Tension Spring Vs. Teflon Tape - Which is the best cure for wobbly wiggle stick syndrome?
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- čas přidán 1. 12. 2021
- The spring: amzn.to/3dbHmkM
Teflon Tape: amzn.to/3Ijc3D8
I've been using teflon tape on my strat trem arms for decades, but many of you have suggested using these little springs instead SO I GAVE IT A SHOT!
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The secret to getting the springs firm without rattle is to drop a small ball bearing in the hole first. StewMac does a spring w/ballbearing :-)
Great Comment!!! Wasn't aware of the StewMac contribution!!! Thank you.
Good tip. Too bad stewmac wants $10 for a tiny spring and ball bearing. If it were multiple I would go for it.
Do you know which drops in first? Ball then spring?
@@JSmith-mu3fqThe ball
Teflon works great on my YGM Strat trem.Thank U for your adivces and your good mood ! Greetings from France.
Been playing Strats with a floating trem since 72'. Best solution I came up with was to drop an eraser from a mechanical pencil into the hole and tighten down the arm. It allows you to setup how tight you prefer the arm to be. Whether you like it to stay where you put it or move it out of your way and stay put. I found the rubber erasure pushes up on the threaded portion of the arm and eliminates the wiggle/clicking you talk about.
That sounds like an easy solution...i will give it a try tomorrow 👍👍
Hey there..its me again..i couldnt sleep because of thinking of this so i tried it out 😅.. it seems like our german pencils have another eraser size so i had to carve it to the right size first. But i am impressed....i love my squier cv 60s but was always frustrated about the wiggleissue. Now it works spot on. Thank you for sharing your knowledge 👍👍👍
@@marquisdecarabas1312 Glad to share and happy my solution worked for you.
But then all the lead falls out of your pencil😅
I’ve used the Teflon tape for years. I think the best solution would be to have fender actually use the proper sizing on both thread and bar. They can figure out an entire guitar but couldn’t figure out a simple screw. I just can’t figure out any reason for the loose tolerance.
I don’t get why they don’t move to like the pop in style with the collar to screw down. Such a better design
Very good tip for the tremolo bar and I will try it on every guitar I get!
Thanks for the teflon tape tip! I've got that aroune for my DIY plumbing work.
Thumbs up for that shirt, brother!!!
G&L vibratos have an allen key set screw with a nylon piece that tightens the arm from the side. Makes sense to fill the thread gaps with teflon to make it stay where you put it. Seems like you would lose the spring every time you took the arm out, and a press fit might get loose over time.
This was great! Thank you so much!
Both works for me. I’m about to go get a DAngelico Bedford with a 6 point trem at GC, they are taking $300 off. Set neck, cool Grover emperorial tuners, Duncan designed lipstick, lipstick, and mini humbucker hss set up. Semi hollow. I’m excited
“tension screw things” = springs
Hey thanks for the heads up on the Teflon tape idea. I just happened to have a brand new roll, in a kitchen drawer, from back when I swapped out a shower head.
Couple things I learned. First time, you need to wipe off any oil from the threads on the bar. Also, like with plumbing, you need more wraps than you initially think. My first attempt only had about 3 wraps and I turned right thru it. Second time was about 5 or 6 wraps. That is holding, but not tight. I don’t whammy much, so I’ll leave it like that for now.
All this wiggle bar tightening reminded me of an interview, I saw way back in the 80s, with Pete Townsend. He was asked about his famous windmill guitar strokes and whether he’d ever been injured. Pretty sure he said one time, he windmilled and hit his whammy bar straight on, with the outside edge of his palm. Immediately after he looked down to see his hand impaled by the end of the damn thing, and blood gushing all over the place. YOWZAH!!! The thought still gives me the creeps.
did I say that? lol oh man.
@@60CycleHumcast funny and yes. You also called then screws about a third of the way in, but without the “tension” and “things,” that wasn’t as chuckle inducing 🤓👍
I put in a spring on my Squire Strat 2years ago and it still works great. Nice tip on the tape though.
This came at the right time. Thanks Ryan. I'd used plumber's tape but foolishly hadn't realised I'd need to reapply it so was feeling disappointed. Gonna just tape it up again. I play surf, so you'll know it's just crucial to have the bar stay in place to be able to just reach out with your fingers and touch it mid riff.
If you apply it a few times eventually it will build up in the trem and be semi permanent. On my older guitars I reapply rarely.
@@60CycleHumcast Thanks! Great shirt btw.
Great vid!
