The Electra Forums

Has anybody replaced the tremolo on their X189 or other Phoenix with one of the Stew-Mac arms?

I have three X189s and a Futura RDX2, all of them need tremolo arms. If anybody has a recommendation for an inexpensive replacement, I'd like to hear it!

As long as it has metric threads you should do fine.

If not here is a place that has a metric one cheap.

http://www.musicpartsplus.com/Tremolo-A ... 83044.html

I have never dealt with them though. Just did a google search.

I got an arm from Guitarfetish for about $9.00 for my X185 - Fit nicely and does the job.

If you're going to actually use the bar, take the opportunity to get some Big Bends 'nut sauce'. It comes in three or four sizes, and is relatively expensive, but if you're gonna use your vibrato, you'll want the nut to be as kink-free as possible. They'd like you to put it on the saddles too, but the nut is (usually) 98% of the problem when it comes to strings kinking.

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Electra Guitar Videos ===> http://www.youtube.com/user/mjm33mjm?feature=watch

Yep, Stewmacs.. "Foreign trems" or something similar; 6mm thread.
Actually, that guitarfetish one looks to be spot on for the Electra trems; the Westone Bendmasters used a slightly different one... good price!

That nut sauce is great stuff but farking expensive; I used to just get a 4B pencil and put some graphite into the grooves... I'm a cheap bastard!!

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"... and on the eighth day, God created New Zealanders.

Because even the Australians need heroes."

I just ordered a stack of trems from GuitarFetish... will see how they work. Thanks for the advice! Going to try the "nut sauce" as well, although I don't really want people to have it around the house in case people see the packaging.

Nah, mate; just revel in it, make people look at it - they'll mumble something and move quickly away...

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"... and on the eighth day, God created New Zealanders.

Because even the Australians need heroes."

Yeah, most of their other products have 'innuendo' implied names as well, must be part of their marketing strategy. With a name like Schmuckers, its got to be good.

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Electra Guitar Videos ===> http://www.youtube.com/user/mjm33mjm?feature=watch

The GuitarFetish trems arrived. They are a tight but correct fit in my various Phoenix tremolo bridges. Thanks for the recommendation!

+1 on the big bends nut sauce. LMAO about the smuckers comment It works a whole lot better than pencil lead (I used to do that at one time myself too) or powdered graphite (which is messy as can be). It is expensive as sin but it lasts a long time, so it is worth it. I saw a planet waves copycat product that was cheaper, but I have not tried it.

Are you aware of the springs they put in a strat tremolo arm hole to keep the arm in place and not wobble? That is why new strats used to have a sticker over the trem arm hole. You drop the thing in the hole and thread in your arm, and it tightens up and compresses on the spring. That way it does not wobble and stays where you put it once it compresses the spring a little. Anyhow, they are a short and stout spring. They worked great on my X189 when I replaced its arm. The stock strat spring was a little long for the X189, so I cut it about 1/2 it's length. It works great. I am a picky bastard when it comes to tremolo arms and a wobbly tremolo - I just can't stand it. It does the trick nicely.

Where to get those springs? I bought a little package of them "Fender brand" from a music-go-round in Louisville a few years back. I am sure someone like allparts sells them. I am sure you can find them. If not give me a shout and one might find its way to you in the mail. I just need to find them.

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Thorny

Yep, but there are many who don't I suspect, judging by the alarming number of Fender wang bars I've seen swinging around like a mad dogs nuts in various clubs and pubs over the years!!

I've put a small ball bearing atop the spring from a biro in the past to achieve the same thing on Fender style trems...

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"... and on the eighth day, God created New Zealanders.

Because even the Australians need heroes."