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SurfGuitar101 Forums » Gear »

Permalink Mastery Bridge for Jag/Jazz

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Now that the local music shop closed down I should have money to spare soon, so I think I'll be getting one of these bridges.

I really hope it will make the Jazzmasters a little more resonant. My '66 is quite resonant as it is. haven't decided if I'll use it on the '66 or '73. '73 has a '64 bridge on it and the '66 has a MIJ bridge on it(works better than the AV I had).

I've had a mastery on one of my Jazzmasters for over 6 months, and I dig it! Extremely well built with super nice metal, hand machined, awesome quality! Yes, it is expensive, but highly reliable!

Pyronauts
I've had a mastery on one of my Jazzmasters for over 6 months, and I dig it! Extremely well built with super nice metal, hand machined, awesome quality! Yes, it is expensive, but highly reliable!

Paul, what tonal/feel differences did you notice once you started using the MB?

Ryan
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Courtesy of Unsteady Freddie: Dave Wronski's Mastery (without a buzzstop).

image

I'd like to chime in with a few points about the Mastery Bridge. Yes, I had a prototype that had a built in roller bar. The final design without the roller is the superior version. It caused tuning issues, as does the BuzzStop. The added contact point causes the strings tuning to be flat, or sharp, depending on which side of the "zero" point you let go of the trem bar. I never realized how much I subconsciously flicked the trem bar to keep myself in tune when I had a BuzzStop on until I removed it. Still, without a Mastery Bridge, I would still use a BuzzStop.

Regarding tightness/looseness of posts fit with a Mastery Bridge. The posts should be loose, kind of wobbly when you place it in the cups. Then, tighten them with the Allen wrench opening on the top side of the bridge plate. That locks the bridge into the guitar.

The sound of my guitars using these Mastery Bridges is really a great improvement. Somebody recently shot a video of Slacktone at the Purple Orchid doing Miserlou, and, for me, the difference can really be heard when I play the high"E" string melody. Even with all the reverb, it's just more solid, hard hitting sound. I think that before it was more of a struggle to make that sound good. Even compared to when i used a BuzzStop.

The bridge intonates for me perfectly with both flatwounds and roundwounds. Wound, or plain "G" strings. I was skeptical until it worked for me.

This bridge, combined with Nut Sauce on the saddles and nut, is just very successful for me.

And No More Rust! I have replaced bridges due the rust ruining my old bridges.

If you like exotic tunings, you have A Lot of adjustment room for intonation. Even standard tuning on a stock bridge, low "E" string intonation can be tough. The saddle won't really always go back far enough. On my stock bridges I've cut the springs, and ground down the ends of the intonation screws to get them to work better. No more of that for me.

Hope this helps answer a few questions.

~ dave

SlacktoneDave
Hope this helps answer a few questions. ~ dave

Most certainly does help. Thanks very much.

SlacktoneDave
The sound of my guitars using these Mastery Bridges is really a great improvement. Somebody recently shot a video of Slacktone at the Purple Orchid doing Miserlou, and, for me, the difference can really be heard when I play the high"E" string melody. Even with all the reverb, it's just more solid, hard hitting sound. I think that before it was more of a struggle to make that sound good. Even compared to when i used a BuzzStop.

That is good to hear. Personally, I've always had to struggle and fight with the bridge to have the high 'e' saddle and string make really solid contact with the rest of the bridge. Kind of resulting in a duller tone.

So the Mastery Bridge doesn't rock? Is that correct?

www.apollo4.com

I guess not. My Jazzmaster bridges don't rock, I was setting them up today, and I had a look at that aspect of them. I think one of them is taped, not sure about the other. It's been ages since I've had the bridges off.

SURFmole
So the Mastery Bridge doesn't rock? Is that correct?

Nope, fits nice and tight. Solves the problem of the intonation going out when the bridge ends up all the way forward or backward! My ear isn't as good as Dave's, but I definitely trust his opinion! I like the way that it feels on my right hand when palm muting.

Paul

Just put new strings on mine, and all is well. I was able to intonate it perfectly, no problem, and it's staying in tune just fine.

I'm not an engineer or pro player but i like to try and understand how things work. After reading Dave's comments and taking another look at the mastery Bridge video i now understand what "locking the bridge" means. The measurement between the two posts are a few thousandths of an inch shorter than the cup spacings, so only by loosening the posts will it drop into the cups. By tightening the posts you are making the posts grip the side walls of the cups . In this case, tremolo action is achived by flexing the bridge matieial in a similar way to a bigsby and tune-o-matic combination. I would imagine if you push the tremolo too far the strings will slip over the saddles which is why Dave also mentioned Nut Sauce - to help the strings slip back into postition.(?) I wouldn't want to poo poo on the Mastery Bridge, it's a very nice, well thought out piece of engineering which especially for the pro player offers more positives than negatives.

