Fender Dynamic Vibrato Spacers

[jagstanger]

Hello everybody,

I was looking for locking the dynamic vibrato on my Jag Stang, 'cause I don't use it anyways. I found two ways. The first: Just take out the springs and tighten the cigar directly to the base plate. I didn't want to do that, because the angle of the strings to the bridge would be altered. And I would have to turn the cigar around then, to not tightening the strings to the base plate.
The second one was by taking out the springs and shim the cigar with washers. That's what i did, 'cause I still have the "stock look" back there.

So I shimmed it with three washers above the base plate and two washers under the base plate. Turned out to work fine, but in the end it doesn't look good, with those ugly shims.

[jagstanger]

So I thought, I'll just search for an aluminum bar and get to the lathe to make myelf some spacers, that look good and do the job.

Here are the results of my first prototype. It works good and looks good. The spacers are 5mm high have a diameter of 13.5mm and a 6mm hole for the vibrato pole. the 6mm fit just nice and the still have a little space.

I polished them up, put them under the vibrato and there's one thing, I have to change. The diameter of 13.5mm is a little too big, because the low E sting touches the spacer. Should be no sound or tuning problem, but it can look better. So I think, I will make a new set, that fit perfectly. They're made from aluminum, so they don't rust and don't damage the chrome, 'cause they're not too hard.

Here are some pics of the making





And some of the installed spacers

[Bradley-Jazz]

I love the resourcefulness and skill of people on here!!! Nice job!

[jagstanger]

Thank you!!

[HarlowTheFish]

Those look sweet!

Something you can do if you're hardtailing a Mustang trem is flip the cigar over (so the trem bar hole is the opposite way from where you'd be using it) and put the strings straight through from the back like a tuneomatic and stopbar - no reason to put them under the bottom if you're not using the trem, and this makes it a lot easier to string up.

[jagstanger]

Thank you! Thought about that too. So the other angle that the strings have then doesn’t matter, right?

I thought: maybe those spacers could also be interesting for people here. Don’t know how many people are locking up their trems, but maybe some people wanna have those little custom spacers.

Just don’t have enough posts to get to the sale topics

[HarlowTheFish]

Thank you! Thought about that too. So the other angle that the strings have then doesn’t matter, right?

I think so?
Basically, you wanna run it through the bar towards the strap button then back up under it to get full use of the trem - this is a bit finicky setup-wise just because getting the right angle to not get contact with the back of the bridge but still have enough height (or not too much height) to balance out the pull of the springs is a pain. If you're not using the trem, there's no reason to use it, so flipping it around and using it like a stopbar is a pretty easy way to make your life easier.

[jagstanger]

I'll do that with the next string change. I'm not touching the back of the bridge right now. But yes, it's pretty tight there. And sure, why make life not easier, if you can.

Also turned the bridge 180° so the saddle screws pint towards the neck. So it's a lot easier to reach them for the intonation.

[MattK]

Those spacers look SWEET, impressive skills!

[jagstanger]

Thank you!!

[Veitchy]

That looks great - as in better than what I would expect a factory option to look like. Mad respect for going to the proper effort.

[jagstanger]

Thanks! Cool, that it's expected better than a factory option

[Shadoweclipse13]

As a lefty, I've never played a dynamic/Mustang trem (or a Mustang for that matter), but that looks sweet as hell! I could watch people machining metal all day. My metal-working skills are ok, but I'm not up to lathe yet. Fantastic job!!!!