Production Models tremolo mounting question... sigh...

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

OK, I think I already know the answer to this. But I'm going to ask, just because. It's sort of a tech question but I don't want to post it in the tech forum because I don't need to know how to fix it.

I have a San Dimas Style 1 2H body. The tremolo studs lean forward slightly. They appear to lean at the same angle. The bushings seemed a little sloppy, so I pulled the inserts and they were very tight in the body, not loose at all.

I put new bushings in (plain) and observed the fit, there is little "wiggle" once it's in past 1/3 of the way and none at all once it's flush.

Put the studs in the bushings, reattached the bridge, etc. and it's still there; it looks to me like the holes are actually drilled at an angle.

So here's my stupid question... Am I the only one? I just want to believe this was done "on purpose" rather than yet another mangled San Dimas body I'm stuck with.

[Grandturk]

Boy that sucks. I didn't take a protractor to mine, but they looked 90 degrees to the eyeball. If there's play between the post and the bushing, it may push forward a little - and you're always going to have play - but it sounds like you're describing some pretty severe tilt.

Given modern production techniques - that should be impossible - they're not hand-drilling these, right?

I'll take a pic of mine tonight when I get home.

Now whether or not this affects the playability/tuning is another matter - I used to have a Kramer with screw in studs that leaned forward from age, and it stayed in tune just fine - YRMV.

So here's my stupid question... Am I the only one? I just want to believe this was done "on purpose" rather than yet another mangled San Dimas body I'm stuck with.

And of course, you're not stuck with it - if they drilled the holes at an angle - bring it to an authorized service center - that's warranty work.

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

Yeah, my luck with these has not been good.

The black and white ones are both 90-degrees "eyeballed" and these are far enough forward that you can eyeball that they're not 90 degrees, but I don't know if I would call it severe or not. It is noticeable, for sure.

The reason for my question was, that it actually seems about parallel with the neck pocket angle, and I guess a little part of me was just hoping they did it on purpose. I mean, in theory, if the neck is angled back, and the posts were leaned toward the neck at the same angle, this would lessen the amount of string length change when raising or lowering the action.

And, same thing I wondered... if they didn't do it on purpose, how the hell would that happen using a good drill press? Esp. since they are both pretty much the same angle?

But, it sounds like it's just f'ed up.

Oh, I'm stuck with it. It's aftermarket (it's a Charvel body, but I did not buy it new.)

[Dogbone]

I'll let you be the judge... I think mine are pretty well straight, but my old eyes are not the best

[Grandturk]

@Carbuff - Can't really tell on the treble side - but the bass side looks straight to me.

I hear what you're saying JazzNoise - angled like the neck pocket - might make sense - I also adjust my Floyd level (parallel) with the neck, not the body.

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

Yes, that looks nice and straight, like my black one.

The bushing seem good and tight... I glued the replacements in, just in case, and kept them as close to 90 degrees as I could (but they "wanted" to lean over). I'm not sure it's actually causing a problem tuning or stability-wise.

I also set my Floyd parallel to the neck, Grandturk. That's how I noticed that the studs seem to be pretty close to the same angle, and what made me wonder how that would have happened or if it was done "on purpose."

[Grandturk]

Did you buy the body with the studs already pulled out? Maybe whoever parted out the body introduced some slop when they dissassembled it?

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

No, it had bushings installed, but the threads didn't look great, and the studs didn't thread very precisely, and it was already angled. I had hoped that the angle issue was just with the bushing, so I pulled & replaced them. The new ones are def. tighter, but it appears the overall issue is really with the drilling in the body.

Man, eventually I will get some kind of piece of shit frankensteined together out of this...

[Grandturk]

well, there's "perfect" and there's "it works."

I'm in the "if it works" camp. So if the trem hold it's tuning, I wouldn't worry about it.

[Carbuff]

Wow, I didnt even know that I had posted in this thread.

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

well, there's "perfect" and there's "it works."

I'm in the "if it works" camp. So if the trem hold it's tuning, I wouldn't worry about it.

Yeah, I hear ya. I've given up on perfect a while back now.

I took a close look and the bass side leans forward slightly more, and it also leans towards the centerline (towards the treble side).

I'm thinking given my choice of this vs. the white one with the .2 mm neck pocket gap, I'll go with the white one. I like white better, it's definitely fully functional, and I don't like the idea of my knife edges riding on the studs at weird angles, even though I'm sure it would not cause a problem for years.

Oh, and when I looked, the treble side had worked its way loose a bit. I didn't use as much glue on it, but I can get the bushing to rock back and forth now. Killer. I think someone dropped it, but it's amazingly absent of any finish damage whatsoever.

[Grandturk]

Just checked my SD1 - the treble post is straight as an arrow. The bass side is leaning forward noticable. These are german posts in the original bushings. I'd have to take the trem off to check for wobble.

Sucker returns in tune no problem, so I'm not concerned. I don't think a little bit of angle will be a problem - and there's always enough pressure on the post to keep it from moving.

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

Thanks for checking, dude. I appreciate it.

After mocking up the white one, it's a no-go. I might just stick with the blue body anyway. It seems like the leaning toward the centerline issue is slight enough that the play in the threads makes it a non-issue. I might just re-glue the bottom one and call it "good enough."

[khabibissell]

Did you guys that are experiencing issues use a mallet to make sure the inserts are pounded in all the way? I would try that first... just get a socket that is the same size as the insert so you can tap them down into the body further.

Also, aren't the German made Floyd inserts a bit bigger than the imported ones? I know that's the case with the JT580 trems. If the post/insert is wiggling, you can probably use the German made versions to correct the problem.

[Grandturk]

I tried the German post to Korean bushing and the German post to German bushing and both displayed an equal amount of "wiggle." Again - nothing that bothered me enough to pull the original bushings and hammer in the German ones.