Second question is about the bridge: Mine has the hagstrom bridge and vibrato. Is the vibrato arm supposed to be removable? I unscrewed the set screw that holds the arm in place, and it turns, but doesn’t come out of the collar. Also, the set screw seems to have bored a permanent divot into the arm and so it only stays put in one position, which is too low to the body to be useful. If I could remove the arm, I’d attempt to fill it with something and reset it for a different height. Is this possible?
OK, you have touched on a number of different aspects regarding the Hagstrom. Some things you wrote don't add up or make sense. And some of what you wrote is not entirely clear. this one is also a lefty, so ill try to stay on track with it myself
first, there are 2 main screws on that unit. the one large thumbwheel/set screw that holds the arm in place, and the smaller screw that controls the spring rate(or whatever) of the tremolo tailpiece. It sounds like you have removed the large thumb wheel set screw successfully. or maybe not?
"it turns, but doesn’t come out of the collar" a lot of things turn on that tailpiece. are u talking about the tremolo arm? or the large thumbwheel set screw??
presuming you are talking about the arm, and the large set screw has been removed and is not stuck in anything, just set that set crew off to the side. Is the point of the screw in decent shape? any major wear or signs of incorrect installation/use?
the "permanent divot in the arm" is there by design. there is only one way it is to be positioned. if it is "too low to be useful" than it is either: in there wrong/upside donw, is the incorrect arm, or a second divot has been made in the arm post-factory, in the wrong spot. something there is not right. one of my questions is that if you can't get the arm out of the collar, how can you see the divot(s) in the arm?
unless u mean the trem tailpiece itself is too low, which is controlled by that smaller screw. but lets pause there for a minute.
I want to make sure I am not misunderstanding what is stuck. in looking at your photo, the arm is way down by the knobs. that is not stuck, is it? the arm should be moveable, and if it is, move it up just under the high E string/in the pick guard area. The Hagstrom tremar is not like a Fender or Bigsby. it is very suddle, and just takes a touch to use the effect. It is not sticking way out like a Fender Strat. and the way that Hagstrom unit is designed (just look at it!) the trem will not work right (or at all) down where u have it in the photos. look at where a Bigsby arm is, the Hagstrom should look like that.
here is a lefty Hagstrom, see what I mean?
Once you move the arm out of the way, next step is see if the trem is locked with that smaller screw. play a chord and pull on the back of the tailpiece slightly. does the pitch change? or is it locked? Ultimately that smaller screw will need to be adjusted, while you are tuning, to set the tremolo "spring rate" to how you want it/how the guitar wants its.
but before you do that, if the the trem arm is stuck in its cylinder, I would heat that up with a hair dryer and get that arm out. just set it aside with the set screw. and show us some photos.
Also on mine the values of the pickups have not been measured, but they do seem quite hot. the neck pickup for sure, is a sea of heavy cream fattness. both pickups are full spectrum, wide open like the sky.
