trem for a little flutter effect anyway.

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    TT
    Last edited by TT100; 01-29-2016 at 07:17 AM.
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  5. #5
    Forum Member Don's Avatar
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    Re: Low-Angle Vibrato Bar for a MIJ 62 RI?

    Or you could do what I've done- drill a suitable hole in a block of wood, put it in a vise, slip the end of the bar in the hole and bend it.

  6. #6
    Formerly Tele-Tubby TT100's Avatar
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    Re: Low-Angle Vibrato Bar for a MIJ 62 RI?

    Quote Originally Posted by Don View Post
    Or you could do what I've done- drill a suitable hole in a block of wood, put it in a vise, slip the end of the bar in the hole and bend it.
    +1 A better idea.

    I just have more loose nuts and bolts around than scrap wood.

    TT
    On SmartPhones:

    "Once men turned their thinking over to machines in the hope that this would set them free. But That only permitted other men with machines to enslave them." Frank Herbert.

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