OOOH I like this line of thought! And also, duuuuhhhh I shoulda thought of that button-spring-arm relationship.
You’re 100% correct on the guitar and strings (2005 avri jag w/ 13 - 56). It’s the original avri trem with a ST bridge + collette / arm. I currently have the spring little high, so one must slightly depress the arm to get the lock button engaged. I like that I have more downward push. But now I realize I could probably just set the spring to “nominal,” and then bend out the arm to get the same amount of downward push. I did already bend the arm outwards but I’m happy to bend it further. I love the feel of the jm trem and I’ll never want anything else, but I do miss the “completely detuned” ability of the strat trem.
I was buzzing the frets with my heavy surf picking so I raised the bridge to the “lowest-without-buzzing” position; the action is a bit high. I’ll get some measurements and pix tomorrow. (I just woke up in the middle of the night haha!)
Dan