Putting a locking trem on a BTJM

[Harbor_mcfly]

So I'm planning on putting together a partsmaster Jazzmaster in the near future and I found a MIj tremolo plate for cheap. I went ahead and bought it for this future build And I figured in the mean time I would put it on my Blacktop Jazzmaster to see how it played. At first I couldn't figure out why the trem felt rough and wouldn't return back to its original position after using it. I figured out that the lock button won't slide all the way forward because the route is too small. Without it moved all the way forward, the lock rubs against the trem.

I guess my question is, is this a common problem when putting locking trems on guitars that come stock with a non locking trem? I was planning on finding a Squier VMJM to to use for my build. If I put the trem in VMJM will I have to do some extra routing to fit the lock?

[fresh1megpots]

This is a good question - I would also like to understand more about this.

I have considered putting a locking trem on my JM JM recently and have wondered in the past why i don't see this done more often as an upgrade. Ive noticed that some companies like mastery don't have locks on their trem at all - which is still supposed to be an upgrade?

Im sure it will be guitar by guitar - maybe for your purposes, being that you have the term already you could try to get a good idea based on some picture of VMJM bodies on the internet..

[fresh1megpots]

Bump

Anyone have any insight to whether or not there are issues dropping in the locking trems to bodies that do not come with them?

[sleepkid]

For Jazzmaster style tremolos, it is critical to get the front of the route the right size. When pushing down on the tremolo, the elliptical motion of the arm plate actually carries it forward a little bit from it's resting position, and it can catch on the wall of the cavity.

Sometimes it just requires a little extra routing at the front wall of the cavity to allow the arm plate to swing forward.

Occasionally you'll find that the tailpiece was removed at one point, and when put back, there was just enough wiggle room that it was screwed forward further from it's original position, and then it starts grinding on the wood.

I've also come across a few Japanese bizarre guitars which used Jazzmaster style tremolos, where the route wasn't even big enough - from the factory!

If you are planning to put a Jazzmaster style tremolo into a guitar that doesn't have one, simply make sure you make the cavity big enough, both in terms of horizontal size, and in terms of depth. If you are working with a guitar with a shallow body, you can saw off part of the spring so that not as much depth is required. I once adapted a Jazzmaster arm for a Liberty (Norma) guitar which had no tailpiece. Worked out fine.

[fresh1megpots]

Interesting - i wouldn't have thought about running into depth issues but that makes sense.

[sleepkid]

Interesting - i wouldn't have thought about running into depth issues but that makes sense.

You can totally run into depth issues. Some guitars are thinner than others, and if you just followed the standard Fender route specs without checking first, you could theoretically blow through the back of some guitars. The Liberty/Norma that I did was such a case, so I made the pocket shallower, and then compensated the spring and bolt accordingly. Worked out fine, and still functioned like it should.