View Full Version : Broken Wammy Bar
I was just wondering if anyone else had problems with their wammy bar as mine has just broke. I heard a little snap and now there is no tension in it at all! and it doesn't work!
I live in Canada and got my copy down in the US and am wondering if I have to wait until the 20th to replace my guitar? and if the warranty even covers the wammy bar? I went onto the support site trying the replacement service and obviously it cant ship to canada yet but there is also no option with problems with the wammy bar. Thanks!
CRCError
12-05-2007, 04:07 PM
I'd just use an option like "My guitar doesn't work at all."
My drum set came with the USB wire not fully connected to the drums. I just told them they didn't work and they shipped me a new kit.
I put a post-it note on the kit I returned describing the problem to the poor guy that has to weed thru all the defective junk they are getting back.
As far as the broken whammy bar... If you want to open it up I'd bet it can be easily fixed. There is a small sprin that is supposed to pull the whammy back into position when you let go. I'd check it to see if the spring just came off the assembly.
If you are into a more ghetto solution you can get a sturdy rubberband and wrap it around the whammy bar once then attach the other end to the knob on the bottom that the strap attaches to. It's not exactly rocket scince but it will work in the meantime.
Does opening the guitar make the warranty invalid? I guess ill have to wait for a replacement when its available in Canada and use the rubber band for a quick fix for now hahah
CRCError
12-05-2007, 04:32 PM
Yeah opening the guitar "invalidates" the warranty. However unless you do a really stupid thing while you got it open, there really no way for EA to know you've opened it up. There aren't any seals on any of the screws and to be honest when i got my replacement guitar the first thing I did was crack it open.
The hot glue they use in the manufacturing process has a bad habit of chipping off and when I got my new guitar there was a healthy rattle inside. Since I'd rather not have loose glue chucks getting in the works I opened it up and cleaned it out.
I also tightened up my strum bar with a couple of really small rubberbands attached to both sides of the strummer. The spring they have that's supposed to return the bar back to the neutral position just doesn't move fast enough for me.
Thanks for the tips! Im not very good at fixing things but ill give it a go and try to open it up as a temporary fix and then get a replacement when it is avialable up here! I noticed that i also have something rattling inside as well hmmm i guess ill go look into it then thanks again!
CRCError
12-05-2007, 04:56 PM
No prob man... Check this video on youtube...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fypJNFsK4E
It actually looks pretty easy to open it up and look inside. I just wonder how many other people have broken wammy bars! :( At least i can still play tho unlike people with broken strum bars.. *knock on wood*
rockst01
12-05-2007, 05:25 PM
My whammy just broke tonight, my friend was holding the strat and saying "this whammy is not as loose as it should be on a real guitar" or something like that and then all the sudden, there's a small crack sound and the whammy just looses all resistance. I'll have to give it a go at fixing it tomorrow.
Apples
12-05-2007, 05:25 PM
If it's structured like other guitar controllers, it sounds like the spring in the whammy bar snapped.
And the guitar is *supposed* to rattle... that's the tilt sensor.
My whammy just broke tonight, my friend was holding the strat and saying "this whammy is not as loose as it should be on a real guitar" or something like that and then all the sudden, there's a small crack sound and the whammy just looses all resistance. I'll have to give it a go at fixing it tomorrow.
yep exactly what happened to mine while i was playing a song a crack noise and it was broken no tension at all! :(
rockst01
12-05-2007, 05:34 PM
yep exactly what happened to mine while i was playing a song a crack noise and it was broken no tension at all! :(
I'm just glad I already RMA'd a guitar for another reason (strum broke but then it fixed itself) and it's sitting at home waiting until my finals are done up at school. I'll probably just do the bootleg rubberband fix until this friday when I can get my hands on the new stratocaster.
I'm just glad I already RMA'd a guitar for another reason (strum broke but then it fixed itself) and it's sitting at home waiting until my finals are done up at school. I'll probably just do the bootleg rubberband fix until this friday when I can get my hands on the new stratocaster.
And i cant get a replacement until the official release date in canada. Well i have finals as well so i guess i won't be playing much anyways... played a bit to relax before my exam and snap broken wammy!
CRCError
12-06-2007, 01:26 PM
And the guitar is *supposed* to rattle... that's the tilt sensor.
It's supposed to rattle a little, yes. But mine rattled a lot becuase there was a big chunk of hot glue fragment bouncing around inside it.
I took it apart to liberate it as well as make sure I got the new strumbar assembly plus add rubberbands to the strummer to stiffen it up.
rockst01
12-06-2007, 01:56 PM
And i cant get a replacement until the official release date in canada. Well i have finals as well so i guess i won't be playing much anyways... played a bit to relax before my exam and snap broken wammy!
I got impatient waiting for my RMA guitar and fixed my whammy bar with a rubber band. Here's how you do it.
1. Open the guitar up
2. Find the Whammy lever mechanism.
3. Find the smallest Rubber band you can and wrap it around the plastic hook on the whammy lever and also around the hook on the bottom 'shell' of the strat controller.
4. Make sure your whammy returns to the default position when you pull it in before closing the guitar.
Note: You very well may be voiding your warranty by doing this, so continue at your own risk.
The rubber band is unneccessary, what happened with your whammy bar was the top spring loop that connected the whammy bar to the guitar broke. Grab a needle nose plier and just pull up another one of the rings (to look like the non-broken side) and reattach. Simple as that. It's slightly more resistant, but it's pretty much unnoticeable and it really doesn't require extra things to fix it.
mattitude
12-06-2007, 04:19 PM
My whammy bar broke too.
Easy fix. Open up the guitar, and use a small rubber band where the spring originally was. This doesn't even void the warranty. Just be sure to take the rubber band out if you decide to ship it back.
If you don't want to risk opening the guitar, just wrap one end of a rubber band around the whammy bar, and the other around the nub for the guitar strap. Viola! Good as new.
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