Squire 50's Vibe / Whammy Bar

[twangy]

Well,I got a Squire 50's Vibe ,in 2 tone sunburst.The guitar looks and sounds amazing.Probably the best value for the money that Fender has produced,but why hasn't Fender done something about the whammy bar? Bill

[Charlie Hall]

Hi Bill,
I think Fender assumes that many players prefer the old style tremolo system. I am one of those actually, and use PTFE plumbers tape wrapped round the threads of the arm to take up any slack in the threads. About 3 turns is usually enough.
Regards,
Charlie

[twangy]

Thanks Charlie,i'll try that. Regards,Bill

[Emiel Visser]

Hi Bill,
You are right, it is a great guitar for the money.
Pickup's are very good too.
The downside is some details that I altered.
The scratch plate is far to thick and has sloped edges, so I replaced that for a single ply 8 holes one.
The tremolo has a pitch of 10.5 so I swapped that for a 10.8 one.
Also the backplate is to thick and altered that.
And with big pot's and a "real" 5 switch fitted I got a great guitar!

Regards,
Emiel

[peterbower]

Hi Bill

I fitted a steel trem block in my CV 50's and this combined with a Fender torque spring in the hole stopped all wobble and with the added bonus of better sustain.

Get in touch with Kevin Hurley at [e-mail]

Kevin will make a steel block to any spec you give him for £19 + postage. If you just say its for a CV 50's he is already tooled up for that spec and knows the dimensions. You will however have to tell him if you want metric or imperial threads.

I can understand getting the scratch plate right on the CV but for £240 its hardly worth it. This guitar was a very clever idea by Fender as they gave you a flavour of the 50's but with a modern profile neck and medium jumbo frets, plus the truss rod is adjustable from the head stock end. They claimed these more modern specs made it easier to play. I second that. It is inherantly easier to play than the vintage profile.

Regards

Peter

[Graylion]

Charlie - I often hear people say that PTFE tape around the threads works but it never has for me! Do you all leave the trem in when you put the guitar back in its case? OK, so the tape is cheap enough and I have plenty because I do quite a lot of plumbing, but it's a bit tedious to have to do it everytime I want to play! Yes, I take the trem out because that's what you're supposed to do to avoid the possibility of pressure on the springs when you're (or your roadie!) carrying it around. Cheers, Lionel

[Charlie Hall]

Hi Lionel,
I never remove the arm, I just unwind it until it is pointing towards the arm rest area, then it is almost touching the body and won't be pressed down when in the case.
Regards,
Charlie