Stratocaster Pivot Post Failure .. Rescued !

[@Riverdeepnwide]

Yayyyy! Another vid from Mike! 6:52 Now that’s the move of a man who respects his saw blade. None of that reaching around behind a blade stuff.

[@StringTechWorkstations]

Lol ! Yep still got all my fingers. ... Ha !

[@danielsaturnino5715]

Thats a beautifull repair and set up. Cant get any better.

[@StringTechWorkstations]

Thanks Daniel ! MMcC

[@davespin9034]

A true craftsman 👍

[@scaira60]

Very nice Michael, I put a block of wood in my strat like you did in that squire it works great to make it like a hard tail.

[@jjdillon2007]

Excellent work, Mike. 👍

[@telecomex]

PS: Really nice "loaded" workshop and great playing! Thanks again from our west coast! ss

[@StringTechWorkstations]

Glad you enjoyed it! MMcC

[@l6srob990]

your videos are awesome to watch and learn from thanks for showing them

[@StringTechWorkstations]

Glad you like them! MMcC

[@Strumbum01]

I look forward to watching your videos! You’re a true pro at your craft. I wish you lived in the States so I could send a couple guitars to you for setup and compensated nuts. Thanks again!

[@StringTechWorkstations]

Wow, thank you! MMcC

[@Thomasdgolden]

I too love your shop. Great tools. Great experience.

[@StringTechWorkstations]

Thanks 👍 MMcC

[@lauried.2708]

Is the epoxy better to use than wood glue? both of my Floyd Rose posts & screws move up and down in the body. I just need to secure the posts to the wood. thanks for the lesson at the end. Beautiful chord progression & soloing.

[@StringTechWorkstations]

Hi Laurie. The posts should be able to move vertically ( up and down ). The trick is to get just enough "bite" into the maple with the right diameter hole. The course wood threads should have enough "purchase" into the maple for stability AND adjustability. Cheers ;^ ) ... hope that helps. MMcC

[@stevevallance6326]

Great videos

[@StringTechWorkstations]

Thanks Steve. MMcC

[@christopherpons5807]

Great repair and video, Moving forward I will use your method of installing trem springs with the screwdriver fulcrum, good stuff! Wondering if you could further explain what you were showing us when you held up the original screw post and something that looked like a wooden cone. Thank you!

[@StringTechWorkstations]

Good stuff Christopher ! Glad to have inspired you ;^ ) MMcC

[@StringTechWorkstations]

OH ya ... BTW: The wooden cone you were referring to : That was a frightening attempt by the last guy who tried to repair this. A mixture of wood dust and epoxy wrapped around the fastener. Sheesh ! Some people have no business whatsoever working on guitars. OMG !

[@christopherpons5807]

Wow! You’re right, some ppl shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near guitar repair!

[@XLBiker13]

New to your channel but I watch a TON of guitar videos and I have never seen an "operating table" for guitars like yours. Is that your design? Its obviously professionally manufactured so I'm surprised I've never seen one before. This is all a rather long way of saying I'm very impressed. Great work as well as a very impressive operation.

[@StringTechWorkstations]

Thanks XL ! Ya' it's mine alright. These are the 6th ( GPS model ) and 7th ( XLT Model )incarnation of the StringTech Workstations. Thanks for watching ! Very Best, MMcC

[@StringTechWorkstations]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/q5e9qoVjmNeChqssi=R1Tx8r2ybqXWkiRU This is a video of the 5th generation of TechDecks. This once shot in my Guitar Repair and Design Class after the 2015 NAMM show.

[@matthewf1979]

That must be a very early American Standard model. By the early 90’s Fender used a steel insert and machine screw threaded posts. Similar to a Gibson stop bar tailpiece insert/post.

[@StringTechWorkstations]

I have a Strat with those inserts coming up next. You can see a glimpse of it in this video ... "incoming wounded ". The inserts did not prevent this from happening ... in fact on that guitar BOTH posts ruptured through to the wall of the pickup cavity. Stay tuned ... they'll be a play by play video on that one too.

