Mosrite Mark I Tremolo Setup

[surfdude2000]

This is my reissue Mark I that I recently bought from Ed Roman.



The string gauges, out of the box were extremely light for my taste (10-46), especially with the 44 5/8" scale, so I restrung it using (11-48). These still seemed light to me, so I bumped it up one more step to (12-54). In doing so, I discovered that the tremolo spring was too light weight for the heavier strings, so I ordered a heavier one off eBay. I also noticed that there was a little play in the tremolo shaft between the tailpiece and the base, so I installed two small nylon washers to keep the tailpiece from shifting back and forth.

In this picture you can see the space to the right hand side of the tailpiece. The tailpiece would sometimes shift to that side while playing, after using the tremolo bar, causing the guitar to go out of tune.



In this picture you see one of the nylon washers I installed.



Here's a shot of the tailpiece after both washers were installed.



I replaced the original tremolo spring with a stiffer one, seen here. I will add that the spring is MUCH stiffer than the original.



Although the bridge is magnificently machined, I'm curious, why it's free standing when it has roller bridge seats? When you use the tremolo bar, the bridge rock back and forth like a tune-o-matic. Why have rollers at all? I also wish there was a side to side adjustment you could make.



I just like this perspective shot...



Here's the tuning head...



And one more guitar shot. I put strap locks on this puppy so it never falls off. I do this with ALL of my guitars.



Overall, I think making these adjustments has made it easier to keep the guitar in tune for longer periods during live performances. I'd be interested in hear what other players have done to their Mosrites to help keep them in tune longer.

Thanx

joe
Banzai Surf

[FritzCat]

How high is the end of the tremolo arm off the pickguard with 12's and the heavier spring? Did you have to recut the nut (string guide) to accomodate the 12's?

[Dennisthe Menace]

Surfdude2000 posted:

I'd be interested in hear what other players have done to their Mosrites to help keep them in tune longer.

1) Locking Tuners, so you can actually DIVE BOMB (and that's only if you want to).
And let me just say, that the Moseley/Vibramute and the Bigsby Trem Systems are
built well enough to work just as good as any Floyd Rose System. True, you might
not be able to get all 6 strings to do a tap dance all over the fretboard like rubber
bands, but they will work perfectly with any locking type gears.

[surfdude2000]

>> Fritz...

I didn't have to do anything to the nut. It's chrome plated steel or brass, I think. It's slotted wide enough and the strings rest on a curve at the bottom of the slot. The tremolo arm is 1 7/8" off the pick guard at the tip. (I kinda bend those things to taste anyway) The stiffer spring is slightly shorter than the original, but doesn't compress as much when the strings are loaded.

>> Dennis

I have locking Sperzels on my Gretsch and love them, but I think I'll pass on doing that to the Mosrite just yet. I like the slotted Klusons. They're the same as what I have on my Strat and haven't caused me much grief.

joe

[ElTwang]

Those are great shots! Very nice. I'm trying to adjust to 10s before doing something else like you are. With 12s you must get a massive thick tone out of those pups?

[Dennisthe Menace]

> Dennis
I have locking Sperzels on my Gretsch and love them, but I think I'll pass on doing
that to the Mosrite just yet. I like the slotted Klusons. They're the same as what
I have on my Strat and haven't caused me much grief.
joe

Joe, if you are worried about routing larger hole for the tuners, you might want to
check out the Gotohs. They also make a Kluson "Klone" that fits into the 'existing'
holes. They are ALSO Locking Tuners (which work a little bit differently), but from
a distance, you'd swear they were just Klusons.

P.S.
I already have a Set on my '65 P.W. They work! And I didn't have to destroy the Guitar!

[Texasbob]

That's a drag about the tailpiece gap. That's a pretty big design flaw. I had to change the spring on my Fillmore from the stock 60lb spring to a 120lb spring. With the 60lb spring and 4 shims, once the .050 low E was put on then the spring took a dump. With the 120lb spring and 0 shims it sets perfect to my taste and back to where it should be if given the lighter guage strings.

[Texasbob]

That's a drag about the tailpiece gap. That's a pretty big design flaw. I had to change the spring on my Fillmore from the stock 60lb spring to a 120lb spring. With the 60lb spring and 4 shims, once the .050 low E was put on then the spring took a dump. With the 120lb spring and 0 shims it sets perfect to my taste and back to where it should be if given the lighter guage strings.

Oh, and I'd like to thank Alan at Freemont St. Guitars here in Vegas for helpin' me get that Done.

[MWaldorf]

SurfDude,

It looks like your low E string is not seated all the way in the saddle, likely because of the heavy gauge. I'm sure it works , but that's one of those limits you run up against with Mosrites.

Excellent details and pictures; thanks for sharing!

Mel

[Brian]

I'd be interested in hear what other players have done to their Mosrites to help keep them in tune longer.

It's helps to put a drop of oil on the rollers in the bridge every now and again, and some graphite in the grooves on the nut.