Yea I loved the springs until they stripped the threads on my strat. I didn't have it on tight but after time (about 1.5 years) and a lot of trem use, I was able to gently lift the bar right out with the threads all wrapped around it. Never EVER again. It was a nightmare, it wasn't exactly easy to find a lefty trem block either to replace it .This vid brought back a lot of painful memories lol
Yikes!
Do threads go into zinc block? If so, zinc is soft garbage for threads.Maybe heli coil insert could fix it or new block.
I tried a spring from a ball point pen…it actually works perfectly…better than teflon did…no rattle …thanks for the video
Try wrapping the teflon tape in the opposite direction. Based on what I see when you wind the tape on the thread, you're going to end up with a mess once you thread the arm into the trem. It causes the tape to unwind in the direction you're going. The opposite direction will keep it on the threads and wont bunch up.
+1 Wrap in opposite direction
how do you remove the teflon tape that comes off the arm and gets stuck in the bridge hole? Will wrap next time in the opposite direction to avoid the mess, but wondering if there's a suggested way to clean the bridge hole when tape has come off in there?
@@michaeliankirschdude me too
I install a wooden 3/4" ball on a small metal post that mounts where stick would be . I bump the ball with my palm while playing surf music . Works quite well .! No more working stick in playing position, or having stick swing around while playing .
I need to try this 🙂
Whammy threads in the trem block are easy to strip. Cheapos are light zinc/aluminum and good ones are brass - both very soft metals. I've never used or installed a steel trem block, but I'd think they wouldn't strip easy and would be nice and sustaining like brass.
Teflon tape's the way to go if you want your whammy arm really 'locked' into the trem block. You could use sliver of wood instead, but that could damage some threads a bit, too.
Teflon plumber's tape works like a charm...been using it for 25 years to keep my whammy stiff.
Nice, Telfon idea......I always felt that springy thingy wasn't too reassuring lol 💪🏻😫🎸
I’ve been meaning to try the Teflon tape since you mentioned it with Squire Affinity Jazzmaster review.
I have been using Teflon Tape for years. I finally stumbled across the
Fender PN for the spring so I have been using both. Which one I prefer
actually depends on the particular application. To the commenter that
said she (Laura B.) started using Heat Shrink instead of Teflon Tape??? Great
Comment!!!! It's definitely worth trying!! Also thank you to the
commenter (PAUL LENARD EWING) that shared that StewMac has a spring / ball bearing option!!! Another Great Comment!!!!
I've used both. The teflon tape gums up in the tremolo arm hole whereas changing the spring takes a few seconds and viola - no mess and they work great. I've tried both. Good education for newbies by the way. I hate the loose or wobbly arm. I find if you tighten the arm a little more with the spring the rattling tends to go away. Another solution I have used is to wrap some cotton from a cotton swab around the threads of the tremolo arm. This works as well.
how do you remove the teflon tape that comes off the arm and gets stuck/gums up in the bridge hole? Will wrap next time in the opposite direction to avoid the mess, but wondering if there's a suggested way to clean the bridge hole when tape has come off in there?
@@michaeliankirsch not sure how you could do that and so for that reason I stopped using the tape
they can make guitars with precision on cnc all day but they don't have a drill with tighter tolerances for the tremolos? really?
Springs don't work with import Fenders with the really small tremolo blocks, as the hole is only as long as the threaded end of the arm. They just fall through into the body cavity.
nice video thanks for sharing
I put the threads of a cheapo arm in a vice with two dowels on one side, and one in between them on the opposite side. Slowly tighten the vice to put a TINY bend in the threaded part of the arm. If your careful not to damage the threads it should seat itself far more tightly. Same theory as a push in bar, only with threads.
Great tip! I was looking for that on my Jaguar 🐆
I've seen people that do this and apparently it does work.
Greetings, both solutions together, the Teflon tape sometimes prevents the correct grounding of the tremolo bar, which can generate noise depending on the technique we use, the spring helps to keep the bar grounded at all times but does not eliminate the space between the mass of the bridge and the bar, that's why I use the tape and the spring together.
smart!
Informative video
The springs work, but if one has a zinc composite or pot metal block, (which most affordable guitars with a trem would have) the spring's pressure will eventually strip out the threading inside of the block. I don’t think it is as much of a problem with brass or steel. Thanks for the videos!
Thats exactly what happened to me. After reading about it I picked up some springs and the first time I tried one in my MIJ '57 re-issue (zinc block) - I was gently screwing in the bar and "crack" it stripped all the threads. Now I'm looking to buy a new tremolo block ☹️
You know... If you fix the problem, it's no longer a "Wiggle" stick! lol
Fantastic idea and thank you for saving me $6 not buying these springs that get lost within months.
