Whammy won't stay in tune.

[raygun85]

Respectfully, do not attempt to fill the holes and re-drill. This will not work and you will ruin your rocker. Trust me, I have hand made a load of tailpieces and I am familiar with this problem.

Shave the sides down that on the rocker that are binding up at the plate. This should resolve your issue. The bearings will still work if the holes for the pin are not perfectly in line, they would have to be WAY off for the pin to bind in the bearing. So I would highly suggest not tampering with the holes, as there is very little metal around them.

Bob

Coming from someone who has exactly the same kind of experience that Bob is referring to here: I wholeheartedly agree. The axles and the bearings would have to be waaaaaay off for that to cause binding. And if they were off that far, you'd have more problems than just tuning stability. Out of curiousity, Bill, what do you recommend the holes be filled with?

[Mr. Bill]

Having never done it before myself, I will defer to both of your judgments, but without seeing the actual parts in front of me I tried reason out a solution based upon what has been described by SanchoPansen. If the holes in the rocker are wrong then the correct fix would be to make them right. If in fact that is not the way to correct the problem, then please forgive my lack of experience in this.

I don't think that the bearing alignment is the problem here, it sounds to me that the pins are loose in the rocker and under string tension the rocker never settles in one place.

As to how to fill the holes, drill them clean and inset a solid pin or hardened sleeve? Remelt and braze fill with compatible metal? If the holes aren't that far off glue in the pins with a steel filled epoxy?

[SanchoPansen]

Just a short reply as I'm in a hurry (workworkwork): I will take detailed pictures asap and upload them.

When you took the strings off of the vibrato and removed the spring, did you test the arm to see if it went through the pivot motion smoothly with no tension?

If the vibrato has no tension from strings and is binding anywhere during the up and down movement, this is your problem. This would mean the rocker is too wide for the plate and is getting bound up during the up and down movement.

In this case you will need to take the rocker apart from the plate and grind the sides of the rocker down just enough to give the rocker a little looser fit inside the vibrato plate.

Bob

Yes and no =) The vibrato is not stuck between the bearings/joints. But it certainly touches the upper side (from my view). This is where I placed a lube drenched washer just to be sure. And I already took off a little from the upper side of the rocker, as I suspected exactly this part to be malfunctioning, but I've been very gentle. Maybe I should take away a little more. Like said above, I will upload pictures asap so I can point my finger (cursor) on the suspect areas. You guys are awesome btw!
Oh and I can't melt metal in my apartment The landlord may not be amused.

[Monaco62]

Hey, Sancho --
Have you considered taking the guitar to a qualified luthier to sort out the problem? After four pages, this thread has become the the blind leading the blind -- nothing seems to work. If the parts are as poorly manufactured as I've read, return the guitar to the retailer. All of it. It's that simple. Why should you upgrade their poorly manufactured parts? 50's technology shouldn't be this difficult!

[SanchoPansen]

Hey Monaco,

Hey, Sancho --
Have you considered taking the guitar to a qualified luthier to sort out the problem?

Sadly there is no qualified luthier in my area (not even in my country). You see, I live in Germany and most people here don't even know the brand. So unfortunately that won't work.

If the parts are as poorly manufactured as I've read, return the guitar to the retailer. All of it. It's that simple.

I've bought the guitar in the US. Returning it would result in immense costs (customs, shipping, insurance). It would sum up to a total loss of ~$1,500.00 just for sending it back. Plus: how would I get another one? Like said above, Mosrite is not known over here and you simply can't buy them.

Under different circumstances I'd totally agree with you and would have brought it back already. But I'm stuck with it and I'll have to find a solution. And some of the advices here already helped to improve a little bit. Went to rehearsal yesterday and it didn't go out of tune that often any more. Even the blind chicken finds a corn sometimes

P.S.: And I've already placed an order for a Hallmark. Totally different option.

[Monaco62]

I'm sorry to hear that. I did know you were in Germany, but assumed luthiers were much more plentiful there. And if one was not specifically aware of the brand, they would be familiar with the principles of a vibrato. Did you purchase the guitar new or used?

Best of luck -- and enjoy the Hallmark! Which model did you order?

[SanchoPansen]

I'm sorry to hear that. I did know you were in Germany, but assumed luthiers were much more plentiful there. And if one was not specifically aware of the brand, they would be familiar with the principles of a vibrato. Did you purchase the guitar new or used?

Best of luck -- and enjoy the Hallmark! Which model did you order?

The Mosrite Vibrato is quite unique and I do know for sure that no luthier in my area has seen one before. Maybe they could work into it, but not on my guitar What if something goes wrong? Where do I get spare parts?
I bought it new a month ago...
I've ordered a 60 custom (tri-color) and can't wait to get it. It bet the Hallmark quality is much better than the Mosrite...

[ludobag]

Hi Sancho
Normally most of of luthier can set up your guitar (just to need to find the right luther)
cause mosrite trem are not difficult to set up ,it is a easy système less complicated than floyd rose or steinberger
in fact if you put pics of your trem it will be more easyer to help you
need pics of base plate, up ,face, and side with the rocking part in
and after just pics of rocking parts with axis in to see how they are mount face ans side (with the side pics normally it will see where it is friction

[SanchoPansen]

Hi Sancho
Normally most of of luthier can set up your guitar (just to need to find the right luther)
cause mosrite trem are not difficult to set up ,it is a easy système less complicated than floyd rose or steinberger
in fact if you put pics of your trem it will be more easyer to help you
need pics of base plate, up ,face, and side with the rocking part in
and after just pics of rocking parts with axis in to see how they are mount face ans side (with the side pics normally it will see where it is friction

Hey there,
yes, that's the plan. I will post detailed pictures asap! (Have to get some new strings first though and want to buy graphit spray before I take everything apart again). I even ordered a new spring from a hardware store around the corner. Regarding the luthier: unfortunately there is no luthier around I can trust. They all do crappy work, don't respect guitars like they should and simply want to make $$$. It's a very unsatisfying situation. They treat a Mosrite like the crap they sell (noname cheapo strat rip-offs e.g.). Every guitar should be treated with the right amount of respect, no matter how much they were, imho. But they can't tell a real vintage guitar from a metal Ibanez. I once brought them my 1965 Gibson Trini Lopez and they told me it wasn't a Gibson because of the 'non Gibsonesque' headstock...

[LASSurf]

I have a very nice '72 mark I but it will not stay I tune.....does anyone know of a Luthier in the Las Vegas area that knows how to fix a trem system so the guitar will stay in tune?