The fall of Gotoh?

[rockskate4x]

I got one of the gotoh strat tremolo's for my first warmoth, but a couple of weeks ago the trem arm broke IN the baseplate, so that part of the trem arm was unretrievable. I'm kicking myself for even considering gotoh after seeing the pictures of all the broken tuner screws. Even after that, I had the impression that their six hole trem was a decent unit, and I hadn't intended to pay alot so I went ahead and ordered it from the Warmoth website. Since I had no idea how to repair it i didn't have the money to buy a better unit at this time, I set it up like a hardtail and left it alone.

Just today I was doing slight adjustments to the springs because things started getting loose (when I bent a string the others would go flat) even though i had set it to be a hardtail before. As I was turning the screw, a spring broke and shot out of the trem cavity. the broken hooked end was still in the block but the rest of the spring could not be found.

Can I send this hunk of junk back to Warmoth? Can it be repaired? If it can't be repaired what six hole trems can I get that won't do this to me, but won't break the bank?

 

[Unwound G]

rockskate4x, it saddens me to hear about bad experiences with some products that were once flawless.

If you cannot claim the damaged item from the supplier, Warmoth in this instance, you can perhaps try to extract the broken tremolo arm from the block if your unit is of the Vintage type.  Undoing the three screws on the bridgeplate, you can dismantle the block and see if there is still some protrusion of the broken arm left for a pair of pliers to grab hold of.  If not, you can use a tungsten bit to slow drill fragments out of the screw hole.

Replacement blocks are also available in the marketplace and so are tremolo springs if you decide the change to better quality ones.

Good luck.

 

[TBurst Std]

I would suggest replacing the block with a Callaham. Yes they are really that good!

 

[rockskate4x]

Thanks for recommending calaham products. Would the vintage repro block be the correct choice?

 

[The Norwegian Guy]

I'm sorry to hear that you've had some unfortune with your new parts. To me, it sounds like you got a tremolo that was made out of bad matereal. Once now and then, the material some products are made of, doesnt contain the correct amount of "something" and it becomes more fragile.

I'd contact warmoth and tell them about this, and I'm sure they give you some sort of refund, or a discount at some other time.
But I support the callaham idea. After what I've read about callaham, they make the best vintage trems there is.

I hope it turns out good in the end

 

[rockskate4x]

Thank you everyone for your good suggestions and your kind words. I will let you know what happens call up the W.

 

[Jet-Jaguar]

Honestly, Guitar Fetish (www.guitarfetish.com)  is selling some nice tremolos now (even some with brass blocks) and they are not very expensive. I'd go with that, if I were in your situation.

I have one on my strat, and I'm happy with it, although I bought mine before they had the ones with brass blocks, so I kinda wish I'd waited and got the newer ones.