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i starting to get really annoyed with my mustang. the dam tremolo refuses to return straight pitch, it's stops just short and then you have to nudge it with your hand to get it back. i've took the unit apart and tried to adjust the springs, by moving them down the post. only i can't get them to budge, they're on so tight, how do you move them down? I need either a walkthrough to get this thing returning to pitch properly or a how to on blocking the trem up so it can't move. please help, i love my stang a lot.

I'm using 11's on it. the trem was fine with 10's. i just can't get on with thinner strings.

I'm also running 11's on mine and had the same problem you're talking about. At the direction of some of the guys here, I decided the best way to block it was with a couple of bolts from the bottom and some washers. I went with a couple of 1/4" fine thread bolts (Just take a spring or the tail piece w/ you to the hardware store and test it out). Mine is a '65 USA - your thread pattern may be different. I also picked up two nuts and two nylon spacers, along with a few washers. Get the narrowest washers you can find that will fit around your bolt. I put the nut on the bolt first, then the spacer, then ran it through the bottom of the bridge plate, added 2 washers to leave clearance to wrap under, then threaded in to the tail piece (adjusting the nut to give me the correct bolt length up top).

You can't bottom out your tail piece against the plate and wrap over as you won't have enough string break angle over the bridge (at least I didn't). I couldn't be happier w/ the result on mine - and am glad that it was so easy to do a non-permanent stop tail mod on my Mustang.

I've only got this pic:

Dice wrote:I'm also running 11's on mine and had the same problem you're talking about. At the direction of some of the guys here, I decided the best way to block it was with a couple of bolts from the bottom and some washers. I went with a couple of 1/4" fine thread bolts (Just take a spring or the tail piece w/ you to the hardware store and test it out). Mine is a '65 USA - your thread pattern may be different. I also picked up two nuts and two nylon spacers, along with a few washers. Get the narrowest washers you can find that will fit around your bolt. I put the nut on the bolt first, then the spacer, then ran it through the bottom of the bridge plate, added 2 washers to leave clearance to wrap under, then threaded in to the tail piece (adjusting the nut to give me the correct bolt length up top).

You can't bottom out your tail piece against the plate and wrap over as you won't have enough string break angle over the bridge (at least I didn't). I couldn't be happier w/ the result on mine - and am glad that it was so easy to do a non-permanent stop tail mod on my Mustang.

I've only got this pic:

Yeah I remember helping you out with that! I'm glad it worked out for ya!!!

my '76 has new springs from allparts and they're so strong, the trem bar sits in the blocked position (i.e. it can't move any higher in pitch). you could try ordering some of them springs and see if they help. it'd mean bending your trem arm to get it sitting at a useable angle though...

thanks guys.

if i could get the springs to go down to the lowest notch on the post, it might be ok. but how the hell you move them, i don't know.
I'm out in town tomorrow, so i'll try and get the washers and nuts just in case. if i do block it, I'm gonna pack the cavity with block foam to get rid of the reverberation of the cavity a little.

just shove them with a screwdriver and watch you don't trap your fingers!

Progrockabuse wrote:I need either a walkthrough to get this thing returning to pitch properly or a how to on blocking the trem up so it can't move. please help, i love my stang a lot.

Can you bend the loop at the end of the spring with some pliers to move it, then recrimp it once it's moved down the post?
If you end up blocking it though I've got a good way to do it. Use an old trem arm you dont care about, cut about an inch off of it, insert it all the way in the tail piece where the trem arm goes until it hits the bridge plate, push the tail piece forward and tighted down the grub screw at the same time. It can't go anywhere (forward or backward) from this point on. An easy way to check it out is to tighten down the trem arm in the same manner, before cutting, it to see what I mean.

floyd rose II or nothing

thinking about it, this might be your best option:

Progrockabuse wrote:if i could get the springs to go down to the lowest notch on the post, it might be ok.

i'd definitely give that a go before buggering about with washers and shit, it may well solve your problem.

I'm gonna try and pry them off the posts tomorrow and set it lower down.
i will get this fucker working how i want it. been dying to use my stang in the band

Just got them to budge now, little fucking things. this better be worth it

can't you pop them out of the loops on the back of the trem plate? or just unscrew the posts a bit and they should slacken off.

i've got those no problem.

it was moving these. needed to move it from the red arrow to the green arrow. so it would increase the tension on the trem unit.

if i remeber correctly i put my springs on the lowest post and i did wonders.
if you are going to the doogfest, just bring it and let me try to set the beast up for you.

Progrockabuse wrote:i've got those no problem.

it was moving these. needed to move it from the red arrow to the green arrow. so it would increase the tension on the trem unit.

ah, right. i see what you mean. the ridges look way bigger than on my ones, mine just slip down to the next notch quite easily. looks like you might have to physically enlarge the loop somehow to move it.

i rememer having to bend the spring a bit to get it to move.

stewart wrote:you might have to physically enlarge the loop somehow to move it.

i had to do this with some needle nose pliers to move the springs down a notch on my mustang.

it took like half an hour to move those bastard things down.

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


i had to force the spring end apart then slip it over. just lubed and restrung everything and it fucking works like a charm. returns to pitch with no wobbles. can't find the trem arm, so just used my strats arm with a little gaffa tape wrapped round the bottom.


after and before of spring post move


angled back more now.




any bad words i said against my mustang were silenced when i heard that first e chord ring out in tune after trem use. i love you, mr stang.

phew, glad that worked in the end!