Trem Claw won't stay put when pulling up on whammy?

[nexion218]

Re: Trem Claw won't stay put when pulling up on whammy?

OK, spent some more time with it. I've checked several of my FR guitars now. Even if I fully pull the bridge backwards, risking the strings breaking and decking out the Floyd against the body, NONE of the springs become uncoupled from the claw. No matter if its 2 or 3, parallel or \I/, they just stay put, as they should be. Uncoupling, aside from OPs rattle issue, would also generate a grounding issue, if I understand right, so that is a totally non proper functioning there. Don't want to create conspiration theories, but I'm starting to suspect that those trem springs are not the original ones. In fact they are longer than they should be and the shop tried to solve the issue by putting those extra springs behind the claw. Either way, get a pair of shorter tremolo springs and remove those smaller ones from behing the claw.

[nexion218]

Re: Trem Claw won't stay put when pulling up on whammy?

OK, last one really, cause I wanna play guitar till my picks melt...

Straight from the horse's mouth on the springs:

https://vegatrem.com/the-importance-of-the-springs/

And gere is the ofiicial installation video. Get yer strings off, throw out those darned springs from behind the claw, and reassemle the thing step by step according to the video (note that they install the springs in a parallel way and when they're installed, they are visibly under tension, unlike yours!). I'm 99% positive that if it doesn't work that way, your springs were swapped.

[BadAspen]

Re: Trem Claw won't stay put when pulling up on whammy?

I actually took the extra springs off the screws last night, and the problem still persisted. The thing is assembled properly. And you were right about the springs being swapped. I did that first thing when I noticed the problem. Those springs are about a quarter an inch shorter than the ones that came back with the guitar, which were standard MIM strat length. I currently put on longer springs which are a quarter inch longer than standard, and the problem persists.

[nexion218]

Re: Trem Claw won't stay put when pulling up on whammy?

Not sure if I understand right: it came back with shorter springs, you swapped in longer springs and neither of them worked? Man, this is not rocket science. The springs only work when under tension. Those springs are obviosly NOT under tension. I bet you can take them out with exerting minimal force. That is not good. Try it with one spring and screw the claw deeper to counter string tension. Or a shorter or more rigid spring. If you don't have shorter or stronger springs at home, then pack up your guitar, go back to the shop and tell them to fix it on the spot and free of charge, because it was working when you took it there and now it isn't. And it is quite visibly NOT assembled properly.

[BadAspen]

Re: Trem Claw won't stay put when pulling up on whammy?

The only difference to the bridge when I got it back was that it had had the claw tightened way down.

The shorter strings in the first video have the most tension of any of the springs I have and were an attempt to fix the issue, they did not work. I don’t think that there are more rigid springs on the market.

Here is also a video of me using extra long springs to no avail.

If you want me to, I can also record and upload a video of five springs not fixing the problem.

5 strong springs or 1 weak spring will both have the same outcome.

[nexion218]

Re: Trem Claw won't stay put when pulling up on whammy?

What happens if after to fit my guitar with the VT1 system doesn’t work well?

Contact us through [email protected] and we will give you the solution to any problem you may have. If you are finally not satisfied, send us your VT1 and we will refund the money.

https://vegatrem.com/quality/

[Chistopher]

Re: Trem Claw won't stay put when pulling up on whammy?

What strings are on it now? There's no way a guitar tech would be dumb enough to do that to a guitar. If he put lighter gauge strings on there it would have the same effect as "cranking the claw down".

Anyways, your issue here is not that you don't have enough spring tension, you don't have enough tension per spring. Get the highest tension spring you have and put it on there completely diagonally. If one spring at a ~30° angle can't balance your entire set of strings without going slack on a pull up, nothing will.

[ItsaBass]

Re: Trem Claw won't stay put when pulling up on whammy?

The springs shouldn't be causing this. It worked fine before. The tech tightened the claw. The owner backed off the claw. That should have worked fine, but for some reason, the claw started dislodging on pull ups.

As to why this happened, we'll never know. Maybe the screws and the claw were somewhat corroded together before.

The problem is that Strat vibratos were not designed to do this maneuver. Even with the stock amount of pull up, this issue exists when you pull way up. Add more range with a fancy aftermarket vibrato, and it gets exacerbated.

But as I mentioned before, ghetto option number one, simply wedge something between the claw and the front wall of the vibrato cavity. Problem solved. I myself would probably just cut a piece of wood to the right size, and even match the angle of the claw. I'd also fold the claw hooks over the spring loops.

Ghetto option number two, hot glue or Loc-Tite to glue the claw to the screws. Holds when needed, but reverses if necessary.

Or non-ghetto option number 1, just install a Schaller Sure Claw, which is a great improvement anyhow.

Personally, I think the best option is to ignore it, and turn up the amp. But the OP is obviously against that idea.

[BadAspen]

Re: Trem Claw won't stay put when pulling up on whammy?

I measured the diameter of the strings and it appears that the strings on the guitar are 10-46, not 11-48. This is the source of the problem and putting on 11-48 strings fixed it.

[ItsaBass]

Re: Trem Claw won't stay put when pulling up on whammy?

I measured the diameter of the strings and it appears that the strings on the guitar are 10-46, not 11-48. This is the source of the problem and putting on 11-48 strings fixed it.

Well, imagine that.

If your bridge is no longer level, you need higher tension strings.

To get back to something in my second post, did your tech install the same strings, or at least the same string set, that you had on it when you dropped it off?

To Demanic: ^ Exactly. Well, not "enough" tension, rather. The claw is way out....which leads me to believe that the so-called tech perhaps installed lower tension strings, causing the problem of the bridge plate leaning backwards.

[BadAspen]

Re: Trem Claw won't stay put when pulling up on whammy?

Thank you ItsaBass, very cool.

[nexion218]

Re: Trem Claw won't stay put when pulling up on whammy?

This is actually quite interesting, because Vegatrem says on their site that the system supports all string gauges uo to 54w... The system not being able to handle one of the most common gauges properly is quite baffling. Though they do sell different tension springs and this might be the cause. They should be more clear on which spring should be used for the given gauges/tunings. Anyways, problem solved, which is a good thing, innit?

[Chistopher]

Re: Trem Claw won't stay put when pulling up on whammy?

This is actually quite interesting, because Vegatrem says on their site that the system supports all string gauges uo to 54w... The system not being able to handle one of the most common gauges properly is quite baffling. Though they do sell different tension springs and this might be the cause. They should be more clear on which spring should be used for the given gauges/tunings. Anyways, problem solved, which is a good thing, innit?

I have a Vegatrem on a guitar with 9s and have had no such issues as this one. I used two of the low tension springs angled inwards, so who knows what the problem actually was with the unit.

Oh, and the bridge ships with all 3 sizes of springs, so you have to wonder how many people are asking for the springs separately that they have it as an option to buy them by themselves.