Are you using/not using a shim w/ your Staytrem?

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gusgorman
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Re: Are you using/not using a shim w/ your Staytrem?

Post by gusgorman » Mon Apr 29, 2019 7:58 am

BobL wrote:
Mon Apr 29, 2019 6:25 am
10s... for the first time in 20+ years. I've been doing a lot of pedal steel licks in my country band, and I just can't pull some of them off with 11s. That would definitely help, but... yeah, bends.
Isn't this the problem though?

With 11s or above you'd be less likely to get a buzzing bridge or strings popping out of the saddles. These are the classic 2 problems that people get with jazzmasters when they use lower gauge strings.

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Re: Are you using/not using a shim w/ your Staytrem?

Post by BobL » Mon Apr 29, 2019 8:31 am

gusgorman wrote:
Mon Apr 29, 2019 7:58 am
BobL wrote:
Mon Apr 29, 2019 6:25 am
10s... for the first time in 20+ years. I've been doing a lot of pedal steel licks in my country band, and I just can't pull some of them off with 11s. That would definitely help, but... yeah, bends.
Isn't this the problem though?

With 11s or above you'd be less likely to get a buzzing bridge or strings popping out of the saddles. These are the classic 2 problems that people get with jazzmasters when they use lower gauge strings.
Yeah, well - that was the experiment though, wasn't it? The Staytrem is supposed to help w/ these things. This was a process of figuring out if it was problematic w/o the shim on the Staytrem. At the gig, I figured out I either need higher gauge strings or a shim (or both?) to avoid that issue.

To be clear, buzzing was with 11s as well. What I notice on one of the guitars here that still has a .5deg shim is that if the bridge is rocked all the way forward, the strings contact the back edge of the bridge, which seems to cause some additional buzzing. As noted, I can put the bridge dead center, but as I play, it always ends up rocked one way or the other, and buzzing that front edge of the thimble, or the back end of the bridge, or both...

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Re: Are you using/not using a shim w/ your Staytrem?

Post by gusgorman » Mon Apr 29, 2019 9:45 am

BobL wrote:
Mon Apr 29, 2019 8:31 am

Yeah, well - that was the experiment though, wasn't it? The Staytrem is supposed to help w/ these things. This was a process of figuring out if it was problematic w/o the shim on the Staytrem. At the gig, I figured out I either need higher gauge strings or a shim (or both?) to avoid that issue.

To be clear, buzzing was with 11s as well. What I notice on one of the guitars here that still has a .5deg shim is that if the bridge is rocked all the way forward, the strings contact the back edge of the bridge, which seems to cause some additional buzzing. As noted, I can put the bridge dead center, but as I play, it always ends up rocked one way or the other, and buzzing that front edge of the thimble, or the back end of the bridge, or both...
FWIW I've got a Stayrem, a shim and 11s on my CIJ and hardly get any buzzing. (Weirdly I was getting some if I played hard after the last set up but then it went away). That doesn't really help much though so sorry :)

With regards to strings, how about trying some bottom heavy 10s? Might be a nice compromise...

EDIT: I've just tried playing it hard and it does buzz! Sorry I just hadn't noticed that recently.

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Re: Are you using/not using a shim w/ your Staytrem?

Post by BobL » Mon Apr 29, 2019 9:54 am

gusgorman wrote:
Mon Apr 29, 2019 9:45 am

With regards to strings, how about trying some bottom heavy 10s? Might be a nice compromise...
This plus the smaller shim seem like good things to try.

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Re: Are you using/not using a shim w/ your Staytrem?

Post by gusgorman » Mon Apr 29, 2019 10:02 am

BobL wrote:
Mon Apr 29, 2019 9:54 am
gusgorman wrote:
Mon Apr 29, 2019 9:45 am

With regards to strings, how about trying some bottom heavy 10s? Might be a nice compromise...
This plus the smaller shim seem like good things to try.
Well if you have any luck let us know... I'd certainly be interested now I've realised I've got the same problem! ;D

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Re: Are you using/not using a shim w/ your Staytrem?

Post by Velouria » Wed May 01, 2019 11:19 pm

My AV already has an angled neck pocket however I have to push my Staytrem back at an angle so that there is no interference with the strings going to the trem.

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Re: Are you using/not using a shim w/ your Staytrem?

