Replacing USA Fender 2-point strat tremolo with Gotoh 510(TS-FE1)

[Sorenspete]

I'm pretty close to doing this swap since the product description assures that it's a direct swap, but just wanted to gauge people's experiences with changing their Fender trems out.

Did you swap out the anchors and posts? Were modifications necessary or did everything slot right in? Is the Gotoh a significant improvement?

For me it would be an improvement purely for the tremolo arm and its assembly. I've always felt the traditional strat tremolo arms felt cheap and awkward. The metal ones on deluxe and Gotoh style trems feel a lot more natural for me.

 

[jamesie]

I have replaced the fender 2-point with a VegaTrem VT1 UltraTrem 2PT St. Steel, not cheap but it is really great if you like floating trems. The only bad thing with the VegaTrem is, i want it now in all my guitars.

 

[unix-guy]

@Andy Eagle

 

[mr_fender]

Some minor mods are usually necessary. The stud spacing will match fine. IIRC, the studs themselves are a different thread (metric vs imperial). The Fender studs should work fine with the Gotoh trem. If you want to use the Gotoh locking studs, I believe you'll need to pull the Fender bushings and install the Gotoh ones instead (they're both ~10 mm OD so usually no drilling is needed). You also might need to remove a very small amount of material on the treble side of the trem block opening in the body as the mounting nut for the tremolo arm bushing on the underside of the bridge plate is just a little bit wider and might rub on the body. It doesn't take much (maybe a mm) and is totally hidden by the trem.

 

[Andy Eagle]

Some minor mods are usually necessary. The stud spacing will match fine. IIRC, the studs themselves are a different thread (metric vs imperial). The Fender studs should work fine with the Gotoh trem. If you want to use the Gotoh locking studs, I believe you'll need to pull the Fender bushings and install the Gotoh ones instead (they're both ~10 mm OD so usually no drilling is needed). You also might need to remove a very small amount of material on the treble side of the trem block opening in the body as the mounting nut for the tremolo arm bushing on the underside of the bridge plate is just a little bit wider and might rub on the body. It doesn't take much (maybe a mm) and is totally hidden by the trem.

This is most of it.
For this one I recommend pulling the bushings and fitting the Gotoh ones as there are a direct fit . Some times you get away without the slight tweak to the rout to accommodate the trem arm mech but it is often needed.
Oh and yes I think the Gotoh is a worthwhile swap for older Fender USA two post trems. Newer ones with push in bars on the American Professional are pretty good in their own right and while I still think the Gotoh is better the improvement is less significant.

 

[Sorenspete]

Some minor mods are usually necessary. The stud spacing will match fine. IIRC, the studs themselves are a different thread (metric vs imperial). The Fender studs should work fine with the Gotoh trem. If you want to use the Gotoh locking studs, I believe you'll need to pull the Fender bushings and install the Gotoh ones instead (they're both ~10 mm OD so usually no drilling is needed). You also might need to remove a very small amount of material on the treble side of the trem block opening in the body as the mounting nut for the tremolo arm bushing on the underside of the bridge plate is just a little bit wider and might rub on the body. It doesn't take much (maybe a mm) and is totally hidden by the trem.

Thanks for this info.