Arrrhhhhhh

[Bluesnote]

I've just got a guitar off someone last night to try a repair on.
Its a young guy(12) who's parents bought him a new guitar for Christmas.
Its a Squier Strat. The tremolo has been snapped off and the threaded part is stuck inside the unit.
It was the young guys mother that screwed it up too tight believe it or not.
I suspect that the boy has commented to his mother that the arm is always loose when he tries to use it, and not knowing the ptfe trick he's asked her if she can sort it, and with her gorilla like grip, she has snapped it off.(hm, glad she's not my wife )
It has snapped off way down into the unit and the only way I could possibly get it out is to drill a hole and try jam a screwdriver or the like in and see if it'll move. No luck with that so far, so I had to strip the unit right down to the part that screws onto the bottom of the unit(silly me thought I'd get away without a strip down). I've left it soaked with WD 40 overnight and I'll try some heat on it today and see if it'll free up a bit.
It's not looking good. I reckon I'll need to see if I can purchase the part itself and not a whole unit.
Ideas anyone???????

[John Boyd]

Hugh,
The simplest fix might be to purchase a new block. I'm sure you'll find one at places like Axes 'R' Us in the UK.
Then it's just a matter of removing three screws and substituting the new part.
Make sure though, that you get one to fit a Squier! There are several sizes available.
Hope this helps.
Cheers,
JB

[RUSSET]

Can't imagine how the actual arm broke ! I recently changed the Trem block in my newly aquired Squier 'Biffy Clyro' Strat & the original block that was in it was a dreadful soft metal alloy thing about 1/2" thick at best. Within a few days from new it was giving a very loose & wobbly Trem & any further tightening would have surely simply stripped the threads of the alloy block completely. Soft metal gives way to steel first. Maybe she was an Arm-wrestler, or she could have used a Brummie screwdriver on it. (for non-Brummies, that's a hammer).

Tony.

[Bluesnote]

Thanks for the replies guys. Yes I've no idea how she managed it either, how/why would you exert so much pressure on a musical instrument with such force as to snap the arm and not think that maybe she'd break something else as well
Anyway, problem solved, I tried again this morning after the WD 40 and still no success, so I heated it on the gas stove, still nothing so I heated it again and then dropped it into cold water, and hey presto....it came out with no great pressure at all.
So now all I need to do is get a new arm, which I'm told should be fairly easy.
This was a £250 Squire and the neck finish was a disaster. It was every bit as bad as mine was and mine cost around 70 quid.
So I fixed up the fingerboard for him and oiled it too. It plays much better now than it did. I hope it gives him some inspiration to keep on playing and maybe someday be really good at it.
I'll give him some ptfe and a warning not to let his grizzly bear maw near it ever again

[RayL]

There is an 'engineering' method for this problem which involves drilling a hole and then using a tap with a reverse thread. When the hole has been tapped, a bolt with a reverse thread is inserted and the bolt is turned anticlockwise with a screwdriver, which draws out the broken piece.

Ray L

[dave robinson]

There is an 'engineering' method for this problem which involves drilling a hole and then using a tap with a reverse thread. When the hole has been tapped, a bolt with a reverse thread is inserted and the bolt is turned anticlockwise with a screwdriver, which draws out the broken piece.

Ray L

It's called a 'stud extractor' - available from tool shops.