Strat Elite - Jammed Tremolo Arm
A while back, I had a customer contact me saying that his whammy bar was stuck in his Strat bridge. Some modern Strats (this one’s an Elite) have a press-in tremolo bar that just notches into place. This one had notched in and wouldn’t come back out.
In a slightly weird development, this customer had actually investigated himself and found a YouTube video where Dave’s World of Fun Stuff solves a problem that seemed similar. It’s pretty unusual I get someone that actually provides me with a solution to their problem so all credit to this customer and to Dave’s World.
The guitar owner told me he wasn't sure this was the same issue (neither was I at this point) and that he’d feel better having me disassemble his guitar to poke at things.
Fair enough.
I took a look at the video and took a look at the trem. Yep. Pretty much the same problem.
And as it turned out, in this case, pretty much the same solution.
I don’t want to double up on information that’s already on YouTube but but I think I can provide a slightly closer look at how this all worked. Also, since I dealt with this, an additional ‘wrinkle’ presented itself that will form a useful addendum.
How the tremolo arm is secured
The whammy bar has a bullet point, and a notch close to the end. The tremolo block has a hole to accept the bar and, near the bottom of that hole, is a thin, bent piece of steel acting as a retainer.
This retainer is installed so it protrudes into the hole (see the diagram). As the whammy bar is inserted, the bullet point deflects the retainer and pushes it out of the way. The bar continues its journey until the retainer springs into the notch. This is what keeps the bar in place.
The whole thing is a little like the way a jack plug notches into a socket.
All good.
As you pull the bar out, the retainer should deflect out again to allow the bar pass. This one wasn’t letting go. So, the first job is to get the bar out.
Getting the whammy bar out
With the bridge removed, the solution is pretty obvious. The end of the retainer is accessible and it’s relatively straightforward to depress it with a small screwdriver or similar (I found the edge of a steel rule to be perfect). Manually forcing it out of the way makes it possible to pull out the whammy bar.
If you don't have a vice to hold the bridge, enlist the help of a friend. It’s possible to do alone but it’s mostly a three-handed job.
Prevent it happening again
Now the bar is out, I can see that the Dave’s World video was correct. The machining of the bullet end, and the notch in particular, is very rough. All those grooves and furrows could definitely catch or jam the retainer as someone attempted to pull out the bar.
I used a needle file to clean up all the burrs and scratches left by the machining. I also decided to ‘round-over’ the notch so there’s an easier transition.
This done, I switched to sandpapers and abrasive cord to clean things up. The cord nicely polished out the notch and I went up in grits from 220 to 800 in sandpaper. To be even more sure, I switched to high grit micro mesh papers to really polish things up.
Test fitting and removing of the tremolo arm showed that both operations were much easier now. As icing on the cake, I put a little white grease in the notch and inserted it. After it clipped into place, I rotated the arm a few times before removing and cleaning it. It won’t be a major factor, but this will leave a little grease on the retainer for a while and can only help.
So, that’s that. This Strat tremolo bridge and arm now behave as they should and, hopefully I’ve been able to expand a little on the Dave’s World video.
Hurrah. All is well with the world.
But what if this doesn’t work?
Ah. That wrinkle I mentioned. As is sometimes the way of things, since this job, I’ve had two other Elite Strats through with similar issues. Coincidences are weird.
And while dealing with the rough machining on their trem-arms improved things slightly, it didn’t completely solve the problem. The whammy bars still didn’t want to behave — similar issues with removal and even issues inserting the bar in the first place.
So let’s consider that retainer spring. Maybe it’s too unforgiving.
Using a small bladed screwdriver it’s possible to prise the retainer out of the tremolo block.
Once it’s out it’s an easy job to clean and polish it a little to make sure it’s not too ‘grippy’ and, if you’re careful, the retainer can be bent back a little so it’s not pressing against the whammy bar with so much tension.
Once it’s reinstalled things should be improved.
One or both of these tricks might prove useful if you’ve got a Strat with a jammed-in whammy bar or a bar that won’t insert easily.
This article written by Gerry Hayes and first published at hazeguitars.com
