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SurfGuitar101 Forums » Gear »

Permalink Jaguar Bridge $#@&!!! - Help

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There's a guy on ebay.uk making his own Mustang bridge design. Less than half the price of the Mastery Bridge (but not half as nice!).

Springless off-set intonation screws, some sort plastic bridge post screw locking device and an altogether beefed up look. Last time i looked he was getting good feedback for them too.

image

http://staytrem.com/

Last edited: Dec 31, 2012 09:00:02

Okay, so here's what I decided to do. I ordered the Staytrem bridge
http://staytrem.com/epages/950002362.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/950002362/Categories/JM_Jaguar__Jazzmaster_bridge1

and tremolo upgrade.
http://staytrem.com/epages/950002362.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/950002362/Categories/Page__Category

I've also ordered Lollar Jaguar pickups.

I still haven't decided about changing the neck. Some days its' thinness gives me cramps right away when I play barre chords and some days it doesn't for over 30 minutes. I'd rather it never did, but given my age and the condition of my hands, that's probably not going to happen. I can tell the neck is better for playing lead, but I don't do much of that. It's also good for inside and outside chords; it's only barre chords that sometimes quickly cause cramping when I play this guitar.

BTW, the bridge is amazing. The pics don't do it justice.

This is Noel. Reverb's at maximum an' I'm givin' 'er all she's got.

I hate those bridges so much... I really hate how they sound. Reminds me of my disdain for the Gretsch big round metal bar bridges. I think a lot of sound dies in the saddle, and that is how it sounds.

I love a well set-up Jag/Jazz bridge and Mastery is damn good as well, lots of vibration goes through that bridge.

I just put on a staytrem bridge and I think it freakin rocks! And especially compared to the crappy tune-0-matic that was on there before, it has beefed up the sound a lot. It's really improved my overall tone, sustain, and even volume, so I'm not sure what Jake is talking about (I agree with him a lot, but not on this it seems).

Besides, I would think a pretty good rule of thumb is: If its good enough for Johnny Marr, it's good enough for me. Big Razz

I've never had a cheap tune-o-matic on a Jag/Jazz, but I do love tune-o-matics.

Anything is good enough for anybody as long as it is playable, but we all have preferences!

The lowering of the bridge /saddles is a quality issue I guess. My mim classic player 60s strat does the same thing.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/722422647891279/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnZbVMwSVp2QM0kbnT7FGVQ

image

I just thought I'd show off this beautiful bridge, even though Jake hates it Laughing

For a couple days now I have pounded on the strings and trem bar and made all sorts of crazy noises and bends and godzilla attacks on it and it hasn't needed even the slightest adjustment. Just some slight tuning on new strings which is normal. Intonation is still spot on.

No creaks. No buzzes. No string slippages. No string breaks. No bridge sinking. Cleaner and more resonant tone (at least to my non-pro ears). Comfy on the palm when muting. And it looks downright beautiful.

All in all, I love this bridge!

Cheaper than a Mastery... but I think the standard Mustang bridges work just as well. I have a Tune-O-Matic on my Mascis JM and I have had zero issues with the tuning/trem use/etc.

surferXmatt wrote:

Cheaper than a Mastery... but I think the standard Mustang bridges work just as well. I have a Tune-O-Matic on my Mascis JM and I have had zero issues with the tuning/trem use/etc.

I did think long and hard about the Mustang bridge. The Staytrem bridge seems a lot better made and also I like the slightly closer string spacing. In the end I decided to split the difference in price. John tells me he'll make one in gold should I ever decide I like it enough to put one on my Jazzmaster.

This is Noel. Reverb's at maximum an' I'm givin' 'er all she's got.

Last edited: May 09, 2013 13:30:01

Next time just buy a proper Jag with a descent bridge like my classic player Big Grin (just joking)

https://www.facebook.com/groups/722422647891279/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnZbVMwSVp2QM0kbnT7FGVQ

Donald77 wrote:

Next time just buy a proper Jag with a descent bridge like my classic player Big Grin (just joking)

That's okay. I almost did. But my CIJ was a lot less expensive than the used CP's is was finding. It was right around the price of the new Squier Vintage Modified Jags at that time, which is all I could afford. Even adding the Lollars and Staytrem components that it took me a while to save up for, it's only a little more than used CP's sell for today. Even if I get the Musikrat neck later it will be only a little more than a new CP Jaguar.

I've liked how all the CP Jaguars I've heard sounded. Mine ought to sound pretty terrific now too.

This is Noel. Reverb's at maximum an' I'm givin' 'er all she's got.

Yeah, I ued to have the CP jazzmaster, but I didn't like the pups on it, sounded very dull. The cp Jag and strat sound awesome tho.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/722422647891279/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnZbVMwSVp2QM0kbnT7FGVQ

How about a wilkinson roller bridge $12 on eBay including postage
http://i1364.photobucket.com/albums/r737/prickle99/C76AE943-B67C-471B-A3EB-B679AD90DC81-6192-00000A675EDB8CB2_zps73582e43.jpg
This is mine on my Squier VM Jaguar.

