I've got a 1996 CE22 with tremolo that I've owned for 20 plus years now. I'm getting back into my guitar playing a little bit after many years of not so much and so I'm trying to get my old CE into good reliable playing condition. I just had a fret level and re-crown done along with a "setup" but I am still having poor tuning stability. I have always been wary of my guitar being messed with over the years as I have read about the knife edges getting messed up on these trems. Despite my efforts vetting the luthier, in the end I chose to trust them with the guitar and sure enough got it back with the fulcrum screws having been messed with and the trem installed incorrectly despite me wanting them to leave it alone!! When I went to pick it up the trem plate was obviosly not even seated into the grooves in the screws! I had them try again insisting they use the John Mann video for installation. I then also checked it myself later at my next string change.
All told tuning stability was not great before I dropped it off and knowing how I treated the whammy back in the day it might be expected that my trem was shot anyways.
I just installed a Tremel-no as I am sick of the lack of ability to hold tune and I also have a desire to be able to change tunings sometimes. I've enjoyed playing it with the trem locked out but there is a little bit of a soft tiny "thunk" in the bridge when doing bends and using wide vibrato. To me, this is further evidence I may need a new bridge. I haven't disassembled it yet as this is my only electric and I want to have parts and a plan before I take it apart.
It looks like my options for a replacement are the John Mann two piece for $200, PRS replacement which is selling for $290, or keep watching for a used trem which of course will be hard to guarantee the condition of. It looks like the Mann 2000NOS is maybe the best unit to get but I don't see any available online. Any reason to go for the PRS branded unit? I would prefer to keep the guitar as original as possible and don't love that the Mann unit is engraved with the brand name although I can probably get over that since that is probably a silly concern.
I had replacement fulcrum screws on order with the thought of replacing those and hoping that maybe my trem plate is still ok although not sure I can count on that. Any thoughts?
Further advice needed in that while I was re-checking the fulcrum screw heights per the John Mann installation video, one of the screws turns far too easily in it's hole in the body. It is not firm enough to trust that the screw won't walk around on it's own. It is not stripped and don't know how it could be, but I think something needs to be done to firm it's grasp in the hole. I am kind of nervous about this situation because of course the last thing I want is to mess up threaded holes in the body. My thought is to lightly coat a screw in some wood glue, maybe with some sawdust and run it into the hole and remove it, let it dry, then check a screw threads properly and then do the final install. Thoughts? I still don't love this plan because maybe then I could have too much difficulty threading a screw and I really don't want to strip the threads in the body.
Lastly I am wondering if anyone has any ideas on how to get the trem plate perfectly flat with the body on a carved top guitar for the fulcrum screw installation? The Mann video describes installation on a flat-topped SE model. I held my bridge as flat as I could while setting up the screws but it was hard to be confident that I had it perfectly flat and stable as I went, it seemed like it had a tendency to rock around a little bit... Sorry this is so long-winded but this guitar is one of my prized possessions and I can't see any reason it can't be brought back to 100%! Big thanks if you read through and are able to help any!
All told tuning stability was not great before I dropped it off and knowing how I treated the whammy back in the day it might be expected that my trem was shot anyways.
I just installed a Tremel-no as I am sick of the lack of ability to hold tune and I also have a desire to be able to change tunings sometimes. I've enjoyed playing it with the trem locked out but there is a little bit of a soft tiny "thunk" in the bridge when doing bends and using wide vibrato. To me, this is further evidence I may need a new bridge. I haven't disassembled it yet as this is my only electric and I want to have parts and a plan before I take it apart.
It looks like my options for a replacement are the John Mann two piece for $200, PRS replacement which is selling for $290, or keep watching for a used trem which of course will be hard to guarantee the condition of. It looks like the Mann 2000NOS is maybe the best unit to get but I don't see any available online. Any reason to go for the PRS branded unit? I would prefer to keep the guitar as original as possible and don't love that the Mann unit is engraved with the brand name although I can probably get over that since that is probably a silly concern.
I had replacement fulcrum screws on order with the thought of replacing those and hoping that maybe my trem plate is still ok although not sure I can count on that. Any thoughts?
Further advice needed in that while I was re-checking the fulcrum screw heights per the John Mann installation video, one of the screws turns far too easily in it's hole in the body. It is not firm enough to trust that the screw won't walk around on it's own. It is not stripped and don't know how it could be, but I think something needs to be done to firm it's grasp in the hole. I am kind of nervous about this situation because of course the last thing I want is to mess up threaded holes in the body. My thought is to lightly coat a screw in some wood glue, maybe with some sawdust and run it into the hole and remove it, let it dry, then check a screw threads properly and then do the final install. Thoughts? I still don't love this plan because maybe then I could have too much difficulty threading a screw and I really don't want to strip the threads in the body.
Lastly I am wondering if anyone has any ideas on how to get the trem plate perfectly flat with the body on a carved top guitar for the fulcrum screw installation? The Mann video describes installation on a flat-topped SE model. I held my bridge as flat as I could while setting up the screws but it was hard to be confident that I had it perfectly flat and stable as I went, it seemed like it had a tendency to rock around a little bit... Sorry this is so long-winded but this guitar is one of my prized possessions and I can't see any reason it can't be brought back to 100%! Big thanks if you read through and are able to help any!