Jaguar Tremolo 'sticking'/no height adjustment?

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JamesSGBrown
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Jaguar Tremolo 'sticking'/no height adjustment?

Post by JamesSGBrown » Sat Jun 19, 2021 8:16 am

Hi all,

Very annoyed. My project Jag has a brand new US trem on. When adjusting the spring & height 'screw it's making zero difference- the plate and arm collet are maxed out at the top. Only when applying significant force am I able to lower it- and it's not smooth in the slightest. As is, it's unusable! I've taken it apart briefly and can't see anything wrong- the aforementioned screw is screwing into the 'cone' at the bottom of the spring fine, but it's not making any difference at all! Very odd...

Any suggestions? I will have it home for a good go-over soon...

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fisonic
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Re: Jaguar Tremolo 'sticking'/no height adjustment?

Post by fisonic » Sat Jun 19, 2021 4:52 pm

Sounds like the trem might be touching the side wall of the rout. You could line the cavity with masking tape to see where it’s rubbing, if there isn’t already some telltale marrks.

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ChrisDesign
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Re: Jaguar Tremolo 'sticking'/no height adjustment?

Post by ChrisDesign » Sun Jun 20, 2021 7:04 pm

fisonic wrote:
Sat Jun 19, 2021 4:52 pm
Sounds like the trem might be touching the side wall of the rout. You could line the cavity with masking tape to see where it’s rubbing, if there isn’t already some telltale marrks.
Yep. Some fender body routes are smaller than others. Not by much, but by enough to make a Fender trem stick if it wasn’t designed for that fender body. You may need to sand away some of the wall.
"I own a '66 Jaguar. That's the guitar I polish, and baby - I refuse to let anyone touch it when I jump into the crowd." - Kurt Cobain

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krossfader
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Re: Jaguar Tremolo 'sticking'/no height adjustment?

Post by krossfader » Mon Jun 21, 2021 5:10 pm

Some U.S.A. trems seem to be equipped with an arm that's a little too long on the short end, sticking out past the collet inside the trem cavity and hitting the body in use. I had a completely stock AV65 Jazzmaster that would "bottom out" when I pushed the bar down. I could hear it clunking inside the guitar and could never get my trem lock set up. I switched to an aftermarket arm. You could also cut off a bit of the "extra" arm, if that's your issue. Maybe pull the bar partway out of the collet and see if that makes a difference when pushing the trem down.

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Lost In Autumn
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Re: Jaguar Tremolo 'sticking'/no height adjustment?

Post by Lost In Autumn » Tue Jun 22, 2021 2:01 am

I've installed a couple of AVRI Trems in the past week, both had this issue. It turns out the the adjustment screw (in the middle) was too tight. I loosened it and it stopped sticking.
Last edited by Lost In Autumn on Tue Jun 22, 2021 4:56 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Jaguar Tremolo 'sticking'/no height adjustment?

Post by Gavanti » Tue Jun 22, 2021 4:15 am

One way to check to see if the issue is a part hitting the wall of the route is to take a grease pencil and rub it on the edge of the tremolo plate or other suspect parts. It should leave a mark where it is hitting the side.

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JamesSGBrown
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Re: Jaguar Tremolo 'sticking'/no height adjustment?

Post by JamesSGBrown » Tue Jun 22, 2021 11:48 pm

Thanks all!

Not using a stock arm- just one laying around for leverage, so it's not even going in all the way for the purposes of testing.
Doesn't seem to be any scrapage on the cavity wall- at least that's visible... adjusted the screw and it helped a bit, but it's still sticking at whatever pitch it fancies and feel really unsmooth, but it does feel like a mechanical issue rather than scraping the cavity...

So we'll take it apart and put it back together again and see if that makes a difference!

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