removing trem arm on mex strat ?

[123_Rizz_uk]

Ok I bought this guitar and the trem arm is really long also instead of kinking in its straight and kinks up, could be mexican, quality control :), anyway I wont ever use it so my question is it easy to remove or does the bridge need to come off ? not sure where to post this question.

[jb007]

I don't know what kinking is, but if you want to remove it, just spin it counter-clockwise and it'll unscrew itself.

[Bounty]

You should be able to just unscrew it. It should just wind out like a screw. Some go lefty tighty though instead of righty tighty and lefty loosy

[123_Rizz_uk]

Ok thanks will have a go at it tomorrow, the other thing I noticed looking at the bridge is the stings disappear into the body, does that mean you have to remove the white back plate to restring a strat with a floating tremalo ?

[Bounty]

Sad to say it is. It isn't any more difficult to restring. you just have an extra step in taking off the back plate.

[james]

yea all 6 of those screws really wear u out. make sure to be well rested before u start.

[123_Rizz_uk]

Lol James, I hope your being sarcastic :) do you need to set anything up on tremalo after restringing and tuning, ie will the tremalo plate sit back where it is now or does it need some sort of adjusting, if it does I will take it to a music shop to have it done. I know if it needs adjusting I will screw it up, and do i need a bridge tool to stop it hitting the paint when the string tension is off. My Dad used to string all the guitars I should have taken more notice :)

[Bounty]

Okay take a deap breath. Okay its just a guitar. Change one string at a time. That way you won't have any troubles with the bridge. There are schools of thought for doing all at once or one at a time. I do one at a time unless I'm changing a pickup or something. There is a lot of strain on the neck due to the strings I'm not sure its good to release all that pressure by taking all the strings off and then tighning it up again.

James I was so worn out from those 6 screws. whew :D

[123_Rizz_uk]

Ok thanks for that Bounty, I was actually starting to wonder if I should have bought a hard tail version, not that they had one in the shop at the time, and I doubt they would let me upgrade a week down the line, that usa strat did look nice next to it, still had a tremalo system though.

[Bounty]

I'm not a big fan of a trem. What I did on mine is take off the arm and then under the back plate I put a peice of wood to stop the bridge from moving. A tech I know suggested it. it was pretty easy. He said he knows guys who use rolls of quarters. I didn't like the idea of putting metal or money in the guitar. I could take a pic and send it to ya later if you like. Doing this helped my guitar stay in tune better. Its an option for all those rock'n guitars that have a trem on them. pm me if you want a pic

[123_Rizz_uk]

Interesting to put wood in there although I might upgrade the bridge to a hardtail usa version if its possible without modifcation as I heard they are better.