Trem spring woes

[jon bondy]

I do not play my Parker much, but when I went to do so, I discovered that the #9 trem spring had broken in two. I have a #10 spring, but that appears to be so long that I cannot see how to insert it into place. The pictures may be helpful. Any hints?

Thanks!

Jon

[vjmanzo]

Hi Jon and welcome!

Looks like you just need to back off the threaded rod. This post should help explain how to do that and, in general, how the bridge works.

[KenanJ]

Hey @jon bondy welcome to the forum!

For the spring to be able to sit you have to recess the wheel closer to the bottom it think turning the wheel clockwise to get the rod to retract and allow you to insert the 10 spring. We all conced that this process it’s fastidious and is a severe pain.

Good luck !

[Patzag]

Hey @jon bondy welcome to the forum!

For the spring to be able to sit you have to recess the wheel closer to the bottom it think turning the wheel clockwise to get the rod to retract and allow you to insert the 10 spring. We all conced that this process it’s fastidious and is a severe pain.

Good luck !

I don't concede that. I think it's brilliant.

[jon bondy]

The knob/wheel is adjusted so that the threaded rod is all the way to the right. I would not have posted this topic if it were this simple.

Were there Parkers made with different sizes of springs? I don't mean #9 vs #10, I mean overall length?

I am selling the guitar, and the buyer does not care, but I am curious as to why fitting the spring seems to be impossible.

For example, if you go here:

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=45&p=110

you will see that the wooden block shown is 2.75", but I measure 2.4" in my guitar.

It is a 1997 Classic.

Jon

[vjmanzo]

Were there Parkers made with different sizes of springs? I don't mean #9 vs #10, I mean overall length?

No.

Based on the photo, it looks like the side curls of your 10 spring are flatter than they are supposed to be. Can you see if they have the same geometry as your 9 spring?

[vjmanzo]

We all conced that this process it’s fastidious and is a severe pain.

I don't concede that. I think it's brilliant.

I think Kenan means—when the spring gets stuck and won't come out it can be a pain. In principle and in most of my experiences, it's easy to get the spring out, but sometimes those pesky thin sheets of springy metal don't always cooperate A few frustrated slams of my Fly against the wall usually loosens things up

[Patzag]

The knob/wheel is adjusted so that the threaded rod is all the way to the right. I would not have posted this topic if it were this simple.

Were there Parkers made with different sizes of springs? I don't mean #9 vs #10, I mean overall length?

I am selling the guitar, and the buyer does not care, but I am curious as to why fitting the spring seems to be impossible.

For example, if you go here:

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=45&p=110

you will see that the wooden block shown is 2.75", but I measure 2.4" in my guitar.

It is a 1997 Classic.

Jon

I wonder though. It seems like there’s a lot of thread showing. Possibly your wheel is not turning freely and therefore not allowing the thread to recess all the way.

[KenanJ]

We all conced that this process it’s fastidious and is a severe pain.

I don't concede that. I think it's brilliant.

I think Kenan means—when the spring gets stuck and won't come out it can be a pain. In principle and in most of my experiences, it's easy to get the spring out, but sometimes those pesky thin sheets of springy metal don't always cooperate A few frustrated slams of my Fly against the wall usually loosens things up

Exactly

[vjmanzo]

It seems like there’s a lot of thread showing.

+1

That’s what I thought as well.

[jon bondy]

You were correct. The threaded rod was jamming as it headed towards the bottom of the guitar. I managed to get it to go much further by carefully jiggling it while I rotated the knob. Once the rod was fully minimized, the spring went in easily.

Thank you all!

Jon