Filed Pivot = Trem Ruined (No Longer... )

[novamax]

This makes sense. So, dies anyone know if this is why US trems also work better?

[jorri]

makes sense. You only need one pivot point. Some roll that off completely, in this case instead making it sharp which is closer to the original intention. But it its square maybe its using the other corner that get's in the way. Its hard to know which edge actually contacts as the tension is so different with strings on. Surprised not much was done to the plate this rests on though, you'd think it needs to be smooth.

[Danley]

makes sense. You only need one pivot point. Some roll that off completely, in this case instead making it sharp which is closer to the original intention. But it its square maybe its using the other corner that get's in the way. Its hard to know which edge actually contacts as the tension is so different with strings on. Surprised not much was done to the plate this rests on though, you'd think it needs to be smooth.

I used a few degrees of differing grain sandpaper to smooth the plate the pivot rests on; unlike any of my other trems, it was scarred and grooved where the pivot met the plate.

I'm pretty amazed that these trems could be fashioned in such a crude (looking) way and still function, especially considering that each of mine seems to have a different angle to the pivot, different length after the bend, different sort of edge, goes on.

I almost want to attempt to fashion a locking Jaguar/Jazzmaster trem (Floyd style string locks/nut?) and somehow incorporate a hardened steel knife and receiver plate in lieu of the potmetal... That could be a real improvement, if it could be made to work...

[Ursa Minor]

I remember reading, maybe there' say even a video that Dave Wronski did where he was doing something similar to a trem to improve on the poor fabrication. Just wanted to throw that t there...might be helpful. I'll post a link if I can find it.

[novamax]

That helped a lot, thank you!

While I was doing some electrical mod work, I took a chance to file and then sand that pivot plate like you described - not square but the top a little sharper, and smoothed out the inner surface of the string holder it rests against. I just kept that pivot's narrow side vertical (since the pivot piece goes a little upward, that doesn't make it 90°). So the yanking is gone now I wonder if that is the same deal that makes the more expensive trems work flawless, too.

I was careful and did not go fully to the top side but stopped 1 mm before the edge. So there is still a minimum yank when the whammy is almost down to the pickguard. I will definitively rather make it a full sharp edge as you described, so there is no second pivot point that causes the yanking.

Such a small thing, and such a great effect. Again, thanks for sharing your research. My JM and Bass VI will be up next...

[Danley]

I'm pretty glad to hear that any of this was able to find application outside of me, and pretty psyched that what worked for me appears not to have actually helped Especially considering that it truly is a "chance," with a small margin of error. These are still so sensitive to any change that I'd greatly caution anyone wanting to file the pivot down, unless they had some sort of a backup plan and a cushion of cash for a potential new trem...

[timtam]

After trial and error, found that the best way to go about this was to file the edge flat, keep the edges close to razor sharp, and (if I can describe this) get the edge that faces "up" toward the top of the guitar most acute... In other words, don't file it "square," if you're looking at the pivot from the side/droopy piece pointing to the ground, then the "bottom" edge of the pivot should be obtuse/flatter, with the "top" part of the edge sharpest.

Just reading this old thread on fixing a bad trem. Apologies if this has been emphasized elsewhere before, but I was struck by how the described fix - basically giving the edge plate just one obvious fulcrum / upper edge instead of two - tallies with the way Mastery trem's (single) edge looks ....



And figure 4a in Leo's patent is also similar ...



However I see that the opposite fix - completely rounding both edges - has also been described ...
http://www.offsetguitars.com/forums/vie ... hp?t=81760

[mackerelmint]

This makes sense. So, dies anyone know if this is why US trems also work better?

No, because US everything works better.

[HNB]

In Soviet Russia, trem fixes you!

[fisonic]

This makes sense. So, dies anyone know if this is why US trems also work better?

They are not only made to a better tolerance, but also made from much harder metal. You would get very little purchase trying to file or hand sand the US issued ones. They don't wear like the cheaper versions.
Curious if the US ones are actually made in the US though.