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SurfGuitar101 Forums » Gear »

Permalink Jaguar Tremolo Arm Mod

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So my new Jaguar came in on Friday and now I get to have fun with the various mods to overcome some of its inherent quirks.

I played it for one set at a gig Friday night and the loose tremolo arm really bugged me. SO I did the 3/8" beveled plumbing washer mod as indicated here http://home.comcast.net/~rmessick2/Home.htm but took it one step further.

After reaming the washer with a 7/32" drill bit, I placed it over the collet and used a small hose clamp to tighted the collet teeth further, without the trem arm in place. Then I removed and discarded that washer and reamed a new one with a 13/64" drill bit and repeated the step with the hose clamp. Then I discarded that washer. By this time, the teeth were nearly touching with minimum gap between them.

I then reamed a new washer with the 13/64" bit but only a couple millimeters into the washer. This provided enough of an opening to grab the top of the collet but still leave the original 3/8" hole to tightly hold the collet end.

We'll after a couple hours and some sore fingers, my tremolo arm now stays in place. However, I may take this one step further in the future - should the arm start loosening up. I may put a small 5/8" stainless hose clamp around the beveled washer to tighten the collet even further. This could even possibly be a fix for those who have broken collet teeth.

CUTBACK

Last edited: Nov 10, 2008 15:29:43

Congrats, It's always neat to check out everyone's different approaches to this annoying problem that Fender should have never let happen............ed

Traditional........speak softly and play through a big blonde amp. Did I mention that I still like big blonde amps?

in my MIJ Jazzmaster reissue I tryed lots of things but the last one I did I think did the trick, I was changing strings and was pissed off about the arm (as allways) when I thought to put the unwound part of the low e or a string in and drop the arm in, still working months later!
Give it a try!

Give me reverb or give me death!
facebook.com/onenightstandards
https://www.youtube.com/scotstandard
scotstandard@yahoo.com

A trick I learned from Paul our other guitar player (also a Rickenbacker luthier) is to take the arm and put the short end in a bench vise..give it just a very slight bend and perfecto...stays right in place when installed.

www.northofmalibu.com

I bent the end of the arm as Kenposurf suggested and it has worked perfectly for me. I was having trouble with the arm swinging free on my JM and someone here at SG101 had the solution. Thank you again!

Ditto, just bend the arm a little bit.

www.cutbacksurfband.com

If you don't have a vise, drill a hole the same size or slightly bigger into a block of wood. Stick the arm into it and bend it a little.

Danny Snyder

Latest project - Now That's What I Call SURF
_
"With great reverb comes great responsibility" - Uncle Leo

I'm back playing keys and guitar with Combo Tezeta

DannySnyder
If you don't have a vise, drill a hole the same size or slightly bigger into a block of wood. Stick the arm into it and bend it a little.

What if you don't have a drill? Laughing

Why do Jaguars have really long trems?

Sonichris
I also like to think that all early 60's fender equipment is happy to be playing surf music again. After all, its the music it was meant to play.

So I put the slight bend in the arm and it held in place perfectly.
Then I just played a gig Saturday night, doing trem-dips to my heart's content, until the LAST song, when I reached for the trem and -YIKES- the arm was suddenly dangling loosely and the trem barely would work at all. It seems that the tube where you insert the arm has come unattached from whatever it attaches to. I haven't taken the unit apart yet, but I'm hoping it simply came unscrewed and isn't actually broken Sad
Oddly enough, the guitar is still in tune.
Anyone else ever have this happen?

http://www.aquatudes.com
http://www.facebook.com/theaquatudes

Kman1
Why do Jaguars have really long trems?

The trem unit is farther from the bridge than many tremolos so a longer arm makes sense.

People like to hold the arm when they play, which is very possible on the Jag/Jazz.

Kman1
Why do Jaguars have really long trems?

I realized some time ago that there must be at least two lengths of arms for this kind of tremolo. Maybe three (Bass VI?).

The Exotic Guitar of Kahuna Kawentzmann

You can get the boy out of the Keynes era, but you can’t get the Keynes era out of the boy.