Last edited: May 15, 2013 16:05:00

Well, the Lollars are installed and so are the Staytrem bridge and tremolo upgrade. The Lollars are incredible. Combined with the CTS Vintage 250K pots this is how I always imagined a Jaguar should sound. If only I played like David Marks or Dave Wronski. Sigh The Staytrem bridge needed a shim under the low E-string saddle to eliminate a buzz caused by the string touching the top of the intonation screw. No biggie and the bridge looks great and plays great.

I'm leaving the Jag's neck alone. For now. I really have to play several of the vaunted '63 to '67 Jaguars to find out for myself what all the fuss over their necks is about. Then I'll know whether to have one of their necks replicated in the future.

Besides, I've decided I need a baritone guitar for several arrangements I'm working on and I'd rather save up for that than a neck right now.

All in all, the Jaguar is transformed from a guitar I use for learning difficult parts and when my left shoulder is sore to a guitar that sounds so good I don't want to stop playing it. As long as my left hand lets me.

This is Noel. Reverb's at maximum an' I'm givin' 'er all she's got.

Last edited: May 21, 2013 22:31:29

Noel wrote:

I'm leaving the Jag's neck alone. For now. I really have to play several of the vaunted '63 to '67 Jaguars to find out for myself what all the fuss over their necks is about. Then I'll know whether to have one of their necks replicated in the future.

'62-'67 Jag necks rule because they are vintage Fender necks. A Fender neck wears like no other.

Got my son the Squier VM Jag and let me just say ..... what a piece of sh@t that bridge is Mad

I really like the tune-o-matic on my jmascis jm, totally agree with surferXmatt, its been flawless.

Now i've been trying to look into the staytrem but no info available on the site till the 23rd.

Is it reasonably priced?

I'm not afraid to shell out a few bucks now that the kid seems to love that jag (the sg101 con now has him going ape for jags/jm's Smile ) but i'm also not into something kahler/floyd priced just for a bridge.

Thanks!

The Staytrem Offset bridge is very well made. It's not going to cause problems like the stock bridge, and I like the slightly narrower string spacing. Like Mustang bridges, there's no way to raise the saddles. make sure you get one for the correct neck radius. I did have to shim the low-E saddle as it was low on my guitar. This is a function of how the rest of the guitar is set up; neck angle, height of action, etc. The string touched the intonation screw.

They're priced about half-way between the Mustang bridge than the Mastery. Mine was about $152, including shipping from the UK. I'm very happy with it.

But I will also say that, if I were handy as some, the problems with the stock MIJ/CIJ/Squier bridges are nothing some very careful adjustment and judicious use of lightweight Loctite couldn't have cured.

This is Noel. Reverb's at maximum an' I'm givin' 'er all she's got.

It took me a full 18 months to realize how easy it is to properly and permanently set up a jag and jazzmaster. I started with a CIJ Jag and cursed at it for a long time. All it was good for was pounding out rhythms on the low strings.

And then one day, I decided to follow some of the advice on this forum. I bought a $5 jewelers file and some week loctite clone and in 10 minutes finally gave the guitar the setup it deserved. That, my friends, was the day I realized that surf lead guitar was within my grasp!

Since then, I have owned a MIJ Jazzmaster and a pair of AVRI's (Jag and JM). Setting them up is nearly an exact science and is very simple. You just have to believe!

The only other thing that I have done is to a couple of winds of tape around the bridge posts (perhaps reducing rattles) and also a layer of tape on the top edge of the metal shielding bucket used on the AVRI Jazzmaster (really vibrated badly on mine).

And recently, I added slight bends to the term bar to keep that in place..another great piece of 10 second advice from this wonderful forum! Works great, though I do have to work a bit harder to remove the bar to get it in the case.

Last edited: Sep 13, 2013 23:25:44

...

Last edited: Sep 13, 2013 23:24:58

echobeach wrote:

How about a wilkinson roller bridge $12 on eBay including postage
http://i1364.photobucket.com/albums/r737/prickle99/C76AE943-B67C-471B-A3EB-B679AD90DC81-6192-00000A675EDB8CB2_zps73582e43.jpg
This is mine on my Squier VM Jaguar.

Sorry I didn't see this earlier. What is the radius on that Wilkinson bridge? I wouldn't mind experimenting with that on my MIJ Jaguar but most roller bridges are made for the flatter Gibson radius, not the vintage Fender necks.

Also, are the bridge saddles removable? If so, I might be able to install shims under the middle four and change the radius, kind of like what some people do with Mustang bridges when one of the saddles is low. For only $12, it would be worth the effort.

If it ain't broke, fix it until it is.

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