Post by gusgorman » Wed May 08, 2019 12:16 am

BobL wrote:
Mon Apr 22, 2019 7:15 am
I have a .5 degree StewMac shim in both of my AV Jazzmasters, and Staytrem bridges on both as well.

This results in the bridge being pretty damn high, which I think is causing me two issues:

1. I can't get the pickup as close to the strings as I think would be optimal, and trying to get close introduces annoying rattles as the bridge pickup cover gets loose, and;
2. I think I get extra buzz from the bridge because of the extra leverage working to always pull the posts back to the edge of the thimbles.

So... I'm curious how much luck people have had with a Staytrem and no shim. About to take one of these apart to put on a new spitfire guard later today, and I'm considering pulling the shim at the same time. I'm not particularly heavy handed these days.

I suppose the other option is going to a .25 degree shim. I guess that only drops my bridge about 3/64"... maybe that's 'enough', hrm...
any luck with this?

I should really apologise for the tone of my first reply in this thread, because I've since realised I've got the same buzzing problem as you.

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Re: Are you using/not using a shim w/ your Staytrem?

Post by StevenO » Wed May 08, 2019 2:07 am

I'm using a shim cut from a credit card with my jazzmaster and it's Staytrem. Works great!

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Re: Are you using/not using a shim w/ your Staytrem?

Post by gusgorman » Wed May 08, 2019 2:17 am

StevenO wrote:
Wed May 08, 2019 2:07 am
I'm using a shim cut from a credit card with my jazzmaster and it's Staytrem. Works great!
What strings are you using?
What model of jazzmaster is it?
thanks!

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Re: Are you using/not using a shim w/ your Staytrem?

Post by StevenO » Wed May 08, 2019 2:46 am

Mines a partscaster. Musikraft V-C neck, AVRI '62 body, and I'm using 10-46 Ernie Ball RPS strings.

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Re: Are you using/not using a shim w/ your Staytrem?

Post by gusgorman » Wed May 08, 2019 3:50 am

StevenO wrote:
Wed May 08, 2019 2:46 am
Mines a partscaster. Musikraft V-C neck, AVRI '62 body, and I'm using 10-46 Ernie Ball RPS strings.
So if you play it hard the bridge doesn't buzz/rattle at all?

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Re: Are you using/not using a shim w/ your Staytrem?

Post by StevenO » Wed May 08, 2019 5:14 am

The low e rattles sometimes, but not enough to be an issue. A string has never jumped a saddle either, but I think that's more a matter of technique.

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Re: Are you using/not using a shim w/ your Staytrem?

Post by BobL » Wed May 08, 2019 7:16 am

gusgorman wrote:
Wed May 08, 2019 12:16 am

any luck with this?

I should really apologise for the tone of my first reply in this thread, because I've since realised I've got the same buzzing problem as you.
I haven't gotten a smaller shim yet... StewMac shipping is high enough that I usually wait to have a few different things to order before I do it.

I've got a set of .011s on the guitar w/o the shim right now, and .010s on the guitar that still has the .5 degree shim.

I think the buzz actually might be related more to the downward pressure of the lighter strings, and seems to be the bridge posts buzzing against one edge or the other of the thimbles. I've ordered a couple sets of the Ernie Ball Ultra Slinky strings, which have the low end of a set of .011s and the high end of a set of .010s (because I've also been having trouble w/ D'Addario .010s failing at the ball end on my JMs). We'll see how they do in both respects.
StevenO wrote:
Wed May 08, 2019 2:07 am
I'm using a shim cut from a credit card with my jazzmaster and it's Staytrem. Works great!
This is probably not the ideal solution (I'm guessing you just cut a strip and put it at the guitar end of the neck pocket), as you can over time develop a hump in the fretboard since the neck isn't supported for the entire length of the pocket.

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Re: Are you using/not using a shim w/ your Staytrem?

Post by StevenO » Wed May 08, 2019 8:59 am

It's worked for countless instruments made for Fender for 60+ years, I think it will be fine.

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Re: Are you using/not using a shim w/ your Staytrem?

Post by BobL » Wed May 08, 2019 9:07 am

StevenO wrote:
Wed May 08, 2019 8:59 am
It's worked for countless instruments made for Fender for 60+ years, I think it will be fine.
...and it's been an issue for at least 40.

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