Broken Whammy Bar Help

[BigBadFatKid]

Can you RMA a guitar with a broken whammy bar, if so which option is it?

[A New Pyro Fool]

That depends. Did it literally BREAK OFF, or does just no longer function?

[ELDUDEARINO69]

You should be able to, but if your warranty is up it's very easy to fix. You should be able to crack it open and find the spring and just twirl it back on there and fix it. It's fairly simple unless you lost the spring while opening it or if the spring is completely dismantled.

[A New Pyro Fool]

If it shows physical abuse, then Harmonix may not exchange it.

[BigBadFatKid]

it is still in there but it doesnt feel springy when i move it but what option on the RMa wold it be

[Cyberdyne]

crack open the guitar, and replace the spring with an elastic. don't bother RMAing it for a simple fix. its really just a spring from a push button pen inside there. but i recommend an elastic anyways, so much better feel to it.

[BigBadFatKid]

crack open the guitar, and replace the spring with an elastic. don't bother RMAing it for a simple fix. its really just a spring from a push button pen inside there. but i recommend an elastic anyways, so much better feel to it.

im not a technology genius like you, so does anyone know if they will just RMA it, and in what option.

[mcdiddy1]

im not a technology genius like you, so does anyone know if they will just RMA it, and in what option.

technology genius? dude it's like 10 screws.. phillips... you can probably do it with you're fingers but if not i used needle nose pliers to re-hook the spring. you can use a small rubber band or anything really.

[trilidar]

In answer to your question: yes they will take it back. Before I knew better, I RMA'd my first guitar for exactly that reason. It really doesn't matter what you select to get the process started, but if it helps: I think I chose strumbar.

However having said all that, it really is an easy fix. All you need to do is take the 10 screws out of the back and either use a pen cap spring or rubber band to fix it. It's not all that complicated, just take your time taking it apart.

Another solution is to get a small hair tie and wrap it around the whammy and connect to the strap grommit. It's not perfect, but if you get an appropriate colored one it can be asthetically pleasing and doesn't void your warranty in the slightest.

tril

[ELDUDEARINO69]

technology genius? dude it's like 10 screws.. phillips... you can probably do it with you're fingers but if not i used needle nose pliers to re-hook the spring. you can use a small rubber band or anything really.

Agreed. Don't waste your time sending it back when you could have it working in 15-30 minutes tops instead of DAYS

[ecfirefighter]

He shouldn't have to fix his own gear....and when the RMA process works, they will send him one while he keeps playing with his... :rolleyes:

[JackBNimble]

why take your controller apart if you're just going to use an elastic band? wrap it around the bottom of the whammy bar and attach it to the knob for the guitar strap.
Mine also broke and this is the easiest and fastest way to fix it.Besides that if the elastic brakes you don't have to take your controller apart again.

[Xero314-2]

Can you RMA a guitar with a broken whammy bar, if so which option is it?

Just a bit of advice.

I RMA'd my first guitar because of a broken whammy, looking back I wish I hadn't. The replacement I got had a bad strummer that couldn't handle fast strums in one direction. The replacement for the replacement has a bad tilt sensor. Both the replacements had noisy fret buttons compared to my original.

My suggest is if the whammy is the only thing wrong with the guitar fix it yourself, there is too much chance the replacement will have other problems.

My other guitars Whammy just broke the other day, and there is no way I am risking my otherwise good guitar on EA's "wheel of refurbished peripherals".

[MooTrain]

The whammy bar on my strat broke a couple days ago. (Only instrument malfunction from my launch Rock Band kit - I consider myself lucky) While I was playing Why do you love me, there was a nice crack sound. The whammy bar still works - it just no longer bounces back to the original position.

Since I highly doubt I'm still in the warranty period here, I figure my next best bet is to either live with it (it's not a big deal as I'm not going for huge scores - I just can't really whammy with it on short held notes as effectively) or try to fix it myself. Would this be the spring problem we're talking about or something else?

[milehighjc]

Its the spring problem. Mine did the same thing - the spring actually broke. Wicked easy fix, i used 2 rubber bands to make the whammy a little firmer than the original, and actually liked it better after the fix.

Since then, the strummer broke in the down direction, so I replaced the guitar, and Im thinking about opening it up and replacing the spring with the rubber bands again because I liked the feel better.

jc

[Axe Man]

Can you RMA a guitar with a broken whammy bar, if so which option is it?

put a rubber band around the bar and the bottom strap pin, no need to crack the stupid thing open.

[west siide]

I am starting to have whammy bar problems. It makes "boing" sound when I use it normall which is obviously the spring misbehaving in some manner. The whammy bar works but it clearly is in the process of failing.

Given the horror stories due to the "wheel of refurbished perhipherals" (which I get as I went through worse with an ATT Treo 750 - ugh) I'm going to avoid RMA'ing it.

Any particular advice for this specific problem? I have no problem cracking the guitar (seriously people, power screwdriver will have this baby open inside of 2 minutes), so what should I look to fix for this situation?

[mcdiddy1]

put a rubber band around the bar and the bottom strap pin, no need to crack the stupid thing open.

I agree this is by far the easiest fix...

I decided to replace the spring with one from an old guitar hero 1 sg guitar for my ps2. I don't use it anymore so I just use it for spare parts : )

I took the "less ghetto" approach but either of these methods of repair will take you less than 15 minutes.

[milehighjc]

I took the screws out (see two posts up) just cause I wanted a cleaner look, but as commented, you dont even have to do that.

even without a power screwdriver, the entire process wasnt 15 mins.

Jeff

[irondentist]

Why RMA when you can easily fix this with rubber bands or orthodontic elastics? You take the risk of getting another crappy guitar. HMX first gen RB guitar is just crap. Even if you RMA it you still get the same crappy designed guitar. Just open it up with a power drill and a phillips bit. See where the spring used to hook, and put a rubber band/ ortho elastics in place of it.

While your at it, replace the crappy switch with one from ByteArts. End of Fender problems forever and you will be the envy of your friends who own RB.

[GOLD5]

Rubber band/pen spring=three cents. Mailing the RMA'd guitar to HMX, cost of shipping is way more. They don't pay it.

[RealMessiah]

Can you RMA a guitar with a broken whammy bar, if so which option is it?

How long have you had it? When my first guitar's whammy bar went limp after 8 months, I just bought a new one. It had paid it dues.