Thank you
I realise that this isn't a fix for the Fender brand trem per se but when I modded up a partscaster I got a Wilkinson bridge with a big steel block which has the push-in arm. Not quite traditionall but it does work well.
Does a push in bar have a rubber gasket, or something similar, and if so, what is the life on that piece?
@@MrSJPowell - yeah it does have some kind of collar in there (nylon maybe?) With a grub screw accessed when the whole trem is pushed forward.
I've only had it a couple of years - I can't comment on the longevity of the collar or gasket.
I have pop in tremolo bar and i used buble wraps ever since it was more flexible and durable and can be used again also less junk on the tremolo bar hole...
The spring doesn’t take up the sloppiness of the thread machining because it’s too light in stiffness. Tighter tolerance of the threads would eliminate that wobble and that’s why the Teflon tape takes up some space of the sloppy machining. Possibly a spring with more stiffness would work to take up the slop.
Plumber tape really worked well. 62 cents. Thanks.
You would need some type of a ferrule like a golf club head & shaft uses to eliminate wiggle rattle on the Tremolo arm.
Used together - that might be the best of both worlds.
I use one with a bb. They're great
Schaller, Gotoh have the thread OUTSIDE like a floyd rose. Its 2023 and Fender still uses a Hole in the bridge. Thats a permanent solution.
To eliminate that knocking screw the arm deeper, as far as it'll go (without unreasonable effort) and then go backwards towards the playing position. The spring just works. But it works better with a metal ball bearing thrown in at the top of it, so the sharp end of the spring doesn't scratch against the end of the arm when you rotate it, which can create a noise.
The tape gets shredded and makes a mess and stops working.
Indeed, the spring does an annoying noise by scratching the tip of the arm.
Where do you find such a ball ?
Could oil work or softening the tip of the spring ?
It also means you will screw less far and thus there might be more rattle.
@@tanguydelooz2881 A commenter answered your question before you asked it, but I don't think you saw the comment before you asked the question. The answer you are looking for is StewMac. I get zero credit for answering your question. Please check the comments and thank the commenter PAUL LENARD EWING.
@@tanguydelooz2881 I think Stew Mac sells them. I used a "bullet" for a pneumatic gun, which was a 3mm metal ball.
@@Pandamasque Good idea, do you think it might work too with a plastic 3mm bullet ?
@@lostreb Thanks!! Found it
Now we just need a trick to cover up the hole when travelling, especially with a tiny ball. :)
A small box could do but sometimes the spring doesn't want to come out and then it does unexpectedly while in the guitar case.
I thought maybe a section of a thin flexible water tube might do, or a pack of post-it papers.
BTW, the right diameter of flexible water tube, cut in pieces of 1cm works great for covering unplugged 9V DC plugs of daisy chains for pedals. However the first time I bought a piece it fitted perfectly and months later when I bought another piece of the same, it was produced in another batch and the inner diameter was just a bit too loose on the plug. Better try to fit in a plug in the shop to be sure.
Thanks, very helpful. Teflon baby
I keep a small tube of Permatex thread lock handy for this.
Has anyone tried a piece of surgical rubber tubing that is used for mounting pickups?
I put one of those screws (exactly same ones) into my MIM strat. Immediately sounded like it had fallen into the innards of the guitar. Put the trem arm on, no effect. Couple days later the spring fell out of the guitar. I don't understand what happened haha. The trem arm hole is open to the rest of the bridge innards? I'm trying the plumber's tape now. Thanks Ryan.
I've broken 3 Tremolo arms in my Fender Strat bridge. The last last time, the screw portion got stuck in it so bad, I haven't been able to rescue it by drilling it out etc. I replaced the Tremolo unit with a Blade Runner Super-V, which has a tension screw on the bottom of the unit.
I have a super V on a guitar and its great!
I have two MIM Strats. The spring worked perfectly on the first one, but when I got the second one, the spring seemed to have no effect. Almost like it dropped further down than the bar when screwed all the way down. So, yeah, I need to break down & get some Teflon tape.
Ryan, I wanna know your thoughts on the CuNiFe wide range humbucker! side note, I've been using teflon tape since i was a teenager. I'll give the tension screw things a try.
