The Electra Forums

It just means you'll have to grind it back a little as the die nut won't be able to cut over it; a Dremel will do the job as will a good sharp mill file.

The 19.52mm measurement is the overall length of the mounting collar!!

Use the Westone link, Bob; it was done by the bloke that did the actual engineering of this mod...

http://www.westoneguitars.net/fixme/har ... placement/

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

Because even the Australians need heroes."

corsair

Sorry for being such a pest! I get very detailed when I'm trying to figure out something like this. I suffer from the paralysis of analysis:>) but---I appreciate you being patient with me and thanks for the help!
Platefire

No worries, mate; listen, you're talking to a bloke who took a year and and half to restore a guitar so I know exactly where you're coming from and it was the good folk in here and at Westone who gently chivvied me along!!

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

Because even the Australians need heroes."

OK corsair, thanks! You know I've had this ax for about 6 months now and it's just starting to sink in my pea brain what a sweet ax this is. The neck and action is just amazing. No fretting out, the frets feel great and the notes just sing out---no restrictions. I'm really starting to like these pickups too. The cool thing is I can get a Les Paul, strat and tele sounds out of it that includes fat strat quack tone with the humbuckers and vintage quack tone with the single coil taps. That's why I need to get my whammy bar right so it will rise above the pulled knobs and I will be able to do whammy bends in all those settings. Other than the whammy bar/collar, the only thing I've got to fix is the output jack seems to partially short out diminishing the output of the pickups. I can usually move the cord in the jack and it will pick back up again---it's not loose--must be internal. So I think I will start by installing a new jack and see if that does it. Platefire

The Spectrum/Phoenix range were, and still are, much under-rated instruments I feel. The likes of the Westone Thunders and Panteras, and the Electra MPCs seem to be more valued and were, in fact, a little more expensive when new!

Yep; the Matsumoku lines of the early to mid 80s had the nicest necks around, IMO; well shaped, beautifully finished and ruggedly built to boot - I whacked a couple of over-enthusiastic punters in the pie hole with the headstock of my neck-through Vantage many years ago and the guitar never missed a beat! The Spectrum/Phoenix necks are superb, no question, but these days I find the Genesis II neck to be just the ducks' nuts if I'm honest and if I were ever to play out again, it would probably be that or my Vantage Avenger 395 that I'd take with me rather than any of my Spectrums, Pantera (too heavy), Strat (too common), VA900 (too much baggage ) or anything else i've got here... though I'd certainly entertain the thought of playing my Phoenix X195.... you should try and grab one of those, Bob; S/H/S configuration; takes some getting used to but has some tones that you cannot get anywhere else!!

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

Because even the Australians need heroes."

Har! I got the FR arm/collar assembly in Saturday. Sunday I borrowed a 9mm x 1 thread die and holder.
Today(Monday) I take the trem arm assembly apart and start to examine everything so I took the collar to be threaded and put it up to the threaded hole where it is to go after being threaded because I knew it needs to be slightly larger than the existing threads inside diameter. Guess what! the new un-threaded part of the collar slid right down all the way in between the existing threads up to the flange. It wasn't a real lose fit but it lightly push it and it went down all the way. So it seems kind of pointless to try to thread the new collar with it doing that. Seems like threading it would even take more metal off and even make it looser. So with that I am at kind of a loss of how to proceed with the plan downloaded as the fix.

One thing I did notice, I had previously mentioned at the top of the un-threaded section of the collar right below the flange has about a 1/8" long knurled portion. That portion fit tightly against the base plate hole before the threads. When I push the knurled section slightly in the base by hand it tightens up significantly. So I stuck the arm in there and it worked good. If I hammered the rest of the knurled section in the base plate it would be pretty tight. Only problem is with continued use of the whammy it may loosen up and fall out latter. On the other hand, I'm not heavy handed on the whammy bar, so it may last from now on out? May be worth trying as a second option if threading is now down the drain for this collar. Platefire

Hmmm... a new wrinkle. Perhaps the sustain blocks are different i.e. Spectrum blocks different to Phoenix?? Dunno, but let's look what we have. Actually, I wonder if the thread in there is actually metric; being for the domestic US market it could have been an Imperial size?

My apologies, Bob, for not considering these points!

Just ramming the knurled section into the pot metal of tbe block is not a method for long term success, eh; the stresses on that part of the block will very quickly see it come loose and sloppy!

I'll have a think about it and hopefully the lads in here will chime in as well....

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

Because even the Australians need heroes."

A picture might be worth a thousand words in this instance.

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Thorny

Here is some pictures if that would help. The treads down in the block look good to me and don't appear to be stripped.


This is the existing base plate and new collar from the FR assembly


This is with the new un-threaded collar in the hole


Better shot of the threads in block


This is the hole/threads and the whole new FR arm/collar assembly

corsair

Don't sweat it that things went amulk. You was trying to direct me in what has worked in the past and I appreciate your help. I can always re-sell the FR on e-bay but if we can't find a better solution I will probably keep it. If nothing else I can put some Teflon tape for sealing pipe threads on the un-threaded part of collar to tighten it up. It won't be jam up a jelly tight like a real thread fit but will be better than what I got. I tried that and it works pretty good, I just took it back out to take some pictures. Thanks, Platefire

I've not seen this style block in person as of yet but would you be able to switch the tone block or is it a one piece deal like the X175 models? GFS has brass and steel and KGC.com has a wide selection.

http://www.guitarfetish.com/Upgrade-Ste ... c_219.html

http://www.killerguitarcomponents.com/s ... olo-blocks


Another way, you can plug the hole with a threaded (soft drillable material -Brass) and redrill and tap to fit. Time consuming I know.

Just an idea.

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SlmGuy

Hello simguy

I took a close look at bridge and it does have three Phillips head screws attaching the bridge base plate to the block. If you look closely at the previous pictures about two post back, you can see a couple of the screws. Of course because this bridge is top loaded type, the block has no string holes in it. I did a rough measurement to try to get distance between mounting holes and trem arm hole. Looks like it's about 22mm between screw holes and then 16mm over to trem amp hole. That would be approximately center to center or holes. I like the idea of changing the block out more than plugging the hole and re-drilling/threading. Thanks, Platefire

I know this is not kosher but-----I have been using the last Floyd Rose type arm and insert on the existing trem block. No the threads don't match as it's a smaller outside diameter on the insert than the inside diameter of the treads in the block. I have wrapped a couple of layers of pipe thread tape around the insert threads and screwed it into the block and so far it stays tight. Platefire

Good deal glad it works. Now just like mine

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Thorny

Hello, just dropped in to see if my old post is still around and was surprised it was still on page 1. Still go this Spectrum only difference is I've tweaked the setup a little more to suit my liking. Trem with pipe tape is still working. Hope everybody here is doing well. Platefire