Nice job, Surfgitar! I have played around with vinyl tubing and hose clamps, too (which works well), but haven't documented that on my website - guess I should do that someday. Sounds like your fix should work just fine!

NoisyDad
I'm hoping it simply came unscrewed and isn't actually broken

Hopefully, that's all that happened - if you check out the pix on my site here you can see the hex nut that holds the sleeve in place - just tighten that a bit. Good luck!

-Dick

Fender Reissue Cap Mod Site
http://home.comcast.net/~rmessick2/

NoisyDad
the arm was suddenly dangling loosely and the trem barely would work at all. It seems that the tube where you insert the arm has come unattached from whatever it attaches to. I haven't taken the unit apart yet, but I'm hoping it simply came unscrewed and isn't actually broken Sad
Oddly enough, the guitar is still in tune.
Anyone else ever have this happen?

If you put too much of a bend in the arm, it will grip the collet assembly which then unscrews itself from the trem plate as you swing it out of the way throughout the evening. Twisted Evil Sounds like what happened to your guitar.
I have found that if you bend the arm so it's tight, yet will still move inside the collet with a gentle push so you can swing the arm out of the way under regular playing conditions, it will be fine.
You can tell if you have it right if the arm itself moves, but the collet tube stays in place. It's trial and error and a pain in the ass, but once dialed in it's a great solution...

lonecat

NoisyDad
the arm was suddenly dangling loosely and the trem barely would work at all. It seems that the tube where you insert the arm has come unattached from whatever it attaches to. I haven't taken the unit apart yet, but I'm hoping it simply came unscrewed and isn't actually broken Sad
Oddly enough, the guitar is still in tune.
Anyone else ever have this happen?

If you put too much of a bend in the arm, it will grip the collet assembly which then unscrews itself from the trem plate as you swing it out of the way throughout the evening. Twisted Evil Sounds like what happened to your guitar.
I have found that if you bend the arm so it's tight, yet will still move inside the collet with a gentle push so you can swing the arm out of the way under regular playing conditions, it will be fine.
You can tell if you have it right if the arm itself moves, but the collet tube stays in place. It's trial and error and a pain in the ass, but once dialed in it's a great solution...

Yup, that's what happened.
I took it apart last night and used some threadlocker when I screwed it back together. Hopefully that'll hold.
Thanks for the info, guys!

http://www.aquatudes.com
http://www.facebook.com/theaquatudes

One easy way to grip the tremolo arm for putting a slight bend (arch) in it is to hold it in the the chuck of an electric drill. Then slightly tap it with a hammer and wood block right where it makes it's 90 degree bend. Bingo!

Use the wood block to cushion the blow so that the hammer doesn't beat up the finish on the trem arm. Ham fisted Katcher uses a brass mallet that he normally uses for straightening pressed together crankshafts. It doesn't take much impact energy to give the trem arm a slight bow where it drops into the ferrule/colett assembly.

Ed

Traditional........speak softly and play through a big blonde amp. Did I mention that I still like big blonde amps?

A little dab of Loktite has been a faithful "fix" for me(Jag & Strats)...it just snugs it up enough....lasts a few months or more.
DK

...are we talking about just keeping the arm from swinging? Before you bend try teflon thread tape....works great and lasts a long time. Bending...ouch!

Eddie's right on this..a slight bend to the bar is the best way to go...use tape and you have to keep replacing..bend the bar once and it's good forever...

www.myspace.com/northofmalibu

www.northofmalibu.com

NoisyDad
So I put the slight bend in the arm and it held in place perfectly.
Then I just played a gig Saturday night, doing trem-dips to my heart's content, until the LAST song, when I reached for the trem and -YIKES- the arm was suddenly dangling loosely and the trem barely would work at all. It seems that the tube where you insert the arm has come unattached from whatever it attaches to. I haven't taken the unit apart yet, but I'm hoping it simply came unscrewed and isn't actually broken Sad
Oddly enough, the guitar is still in tune.
Anyone else ever have this happen?

yes exactly same thing happened to me and i havent gotten around yet to do something about it. hope it can be fixed easily

The reality is that we do not wash our own laundry - it just gets dirtier.

www.myspace.com/tumbleweedofsurf

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