The Dime Gap

Often times you will hear an artist talk about the importance of
the dime gap. There is some debate as to which way the dime
gap is measured, and if you should even use a dime at all.
There are two basics ways that the a-bar assembly can be on
the machine, rested and stressed. In rested position there is no
tension on the a-bar assembly, and typically the front contact
spring is touching the contact screw’s point. Stressed position
is when you push down on the a-bar nipple so that the
a-bar rests on the front coil’s core. When the a-bar assembly
is in the stressed position the distance between the front spring
tip and the contact screw’s point is said to be the distance of a
dime. The other school of thought is that when the a-bar is in its
rested position, the distance between the bottom of the a-bar
and the top of the front coil should be the width of a dime. It is
said that this is just an old timer’s “guesstimation” technique,
and I am not sure of many artists that actually will slip a dime in
there; either way.