found a loose spring

[Passey01]

Not sure if this is the right place to post this but I have a new Fender Stratocaster Deluxe Player. It fell off a chair last night and a small black spring fell out of the back plate. Looking at Chris's lesson on building a strat style guitar, and opening up the back plate, I can't see where the small spring (it is not one of the big whammy bar springs) would go. Any ideas?
Just to add, I love the new strat!

Thanks!

[CSchlegel]

...I have a new Fender Stratocaster Deluxe Player. It fell off a chair last night and a small black spring fell out of the back plate.

Sounds like a classic 5-way switch spring. Look here:

http://www.premierguitar.com/Magazine/Issue/2009/Feb/The_Anatomy_of_the_Stratocaster_5_way_Switch.aspx

Does your pickup selector seem broken or loose?

[Razbo]

I bet it's the elusive tremolo bar spring.

[CSchlegel]

I bet it's the elusive tremolo bar spring.
Ah ha! A more likely culprit. I forgot about those.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/accessories/fender-tremolo-arm-tension-springs-12/

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y226/DirtyBird133/tremoloholder.jpg

I've never had a guitar with one of those. Good call, Razbo. Happy New Year! :)

[Passey01]

That's what it is. A little black spring. So is this a trip to my favorite guitar shop to get fixed?
I need to get the setup done as well as the bottom E string buzzes which is kind of frustrating on a brand new guitar, but they do have in the fine print that it is a generic setup at the factory so....

Thanks guys for the answer. Chris, I love your lessons. Keep up the great work. You are making better guitar players out of all of us!

[Razbo]

Sometimes I get lucky.

The spring should just drop into the trem bar hole. Unscrew the trem bar right out, drop in the spring, screw the bar back in. It will make the bar stay in place where you put it and greatly reduce the 'wiggle'.

A pro set up would be recommended, or you can research and learn. Basic set up is not rocket science as they say, but it's nice to get a good starting point done by a professional. I find the nut slots are a really key factor. Make sure they do what needs to be done. Good luck!