Trem doesn't have any upward pull

[duaneclapdrix]

Hi everybody.

First post. The site has been vary useful. I referenced it a lot when building my jazzmaster. That's the guitar that is giving me issues right now.

I can't get any upward pull on the trem arm. I only get downward motion. It seems the plate where the strings are strung through needs to be pulled farther forward in order for me to be able to get both downward and upward motion. I have it strung with 11s right now. Would more string tension pull the plate farther forward so I can get more motion?

It's supposed to sit in balance, right? Afaik, the arm should be centered in the hole so you can pull up and down. My arm is butted up on the bridge end, so it can't move "up".

I screwed the tension screw so loose that it came out, and that only made the down motion looser. If I tighten the screw, it becomes too hard to push down. Either way, no up.

The lock button slides easily no matter how tight or lose the screw is. It's as if the trem is in the locked position no matter what I do.

The bridge is as low as it can go, and it has both forward and backward space to rock in.

I made the guitar body myself; First one, so I screwed up a lot, but the trem cavity is fine. The trem is an american jazzmaster trem.

The pocket for the trem is the correct depth, and there is enough room for the the lock button to move freely. The back plate also has enough room to move.

I am at a loss haha.

I guess I screwed something up? I really don't know.

Thanks.

[601210]

Pics would help.

Pics of the trem strung up, and pics of the term alone, and pics of the cavity, for starters. From the side and top.

[duaneclapdrix]

I'll try to rustle some up tomorrow. Working the rest of the night till late.

Thanks.

[duaneclapdrix]

Here's pics








https://ibb.co/cHHd39
https://ibb.co/hX1ubU
https://ibb.co/gvxpAp
https://ibb.co/mTNvi9
https://ibb.co/kPhHwU
https://ibb.co/mpA4bU
https://ibb.co/d2Mo39

I tried to get them to embed, but I failed that too.

So, in the OP, I said that I could move the lock button no matter what. That's not true any more. I restrung the guitar today and I also took the trem off to flip the screws that sit under the E strings upside down so they wouldn't rub the strings. I put it back together and the lock is working.

Kinda.

So here's what is really up. I messed around with it more, using this guide https://www.premierguitar.com/articles/ ... ars?page=4

I tuned, up, locked the trem, and the tuning was flat. So I turned the screw appropriately. It is currently very close to being correct. It only takes the barest push of the arm to allow me to lock the system, and the tuning goes barely flat when I lock it.

The problem is that the screw is out. I unscrewed it all the way, and it still needs less tension in order for me to be able to move the lock button freely. So I don't know what to do. Its very close.

New spring with less tension?

There still isn't any upward pull on the unit, but it's almost behaving like the set up guide says it should.

Is there supposed to be upward as well as downward pull? This is my first jazz trem (clearly)


Thanks again everyone.

[timtam]

First thing I noticed is that your bridge is very low. You should add a shim to the neck pocket (something Fender usually did). It can be a full-length, tapered shim from stewmac or just a strip of something stiff across the back of the pocket. That will allow you to raise the bridge closer to its mid-range to get the same action you have now, and increase the downforce to make the bridge/strings more stable. Theoretically it should affect your trem tension with the greater 'angle of attack' for the strings, requiring more trem spring tension to balance the torque on the trem from the strings ... so it may improve things. But you shouldn't be having these issues ... so there's definitely something amiss.

[duaneclapdrix]

Ahh

I was afraid of that.

It is already rather significantly shimmed. This was my first build, and I cut the neck pocket slightly too deep. Live and learn.
My telemaster pocket is fine, so it was a sacrifice that led to more knowledge (I built them concurrently; the jazzmaster proper was the practice body because poplar is way cheaper than the nice swamp ash blank I used for the telemaster).

I was kind of toying around with the idea of adding wood to the bottom of the jazzmaster's neck pocket to raise the whole thing up, which would allow me to raise the bridge height.

I could also build a new, better body without mistakes, and gut this one for parts. It served it purpose. I learned a lot making it.

When I say significantly shimmed, I mean it has 8 playing cards cut in a stepwise fashion to make an angled shim. I guess I could go crazy and stuff the whole deck in there haha

[timtam]

OK, so your tapered shim hasn't raised the neck sufficiently ... so you could indeed put in some flat shim material to raise the whole neck up, and then say a 1 deg tapered shim. You can make flat shims easily (eg from headstock veneer or aluminium). Neck-pocket mismatches aren't uncommon so this company sells 1mm flat shims (or 2 stewmac tapered shims can always be used 'head-to-toe' in a pinch) ...
https://aperioguitar.com/product/neck-shim-040/

[601210]

$10 for a thin veneer is crazy, surely if you have the wherewithal to build a body you can make your own shims, right?

[mynameisjonas]

If the arm doesn't move upwards even with the spring tension screw removed, the plate must be sitting wrong somehow, or something is blocking it. Bridge height and break angle shouldn't have anything to do with this.

[timtam]

If the arm doesn't move upwards even with the spring tension screw removed, the plate must be sitting wrong somehow, or something is blocking it. Bridge height and break angle shouldn't have anything to do with this.

I tend to agree. The OP's bridge is a problem but it may not be the problem. But I would fix the bridge (first?) anyway. That will change the pull on the trem.

[jc808]

Do you have pics of the underside of the trem assembly?

[George L]

If the arm doesn't move upwards even with the spring tension screw removed, the plate must be sitting wrong somehow, or something is blocking it. Bridge height and break angle shouldn't have anything to do with this.

this!
probably the trem lock button or the mechanical part of the plate getting blocked by wood every time you try an upward pull.
It doesn't matter if you can lock and unlock the trem.
Maybe you have to sand or file the wood inside the cavity. Probably the side that is closer to the bridge.

[adamrobertt]

You sure you don't just have the tremolo set up incorrectly? If you tighten the center adjustment screw all the way (some people do this so the arm sits higher or so they get more immediate/stiffer vibrato response) then you won't be able to pull up on the trem at all because the inner plate will be in contact with the upper plate. This is normal.

[eternal learner]

Had a similar problem with an otherwise well behaved Squier jmjm, the trem action was not free and true. Close investigation showed that the body cavity needed some timber removed , using a timber chisel and a round tail rasp , i shaved and milled away some timber and the free movement was restored.

[jorri]

I took more wood out of my warmoth for this reason. it looked fine but got sticky pulling up. where i initially placed it for the lock button, mean the back (where string holes are) needed just a mm of wood taken off. And near the lock it wasn't truly all the way out so also a bit there too. I didn't have tools but literally just used a whittling knife to take a bit out (which i'm sure some people on here would hate me for if it were a real jazzmaster)

I can't think of what else it would be other than the cavity....unless you were to tighten the screw nearly ALL the way.