Homepage Forums Guitar Discussion Guitar Need help tuning/setting up vibrola tailpiece

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  • #24838
    axescent
    Participant

    I have a question about the maestro vibrola type bridge…
    Does anyone have a problem when stringing/tuning it up? I use heavy gauge strings and just installed the vibrola bridge on my firebird and for the life of me I can’t string it up, then tune it properly without the bar subsequently being pulled down almost against the body.

    So I can’t use it and it’s made the piece pointless, plus it looks really weird being all pulled up like that…

    I’m not used to using anything with a vibrato on it so I’m new to this. Is there a special way to string/tune these things up?

    Can anyone help me with this? Should I take the piece off and then bend it back with pilers to compensate or something or is there a special way to string/tune these?

    Thanks so much.

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    • #79009
      lee_UK
      Participant

      Was it Diana Ross who had a hit with ‘Im still waiting’?

      • #102172
        Anonymous
        Guest

        Lee: over 10 years later your assistance came in handy. Hadn’t restrung my SG Jr in years — didn’t realize I had to “thread” the vibrola through the metal bar on the tailpiece. So, thanks 🙂

    • #78965
      lee_UK
      Participant

      At least he wasn’t one of those ‘My Granpappy left me a peice of wood with 6 strings on it in his will, how much is it worth?’ characters.

    • #79040
      Tim
      Participant

      School Jollys and all that, might be away somewhere…like our man in the costas…maybe…

    • #79049
      lee_UK
      Participant

      Oh well.

      on behalf of ‘Axscent’ i would like to thank myself for all the time and effort i spent taking pictures and posting them up with possible explainations.
      Just an acknowledgment would have done. 👿

    • #79053
      lee_UK
      Participant

      Here are my pictures, your bridge is pulling right forward like you are using 15 gauge strings 4 tones above concert pitch!!
      Also mine is stringed from the top part of the bridge, yours seems to be strung from underneath.
      #http://img384.imageshack.us/img384/5438/dsc02351ri7.jpg
      #http://img384.imageshack.us/img384/6580/dsc02352gu5.jpg
      #http://img292.imageshack.us/img292/2839/dsc02353tr5.jpg
      #http://img292.imageshack.us/img292/6678/dsc02354tr8.jpg

      Bit grubbier than yours but thats because it has been played to death!!
      i love this guitar, it’s been my gigging guitar for 5 years, i bought it new in 1999.

      Anyway, back to your bridge, you can see where the problem is, yours seems to be under a lot of extra tension, or it has been bent forward when manufatured, if so send it back to Allparts, if you need any more pics i can post some more up.

      Good luck, and the Lyre unit is well worth all the trouble, your Firebird looks so much better with it on too.

    • #79023
      axescent
      Participant

      Yeah with the raised middle it should be even higher… maybe the heavier strings are just too much for the piece… I’ll have to email them and see it maybe it’s defective and I could get another one sent to me or something.

      Any pics you’ve got would help me out.

      Thanks a lot for the help so far!

    • #79020
      lee_UK
      Participant

      I think mine is more like 30mm above the scratch plate, definatly something wrong with yours, on the Firebird you have that raised centre part in the middle of the guitar, i bet if that wern’t there it would be flat on the guitar, yours looks a little different from mine too..
      Anyway i will post up some pics as soon as i get it.

    • #78812
      axescent
      Participant

      I just measured it and it’s exactly 4mm (aprox 1/8″) above the pickguard.
      This trem, like yours was ordered from Allparts.
      I’m not looking to do any kind of dive bombs or crazy stuff, I know the amount of movement I’ll get from it is minimal. However I didn’t expect it to be that minimal haha.

      Please let me where your trem arm sits, and if the piece (where the strings are hooked in) sits fairly level or if it’s angled towards the nut or the body. Cause mine as you can see in the pics is pulled up/forward a lot.

    • #78793
      lee_UK
      Participant

      Can you give a measurement? (arm from body) when i get access to my SG i’ll measure it up for you.

      And what make is the unit? is it a Gibson?

    • #78800
      axescent
      Participant

      here are some pics of the way the bridge looks when the guitar is tuned to 440 pitch. It may be hard to see but the bar is almost touching the pickguard on the guitar it floats maybe 1/4″ and that’s it.

      I’m probably stringing it up in a wrong order or something… I appreciate the help. I’ll also mention I use heavy gauge strings but I don’t think that’ll make that much of a difference.

      Thanks very much

      Photobucket

      Photobucket

      Photobucket
      Photobucket

      http://s26.photobucket.com/albums/c128/axescent/Vibrola%20Tremolo/

      Thanks again.

    • #78789
      lee_UK
      Participant

      Ive installed one of these on my prized SG standard, drilled the holes and set it up, it is a Allparts maestro the long type, in order to help i need to see some pictures of your bridge, what you describe is most unusual, you are doing something very wrong.
      Post up some pics if you want the help.

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