by
Scott VanderWall
| Tools needed/recommended: Medium bristled toothbrush, Wire brush, 600-1000 grit wet sand paper, Rags, Q-tips and pipe cleaner, Proper intonation key for a lo pro or regular floating trem, a magnet and needle nose pliers or hemostats. WD-40 (I prefer WD 40) or mineral spirits or even carburetor cleaner. 0000 steel wool, a non corrosive bowl that will hold all the nuts and parts as well as the base plate. And of course all the necessary allen wrenches etc. to dismantle the bridge. First: Block the trem with a rag or a sock. Detune the strings and remove them. Now, open up the spring cavity and remove the springs. (I like to be anal and keep track of what spring went where. That's just me) Then remove the bridge. Now that the bridge is off, Remove each saddle string block bolt and each string block. (These can be hard to get out with out a good slamming of the trem) DON'T DO THAT! Get yourself a Strong magnet to help get the blocks out. Once you've remove the saddle bolts & string blocks,take your bowl and fill it with some WD 40 or mineral spirits. (I recommend WD 40 on Black & gold trems but will sometimes use mineral spirits on chrome colors) Take the parts and soak them in the solution while you dismantle the saddles. Try and memorize the position of the saddles or take a picture of them to help get them back close into intonation. Once the bridge is completely dismantled, put it in the dish and spray thoroughly with WD 40. Be sure to spray directly into where the string blocks are as allot of grime and rust accumulates there. Let the soak for a few hours and the go through each piece with the wire brush or toothbrush depending on how rusted they are (you will have to determine that) Clean the rust of them and re soak, do this again as often as needed. Its hard to hold the small pieces in your hand but will pay off in the end. Take the toothbrush and thoroughly scrub the base plate. Once clean, take out of solution and wipe off as well as possible. The saddles will need the most attention, you will need the Q tips to get in the string block area to clean out the gunk... this may take several times! So this until you have a clean Q tip coming out. For the screws that hold the saddles, you will need to remove a portion of the Q tip cotton and twist it in the cavity of the hex screw.. Repeat same as above. When cleaning the string blocks, you may find it difficult to clean them thoroughly, and they may go back in hard. This is where you use the sand paper. Take the block and lightly sand the blocks on the sides to slip it down for a better fit. These blocks can warp over time from the acid properties in peoples skin and rusts etc. So sometimes they need to be lightly sanded. For the base plate, if its chrome, you can use the steel wool to buff out light wear and pimpling...its not going to completely restore a bad one but will help clean it up and preserve it. For the screws, I like to use a wire brush on the threads to free up the rust etc. Now remember, after a good soaking and cleaning, you need to empty out the WD 40 solution and re soak the whole thing again. This is the rinse process. After rinsing, take all the parts out and clean each piece with a rag and begin to re assemble the tremolo. (Make sure to wipe as much of the WD 40 off as possible. There will still be a film on it but this is good and will keep the trem conditioned.) After you have re assembled the trem, re install it on your guitar. You will notice an occasional accumulation or gunk and excess of WD 40 as the residue settles. So that's where you give it the final buff and Q tipping. I like to also use pipe cleaner under the trem to get to those hard to reach areas. Now, your ready to intonate. Once that's done, restring the guitar and you now have a refreshed and conditioned bridge that will not need as much attention!. I do this every 6 months to a year or more. Sometimes, all I have to do its a light tooth brushing to shine it up again... And viola!! You now have thoroughly cleaned and conditioned your tremolo and it will need less maintenance and function more accurately. Its like changing the oil in your car and doing an engine flush... Hope it helps!! Its worked fail proof for me for 10 years! |