Loose trem bar?

[Not Steve Vai]

I have a John Petrucci sig series, and the trem bar is a little loose. Now, what I mean by that is it rocks a little in the saddle. How can I tighten this bad boy up?

 

[PeteDuBaldo]

When you press down on the bar and the back of the tremolo lifts up, you can see a black allen head setscrew. Tightening this makes it harder to press in/remove the bar, and also keeps the bar somewhat stationary in the tremolo. Loosening the screw allows the bar to go in/out easier, and swing around a bit.

 

[Not Steve Vai]

Ah, cool man, thanks!

 

[Ali]

That's a useful tip to remember. I take it the Luke is similar?

I much prefer the ability to adjust the trem tightness. My old Washburn KC40V had this yet the Jem and Universe were a pain in the backside, constantly needing the nylon washers replaced...

 

[PurpleSport]

That's a useful tip to remember. I take it the Luke is similar?

I much prefer the ability to adjust the trem tightness. My old Washburn KC40V had this yet the Jem and Universe were a pain in the backside, constantly needing the nylon washers replaced...

Yup, same thing on the Luke....when I got mine, the screw was wedged in pretty hard, and the bar jiggled loosely (previous owner didn't use a trem), and I thought I'd nearly end up twisting my thin little Allen wrench like a candy cane. Once it budged loose, I could reset it to my liking and it worked a treat.

Definitely a big improvement over the Ibanez washer thing, for sure. I solved that on one of my Jems by retrofitting the Schaller version of one of those screw-in Floyd arms. They probably make a small fortune selling those little washers - I used to kill off roughly one every week back in the day......

 

[Jimi D]

My old Washburn KC40V had this yet the Jem and Universe were a pain in the backside, constantly needing the nylon washers replaced...

Let me share an old Jem-slinger's trick. When the arm on your Lo-Pro starts to get a little loose, you just pull it and remove the nylon washers. Then borrow some of your girlfriend's nail polish and paint a thin coat of polish in the grooves where the washers rest. Let dry over night, then replace the washers and fit your arm in the trem. Voila! A nice tight trem arm, and if you do that every three months or so, you don't have to replace the nylon washers more than every couple or three years with heavy trem use...

Jems are cool. Not as cool as Axises, of course, but cool nonetheless!