Cleaning up and freeing up the rollers on bridge?

[Scotstandard]

How should i go about freeing the rollers on the bridge? A couple are stuck, should i soak them in somethin? Im sure you guys have been through this.
Thanks
Scot

[sleeperNY]

I would start by soaking it in ATF fluid for a day or two. That stuff has detergents and such that work great.

Jim

[EFElliott]

Hey Scot,

WD-40 works pretty good.

Ed

[Brian]

Soak them in some "Marvel Mystery Oil" if that wont free them up nothing will.

[Scotstandard]

did the wd 40 for a day or so. I got most of em spinning. The G was my biggest concern cuz when i played it not plugged into an amp it sounded like it was being choked buy the bridge. Not really noticable in an amp so i havent bothered to fix it all this time. The G is good now. Both the E's just refuse to move. There not rusty, i think mine was kind of a closet classic (other than the refin) they just havent moved for 30 years.

When i got it I think the original strings were still on it. I kept the ball ends. Really old looking bullet type ball ends.

If nothing else i feel that that guitar loves me becouse i cleaned it up and play it all the time.
and it dosent half to spend anymore time in the case under the bed.

[mosriteer]

Have done this plenty of times on virtually all of my Mosrites. I will take a try at explaining this without the benefit of graphics. You need to use liquid wrench, instead of lube oils like WD-40. Put on the liquid wrench and try to rotate the rollers - use a thick twine going over the rollers, pull down the twine on both sides to put pressure on the roller - just like the strings and go back and forth to move the roller. The liquid wrench takes the rust out; once the rollers are free, use a lube (WD40 is good here; being old fashioned, I use 3-in-1 oil) and paper towel any excess out. Excess oil tend to attract dust and grime. For real stubborn rollers that are stuck, here's Plan B: Take the bullets out and use a small nail as a punch to drive the rod holding the roller out of the bullet. (You need to do this carefully - I position the bullet on a table vise, with the jaws slightly open, with a soft cloth covering the gap and put the bullet lengthwise parallel to the length of the small gap. You need to use a sharp tap to get the rod out; if you use repeated tapping, the rod will not stay in the bullet after reassembly.) Once the roller is out, use fine grained sandpaper to smooth the flat sides of the rollers and the sides of the bullet that are in contact with the flat surfaces of the roller. Reverse the disassembly process and put everything back, after lubing the roller holes on the sides of the bullet. After this treatment, my whammies behave perfectly and stay in tune for a long, long time (I mean days) even after VERY hard use.

Scot - this is for you, since you are in IA. Many, many moons ago, just before I graduated from Iowa State, I thought that I was the only Mosrite owner in Ames. (I had a 66 V's model - my first Mosrite ever, bought from Buffalo, with me at that time.) To my surprise, I discovered a 64 V's model in store in downtown Ames (at one end of Main St.). The owner (Terry) would not sell it - you may be able to persuade him to do otherwise, restore it to a decent shape and luck out!
As for me, I am on the east coast and have not gone back to Ames since I graduated. If I remember it right, you are about 2 hrs away from Ames, so this may be doable for you.

-Kanad

[Scotstandard]

Thanks for the detailed instruction. I will try. I used wire cutters to grab the rollers and grip the inside and attempt to move them. worked on 4 of em. I need to do the disasembly on the E's. I used liquid wrench as well as wd40. Would have used some 3 in 1 but i cant find where i put it. just bought a new bottle too. it ill turn up.

im kind of afraid to disasemble the roller from the bullet. i dont want it to not go back together.

Thanks for the aims tip. next time im that way ill look into it. yeah its 2 or 3 hrs away. how long ago did you see it?

[Brian]

Thanks for the detailed instruction. I will try. I used wire cutters to grab the rollers and grip the inside and attempt to move them. worked on 4 of em. I need to do the disasembly on the E's. I used liquid wrench as well as wd40. Would have used some 3 in 1 but i cant find where i put it. just bought a new bottle too. it ill turn up.

im kind of afraid to disasemble the roller from the bullet. i dont want it to not go back together.

Thanks for the aims tip. next time im that way ill look into it. yeah its 2 or 3 hrs away. how long ago did you see it?

Dude, soak it in marvel mystery oil. Any auto parts store will carry it. If it can free up a ceased engine block that been sitting outside with no heads for 40 years I'm sure it'll free up the rollers on your bridge.

[Bushers]

When I was a toolmaker we used to use Plus Gas, not sure if you can get hold of it here in the US but if you soak anything in this for a day or so it free's up really easily! Trust me, when doing tool maintenance/refurbishment this was the only thing that worked..

[Veenture]

If nothing already suggested here has helped yet, maybe there's still the penetrating oil you can try -as a last resort...before you start thinking of using a sledge hammer

check this: http://www.polywater.com/typep7.html

...in combination with mosriteer's suggested course of action:

"...try to rotate the rollers - use a thick twine going over the rollers, pull down the twine on both sides to put pressure on the roller - just like the strings and go back and forth to move the roller."

Hope you finally get things rollin' Scot