Mustang Les Trem conversion. Yes, really...

[JSett]

After finally admitting defeat on my old '64 vibrato ever holding tune I locked the cigar down. But over the last few weeks I've found that the lack of having one was making me not want to play it all that much. So I looked in the drawer of parts and came up with this solution. Two holes through the vibrato plate, and two screw holes hidden underneath and we have this...







...a stable vibrato that requires zero maintenance. Not the prettiest install ever but fully functional and doesn't look too out of place. Break angle is basically non-existent so I'll need to shim the neck but, well, the experiment worked.

[Flurko]

It looks pretty tough, goes well with the firebird pickups !
Also it's funny to see that evil greed stickers, I was browsing Sunn O))) hoodies an hour ago

[Braunzo]

I think that looks killer! Even better that it's functional! You'll have to report back when you get the shim thrown in the neck pocket and fix the break angle.

[JSett]

I think that looks killer! Even better that it's functional! You'll have to report back when you get the shim thrown in the neck pocket and fix the break angle.

Already done. I swapped the Staytrem for a Mastery for the extra low-friction surface and its now pretty damn stable. Divebombs are still a bit sketchy returning to pitch but those gentle warlbles and 1/2 step bends are smooth as silk

[PorkyPrimeCut]

Ha!! Interesting mod!

Did you consider drilling holes in the Les Trem base plate, then using the existing Mustang plate holes? Maybe that wasn't possible?

I never managed to keep my old '72 Compstang from going out of tune after fairly heavy trem use so I sympathise.
Plus, I always fancied those Les Trem units & often wonder what one would be like in place of the Bigsby on my FrankenTele.

[MayTheFuzzBeWithYou]

Wow. That looks killer! Both the Firebird pickups and the Trem solution. Also how did you solve that arm issue?
I once thought about ways to make a Les Trem work/look aesthetically more pleasing on a Tune-o-matic Jaguar - thought about a similar plate based solution...but ended up not buying it instead...

[JSett]

Ha!! Interesting mod!

Did you consider drilling holes in the Les Trem base plate, then using the existing Mustang plate holes? Maybe that wasn't possible?

I did see if it was at all possible. Unfortunately the pivot point for the Les Trem was right in the way. The two holes I has to drill aren't too intrusive and will be easily forgotten/partially hidden if the cigar ever goes back on.

Wow. That looks killer! Both the Firebird pickups and the Trem solution. Also how did you solve that arm issue?
I once thought about ways to make a Les Trem work/look aesthetically more pleasing on a Tune-o-matic Jaguar - thought about a similar plate based solution...but ended up not buying it instead...

The arm issue? That's just a JM arm sawed off before the right-angle and stuffed in with a little tape to pad it out. once it's srewed in place with the grubscrews its pretty solid. Looks better than the Dusenburg one IMHO, and suits a Fender better

[Embenny]

That's a really cool mod and totally fits the vibe with the firebirds. I like that so much more than I expected to when I read the thread title.

I still want to straighten that neck pickup so badly, though. I'm a guy whose picture frames get laser leveled

[JSett]

That's a really cool mod and totally fits the vibe with the firebirds. I like that so much more than I expected to when I read the thread title.

I still want to straighten that neck pickup so badly, though. I'm a guy whose picture frames get laser leveled

I kind of lucked-in that the plate for the Les Trem was almost the same curve as the back of the Mustang plate so it doesn't look too jarring in contrast.

And yes, that pickup has seemed to peeve a lot of people with its subtle wonk. Like a slightly lazy eye it's a distraction and makes many people feel uncomfortable

[s_mcsleazy]

honestly. i love my squier mustang but wish i could actually use the trem, i've got a les trem system on my starcaster and love it. might have to copy you.

[JSett]

honestly. i love my squier mustang but wish i could actually use the trem, i've got a les trem system on my starcaster and love it. might have to copy you.

Honestly, I would definitely recommend it. I know there's people out there that swear-down that they can get a Mustang unit to 'work perfectly' but I'll be damned if I can. At least for longer than a day at least. This solution is by no means perfect but an improvement for sure. If I were to do a scale of most unstable to most stable for tuning..if a Mustang is 1 and a Jazzmaster is 10, then this is a 6 or 7.

If you do, hopefully your metal plate isn't as damn hard as mine was. Drilling it was a clusterfuck even with good quality HSS bits. In the end I had to use a diamond tile drill bit to get it started enough to actually let the HSS bite

[marqueemoon]

Nice. Definitely matches the vibe of the guitar.

[kimson]

Cool stuff. I think I like it a lot more than I could ever like a stock '64.

[CorporateDisguise]

Oh man, that looks like a fun guitar!

[MechaBulletBill]

If you do, hopefully your metal plate isn't as damn hard as mine was. Drilling it was a clusterfuck even with good quality HSS bits. In the end I had to use a diamond tile drill bit to get it started enough to actually let the HSS bite

did you drill an original 60s vibrato plate? those are very hard compared to repro/reissues, which wear away just through minor use.