Strat Question

[HIMYNAMEISARTHUR]

i have been using my beloved strat for quite a while now,i fitted 5 trem springs to it as i dislike the hassle of retuning over and over when changing strings...however,it cause the trem arm to be touching the area of the body below the bridge and causing an arch-shaped scatch on the finish as i allowed it to swing freely last time...since i realised the problem,i tighten the trem arm but im afraid that a accidental thug on the arm would break it..do you guys encounter this problem?and any remedies for this?

 

[wasabe19]

what gauge do you play? i find it a little too difficult to use the trem arm with 5 springs and i'm playing 10's. could you explain in greater depth how the arm could've scratched your finish?

 

[HIMYNAMEISARTHUR]

ok ill draw a diagram...anw im using .11s...i play lots of stevie ray vaughan and metal...cause personally i feel i get more beef with thicker strings...might upgrade to .12s too...

 

[HIMYNAMEISARTHUR]

ok don't laugh at my drawing...
the floating bridge causes tuning to be very annoying and the tuning run damn quickly... so i decided to put 2 more springs and then the problem came...

 

[lightice]

After seeing your drawing,

Why is the trem arm there even? You seem to have locked down the tremolo bridge plate onto the body.

 

[HIMYNAMEISARTHUR]

cause when u have 3 springs,the bridge floats..so when u tune. the string applies tension to the bridge pulling it up..and when u gt a string in tune and u tighten the other strings the tuning of the string u juz tuned runs,resulting in 5 to 10 mins juz to tune...i hope its clearer now

 

[a_poets_guitar]

i use 5 springs to flush my bridge against da body but dun find myself with dis problem. could it be ur trem arm?

 

[HIMYNAMEISARTHUR]

hmm..im not sure...i seen john mayer and srv's strats and they too dun have it...however this happens to my cousins and friends strats too...

 

[lightice]

Oh, that's what you meant.

After you lock down the bridge, like you have done, there is pretty much no use for the trem arm.

We are talking about a 2 pt strat trem or the 6 screw vintage type trem and not a floyd right?

I would just remove the arm completely and store it somewhere else.

The arm may break (especially at the treaded area) :- replace whole bridge block ($$$)

However, if you still want your trem arm there, you'd need to bend it so the angle of the arm is clear off the body.

John mayer and SRV's trems are set a little differently from yours, theirs are still functional and not flush on the body.

 

[HIMYNAMEISARTHUR]

erm...i still use it for dives....so i still leave it there....hmm...mayb if u search lenny on youtube,and see srv play den u will get a better idea...yup...haha thanks for the info btw..=)

 

[lightice]

Then you'd just need a trem arm with a larger angle where it exits the trem block.

That will get it off the body when swung freely.

 

[HIMYNAMEISARTHUR]

they sell that?

 

[lightice]

There are a few versions of the strat arm.

 

[KennethC]

they sell that?

If you can't find one, you could also bend it out to angle yourself with tools.

 

[HIMYNAMEISARTHUR]

O_O what if its breaks????!!!!

 

[lightice]

You can see the differences here:-

The angle there v difficult to break, they usually break @ the treads.

 

[HIMYNAMEISARTHUR]

icic....thanks alot...good info....

 

[wasabe19]

i also think your trem arm might be bent already. cos i dont see how there's anyway the stock trem arm can scratch the body whether attached on a flushed or floating trem unless it's bent backwards. hope this helps! so i think you should get a new arm. HAHA