I put in a spring from a pen, seems to work fine
I think I stripped the thread on my Tagima today. Will the teflon tape help, or do I now have to replace the bridge. While I was trying to get the arm to thread, I pulled it out, and this mysterious little spring fell out. I am glad I found this video. I don't believe the spring helped much before I stripped the thread. Now the arm won't stay in at all. Thanks, @60cyclehum!
I didn't have high hopes for springs eliminating wiggle stick click because it just stands to reason that the length of the spring results in catching fewer threads. I didn't like the spring, then it was pain to extract from the hole because it's a tight fit after it gets squished, at least it was in my MIM Stratocaster.
Gotoh/wilkinson VSVG with unthreaded arm and tightening bolt FTW!!
A simple collet...similar to how Dremel bits are secured is what's needed. I'm surprised there isn't an aftermarket collet adapter.
I had bad luck with the springs. I got them for my deluxe Mexican strat and it worked for a while, then stopped. I thought the spring popped out at some point. So I put another in. Apparently the first just got wedged and didn't perform as intended. Well, the second also for wedged so the arm wouldn't go all the in, and the springs wouldn't fall out. I thought I was gonna have to buy a new bridge, or at least a block. Eventually I got the bright idea to use my smallest drill bit and when it sunk into the spring (s) I was able to pull them out. Good times.
YIKES!
I've broken a few trem arms in various blocks trying to get a Squire to be a Fender because my OCD won't allow the slop. Fixed it by ditching the CV and buying a MIM Strat, a spring, and some tape. At some point Squire just doesn't cut it.
My 1st Ibanez, I just tightened the arm more and more, until it was tight, and after years, the bottom corner part of the trem block just broke off and the ibanez became a fixed bridge lol
The springs work for the wiggle stick swing but there’s also an Allen screw on the back of the block that makes it so the bar sits in the hole snug.. it’s kinda a pain in the ass to get to, but once you do it’s a great fix.. I just did it on my HSS American Ultra with a pop in trem arm and now there’s no bar slop. That drove me nuts having the slack.. but now it’s done and the bar is snug and also stays wherever I decide to leave the bar. Check it out. Stay Grounded
The Allen key tightener is on pop ins only.
Ohhh okay.. yeah I wasn’t completely sure if they had that or not.
The springs seem to work for me. I have a American Strat...but yeah you have to put something to keep the spring from falling out when younremove the arm.
I stopped using teflon tape and instead just used a couple of wraps with electrical tape.
Works much better.
question: do you need your wiggle stick to move at all? as in moving it out of the way, if not, try a 10mm nut, wind it up the arm, position the wiggle where you want it and lock it down with a spanner, again dont overdo it iand you can move it a bit maybe about 90 degrees rotation if you set it right even more if you put a spring washer under it, you can buy packs of nuts and washers at any hardware store and they cost maybe a buck for a bag of 10 also doing it that way SHOULD get rid of the rattle.
Great Comment!
My American made strat has a snap in arm that works great but the guitar's price was over $1400 dollars. Maybe one day squier will follow suit.
I think the Guitar Nerds would have something to say about changing Shell Pink to Burke-Skin
Get the StewMac Ball Bearing and spring for clients... but if you are fine with the Teflon... it ain't broke... it doesn't need fixin'
Will this work if the tremolo arm hole isn't deep enough
i use teflon tape on my coffee mug to keep the threads from leaking on my shirt
I have a MIM strat from the early 90s and the hole in the tremolo block goes all the way through so the screw is not an option
Yeah my 95 MiM is the same way, spring falls through
Yes I have noticed that on some of my guitars also. The spring is not a universal solution for that reason.
Gotta admit I never use my wiggle stick on any fender style bridging. My American Jackson , my Royal Jewel ... a Phil Demmel King V Custom Shop , has a Floyd Rose balless locking and tuning tremolo but even on that I don't use the bar . I usually use my palm instead . I know some other musicians use same technique if they don't dive bomb , which I don't. On my Strat style guitar and Les Paul I rely on bends and my Cry Baby instead .
You wrapped the Teflon tape backwards on your wiggle stick. 😂🤣😂🤣
I've tried the springs, tape and bending the trem arm. I wasn't happy with any of those quick and inexpensive fixes. I purchased a Callaham block and trem arm, and that was a satisfying solution.
It's ridiculous that Fender stiil sells guitars with those poor bridges.
I think its one of those things where if they change the bridge design too much the traditionalists will complain, but that green strat is supposed to be a modern take on a strat so they could have gotten away with their own version of a push in bar. I dont always like the feel of wilkenson style set ups but you have to admit the push in bar is superior in design.