[@Jester-Riddle]

Stumbled across your channel ... Enjoyed your content and presentation 👍 Now subscribed to join the other Luthiers that I follow.

[@StringTechWorkstations]

Welcome aboard! MMcC

[@williambrown5776]

Great video. I just plugged my tremolo watching your video. My problem now is how you found the center of the dowel. Please help.

[@StringTechWorkstations]

Machinist's rule.

[@telecomex]

Real nice video! Very Satisfying to watch you work and the great job you did on that anchor post. Looking forward to more made in Canada workshop videos. I do what I can for my Strats on my dining room table. Take lots of pictures and and have produced some real nice lean, clean, mean fighting machines. Sadly, I was born with two left hands and it is refelcted in my ability to play. I sound like Jimmy Hendricks. The one that lives in Surrey. Not the other guy. All the best for 2021. ss

[@StringTechWorkstations]

Lol ! Cheers SS ! Many have turned their dining room tables into mini guitar pro-shops over the course of this pandemic ! kzbin.info/www/bejne/fnzFqnRsbt5krZY

[@kenthhamner2641]

Always great work! I deck my tremolo so no issues!

[@StringTechWorkstations]

This one was also "decked"; but because of the fractured post hole, he couldn't move the low E string back far enough to intonate.

[@stephencraig8578]

Nice chord progression at the end. Are there tabs available for that?

[@StringTechWorkstations]

This is a " I Ma 9 / VIIm7b5 / IIm9 / VI m9 / II m9 / V7 sus / I add 9 ". The reason I use this is to play all of the diatonic chords of any given key... in one progression. This allows me to check the intonation across all positions. Sorry ... I don't have any tabs.

[@stephencraig8578]

@@StringTechWorkstations that's ok, that helps. Thx for posting all of your knowledge. Very much appreciated.

[@autodidacticprofessor869]

I'm getting nervous. I just built a Strat with two-point posts for a Floyd Rose. What do you suppose would be the best way to prevent this? Making sure you have equal tension on the spring-side? Lighter strings/less tension overall?

[@StringTechWorkstations]

Two point pivot is usually fine. If you have a HSS with the larger cavity near the bridge ..... ash bodies are best. If it is an alder or basswood body ... a .009" -.046"... or .009" - .042" is advisable.

[@stevepetergal]

Excellent work. I only wonder why you would use a dowel rather than a plug. I don't like to screw into end grain like that.

[@StringTechWorkstations]

I hear you Steve. The next Strat coming up has the press fit machine threaded female inserts. With that one ... BOTH posts broke through the cavity walls. If you watch the video again you'll see the "incoming wounded" mention and a close-up of the damage on that one. The key was to get the perfect tolerances for the countersink and the through drilled holes. It is the longer fasteners that gave this more "purchase" to resist the breakage threat.

[@Hakeemandthelock-pickers2342]

hm interesting. I wonder how this happens with the 2 point trems, given the inserts were put in properly. Do you hang on the bar and van halen all day long, over years, and eventually the wood gives ? Or is the strat the way its build just more susceptible to that with its top routing ?

[@StringTechWorkstations]

Hey Hakeem, This never happens with Leo Fender's original design; 6 screws across the leading edge of the plate. When the bridge pickup cavity is routed for a humbucker pickup; this produces two weak points between the outside diameter of the bridge post inserts and the outside perimeter of the bridge pickup cavity. That is Why + How this happens. Best, MMcC

[@Hakeemandthelock-pickers2342]

very interesting, thank you@@StringTechWorkstations

[@davidtoomey1306]

Where can I purchase this wood screw type of pivot posts at to replace my old ones? I cannot find them anywhere using the part number you supplied in the video. I have seen some Floyd Rose wood screw pivot posts that appear to be the same thing. Do you know if these work on a Strat?

