Some time ago, I picked up a very-well-taken-care-of Norma six-string from a local guy. It never even made it home. It’s just been leaning up against the wall next to my desk at work. It’s always had a problem, a blemish of sorts. No whammy bar. I guess it’s just always been that way.

After scouring craigslist, ebay, etc. I have given up on finding a replacement whammy, and diverted my energies to crafting. As you may have learned from earlier posts, playing guitar doesn’t lead to a low-life of drugs and cheap women; it leads to crafting. And it’s second cousin collecting.

Cleaning out my shop last week, I was preparing a 5 gallon pail full of lock and window crank assemblies for the steel pile behind the shed when I noticed that the linkage arm for the assembly matched my criteria for rigidity and flatness, and it had just the right bend too.

I hacked (because hack-sawed isn’t a verb) the toothy part off of one end, and the plastic connecting rivet off the other. Then I spent 10 minutes operating my favorite tool; a bench grinder with an 8″ grinding wheel on one arbor, and a wire-wheel brush on the other. Then a 9/32″ hole by the drill press, and the prototype is ready for testing.

I love it. The tremolo is much more like a Bigsby than the Fender trems I’m used to. I’ve avoided using the tremolo on my Strat for years because it just required to much finesse. It’s great for a dive-bomb but not a subtle waver.

Anyway, it’s a little too long, and it still needs a sanding and polish. Once I get the electronics cleaned up, it’s definitely gonna reduce my Strat to back-up guitar.