Fender Tremolo Arms

Fender tremolo arms, or whammy bars, are not all the same. I knew there were threaded arms and slip in arms, but I didn't realize that the thread sizes were different, and that the information about the thread sizes was hard to come by.

I am not going to try and answer what arm goes to every Stratocaster. What I have determined is that Mexican Made, and most foreign made squires, and strats have a 6mm x 1.00 thread size for their arms. American made strats built that do not have the smooth slip in arm have 10x32 threads. Now here's what gets really confusing on the web. 10x32 threads are amazingly close to 5mm x 0.8 threads and depending on the quality, can sometimes fit flawlessly. If you use a cheap Chinese bridge, you may have a 5mm thread, and arm. Trying to force this arm into an American Strat, like I did, can ruin the arm, and worse, the Tremolo block.

I would advise everyone who owns multiple strats, or who builds strats using ebay parts like I do, get some high quality grade 8, 6mm x 1.0, 5mm x 0.8, and 10x32 bolts, and double check what thread size you really have. Good luck, and thanks for reading, J.B. 3-27-11.

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