But.. in my opinion, this is a little against the original Leo Fender Concept: The bridge posts were designed to offer minimum footprint/contact with body, the bridge which is made partly from sheet steel is actually designed to vibrate/resonate and transmit both ways along the string path ie: also towards the string fixing plate located as far to the rear as possible. Just my two cents but i believe this is what gives these Fender offsets the deep metalic string tone. I'd say, it's very hard to have both deep tone AND body resonance/sustain at the same time, it's a balance achived by bridge design.

Take for instance the Stratocaster. Fender are advising only using the two bridge plate fixing screws instead of all six. The new two point knife edge bridge offers even less bridge contact with the body but i believe they beefed up the dense mass of the tremolo unit to compensate sustain. To be honest i can't say for sure, i picked up one of these newer trem units and it seemed much heavier than the vintage type.

The Mastery Bridge is bound to change the dynamics but by how much?

I wouldn't say Fenders have deep tone. I've always thought they are a little on the thin side, which is really part of the appeal. And Jag/Jazz don't really have much sustain, which is something that the mastery improves by having more contact.

Also, I feel too much stock is placed on strings slipping over the tremolo. If you watch your strings, you really can't tell if they are even moving at all, even on a guitar with a fixed tune-o-matic/abr-1 bridge.

And on the Mastery, there really isn't anything for the string to catch on. It is just going to roll over and return, no burs to catch on.

You may be over thinking things. Slightly off-topic, but:

I watched a Dan Erlewine video in which he explained from a maintenance point of view he likes the newer 2 point strat bridge system. Less chance of hanging up, etc. He was even advocating loosening the inner 4 screws of the vintage system to make it more like the 2 point system.

But many strat players still prefer the sound they get out of the 6 screw bridge. It's just highly subjective and I don't think you can analyze it mathematically. It depends on the player and the sound you are going for.

Site dude - S3 Agent #202
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JakeDobner
I wouldn't say Fenders have deep tone. I've always thought they are a little on the thin side, which is really part of the appeal. And Jag/Jazz don't really have much sustain, which is something that the mastery improves by having more contact.

Also, I feel too much stock is placed on strings slipping over the tremolo. If you watch your strings, you really can't tell if they are even moving at all, even on a guitar with a fixed tune-o-matic/abr-1 bridge.

And on the Mastery, there really isn't anything for the string to catch on. It is just going to roll over and return, no burs to catch on.

Jake, my band moan like hell if bring my strat to practice, they've never heard any like the Jazzmaster, they've become mesmerized by it. I even had to check and make sure i hadn't brought a baritone version by mistake! Smile

Brian
You may be over thinking things. Slightly off-topic, but:

I watched a Dan Erlewine video in which he explained from a maintenance point of view he likes the newer 2 point strat bridge system. Less chance of hanging up, etc. He was even advocating loosening the inner 4 screws of the vintage system to make it more like the 2 point system.

But many strat players still prefer the sound they get out of the 6 screw bridge. It's just highly subjective and I don't think you can analyze it mathematically. It depends on the player and the sound you are going for.

You're probably right (as always) i guess most of my favorite surf tracks have been made with offsets with tape crammed down the cups!

But the Mastery is a lot of wonga and we need to know the detail.. don't we?

crumb
Jake, my band moan like hell if bring my strat to practice, they've never heard any like the Jazzmaster, they've become mesmerized by it. I even had to check and make sure i hadn't brought a baritone version by mistake! Smile

Then they'd shit bricks if you brought a Guild, Gretsch, Supro, or even certain Gibson to practice. Those can be deep guitars.

JakeDobner
Then they'd shit bricks if you brought a Guild, Gretsch, Supro, or even certain Gibson to practice. Those can be deep guitars.

Agreed some semi acoustics are very deep, i think Leo was trying to capture a bit of that with a solid body. Semi Acoustics are based on designs going back hundreds of years.

Crumb, I'm far from being right...just offering an opinion like everyone else.

I think most of the 60's surf music that was recorded with Jags and JM's had stock rocking bridges.

Site dude - S3 Agent #202
Need help with the site? SG101 FAQ - Send me a private message - Email me

"It starts... when it begins" -- Ralf Kilauea

Brian
Crumb, I'm far from being right...just offering an opinion like everyone else.

I think most of the 60's surf music that was recorded with Jags and JM's had stock rocking bridges.

I got into some Krishnamurti a while back (it's not religion by the way) and now i can't stop "observing" things! It can be a pain for other people Smile

Last edited: Jul 26, 2009 15:09:25

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