I have a Patrick eggle Berlin pro 24 fret which I would dearly like to pass on to my nephew. The problem is I have lost the tiny grub screws that hold the Wilkinson vs100 convertible tremolo arm in place and this means the guitar is unusable. Can any tech heads out there help with recommending what tremolo system would be a straight swap for replacing the whole tremolo. I have tried contacting Patrick eggle at fret king.com but one of their techs said they no longer deal with Patrick eggle guitars, I have also purchased a Wilkinson arm retainer bolt from Axesrus Ltd but the grub screw that was sent by them does not screw all the way in so does not help. I really would love to pass on this guitar so if anyone could help with advice on who I could use fix this or fit an entire new tremolo system I would be very grateful for the help. I am not very good with fixing things so I am looking for someone I could pay to get it back into working order.
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try here if Matt doesn't come along anytime soon. http://patrickeggleguitars.org/smf/
There are a few answers to different aspects of your query.
Firstly, regarding direct replacement units, you could try the Wilkinson VS100 which is essentially the same as the current unit but without the 'convertible' feature of the original VS100c. Alternatively, I believe the VS50 may also be a direct swap but am not 100% sure without looking it up. Basically, a Wilkinson VS model that has a 2 screw (rather than 6) should be straight forward.
Just checked JHS and this looks like a direct swap: https://www.jhs.co.uk/brands/wilkinson/wilkinson-bridges/wilkinson-knife-edge-vibrato-chrome
However, I would encourage you to find a solution to reinstating the original trem. Without pictures, I'm not sure which grub screw you're missing - it's a complicated arm with numerous components. Can you add a picture?
The issues with replacement grubs screws is that the originals were imperial so finding replacements is not easy. I had an issue with one of these arms once where a grubscrew was seized in place. I took it to a local engineer who drilled out the original and rebored it for a metric grubscrew - job done and all for £10!
Regarding the nut that locates on the back of the guitar, Trev Wilkinson used to be able to supply these for £5, although I'm not sure if he still stocks them. Try getting hold of him through JHS.
Come back to me if I can help further.
The locking bolt was fixed to the plate which covered the tremolo springs not that this helps but never seen a replacement
Revmatt that sounds like just the thing I'm looking for that turns it into a hard tail, how much would you like to sell it? I was going to add some picture of the tremolo arm but I'm unsure how to do that.
Pictures have to be hosted on a 3rd party site and then linked to on here, so rather than me going through that rigmarole I'll message you and then I can email you pictures of the little gadget I have. You could either use it as it is (instead of the trem arm as just a locking device) or use it for parts. However, I'd still suggest taking the arm itself to a small engineering workshop as well as they could easily get it up and running again for you.
Do you refer to the ones that secure the wedge-shaped sections in position?
https://i.imgur.com/90kFG1G.jpg?1
Or the one at the bottom end of the arm, where it engages with the cavity cover plate?
https://i.imgur.com/iwhiSIr.jpg?2
Your best bet is just to replace the bridge with a modern VS100 if you can’t find parts that fit.
For what it’s worth a Fender USA Standard bridge is also a perfect fit on the posts. (The Wilkinson was designed to be, the other way round!)
"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
All to often, a thread will attract unhelpful interjections along the lines of, "it needs a Bigsby" or "only a German-made Floyd Rose is good enough".
Is that still available or have you just agreed to sell it to the OP?
I have a feeling that the stump may even have been included in the original VS100 Convertible kit.
The mechanism is a brilliant idea in theory, but I found it just did not work in practice - if you can make it, you must be either far more determined than me, or more tolerant of its problems in use!
Firstly the 'eccentric' socket in the backplate was a complete pig to get into the right place - it wasn't possible to tighten it enough so it wouldn't slip, and it was even difficult to tighten it at all without it sliding out of position in the process - I eventually superglued it into place, which did fix this problem but obviously meant it then wouldn't have been possible to adjust it again if necessary. (Luckily it shouldn't be, since there is only one correct position for any given guitar.)
Secondly it wasn't possible to adjust the arm so it would both engage firmly enough to lock the bridge tightly without rattling when playing chords, and at the same time go smoothly into the hole. And if it didn't go into the hole when the tip of the arm hit the socket, the result was that it pushed the bridge sharply up, instantly rendering the tuning badly out - unusable in a live situation.
Thirdly, even when by some miracle it was eventually adjusted absolutely perfectly and the arm would engage smoothly and tightly, which I think I did manage a couple of times, it would never stay like that for more than about a day - *everything* constantly worked loose and needed fiddling with.
On top of all that, it somehow killed the natural tone and resonance of the guitar, which was extremely obvious when I finally got fed up with it and replaced it with a standard bridge. I later did the same to a friend's one with the same result...
So I would have to say it's one of my least favourite pieces of guitar hardware ever, sadly .
"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
My solution was to remove the arm and, using a nylon washer to reduce the size of the hole, fit a Floyd Rose replacement arm and have the bridge floating. This works perfectly for me as I can position the arm where I want it. Granted, the bridges don't lock but they stay in tune very well and are no more compromised than a Strat or PRS trem.