Staytrem Tremolo Arm: Worth it?

[taylornutt]

I have a CIJ J Mascis Jazzmaster and AVRI 62 Jaguar.

Untitled by Joey, on Flickr

My AVRI arm flops and won't stay put.

My CIJ Jazzmaster also flops, but I did the "hammer" fix and it stays put for the most part.

I was wondering what everyone's experience with Staytrem Vibrato has been.

Is it worth it? Any downsides to it?

Thanks.

[BearBoy]

I've got one I installed on my MIJ Jaguar and my Johnny Marr Jaguar came with one. I've never tried any of the other "fixes" but the Staytrem works great.

[BearBoy]

Love that Jazzmaster btw.

[Thomas]

I have one on my Japanese CAR Jag. It stays put and feels perfect. A worthy upgrade that saves a lot of fannying about.

[taylornutt]

I've got one I installed on my MIJ Jaguar and my Johnny Marr Jaguar came with one. I've never tried any of the other "fixes" but the Staytrem works great.

For your MIJ Jaguar, did you get model that works on CIJ/MIJ Jaguars or did you upgrade to a AVRI?

[taylornutt]

I have one on my Japanese CAR Jag. It stays put and feels perfect. A worthy upgrade that saves a lot of fannying about.

That's good to know. I slightly bent my Jazzmaster arm and it did help, but I would prefer something more consistent.

My AVRI arm doesn't feel like its locking in anymore.

[benecol]

Had them on every offset I've had since STaytrem started doing them, and I think they're the best offset mod you can do.

[BearBoy]

I've got one I installed on my MIJ Jaguar and my Johnny Marr Jaguar came with one. I've never tried any of the other "fixes" but the Staytrem works great.

For your MIJ Jaguar, did you get model that works on CIJ/MIJ Jaguars or did you upgrade to a AVRI?

I got the one for CIJ/MIJ Jaguars. The feel of it was much improved without the slight give that was present before but I think the US unit on my JM Jag feels a bit better overall.

[taylornutt]

Had them on every offset I've had since STaytrem started doing them, and I think they're the best offset mod you can do.

Thank you for the feedback.

Didn't Staytrem used to make a model for Mustangs?

[NickD]

Bear in mind that they don't (at least last time I heard) ship outside the UK. You'd need to ask someone to proxy for you.

[benecol]

That was temporary Nick - back to global shipping.

[Hurb]

Just to be Mr negative knickers. I have one in a avri trem I bought that I put on my black Jaguar.
I would go as far to say it's alright..not massive improvement over your hammer trick.

[NickD]

That was temporary Nick - back to global shipping.

That's good. It was a shame that such a good product wasn't available to all, although I totally understand why.

[taylornutt]

Just to be Mr negative knickers. I have one in a avri trem I bought that I put on my black Jaguar.
I would go as far to say it's alright..not massive improvement over your hammer trick.

Since I did the "Hammer trick" on the Jazzmaster, I might get one for the Jaguar so I can do a proper comparison.

I need to swap strings on the Jaguar so it would be perfect timing.

The vibrato arm on the Jag use to snap in audibly but it's flopping right now.

I have a spare AVRI vibrato for an upcoming build I was messing with and broke the collet teeth so I need to fix one of them.

[Doog]

Got 'em in my Jag and my JM; I like the slightly increased height on the bar and the "nothing is going to break/bend/fall-out" vibe that it offers.

[taylornutt]

Got 'em in my Jag and my JM; I like the slightly increased height on the bar and the "nothing is going to break/bend/fall-out" vibe that it offers.

It's funny you bring that up. I had emailed a question about that to the creator of the Staytrem and he was quite adamant that it was exactly the same height as the stock bar.

[Doog]

Got 'em in my Jag and my JM; I like the slightly increased height on the bar and the "nothing is going to break/bend/fall-out" vibe that it offers.

It's funny you bring that up. I had emailed a question about that to the creator of the Staytrem and he was quite adamant that it was exactly the same height as the stock bar.

Depends on stock unit, I guess? The Staytrem collet has a 'bottom', and I literally cannot push the bar down any further. Here it is vs. the stock Squier model (surf green VM Jag, obviously the assembly is sitting higher without the strings on):

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Obviously the spring tension setting will determine the height relative to the strings also, but it definitely is a taller collet-bar setup.

[Doog]

http://staytrem.com/epages/950002362.s ... _insertion

This suggests it’s not all the way in on mine but.. what?! It feel like I’m going to bust the whole vibrato with any more pressure, I can’t believe it can get any lower?!

[plopswagon]

somebody's a little behind on their dusting.

[Doog]

somebody's a little behind on their dusting.

Too busy bustin (riffs) to be dustin (diamond)



So, this all got my curiosity piqued so I did some INVESTIGATIVE SCIENCE:

I measured the true depth of the collet with this tiny wooden javelin:

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There's definitely more space to allow the lil' arm indentation to be flush with the collet rim in theory...

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IMG_8718.jpg (614.7 KiB) Viewed 2470 times

However, I pushed with as much two-armed strength as I physically could, and this is still as low as it goes for me. Even just tried a wrapped hammer!

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IMG_8719.jpg (1.06 MiB) Viewed 2470 times

Makes me wonder if I've got a mismatched arm and collet or something, I'm gonna email the Stayfella to see what he reckons.