Mislabeled Spring?

[bettermambo]

I just picked up a 2006 Fly Mojo. The trem spring it came with was labeled "10" so I strung it up with 10's but even with the balance wheel as loose as it would go the trem was still tilted way back. I swapped out the spring with a backup I had also a 10 and followed the setup procedure and it's perfect. Is it possible the first spring was mislabeled? Oddly the first spring is .165" narrower and and about a thousandth thinner.

[syncopa]

Seeing the dimensions were narrower and thinner you must assume it was mislabeled and possibly a nine. But you never know, it's quite possible 16 years later it is just tired. The pros will chime in shortly.

[mmmguitar]

+1. You had a spare spring of the same rating on-hand to troubleshoot and diagnose that the previous spring was the culprit. The only quality test left is to use the dubious spring to balance a 9-42 set and see if it’s suited for relabeling or feeding to an enemy.

Though it may turn out that I’m speaking out of line, I don’t recall reading anywhere that the spring labeling process at the factory was foolproof. I suspect production tolerances are largely responsible for what produced many of the odd “x.5”-labeled springs I’ve seen photographed over the years.

[bettermambo]

Seeing the dimensions were narrower and thinner you must assume it was mislabeled and possibly a nine. But you never know, it's quite possible 16 years later it is just tired. The pros will chime in shortly.

That's the odd thing despite being narrower and thinner it seemed to be stronger. There was actually a set of 9's on the guitar when I got it. Initially I assumed that was why the trem was kicked all the way back. I may not have described it clearly. Since it's a push spring system rather than the normal pull springs. I believe it might actually be an 11 or 12 (I'd actually love to have an 11.) I may have to try it with some 11's and see.

[Voice Of Reason]

I may have to try it with some 11's and see.

If you do try, kindly let us (me) know about the range and difference in feel (using the bar).

Using an 11 spring and it is quite stiff.

Good luck.

[vjmanzo]

I can confirm that the spring size and dimensions does not correlate to the string gauge rating in a way that is obvious. It’s not likely that it was mislabeled as in “they should’ve wrote 9 but wrote 10”, but, as others have suggested, the spring was either not designed to the proper spec or it has begun to fail over time.

[Ondoid]

I know I’m late to this post, but honestly with those cruddy “fly flippers” that remove the sought after springs and sell the guitar and replace them with goofy springs so they can sell the 9s and 10s for an insane price….the thought that comes to mind is maybe a previous owner labeled it wrong. I could be wrong, but with these spring prices I’ve been seeing lately, it’s not too farfetched.