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Whammy Bar from the Beginning

 
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Description

After making sure that the parts of your vibrato system are made of good quality materials and are in good working condition the biggest problem you will have with a standard vibrato system is keeping the thing in tune!


It's necessary to have a good, solid steel or brass parts of the vibrato system from the bar to the saddles, plate, block and springs. It's also necessary to have smooth, even travel, precise return to original position. The nut slots should be clean and free of foreign material. Wider slots than usual can help, but are not absolutely necessary. I think original bone nuts are good material to use. Graphite nuts are very good, having very little friction if keep clean. Metal nuts like brass are good, the steel roller nuts are good but slightly alter the tone. Plastic can work, but tends to be problematic.


All slack must be removed from the strings. String windings at the tuner must be orderly and not overlapping in any way. String trees need to be clean and free of foreign material. It can help to use an old toothbrush to clean the nut slots & string trees. It can help to use a little WD-40, 3-in-1 oil, graphite dust or a grease pencil to lubricate the nut slots. But the best option is to keep your strings and all these parts as clean as possible and all the slack out of the strings.

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Whammy Bar from the Beginning