Broken trem arm?

[waylay00]

I was playing yesterday, and I noticed that the trem arm was becoming very loose. So I attempted to pull at out, and I bam, it's broken. Now I have a whole piece of an arm stuck in my trem. How should I go about getting it out?

[jb4674]

post a pic. Is the remaining piece sticking out of of the hole? If its sitting flush, then you're going to have to remove the trem, unscrew the arm holder and try to push it or or pull it out with some needle nose pliers.

And now, for the million dollar question........ How in the hell did you manage to break the bar??? The only fool I've seen break a bar was the dude from the chilli peppers, and he was using a strat. The bar on an Ibanez is much thicker, so I'm still astonished.

Jimmy

[waylay00]

All right, I got it out, but I have NO idea how I broke the bar. I'm not even a whammy abusing fellow. I was just doing a divebomb, and bam, it snapped clean right off, right above the second bushing.

Weird...

[Rich]

Flip it over, unscrew the screw that holds the arm holder spring on. Use a 1.5 or 2mm allen wrenck to push the broken piece out. If you're careful you won't dislodge the spring and can just put the screw right back on.

[Rich]

Originally Posted by waylay00

All right, I got it out, but I have NO idea how I broke the bar. I'm not even a whammy abusing fellow. I was just doing a divebomb, and bam, it snapped clean right off, right above the second bushing.

Weird...

If it broke at the bushing you probably didn't have it pushed in all the way.

[S-man]

That's always were they seem to break, at the bushing.

The metal is a cast type so they do break once in a while.

Usually from improper use or abuse.

Oh, the spring Rich is talking about isn't the same type of spring you are probably thinking of. It's more of a "L" shaped piece of metal with a loop at the end for the screw to go through.

Hope that makes sense.

[Dee]

I also broke one at the bushing in 1988. I think I did what Rich said and pushed it out with a 1.5mm allen key.

[waylay00]

Yeah, I got it out, I'm just scared to use any of my other whammy bars on this guitar

I tightened the hole per Rich's tech guide, but it's still a little too loose than I'd like it. My other RG550's seem to be fine.

[MetalZone]

this website makes some awesome stainless steel trem bars. should be virtually indestructible. i have a brushed finish one...
http://www.fretsonthenet.net/

[Ironjose]

thats a cool link... the ibby trem arm... seems a nice option whenever my arm gets broken or lost... hmmm they do them in many colors...