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Topic starter
06/08/2007 10:37 pm
I had taken my pickguard off my guitar, to replace it with another one, and I found 6 springs inside.
Is this normal? If so, what are they used for?
Thanks. :D
07/08/2007 12:42 am
Does your guitar have a tremolo A.K.A. whammy bar? They would be to make that thing work. 8)
"Work hard, rock hard, eat hard, sleep hard,
grow big, wear glasses if you need 'em."
-- The Webb Wilder Credo --
Topic starter
07/08/2007 1:42 am
Yea, I do. Where do they need to go? They were just kinda floating around so, I took them out... :oops:
Thanks for the Help! :)
07/08/2007 3:13 pm
What kind of guitar?
If they were just floating loose, not attached to anything, it would sound like maybe somebody took them off and put them there to keep them from getting lost.
If it's a Strat, it might be that they blocked the trem. and put the springs in there for safekeeping.
But it seems a little odd to do that - if they're just floating aroun loose one could slide around and short something out.
How big are they? Can you post a pic?
Topic starter
07/08/2007 3:52 pm
Yes, it is a Strat.
Sorry, had the day off, and left the Camera at work. :( Will take a pic later for you!
07/08/2007 10:50 pm
So.... Are the springs big ones, like a little bigger diameter than a pencil, about 2-1/2" long, silver, with a loop on each end? Or are they about an inch long, about 1/8" in diameter, flat on each end and black?
I ask because the little ones would be trem arm tension springs. The trem arm hole on in the original trem block on my 2004 MIM Strat was open at the bottom and if you tried to drop a trem arm tension spring into the hole it'd fall through into the body of the guitar....
08/08/2007 3:06 pm
Got your photo, I've isolated one spring and posted it for others to see.
This isn't either of the kinds of springs I was talking about in my last post. Your 6 springs are the springs that go between the pickguard and the pickup covers.
Each pickup has two screws that mount it to the pickguard, right? The heads of the screws sit on the face of the pickguard and the way that you adjust the pickup height is by turning these screws.
The little springs you have are supposed to go onto thoses 6 screws, placed between the pickguard and the pickup covers, - they push the pickup back away from the pickguard; that way when you loosen the screws to back a pickup away from the strings of the guitar there's something to push the pickup back and keep it from floating loose.
Narrow end goes against the pickguard.
Sometimes instead of springs a little piece of surgical tubing will be used to do this job. I don't know which way is better, although my gut tells me that springs would be more reliable longhaul, as rubber does tend to lose its bounce and get crumbly after a while.
Topic starter
08/08/2007 6:57 pm
:D I just got it! Thanks SO much!
09/08/2007 12:19 pm
Didn't even think of the pickup springs .... yeah ... that's them! :lol:
"Work hard, rock hard, eat hard, sleep hard,
grow big, wear glasses if you need 'em."
-- The Webb Wilder Credo --