New G&L arm and Socket.

[Dr G]

Well let me just say I love my F-100II's. I bought my first one new in 1982, and I still have it. I am going to give you my thoughts on the new vibrato arm and socket that G&L have just started offering on the webstore. I want to preface this by saying that I love G&L and David McLaren and Tim at the webstore have been very, very good to me. I have also been producing my own repro vibrato arm for the early G&L's as well as buying one that was made by someone else. I have installed these "original spec" arms on many newer G&L's as well. It has not been an easy quest.

So...

The original arms were very much like a vintage Fender arm. The 96 degree (vs. 90) bend came on very quickly and the bend near the tip was slight and the overall length was short. It was about 5.5 to 5.75 inches. The original arm just had a fantastic profile if you were a heavy rider and liked to hold it between two fingers like Jeff Beck. The perfect position, and with the tip, the perfect grip.

The new offering:

The new arm has a 90 degree bend, and the bend near the tip is at more of an angle. Given these two aspects the end of the tip ends up in sort of the same place. The location of the base of the tip, where you may want to grip it, is a bit different. The arm will fit an older threaded socket, but it will not go as deep and will then "ride" higher. You could cut it down to make it fit more like the original. This leads into my other comment about the new goods. The new socket is not as deep as the original. An old arm will fit, but will also ride higher than it would have originally. I am going to explore if it would be possible to drill out the socket. The machining on the new socket is very good.

I really love the fact that McLaren & Co have been putting out some of these parts. The repro knobs they did recently are great. ... get some before they are gone. I will try to figure out how to post some pics of what I am talking about here. If you want info about my threaded repro arms you can email me at draudio12@hotmail.com

https://soundcloud.com/dr-g-26/white-rock-canton-v

this link is to me wailing on my F-100, if you want to hear some really heavy bar use and how well it stays in tune.

Leo made the absolute best Vibrato bridge design with the DFV, there is no doubt about this. (Yes the Kahler is nice, if you want to mess with all the locking stuff)


and you all know this, but here is a link to the page with the new parts: https://g-l-online-store.myshopify.com/ ... components

Enjoy and feel free to ask questions, Doc.

[Danley]

Great stuff; for sure my DFV stays in tune the best out of any of my vibrato bridges; never off even by a cent. Beats my Floyd guitar at the moment. Glad the new parts work; as far as angle, I tend to bend arms to my liking anyway.

[Dr G]

Thanks for your post Danley. Keep in mind that almost all of these arms are made from a kind of spring steel that may become brittle over time from bending.

Doc.