Replacement floyd bushings for Jackson MIJ Dinky?

[vklobucar]

I pulled out a Jackson MIJ Dinky the other day and started to do a full restring and setup when I noticed that the Floyd posts were wobbling.

Normally I do not sweat this too much and just add a wrap or two of plumbers teflon tape, but these posts were so loose that for a moment I thought that the wood had actually cracked and that was the cause of the extreme movement!

This is far more than just a "bit of play" and I'd rather just pull them out and replace them with a set with better tolerances.

Question is what size are the standard ones and what's a good place to order new ones? Stew Mac perhaps?

Thanks!

[Newc]

Depends on the bridge. If it's a Schaller, then you need the Schaller-specific (not OFR). If it's the JT580 series, I *think* StewMac has them, but IIRC I ordered some from them a few years back and they were even smaller than the ones I needed, which were smaller than the Schallers.

You might need to check with GuitarPartsDepot/Resource, whichever one is still around. Oddly, these OEM units cannot be found at retail anywhere. All the ones on Ebay are pulled from factory guitars, and you can't be sure they're not just as worn as yours.

Either way, I've got JT580-series posts and inserts that wobble like crazy when paired (out of the body). By contrast, the Schaller and OFR sets have only a hair of wobble.

[vklobucar]

Thanks Newc!

Ya its a JT580LP if that helps.

I guess I need to just pull them out and try and measure them before I order new ones?

[Newc]

Yeah, but they're hard as hell to find, because only Jackson refers to them as the JT580 series (JT = "J"ackson "T"remolo). Those same trems are used on practically every other unit not made by Schaller. Not sure of Gotoh makes them or not.

To be honest, I'm not even sure if Takeuchi trems use that size bushing. If you look closely at a variety of the import trem posts, some have more "head and shoulders" than others, and if you get the one with too much in the way of "shoulders" (solid unthreaded part below the pivot point) you'll never get the bridge low enough. If you dig medium-high action, it might not be a problem; you can bottom them out and indulge your "bottomed out = more tone" fantasy

[Axewielder]

Typically the anchors themselves don't wear out, but the wood they are anchored in needs to be stabilized with shims/glue/etc. It's a very common repair.

[Newc]

Yeah, but even as cheap as these things are with their OMG "tolerance" (if you can call it that), it's hard to tell new from worn except by inspecting the pivot points. They just wobble like crazy.

If you know a decent machinist, see if they can make you a set of bushings and posts that have a tighter tolerance. Even if you have to use graphite to get them together, the tonal quality should improve.

[Kisonen]

OFR bushings will fit with minimal amount of work. Jt580lp bushings are roughly 9,75mm and OFR bushings are 10mm so you can enlarge the holes easily with little bit of sandpaper or 10mm drill bit.
Stew Mac should have OFR bushings and posts available.

[vklobucar]

Super cool!


Thanks!!