How to Block Off a Repro Sideways Vibrola

Logan

Member
So, when I got my 2015 SGS3, I knew I had to block off the vibrola eventually. I got the guitar, and it was the best playing/sounding guitar I've ever owned. Now, I did some research and experimenting, and I came up with this way to block the sideways vibrola off.
First thing you want to do is start by taking the strings off the guitar.

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Next, is pretty easy, you take off the cover. This is how you're going to do the work.

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Okay, so what do you do next? I contemplated this for quite a bit of time, and one day I decided to take the springs out of the guitar.

With the springs:
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Without the springs:
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Now, this is how I played the guitar for quite a while. It improved the tuning stability quite significantly. It essentially turns the vibrola into a trapeze tailpiece, except it looks cooler.

But, I wasn't quite happy with the break angle. Not at all. So, I tried to figure out a way to increase the break angle. And I saw a guy on reverb who had a brilliant idea for how to increase it; put a washer under the screw and bearing. To do that, you need to take off the screw and bearing.

There is the screw you want to take off:
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Here is what it should look like with it off:
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Then, you take the washer and screw with bearing, and put them together.

Here is the washer and screw with bearing:
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And here are them together:
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Then, you screw that back into the middle piece:
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Next, before you put the cover back on, trust me, you're gonna want to restring. An easy way to do this is going through the triangle, like this:
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Next, you can adjust the height like a stop tail. What? You heard me right. Just by adjusting the small hex screw you just reinstalled with the washer, you can adjust the break angle. What you adjust is right here:
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And lastly, you reinstall the cover. If you ever want to bring it back to stock (not that you'd want to), just do all the steps in reverse. Or, if you want to adjust the height of it, just take the cover off and re-adjust the screw. All in all, I'm pretty happy with the way this turned out. Now, I couldn't leave without a finished picture of the guitar :naughty:
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Anyway, thanks for reading, and I hope this helps anyone who is having tuning issues with this trem, as this essentially converts it to a stoptail while keeping the unique look.
 
WELL DONE POST!!!!!!!!!!!
informative-- with pictures-- good info--

THANK YOU FOR CONTRIBUTING!!

and-- GORGEOUS GUITAR!
 
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