[@StringTechWorkstations]

Hi David. I had these parts in an old Fender parts kit. From what I understand; these are very similar to some of the available Floyd Rose parts. This is why I provided the drawings in the video. I am pretty sure that they are still out there. Perhaps someone else can chime in on this ..... let me know how you make out. Best, MMcC

[@davidtoomey1306]

@@StringTechWorkstations Thanks for getting back. Fender suggested that I go to a hardware store and look for them!!

[@StringTechWorkstations]

A hardware store ?? Doh !

[@plasma3211]

and those are the strat facts jack!

[@StringTechWorkstations]

They shouldn't have messed with the original bridge design. Leo had it ... right out of the gate. If it ain't broke .....

[@jaspercruz1023]

Where are you located? My quiet strat has the same problem with the trem post.

[@StringTechWorkstations]

Stratford Ontario Canada.

[@xav3ng3rx]

Do you do any warranty work for Fender? I am debating if I should let the retailer tech try to fix my problem, or just pay myself to get frets fixed.

[@StringTechWorkstations]

I had a customer in the past, insist to the manufacturer that they want to send the guitar to me .... but honestly; by the time I filled out the paperwork and waited for a check to arrive ....in the case just mentioned ... I had completed 4 other guitars ( made by the same manufacturer ) privately ... paid in full ... very happy customers who returned with all of their other guitars ( all 4 ). So the answer is .... no ... not worth my time. You'll have to find a business with the little tin sticker on their door that says " Authorized blah blah blah " .... and hope that they get it right. Cheers ! Good luck \m/ !

[@xav3ng3rx]

@@StringTechWorkstations Thanks for the honest answer! Appreciate it

[@markbryant2012]

The trem block on the Squier is massive. What's going on there?

[@StringTechWorkstations]

Not too sure Mark ... that's how it came.

[@voxpathfinder15r]

When you block the tremolo, what decisions do you make about how high do you adjust the bridge? Do you clamp it tight to the body, or do you set it for automatic dive bomb use the instant the block is taken out?

[@StringTechWorkstations]

The bridge plate is resting on the body. In this case ... the press fit wedge is removed ... at any time Paul chooses; and it's good to go / intonated / ready for the dive only setup. The only thing he needs to do is ... remove the press fit wooden block.

[@jipes]

Beautiful fix Mike ! I had recently an exchange on compensated nuts on a Telecaster forum and some members don't trust the necessity of a compensated nut. Do you install it on all guitars which comes to your shop ? Are they some guitars which don't need it ? Tahnks a lot for sharing your knowledge so nicely

[@StringTechWorkstations]

Classical guitars don't need compensated nuts. IMO neither do Basses. Pretty well every steel string guitar that comes through my shop ... gets a compensated nut ... and in the case of the acoustics ... like this Martin D-28 I just finished ... they get a cantilevered compensated bridge saddle too. The reason I do all of these videos ... is because your ears don't lie. With a little over 525 videos thus far .... the difference is indisputable. Once a customer has a guitar dialled in this precisely; they come back with every guitar they own. Cheers JP ! MMcC

[@jipes]

StringTech Workstations thanks a lot

[@mje2377]

Could you give the dimensions of the basswood block you made? I want to hard-tail mine too.

[@StringTechWorkstations]

mikell is right ... I used the stationary disc sander ( with the air foot switch ) to pare it down until it was a good press fit. The dimensions will vary, depending on the model and production run.

[@copescale9599]

You replying to the comment about straightening the neck... I personally would assume you know as well to do the first step HAHA!. BUT there's something I wanna bring up that I saw a couple months back. A video done by one of these big You Tubers he was mentioning how you can adjust the height of your strings (it was a 2 point non locking tremolo) and he grabs a wrench and sticks it in the bridge when it's in his lap and the strings are at tension... HAHA imagine all the poor guys watching that video assuming that's OK to do... All the fine ways to keep luthiers in business.

[@StringTechWorkstations]

Ya' There is some pretty scary stuff out there. Sheesh !