I added a tremolo arm onto my Telecaster! Mounting the Vega-Trem VT2ND Teletrem

Everyone, all of you want to use tremolo on your Telecasters, right?
In the old days, tremolo arms were made by Bigsby, and in recent years, the Maverick tremolo system by Super-Vee is used by well-known musicians like MIYAVI.
Personally, whenever I hear a tremolo arm on a Telecaster, Mick Mars comes to mind.

But in any case, in order to use one of these on a guitar, the tremolo has to be installed onto the body of the guitar.

With the Vega-Trem VT2ND Teletrem, anyone can easily add a tremolo system on it, so I will give it a try.

■ Here is the guitar that I’m going to work on

First, I’m going to remove the bridge and prepare it for installation!

Then I removed the bushings for the string holes on the back.

I inserted a long, thin metal rod from the front side of the body and tapped the rod lightly with a plastic hammer to remove the bushings.
Now that all the parts have been removed, it’s time to start installing the VT2ND Teletrem.

Here is the pickup built into the provided plate and secured in the original holes with the two screws provided. Don’t forget to ground it.

Now I’m going to install the tremolo unit.
In the photo, you can see that it has springs. These are the heart of the tremolo system, so take a close look at it.

Insert the unit into the holes where the strings were originally threaded.
The unit went in easily without any tightness.

If you look at the unit from the side, you can see the knife-edge. Combining this with flexible springs allows for arming.

Now that the installation work on the front of the guitar is finished, I’m moving on to the back.

The springs can be seen through the holes where the bushings were removed.
Tighten the provided bushings here.

It looks like this when the bushings are temporarily tightened on the springs. The spring is secured with a threaded bushing from the back of the guitar and the springs are flexed with the arm.

Installing the arm is easy! All you have to do is tighten the bushings with a flat-blade screwdriver!

■ Impressions after using the tremolo system

First of all, it looks cool! I think everyone might have different tastes, but I think the modern but somewhat retro design of this tremolo unit matches the Telecaster well.
The feel of the arm varies considerably depending on the adjustments and how much you tighten the slotted-head bushings on the back. You can adjust the tension from as soft as a leaf spring to as tight as a synchronized spring, depending on your preference. It will be fun to tinker around to find the best setting for you.
However, adjusting this tension is quite difficult...
Unlike a normal tremolo system, the mechanism of each string functions independently from each other, so it took me quite a long time to adjust the tension for each string.

■ Conclusion

How was the Vega-Trem VT2ND Teletrem, a revolutionary tremolo unit that can be easily installed on a Telecaster? The innovative design and easy installation mechanism made me excited to work with it.
The adjustments were tough to work with, but I think this unit is simple enough to let you find the adjustment that you will like best.
If you are thinking of installing a tremolo unit on a Telecaster, you may want to consider this as an option!