Improving action of MIJ Tremolo system
- repoman
- PAT. # 2.972.923
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Improving action of MIJ Tremolo system
I had a TVL JM for a while and stupidly sold it, it had the AVRI tremolo on it and that was dreamy. Super light touch and no slop.
I built a baritone telemaster afterwards and I used a MIJ Tremolo for it. The feel of the MIJ is no where near as good as the AVRI, its really quite awful to be honest.
The tremolo arm has quite a bit of slop in the collet, I'm assuming I should buy the AVRI trem collet and arm for this.
The most irritating part is how stiff the action is and how much force needs to be used to manipulate the arm, I'm thinking this comes down to the spring tension. With the tension screw bottomed out its still very stiff.
I see another part of the problem can be the pivot plate, I took that out and made sure it was dead flat with a long leveling file and rounded/polished it the way Dave Wronski has his.
Does anyone know of a source that sells AVRI springs?
From how I'm imagining it interacting, I need a spring that is a bit longer that compresses with less force required.
I see guitarpartsresource has a spring for sale but it doesn't say if its AVRI or not.
I built a baritone telemaster afterwards and I used a MIJ Tremolo for it. The feel of the MIJ is no where near as good as the AVRI, its really quite awful to be honest.
The tremolo arm has quite a bit of slop in the collet, I'm assuming I should buy the AVRI trem collet and arm for this.
The most irritating part is how stiff the action is and how much force needs to be used to manipulate the arm, I'm thinking this comes down to the spring tension. With the tension screw bottomed out its still very stiff.
I see another part of the problem can be the pivot plate, I took that out and made sure it was dead flat with a long leveling file and rounded/polished it the way Dave Wronski has his.
Does anyone know of a source that sells AVRI springs?
From how I'm imagining it interacting, I need a spring that is a bit longer that compresses with less force required.
I see guitarpartsresource has a spring for sale but it doesn't say if its AVRI or not.
- JVG
- PAT. # 2.972.923
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Re: Improving action of MIJ Tremolo system
Not sure about that one either, but Darren Rileys looks to have the American Spring:
http://darrenriley.com/store/jaguarjazz ... 019307000/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Could also try Angela Music or Parts is Parts.
http://darrenriley.com/store/jaguarjazz ... 019307000/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Could also try Angela Music or Parts is Parts.
- repoman
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Re: Improving action of MIJ Tremolo system
Nice
Thank you
Thank you
- andy_tchp
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Re: Improving action of MIJ Tremolo system
No. The threads for the collet are not the same size in the Japan assembly (10mm) as the AVRI (3/8") - the collets are not interchangeable.repoman wrote:The tremolo arm has quite a bit of slop in the collet, I'm assuming I should buy the AVRI trem collet and arm for this.
I would expect this to be the case for other parts of the assembly, most certainly anything requiring a threaded fastener, given the differences in metric vs imperial thread size and pitch.
I would (and did) throw it out and buy a whole AVRI vibrato assembly + arm, after busting the collet completely out of the plate several times mid-song (even with loc-tite applied - the threads were THAT poorly cut.)
"I don't know why we asked him to join the band 'cause the rest of us don't like country music all that much; we just like Graham Lee."
David McComb, 1987.
David McComb, 1987.
- Danley
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Re: Improving action of MIJ Tremolo system
Just get a full AVRI; I tried the spring swap, it doesn't change things up much. AVRI has much better feel, response, stability, string spacing, nicer looking chrome, better arm attachment... Plus I've had two MIJs that were DoA and would not stay in tune, no matter how they were adjusted.
King Buzzo: I love when people come up to me and say “Your guitar sound was better on Stoner Witch, when you used a Les Paul. “...I used a Fender Mustang reissue on that, dumbass!
- fisonic
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Re: Improving action of MIJ Tremolo system
AVRI + staytrem arm.
-
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Re: Improving action of MIJ Tremolo system
I put the Mastery trem on my MIJ and I enjoy it very much. Having never tried an AVRI I can't comment, but it's nicer to use than MIJ, VM and CP. It was worth the $ for me because I enjoy it every single time I use it. My MIJ sits on the bench and I transferred the Staytrem collet I first tried to my VM.
- tonehungry
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Re: Improving action of MIJ Tremolo system
might try the staytrem and AVRI combo on my MIJ jazz master....thanks for the info guys
- repoman
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Re: Improving action of MIJ Tremolo system
I'm curious how though, it must come down to merely the rate of the spring (assuming the pivot plate is well machined), theres hardly anything going on mechanically with the offset tremolo design.Danley wrote:Just get a full AVRI; I tried the spring swap, it doesn't change things up much. AVRI has much better feel, response, stability, string spacing, nicer looking chrome, better arm attachment... Plus I've had two MIJs that were DoA and would not stay in tune, no matter how they were adjusted.
I don't have any tuning issues with it, just the 'feel' ...tuning issues are 99% of the time a poorly cut/dressed nut.
- Danley
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Re: Improving action of MIJ Tremolo system
Nope, the MIJ trem was rickety; it was visible and made audible clicks, one if you even slightly moved it, the other at the top of the range. I'm talking two brand new MIJ trems. The problem is the pivots are not well filed. Filing the pivot helped but was tedious. AVRI fixed. I've had Squier and Allparts trems that were similarly shoddy.
There are also geometry differences between the trems, mostly centered, again, on the pivot.
There are also geometry differences between the trems, mostly centered, again, on the pivot.
King Buzzo: I love when people come up to me and say “Your guitar sound was better on Stoner Witch, when you used a Les Paul. “...I used a Fender Mustang reissue on that, dumbass!