Is this normal?

[dbishopbliss]

I just got my my Mustang VM. My stop bar seems to be very angled. Is this how it should be?

[Danley]

If you like it there keep it there, but you probably don’t have much up-bend using the bar (and your strings are possibly dragging on the back of the bridge which isn’t ideal. Maybe not though, can’t tell from the pic.)

Honestly if it’s not broke and works fine for you don’t mess with it, but...

If you use the trem and more want up-bend, I would raise the bar higher. The best way to do that is to raise the posts going into the tailpiece (I recommend not doing that while the strings are tuned up on the guitar, to save wear on the pivot points from grinding against the posts.)

I also find Mustang trems keep time a lot better if you keep the springs in the ‘high tension’ notches, so if you ever take the trem off that’s the first thing I’d make sure of. Good luck.

[Embenny]

^good advice there. I, too, like the cigar raised higher, but I've had Mustangs come to me with various heights and they all worked ok. When the cigar is "floating" (to make a Strat vibrato comparison), I *love* that I can give the vibrato some movement with the side of my right hand, with no bar installed. That's one of the neatest things about the Dynamic Vibrato, for me personally.

[dbishopbliss]

Sorry to be a little dull here but I'm not sure my questions was explicitly answered (or I didn't ask it clearly). I'm not so much concerned with the height of the cigar, but rather the angle of the screws as they enter the body. I was expecting that the screws would more or less be a right angle with the top of the body. When I look at pictures on the fender site the holes for the height adjustment and the bar seem to be directly on top. Mine is angled back so much that I can see the ball ends of the strings.

If it is not supposed to be angled like this, then how do I adjust? When I used an allen wrench to adjust the height the cigar got lower/higher but the screes were still angled.

[MechaBulletBill]

the angle is fine, it's how the mustang vibrato was designed. you can adjust the angle by changing the height of the cigar through the small holes on top of the cigar (they are hex/allen heads).

[Danley]

The height is related to the angle. You need to increase the height to make it perpendicular.

Or use larger gauge strings. Or decrease the spring tension by moving them to the lower tension slot, but as I mentioned I don’t recommend that.

[Steadyriot.]

To condense what is said in the thread:

The Mustang trem is a fickle beast. You can change the height to change the tension thus changing the angle of the cigar. Your string gauge also influences the tension and the angle.



On the bottom of your trem there are three notches in the trem posts. Changing where your springs sit in these notches also changes the tension on the trem. This does require removing the trem from the body but experimenting with this will help you get the cigar sit where you want it.

Have fun on your journey!