Loose Vibrato Arm

[Ryan]

Hi All,
I have a 2003 standard Squier Stratocaster guitar, lately it seems to have a lot of movement and play in the vibrato arm. I do not want to keep turning it around to make it tighter as i'm worried i may thread it.
I noticed on the the dearer Fenders, a little round sticker on the vibrato system (where you screw the vibrato arm in), reason for this is there is a little spring where you put the vibrato in. I am assuming this spring keeps the vibrato arm tighter.
My question is....Can you get these little springs? and would they fit and alleviate my problem?
Cheers
Ryan

[dave robinson]

I have used plumbers white PTFE tape to cure this problem for thirty odd years and it works - and it's cheap.
Just wrap a few winds around the thread to take up the slack and it lasts for ages. In my case years, as I never remove the arm.

[Ryan]

Thanks very much for that, i'll try that.
Do you know if i remembered correctly about the little round stickers? As you don't seem to see them so much now, on the guitars i've seen anyway.
Cheers
Ryan

[dave robinson]

Yes I've seen those stickers too. There is a spring in the newer Strats but I've never had one in any of mine so I can't comment on whether or not they help. I do know that the PTFE tape works though, it's simple and effective.

[John M]

BTW Axes R us sell these springs in packs of six.

Heres the address:-

http://www.axesrus.co.uk/Fender-Tremolo ... 31-000.htm

[Hank2k]

The spring makes a lot of difference. Only problem is most of the time they drop out. On some cases you can leave the trem arm on so never have the risk of the spring dropping out

[Tigerdaisy]

Those springs I think are a nuisance and do get lost or worse become loose in your case and damage the finish of your guitar. PTFE tape works very well as has already been said. Most cases I've ever had, you need to take the trem arm off in order to close the case, hence I rarely bother to put the arm on...

[dave robinson]

The way I see it those springs can't take up the slack which is the most annoying part of the problem, I like my arm to feel solid with the block to get full expression in my playing, if it wobbles it's useless for me. The PTFE Makes it work that way so it's a no brainer for me. I last put some on my oldest Strat, the '63 one over three years ago to do a Shadows & Cliff show when Dan Martin shared lead duties with me and it's still on there working perfectly, but as I said I never need to remove the arm, as the guitar fits in it's case with the arm turned around over the top of the guitar, which when set up correctly is how it should be.

[noelford]

Agreed, any wobble makes subtle expression impossible (there's a LOT more to a vibrato arm than heavy waggling! - 'whammy bar' is as much a misnomer as 'tremelo arm' is!). Like Dave, I find no need to remove the arm - it fits perfectly in the case when swung around. As for springs - I've never had one.

[Gatwick1946]

Hi Ryan,

Yeah, this can be a bit of a pain with some stratocasters.

What I have done for about 50 years is to wrap a small length of darning wool around the thread of the vibrato arm, before screwing it into place. This works for about 6 months and then I change it. Costs nothing and it works for me. (Now only a bedroom player!)

Happy twanging

Christopher