Stoogesurfer

Thanks ... the remedy for me turned out was just to fit a longer Jazzmaster trem bar (or was it from a Jag) ... which has the same 10/32 threads, but also about a quarter-inch more length from the right angle bend in the bar to the end of the threaded portion. So that allows me both to screw it into the block to the point where it no longer flops, and still have provide enough room above the body for dives. I just hacked off the extra length (about 2") of the bar and bent it upwards a bit.

Tapered bolt hole? Hmm. Thanks.

Just picked up one of Gibson's unusual guitars, an All American II (1996). The guitar is two single-coils with a Strat-style vibrato, but mine was missing the whammy. It's a 3/16" bar with a 10/32 thread (as best I can tell), and inside the cavity, unlike a Strat-style inertial bar, the threaded post hole is straight through (second photo, lower left) - so forget about dropping in a tension spring, it just falls out. Can anyone tell me more how this is supposed to work? Thanks ..