Jazzmaster tremolo arm is stiff - do I oil it or something else?

Philtre

I recently bought a '65 Jazzmaster AV. The problem is the tremolo arm is rather stiff. Not the up and down whammy motion, I mean the radial movement in its sleeve. Could it be oiled? Perhaps a nut is too tight? I guess I'm going to have to remove the tremolo plate to access it. Thoughts?

GavRichList

They’re just push ins... personally would prefer stiff than floppy... ahem... but pull the arm out and put a bit of WD40 on it, see if that helps. Or go to staytrem and purchase their arm and Collet upgrade for £30... highly recommend. Arm stays where you leave it but moves smoothly when you want it to. 

Philtre

I can push it in no problem and the lateral up and down movement is fine, it's the circular motion that's way too stiff as if the collet needs oiling.

blueskunk

WD40 ?

Philtre

blueskunk said:

WD40 ?

Well, I don't want to be squirting willy-nilly so I may take it apart and have a look inside.

Bridgehouse

Philtre said:

blueskunk said:

WD40 ?

Well, I don't want to be squirting willy-nilly so I may take it apart and have a look inside.

I'd go with a good grease or some triflow instead of the wd40 - unless you get a lot of water in your trem

blueskunk

Philtre said:

blueskunk said:

WD40 ?

Well, I don't want to be squirting willy-nilly so I may take it apart and have a look inside.

Cake it all over the trem from the outside job sorted perhaps 

francer

Hi all, my first post so I might as well add something useful from my personal experience.

If you take the trem apart be very wary of attempting to bend out the collet teeth to make the action looser, they are brittle as f*ck and very easy to break.

Yes, I broke mine attempting to squeeze them up, gentlest of pressure and *snap*

Still on the positive side my trem is pretty loose now ....

Philtre

Thanks for the insight @francer - have your first wisdom point from me ;-)

meltedbuzzbox

Vaseline innit

Gagaryn

francer said:

Hi all, my first post so I might as well add something useful from my personal experience.

If you take the trem apart be very wary of attempting to bend out the collet teeth to make the action looser, they are brittle as f*ck and very easy to break.

Yes, I broke mine attempting to squeeze them up, gentlest of pressure and *snap*

Still on the positive side my trem is pretty loose now ....

Been there, done it. Perfect time to buy a Staytrem arm. :-)

Voxman

Are you guys sure this isn't adjustable? On my Yamaha Pacifica 611 VFM there is a small grub screw in the rear trem spring cavity that adjusts the tightness of the push-fit.  Might there be something similar in the Jazzmaster?

Philtre

Sorted. I misunderstood how it worked. I thought the collet was turning, when in fact the point of friction is the tremolo arm inside the collet. Flaxseed oil on a rag, a little wipe down on the base of the arm and done. Thanks for suggestions!