I had a Strat tremolo arm with a missing tip, so I bought a generic replacement from an ebay shop. I could only get it it half on and it won't budge any more. I've tapped it with a hammer and then I tried widening the hole with some wet and dry rolled round an allen key. No improvement. If I force it any more I fear I might split it.
I think I remember it being a pig to remove it a few years ago (why I wanted to do this I have no idea) - I ended up chewing it badly with a pair of pliers. I mean, it has be tight enough for it not to drop off, but this is ridiculous.
Comments
Otherwise, and I know I'm at risk of lowering the tone here, you're trying to fit something into a hole that's too small for it to go into - some sort of lubricant may be in order?
If you ever have trouble getting it off, same procedure.
It is possible it may have a thread on the inside, in which case you may be better to take some of that out with a drill first, although the heat will probably work anyway.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Ah, yes, it's probably the old Imperial/Metric thing. The arm is from a MIM Classic Series with no screw thread at that end. There might be a thread inside the tip though, as it seemed to screw on to the other end of the arm.
I did try actually putting the arm in the freezer for a couple of hours and running the tip under the hot water tap but the difference in coefficients of thermal expansion and/or temperature were obviously not enough! I'll try boiling water later.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
The tip turned out to be about 3mm shorter than the proper Fender one I was comparing it with and it looked like it wasn't quite all the way on, so I thought I'd give the arm a few seconds in a gas flame and give it one last push. So, yes, I did burn my finger!