Merlin wrote:

...
What I couldn't stand was the fact that my strings were no longer grounded.

Can you elaborate please?
Do you mean you felt less connection between strings and body (what would be the culprit parameter - weight, design, friction... all the above?)

Or did you use to get electric shocks?

Last edited: May 10, 2016 18:54:48

JakeDobner wrote:

Merlin wrote:

I tried the Graph Tech saddles on my Jazzmaster. I like the sound (I know some do not). What I couldn't stand was the fact that my strings were no longer grounded. I swapped the stock saddles back in.

The ground needs to go to the Vibrato, not the bridge in this instance.

Yep, and I just couldn't be bothered. As you have IMO, correctly pointed out, a properly set up JM bridge works fine.

Most people around here are going to cringe when I say this but, I've "adjusted" the height of Jazzmaster pole pieces by gently tapping on one of the four inboard poles with a wood dowel and a small hammer. When I say TAP, I am not kidding. Friction holds them in place in the upper and lower bobbin formers. They are simply pressed into place. Trying to adjust the two outside ones is an almost instant dead pickup. Don't try to adjust those two. On the inside four, You do run the risk of crapping up the pickup if the pole rubs through the coil wire's fragile insulation.

I take the PU out of the guitar, lay it across two wood blocks spaced so that the gap between the two is just a bit wider than the pole diameters and VERY carefully move the one I want to "adjust" a wee bit. This is fragile work, kind of like defusing a bomb.

I generally just "radius" the poles on the lead pickups just a tad to follow the radius of the fret board. So far no dead pickups but the risk is real and you should be both extremely careful and not too surprised if you screw the pickup up. Nice ring huh? "Screw the pickup up........"

Poet moron Ed.

Traditional........speak softly and play through a big blonde amp. Did I mention that I still like big blonde amps?

If I go too light on strings the Jaguar squeals. The Squire Jaguars made in Indonesia are even worse noise wise.

Looking into all this I found the bridge needs to be perfectly level with the pickguard. If it even has a slight angle to the body it will ring. The problem is the pickups are more powerful that normal electric guitars so the strings could be set higher up and get more lows than like a Stratocaster etc, and if the pickups and or string are set too low you will have problems with noise. So the trick is to set the bridge High enough and the pickups low enough to avoid all these problems. The Guitar was designed by requirements of Surf instrumentalists and the guitar has limitations on set up. The Mustang bridge is not a solution either being it only deadens the sound by too much string surface on the saddle etc .. .so keep the original bridge and saddles and adjust everything at the right height.

Jaguar is the most troublesome animal out there if not set up properly and - I haven't any newer designs - just wonder how they hold up to the original design = Any Body know or like the newer modified Jags??

I guess I'm thinking of hot rodding my old trusty Jaguars - Like would I rather drive a 1962 Chevy stock or drive one turned into a hot rod ??? same with guitars, many new guitars are way better now then it the old days (And you pay more to have them). To me many guitars could be much better modified in my mind - Like the Jaguars look but some parts are junk compared to many other guitars out now.

-

Last edited: Feb 02, 2024 14:27:43

Sonic_Blue wrote:

Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but when I try to play like Dick Dale, the low E sometimes slips off the saddle of my jazzmaster. After much research, I decided to order a Mastery Bridge and be done with it. It kinda hurts to spend money on a bridge after buying a nice guitar but I think it will be worth it. Anyone else have experience with the Mastery Bridge?

Resurrection is nice, but why this thread? The Mastery has been mentioned in many, more relevant discussions. Do a site wide search, you'll find a lot.
To your question - yes, it will solve the string skipping 100%, and also will help getting closer to Dick Dale sound-wise, as it has a slight focusing effect, less overtones and elimination of Jazzmasters' inherent buzz and rattle. So, more like a strat...
It's a very well made piece of equipment, and I'd recommend it, but not before recommending thicker gauge strings. Have you tried .013s yet?

When I was researching on google this is the thread that came up so I guess I was trying to give a heads up to the next person doing a similar search on google.

edit: I am going to try 13s with the bridge.

Last edited: Mar 10, 2019 21:23:23

Danny Snyder

"With great reverb comes great responsibility" - Uncle Leo

Playing keys and guitar with Combo Tezeta

Formerly a guitarist in The TomorrowMen and Meshugga Beach Party

Latest surf project - Now That's What I Call SURF