Oh those silly traditionalists. "Yeah man, everybody knows that good tone comes from a floppy trem arm."
@@60CycleHumcast Not that I can change their ways, but they should really be using things that work in their new models. They should have a Traditionalist line for those who want that old, janky stuff. Or at least make it an option if ordering or something like that. Using stuff that has issues that have been fixed with better technology just makes them seem out of touch to me.
Doesn't Gibson have a Classic line and a Modern line? Or something like that? The names might be wrong, but you get my drift. That's what Fender needs. Classic Vibe, Vintera, etc. can have these old style trems, but the standard issue should be using modern solutions. Why does it have to be third party just to get something that works correctly?
I use shoe goo, rubber cement would probably work too
Blue Loc-Tite can work great in scenarios like this
Spring +small ball bearing 3mm I think works for me
My solution is *perfect*. Cannot be beat for love nor money.
Buy a hardtail strat.
B O R I N G
I put a Fender spring in my Fender Stratocaster and Teflon tape on my Squire Stratocaster. Both work but would rather use a Spring in Squire. The Fender spring is to big for my Squire.
I just realized I never use my trem arm
Teflon All the way, Dude!
so whats the strat PLUS for if it has same little annoying problems like the squier does? and the price is how much...?
I have a Fender Mod Shop strat from Corona, CA with the deluxe trem and a pop-in arm... It has a bit of trem arm 'play' in it as well. It's never going to be totally eliminated at the factory, not without ridiculous machine-time expense. The higher priced guitars have better pick ups, tuners, wood(s), finishing, frets, etc.
@@josephhynes5874 this tiny issue has been around forever. the cnc machine has tolerance in thousands of an inch... they can do it... there are other companies that fixed these issues already with bushings, etc... but fender will SELL you a spring that will fall out next time you have the arm off guitar... just saying, after 70yrs in business and calling a new product PLUS, youd think they take care of it... nobody else has these issues, ibanez, floyd, gotoh, callaham, Wilkinson, bladerunner, prs,... check out what wudtone did to fix issues with old trem design... etc... and some if those names are tiny companies compared to Fender, a giant
Do both the Teflon tape and the fender spring.... lol
*Me with a Telecaster watching this* Interesting
The tape fits all arm sizes, but the springs don't. PRS wiggle sticks fit properly. ;)
I would probably use the Spring But I don't use the tremolo That much
I just let mine flop/ hang loose' everyone thought it looked cool when I picked it back up in the middle of song and used it' not trying to be funny but the woman loved how I wiggled it. That was back in the early 80's.
Honestly, the best luck I have had is using guitars with press in bars. Using Teflon tape every time would drive me bonkers 🤣
It’s not everytime. After a few applications it gunks up in threads enough to last quite awhile.
man, he used 1/1000th of his teflon tape inventory, haha
Sheesh, after 60 years, why can't Fender engineer a solution that doesn't require a kludge by the user?
yeah, PRS, etc, all have better trem solutions ... shame on you fender! If they had better tolerances it likely would work well, but with their bad tolerances and poor manufacturing, the arm ... bleh... They're not the only ones though. Yamaha Pacifica have the same, but they're $2-300 guitars..............
1/4 inch thin wall heat tubing alone without the ball bearing works.....lasts longer than teflon tape....
Do you heat it up to shrink it over the threads?
Just learn to live with it. It's just part of the quirky charm known as the Stratocaster.
I also use Teflon tape.
Tried those springs once,. immediately didn't like it.
I rip the springs out of ballpoint pens.
Recycling at the same time!
The correct answer is both.
I'm thinking JB Weld
Its not for a wobbly stick but to keep it in a fixed position.
I agree with Joe bonamassa. The trem on a vintage strat doesn't need to be on the guitar...
I just use red thread lock. Blue if it's meant for blues.
Do you really? That seems pretty extreme
@@60CycleHumcast I also put 2 ton epoxy on the nut to keep strings in tune.
♥️♥️👌♥️♥️
hate the knocking.
"droopy wiggle stick syndrome" :):):)
Everyone needs to send back their fender guitars back to fender and tell them to fix this tremolo bar knocking issue as a "RECALL" designer issue. Stop paying for a product when there are major or minor design flaws or sue fender for selling products that have design flaws.
I haven't run into a single screw in style trem arm that didnt have this issue from any brand.
@@60CycleHumcast The push in fender tremolo bars work better don't have the knocking issue? but then you can't tighten or loosen the push in tremolo bars
fun fact teflon has already seeped its way inside everyone, even your unborn children