Stuck pen spring in MIM collet

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tommyshell
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Stuck pen spring in MIM collet

Post by tommyshell » Tue Nov 08, 2022 1:11 am

I’m an idiot: I put a pen spring in my MIM Vintera vibrato collet for added tension, but screwed the arm in far too far attempting to find the sweet spot and basically crushed the spring into itself at the bottom where it meets the little plastic interface (which has the tension grub screw on the other side).
Spent a fair while trying and failing to pick it out with a small screwdriver this morning, very hard to get any purchase on spring at all.
Anyone else found themselves in a similar position and/or managed to remove the spring?

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GreenKnee
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Re: Stuck pen spring in MIM collet

Post by GreenKnee » Tue Nov 08, 2022 8:28 am

Try an o-ring pick/hook tool, should be able to get in and grab it with a long one.

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Good luck!

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jvin248
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Re: Stuck pen spring in MIM collet

Post by jvin248 » Tue Nov 08, 2022 10:03 am

Those hook tools above are something like $3 at Harbor Freight, if you have such a store nearby.

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timtam
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Re: Stuck pen spring in MIM collet

Post by timtam » Tue Nov 08, 2022 6:10 pm

tommyshell wrote:
Tue Nov 08, 2022 1:11 am
I’m an idiot: I put a pen spring in my MIM Vintera vibrato collet for added tension, but screwed the arm in far too far attempting to find the sweet spot and basically crushed the spring into itself at the bottom where it meets the little plastic interface (which has the tension grub screw on the other side).
Spent a fair while trying and failing to pick it out with a small screwdriver this morning, very hard to get any purchase on spring at all.
Anyone else found themselves in a similar position and/or managed to remove the spring?
I haven't tried this, but can you not unscrew and remove the grub screw in the bottom of the screw collet on this Classic Player screw-in arm trem (Korean made) ? Not sure what the allen key size would be, possibly 4mm ? I wasn't aware there was a 'plastic interface' between the arm and grub screw, but you might have more success if you can approach it from underneath ?
"I just knew I wanted to make a sound that was the complete opposite of a Les Paul, and that’s pretty much a Jaguar." Rowland S. Howard.

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tommyshell
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Re: Stuck pen spring in MIM collet

Post by tommyshell » Wed Nov 09, 2022 5:52 am

GreenKnee wrote:
Tue Nov 08, 2022 8:28 am
Try an o-ring pick/hook tool, should be able to get in and grab it with a long one.

Image

Good luck!
Thanks for the tip! They certainly look useful, hopefully will have a bit more room to manoeuvre than tweezers (which seem to get too wide at the top to really get down in there)

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tommyshell
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Re: Stuck pen spring in MIM collet

Post by tommyshell » Wed Nov 09, 2022 5:57 am

timtam wrote:
Tue Nov 08, 2022 6:10 pm
tommyshell wrote:
Tue Nov 08, 2022 1:11 am
I’m an idiot: I put a pen spring in my MIM Vintera vibrato collet for added tension, but screwed the arm in far too far attempting to find the sweet spot and basically crushed the spring into itself at the bottom where it meets the little plastic interface (which has the tension grub screw on the other side).
Spent a fair while trying and failing to pick it out with a small screwdriver this morning, very hard to get any purchase on spring at all.
Anyone else found themselves in a similar position and/or managed to remove the spring?
I haven't tried this, but can you not unscrew and remove the grub screw in the bottom of the screw collet on this Classic Player screw-in arm trem (Korean made) ? Not sure what the allen key size would be, possibly 4mm ? I wasn't aware there was a 'plastic interface' between the arm and grub screw, but you might have more success if you can approach it from underneath ?
Yeah, if this plastic mid section wasn’t there I could probably pull it down and out the bottom. I was considering drilling through the plastic and then replacing it with something similar like the end of a pencil eraser. But maybe I need to stop trying to solve this using stationary :fp: Could just use the tension screw like it sounds is on a CP.

Thanks!

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