tonymckenziecom | 4 years ago

It's easy to create your perfect Stratocaster: Part Four: A close up of the ABM 5200g modern two point tremolo unit made of bell brass and of German manufacture.

What you will learn:
How much is the unit?
Is everything included in the kit?
What about the quality?
Do I need special tools?
What about the gold?
Are there any issues with this tremolo?
Does the gold wear off?
What is the general opinion?

Other videos in the series:

Full Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2HoYOlX1LULsuc9lfqQCvRMj3ZGxsaur

Part One: https://youtu.be/zFlXC2RJ2EQ Dye The Body
Part Two: https://youtu.be/4ym_6WpSvds Dye The Neck
Part Three: https://youtu.be/t5OBM2RosiY Routing for Fender Clapton Mid-boost Pre-amp
Part Four: https://youtu.be/wb5La9ybdTA The ABM 2 Point Tremolo - later returned
Part Five: https://youtu.be/JrDhkQRBwDE The Figured Maple Pick Guard
Part Six: https://youtu.be/B1vG4lkyH4Y Sealing the Water Based Dye
Part Seven: https://youtu.be/xaTp-_xrHWk Babicz Full Contact Hardware Tremolo
Part Eight: https://youtu.be/-jLRkg3WFjc Using acrylic clear coat for the body and neck
Part Nine: https://youtu.be/oDOpSgLCtaI Final Buffing The Parts & Fitting a Logo
Part Ten: https://youtu.be/tEY15uBxiUE Fitting the Tremolo & Tuners & Overcoming MAJOR Problems
Part Eleven: https://youtu.be/SFU7rxyWGwI Electronics - Fitting Pickups & Mid-Boost Board
Part Twelve: https://youtu.be/fjw1SK3-bkI Setup & playing of the finished electric guitar

Here I show you a really closeup of the ABM 5200g modern two point tremolo made from bell brass and designed to fit directly on the an American Fender Stratocaster. Take a look at what this tremolo really offers. Good and bad.

The tremolo is part of a kit that I bought from Thomann but I was not entirely convinced about the overall care taken with this unit by the maker or indeed the seller either.

I noticed firstly that the saddles have more side play than I would like to see on a tremolo of this type (check the PRS one) where here it was inferior to the PRS unit. I also noticed that the spring over the screw for saddle three was the wrong one! They had fitted a short spring, which allowed the saddle to 'float' backwards and forwards.

This ABM 5200g tremolo is expensive (at the time of writing it was £163 plus shipping - likely well over $200) and I really expected it to be perfect - it was not. Firstly, the manufacturer showed an almost 'slip shod' approach to quality control, but just as importantly, Thomann never checked the item before it was shipped to me either. So, as I have seen before, Thomann quality control is less than desirable and as for ABM they are the originator of imperfect quality. Companies like this operate on the premise that German engineering is the 'best in the world' but in reality on this occasion it clearly is not.

I'll resolve the spring problem and probably complain to Thomann, but its inexcusable how the maker let this through their quality control and out of the door. Ultimately this was returned to Thomann because it DID NOT FIT a Fender 2 point guitar body.

Other components used in the series include: Fender Locking Machine Heads, a Gilroy Guitars pick guard made from solid wood, a Fender Clapton boost circuit and its installation, Fender 69 custom shop pickups and one or two other surprises along the way.

This video series is entirely unsponsored and I purchased every single part just as you would have. I sincerely hope that this series of videos can inspire you too to create a guitar what ever type it might be. I have spent considerable time creating these video series at my expense:

PLEASE SUBSCRIBE, RING THE BELL, AND THUMBS UP to give my channel a boost and thank you for watching - I hope the series is enjoyable.

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#abm5200gtremolo #modern2pointtremolo #fendertremolo #stratocastertremolo