HELP my floyd rose trem arm is stiff!

[freakmatt]

Hi, I've just acquired a Jackson Professional Stealth EX fitted with Floyd Rose trem. The trem arm inserts into the trem unit and at this point there is a nut attached. The trem works well but moving the arm into a usable position is difficult. Is there some way of losening the arm and also removing it? My previous floyd equipped Jackson had a thumb screw which was simple. The serial number is 926370, does this make it 1999 or 1992? Thanks, Matt

[Tekky]

Re: HELP my floyd rose trem arm is stiff!

Lay off the viagra...


But seriously... Just loosen the "cap" where the arm attaches to the baseplate a little bit.

[Sunbane]

Re: HELP my floyd rose trem arm is stiff!

That's an early 90's guitar, but I'm not sure what the serial really means. But the Professional series was discontinued in '96, so it's definitely not '99. =)

[freakmatt]

Re: HELP my floyd rose trem arm is stiff!

Hi thanks for the info so far. I have tried loosening the nut but it just turns stiffly in either direction not having any affect on the stiff arm at all? Maybe a dodgy thread, so any other suggestions to loosen the arm or remove it in order to replace with a new one? Matt

[Tekky]

Re: HELP my floyd rose trem arm is stiff!

Use a set of channel-locks, put a towel over the "cap" to prevent from tearing up the metal.

[Newc]

Re: HELP my floyd rose trem arm is stiff!

I'd say it's a 1992, as a '99 serial would be 7 digits.
Can't imagine why they did the serial that way, though - maybe it was an experiment they were doing to get ready for the "96" changeover?

And the Professional Series was not "discontinued" - they stopped using the word "Professional" on the headstock in 98 or 99, but the Professional series is definitely still in use - DK2, RR3, RR5, etc etc.

Anyway, sounds like you have a screw-in bar, not the collared bar. Try unscrewing the bar or the insert it goes into.

[Sunbane]

Re: HELP my floyd rose trem arm is stiff!

Turn the guitar over, take the back plate off and have a look at the back of the trem.

There's a hex screw on the back of the trem arm socket. Loosen it and take the whole rear assembly off. You should now be able pull the trem arm and its socket off the face of the trem.

If it's still stuck on there, you may have to pound it out from the back (remove the trem from the guitar before you do this).

After you've gotten if off, go out and throw the trem arm into a lake, so it won't haunt you. On the way home, drop into a guitar store and order a Floyd Rose trem arm with mounting assembly. It should fit without too much trouble. If it doesn't, take it to a tech and let him install it.

[freakmatt]

Re: HELP my floyd rose trem arm is stiff!

Hey you guys are great! Cheers for all the advice, I've now got a fun evening of late night TV and fiddling with my guitar!!!
Matt

[freakmatt]

Re: HELP my floyd rose trem arm is stiff!

Screw in bar it was - but it took a lot of persistance and a fair amount of WD40! Thanks all. I've just got to put it all back together now and then back to the late night TV.
Matt

[Sunbane]

Re: HELP my floyd rose trem arm is stiff!

Ah, glad it worked out for you. Now you don't have to hike out to the lake. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]