Squier Trem Rout Janky. What to do?

[solfege]

So I'm mostly loving my new Cyclone, but this strikes me as less than optimal.





The bridge is properly set up on top of the guitar, and the guitar intonates correctly. Also, to be clear, the trem moves, though I'm not sure if it's moving as freely as it can -- part of my suspicion is coming from the fact that trem usage and tuning stability are not really super-compatible. It doesn't seem to be rubbing hard enough to do anything to the paint, though, if it's rubbing at all.

The question is, do something about this or leave it? And if the verdict is to intervene, what's the best way to do it if one doesn't happen to have access to a fully equipped wood shop?

[spacecadet]

That is goofy. If you want the poor-man's way of fixing this, just use a Dremel tool. You can get them for like $20. I have a Squier Strat that I had to do this with, not because my routing was off-center like yours but because it needed enlarging in general when I upgraded to a US-sized trem block. It'll be ugly, but normally that area's covered up, so no one will see it. It takes 5 minutes to do and you don't need any real skill.

I probably wouldn't do this on an expensive American guitar. But on a Squier, who really cares as long as you can't see it.

[solfege]

That is goofy. If you want the poor-man's way of fixing this, just use a Dremel tool. You can get them for like $20. I have a Squier Strat that I had to do this with, not because my routing was off-center like yours but because it needed enlarging in general when I upgraded to a US-sized trem block. It'll be ugly, but normally that area's covered up, so no one will see it. It takes 5 minutes to do and you don't need any real skill.

I probably wouldn't do this on an expensive American guitar. But on a Squier, who really cares as long as you can't see it.

Yeah, part of what's driving this question is that there's a new trem block winging its way to me from GFS and I'm wondering whether it's going to work at all given the, um, clearances here. I have a decent set of woodworker's files and chisels, so I might go for a lower tech / less mechanically brutal way of attacking the problem. Or I might break down and go get a Dremel...

[spacecadet]

Yeah, part of what's driving this question is that there's a new trem block winging its way to me from GFS and I'm wondering whether it's going to work at all given the, um, clearances here.

I would guess not. That's what I got to replace my Strat trem block, which looks like the same zinc/pot metal block you have in your Cyclone. It was just too big for the cavity, and my cavity was cut properly. Different guitars, but it doesn't look like you have much clearance even on the other side of that trem block. So you're probably going to need to enlarge that cavity regardless.

I'd wait for the new block to come and see what you need to do then. Kind of pointless to shave the one side down now and then have to go back and do the other. Since you'll be removing the block anyway at that point, you'll be able to do everything at once.

And I'm sure a file would work, it's just a lot more manual labor. A Dremel eats wood like a real router, it's just that you have to do it freehand so it's way less precise. So it's just a choice of how much work and time you want to spend on it.

[solfege]

You were totally right that the GFS trem block wasn't going in there without some relief of the cavity in any case. I used the file and some sandpaper. Took awhile to get it right, but looks decent and I didn't remove too much material, which is nice.