NVGD - '72 Jaguar

blueskunk

Are Mastery bridges any good................

Or is it the staytrem........

Let the battle commence

blueskunk

Great fuckin guitar either way

Congrats.

Bridgehouse

On a serious note folks (hah) - am I going to lose some of that classic tone if I do swap out the bridge?

Having had a good fiddle with it last night (stop sniggering at the back there) I reckon I can get this one adjusted to where I want it - but it's going to be a right pita when swapping strings etc.

At the very least I'm going to have to swap out the springs on the intonation adjustment screws as they are old and have lost most of their spring.. Which means the saddles are moving around more than is ideal.

I also need to pull the trem off and have a look at the spring there as the spring screw is very stiff.

Is there a way of talking about this without it being a total innuendo fest?

meltedbuzzbox

The bridge swap will give you more of that character and tone. It's possibly the best thing you can do for a jag, it also spaces the strings nicely and moves them away from the fretboard edge. Staytrem and mastery are both excellent replacements

Bridgehouse

@meltedbozzbox - thanks for that - is there anything to recommend the mastery over the staytrem? I actually like the look of the staytrem

Kylef

Go with the staytrem. Every offset I've had that can accommodate one that I've had has had one. Closer to the original bridge in looks AND sound, just not the problems.

Alterlifeson

Another vote for the Staytrem. My mate has one fitted on his JM and you hardly notice is an aftermarket piece when playing (or looking at it). The Mastery does get rave reviews as well but I think its just a bit too 'different' looking.

meltedbuzzbox

I personally prefer the sound much more on the mastery and it really brings it all to life. They staytrem is very good and less faff to setup.
Start with the staytrem, it's half the price and if you don't like it you can sell it on for £50-£55. I personally prefer it with the fatter posts.

lasermonkey

I have to say, that's a lovely looking bit o' tort on there. It's a shame Fender can't do decent tort anymore.

I'll also add praise for the Staytrem. My Jag came with one and while I hadn't really encountered any issues with the original bridge, the Staytrem is just a better design in every way. It brings the strings inwards a touch too, which helps with the outer strings being precariously close to the edge of the fretboard. I shall be retrofitting my Jazzmasters with Staytrems as and when.

Bridgehouse

Just ordered a staytrem.

Bringing the strings in at the edges a bit has sold me completely. If it makes the playability even better then I'll be really chuffed - as it's pretty darn decent as it is.

Thanks for the advice guys.

@lasermonkey - the tort really is good - I've not seen a modern pattern that looks as rich or detailed - I think the older tort just seems more realistic I guess. 

DavusPG

Beautiful guitar, congratulations.....Garden looks rather nice too!

I was thinking the other day that the natural progression from regular GAS is vintage GAS and that it could be very expensive.

Bridgehouse

@DavusPG - It is - I'm struggling to get excited by new guitars at the moment. The Epi Olympic ruined me a bit... Doh

Neil

That looks lovely.

B&B Jags do look the biz.

Indoor pics do look a bit more natural. 

Bridgehouse

@Neil - yep, I think in person it's a bit inbetween the external and internal shots - still very nice though.

Bridgehouse

The Staytrem arrived today. I only ordered it yesterday (and reasonably late on too!) 

And so I gave it a full set up. Neck was shimmed - looked like a really old shim as well. I decided to put a slightly thicker shim in. Why you may ask? Well, I wanted to get the bridge up so I could bring the action down without grounding out on the mute - the neck sits really low in the pocket without. Lots of wiggle in the neck in the pocket so adjusted it to get the strings nicely centred - much better. 

The Staytrem brings the string spacing in nicely to get the top E well away from the edge of the fretboard. 

Replaced the spring in the tremolo - the original one was so stiff that it was impossible to balance the trem. So now it's set just right to slide the lock over and hold tuning for drops and for string breaks. 

Set the relief to 0.012" - seems to work best for this one. With judicious fiddling and trial and error the action is at about 1.8mm bottom E and 1.4mm top E with very minimal buzzing. I think it will need a fret dress (and eventually a refret) as this one has been played!

Really impressed with just how low I can get the action on a 7.25 radius board - without a fret dress and without any other buggering about - the Staytrem really is that good. Spot on intonation and there's no buzzing whatsoever. 

I've put Pyramid pure nickels on and they seem to be giving a bit more tension too. I had a set of 10's and tried them - surprisingly good for a Jaguar. I'm keeping them on for now - not sloppy at all - feels like the 9-46's I've got on the LP. 

So it's playing really well - the trem is balanced, there are no buzzes or weird bridge issues, stays in tune really well. And it's 44 years old and has been played a lot.. 

Only issue I've come across was a slightly intermittent pup selector switch. Took it out and gave it a blast with the Servisol, and then tweaked the retaining tabs which seem to have come a bit loose. Intermittent fault gone. 

Here's the new bridge:

One other thing - those nice folks at Staytrem give you an Allen Key for adjustments - and it's a ball end one which means you can use it at a weird angle and it's still fine. Very impressive. As a tool nerd I was suitably surprised. Well done Staytrem - nice touch:

If you have a Jag and the bridge is giving you issues then get one. Brilliant bit of kit. The old one is wrapped up and in the case now.. 

Loobs

V nice! 

tele69

Lovely looking guitar, congratulations!

Bridgehouse

So I've given the Jag a proper work out now and something didn't quite feel right - it felt good, but something just felt like it could be better..

Got the old ruler out and measured the fret height. Well under 1mm on all frets. Eek. Original frets and they are waaaay low.

So it's been dropped off for a refret. This one is a player and I don't want to compromise just to keep originality. Slightly more complicated as its bound edge but there you go. Tech is also putting a proper maple shim in the neck rather than the factory fag packet special as well..

This vintage guitar business is a whole different world when you are used to new guitars!! (Even with the worn frets it plays better than my 2016 LP which is scary enough!)

johnswiss

Great find.

meltedbuzzbox

you cant compare a Jag to a Les Paul