Cheap & Easy Whammy Bar Fix - Also works for GH guitars

[HMXDave]

The other day I was playing Rock Band and my whammy bar broke. I heard a small snap and the bar became loose. I've heard of this problem with Guitar Hero guitars, but I didn't think it would happen on the new Strats. Well, it did.

But I came up with a very cheap and easy way to restore full functionality to the whammy bar. All you will need is a rubber band.

Loop one end of a rubber band around your whammy bar and then loop the other end around the bottom guitar strap peg. This creates tension on the whammy, keeping it in the un-whammied position. It also makes the whammy bar spring back up when you are using it, making it work perfectly.

You can adjust the tension by looping the elastic band multiple times. This way you can have your whammy bar be as tight or loose as you want it.

I haven't tried this on anything other than the Rock Band Strat, but I am almost postive it will work with all other guitars with this problem.

I hope this helps anyone with whammy problems! Cheapest. Fix. Ever.

[Apples]

Also, if you're comfortable opening the guitar, many hardware stores sell replacement springs of similar tension. (Provided it was the spring itself that broke)

[HMXDave]

Hey Apples, do you know if it is possible to open up your guitar from the front?

Could I unscrew the pick-guard and be able to access the whammy mechanism from there?

I want to avoid opening the back because you need to tamper with the warrantee sticker to get at one of the screws.

[davidshek]

Hey Apples, do you know if it is possible to open up your guitar from the front?

Could I unscrew the pick-guard and be able to access the whammy mechanism from there?

I want to avoid opening the back because you need to tamper with the warrantee sticker to get at one of the screws.

Nope, I tried that. Unscrewing the pick guard does not give you access to anything.

The screw under the warranty sticker does not need to be removed. Remove all of the screws around the outside of the back and it'll open right up.

[HMXDave]

Nope, I tried that. Unscrewing the pick guard does not give you access to anything.

The screw under the warranty sticker does not need to be removed. Remove all of the screws around the outside of the back and it'll open right up.

Cool man, thanks. I think my spring just popped out of it's spot. I can hear something rattling around loose in there.

[guan69]

The other day I was playing Rock Band and my whammy bar broke. I heard a small snap and the bar became loose. I've heard of this problem with Guitar Hero guitars, but I didn't think it would happen on the new Strats. Well, it did.

But I came up with a very cheap and easy way to restore full functionality to the whammy bar. All you will need is a rubber band.

Loop one end of a rubber band around your whammy bar and then loop the other end around the bottom guitar strap peg. This creates tension on the whammy, keeping it in the un-whammied position. It also makes the whammy bar spring back up when you are using it, making it work perfectly.

You can adjust the tension by looping the elastic band multiple times. This way you can have your whammy bar be as tight or loose as you want it.

I haven't tried this on anything other than the Rock Band Strat, but I am almost postive it will work with all other guitars with this problem.

I hope this helps anyone with whammy problems! Cheapest. Fix. Ever.
I had my replacement guitar for a week when that happened. I'll have to give this solution a shot when I get home. I was really hesitant about opening the guitar and was debating what to do. Thanks, man!

[HMXDave]

Yeah, the whammy bar and the bottom strap peg are so close together it is almost like it was designed so you could attach a rubber band to it.

I suppose you could do this even if your whammy isn't broken if you want more tension on the whammy bar.

For you real guitarists, it is easy to notice the difference between the RB whammy and a real one. Real whammy bars are usually attached directly to the bridge of the guitar and take a bit of effort to press down. Much more force than is needed on the RB/GH guitars. They also knock your strings out of tune, but that is besides the point...