burns mark 8 tremolo

[kipper]

hi all i have just brought an eastwoods sidejack deluxe used condition, mosrite type copy. its a nice guitar the only problam is the burns mark 8 tremolo.
the lever slides onto a spinless shaft so has to be tightened really tight and even then it slips anyone got or heard of a fix for this please theres just to much play for it to work well. i was thinking of drilling it and putting a pin in. any ideas welcome. peter

[JimN]

You did say "any ideas", didn't you?

Here's one: scrap that unit (keep the arm, it might come in handy) and buy and install a short Bigsby ("Horseshoe" model) instead. You can get generic versions for about £30 - £40. MILES better..

JN (one who also bought a guitar with one of those "Burns" tremolos fitted).

[ecca]

Fibre washers ?

Put some photos up Kip.

[kipper]

heres a picture i will try a better one if its no good.

[kipper]

jim thanks i`ll take a look at them. peter

[kipper]

here`s abetter picture. peter

[ecca]

Have you tried extra washer(s) Peter ?
How about re-engineering it by filling and drill/reaming the hole out for a better fit ?

[kipper]

the problam seems to be on the shaft its just smooth no grooves to grip the coller. the coller slides over the shaft and as they are both smooth it slips. it needs a key in there something like that. the lever is ok. peter

[kipper]

You did say "any ideas", didn't you?

Here's one: scrap that unit (keep the arm, it might come in handy) and buy and install a short Bigsby ("Horseshoe" model) instead. You can get generic versions for about £30 - £40. MILES better..

JN (one who also bought a guitar with one of those "Burns" tremolos fitted).

jim can i asked where you brought yours please, been looking at the trem again and i dont think its just slipping on the shaft i think its just a bad design. peter

[Bill Bowley]

Kipper,

The design of the section where the arm 'mounting' attatches to the cross shaft is the same as the set up on the Burns Marvin and any other Burns using the RezoTube trem sysytem, so I would suggest that a few simple modifications to a possibly 'badly manufactured' item would solve your problem cheaper than a full replacement with another design(I have never had any problem with a Marvin arm slipping). Perhaps the unit was manufactured with a less than the required width 'adjustment gap' on the 'grip ring'. I would suggest that you remove it, remove the tightening screw and using some metalwork tools widen the gap, which on reassembly would then allow the clamping ring to exert enough pressure to 'stay still' and not slip. If you can't do it yourself, I'm sure that a small amount of 'readies' would get it done by a local engineering firm.
There is of course the possibility that the gap is correct, but the internal diamer of the grip ring is oversize (or the shaft undersized), that would require internal shimming at the very least.

Another possibility is too much pressure on the spring, possibly adjusted too far.

That's my 'long distance' best guess at a solution anyway (what I would do), hope it helps.

Regards