How can I get my Jazzmaster tremolo arm in the right spot?

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figgypudding18
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How can I get my Jazzmaster tremolo arm in the right spot?

Post by figgypudding18 » Sat Mar 07, 2020 2:40 pm

Greetings Everyone,

So I just got my first offset electric (only my second ever electric guitar) and it is my first guitar with a tremolo system, a Fender American Professional Jazzmaster! I absolutely love it so far, however I'm a bit embarrassed to say I did not get off to the greatest start with the tremolo. Somehow (I still don't know how), I got it so stuck that I ended up snapping the tremolo arm trying to get it out! I got the sleeve replaced along with a new bar, and now everything works again, yay! However, I'm looking to the wise people of this forum to school me on a couple of things....

1) How can I get my tremolo arm to stay closer to where I am actually playing? I see it up higher in lots of videos, but here is a photo of where the bar starts to tighten on mine. I'm afraid to tighten anymore after breaking the first one, but maybe I need to tighten more idk.https://imgur.com/a/GAfVuz7

2) Along the lines of the first question, how tight is too tight to go?

Thanks so much!

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Re: How can I get my Jazzmaster tremolo arm in the right spot?

Post by monsterdonkey » Sat Mar 07, 2020 4:18 pm

Is it a screw in type? Or a press in type? If it’s threaded you can spin it back a couple of turns -it doesn’t have to be tight. I put some Teflon tape around the threads on mine to keep it from swinging wildly If that bothers you. The tape wears out quickly but it’s easy enough to replace it.

Here is a guide to setting up your trem https://offset.guitars/the-goodies/sett ... lo-system/

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Re: How can I get my Jazzmaster tremolo arm in the right spot?

Post by figgypudding18 » Sat Mar 07, 2020 4:25 pm

Yes it is a screw-in! Thanks!

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Re: How can I get my Jazzmaster tremolo arm in the right spot?

Post by monsterdonkey » Sat Mar 07, 2020 5:54 pm

A better, more permanent solution would be a Staytrem collet and arm. Easily obtainable in the UK but you’ll have to find a used one on reverb or somewhere if you live anywhere but there.

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Re: How can I get my Jazzmaster tremolo arm in the right spot?

Post by alexpigment » Sat Mar 07, 2020 11:40 pm

Team Teflon tape here :)

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Re: How can I get my Jazzmaster tremolo arm in the right spot?

Post by jorri » Mon Mar 09, 2020 5:00 am

Just use cello tape myself.

If it's a screw in Loctite thread locker maybe

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Re: How can I get my Jazzmaster tremolo arm in the right spot?

Post by whitewatersky » Fri May 21, 2021 8:42 pm

Yeah mine snapped too. I have an arm and collet i had sent to a mate in Long Beach CA awaiting him posting to me in Australia. Glad I found this ad I’ll try the tape

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Re: How can I get my Jazzmaster tremolo arm in the right spot?

Post by ChrisDesign » Sat May 29, 2021 1:58 pm

monsterdonkey wrote:
Sat Mar 07, 2020 5:54 pm
A better, more permanent solution would be a Staytrem collet and arm. Easily obtainable in the UK but you’ll have to find a used one on reverb or somewhere if you live anywhere but there.
Amen. The staytrem collet and arm are magic. I put one on my Japanese teen unit and now the arm stays where I put it. The action is like butter. The staytrem collet and arm is essential for me! Why fender hasn’t bought out Staytrem and put their design into all jazzmaster/ Jaguar vibrato baffles me.
"I own a '66 Jaguar. That's the guitar I polish, and baby - I refuse to let anyone touch it when I jump into the crowd." - Kurt Cobain

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Re: How can I get my Jazzmaster tremolo arm in the right spot?

Post by timtam » Sat May 29, 2021 6:40 pm

There are two ways to set the end position of screw-in arms (Am Pro, Classic Player, Ultra). Some (but maybe not all ?) have a hex grub screw in the collet that sets the end angle for the arm. The thread is 10-32 so you could add a grub screw if your screw-arm collet doesn't have one. There is usually enough friction in the arm-collet thread to hold the arm in other positions not too far from the end point (but with wear, you might have to add something to the thread to restore sufficient friction). The other way to change the end point is to unscrew the collet and add washer(s) to move the point at which the arm stops rotating. But in general I think most screw-in arms work OK out of the box.

You can see the black hex grub screw in the Am Pro collet here (with some red [higher strength?] loctite-like material from the factory):
Image
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