Kurt Cobain Jaguar/TOM Owners- String Alignment Issue?

[RoséBear]

I have a cobain jaguar and have had one for some time. Only recently did I start using the tremolo. Does anyone else with this guitars’ high e rub again the collet where the whammy bar screws in? Furthermore, do your strings sit on top of the screws on the plate?

[Danley]

I haven't handled a Cobain Jaguar specifically, but the collet rubbing the high E does not sound normal or ideal. The TOM would have I assume narrower spacing than a standard bridge, so who knows- this may be how they all are by necessity, I will let someone else chime in.

But you may be able to 'fudge' this somewhat by loosening the strings and seeing if you can either shove the vibrato tailpiece to the 'right' somewhat on the baseplate. You could even loosen the vibrato from the body to see if the screws are seated improperly and mis-aligning the vibrato. I would hesitate to drill any new screws to re-mount the vibrato, without making sure it won't screw up the alignment of the other strings; again, I'm not sure if all of them are like this.

As for the High and Low E rubbing on the large bridge plate screws, yes- that's pretty much standard on most AVRI/Mexican vibratos, though recent Squiers and MIJs seem to have this engineered out. I find it's not a huge deal- with or without the 'screw rub,' Jaguar/Jazzmaster vibratos tend to eat high E strings by un-winding them, so I recommend using something like Ernie Ball RPS strings that are reinforced.

[RoséBear]

I haven't handled a Cobain Jaguar specifically, but the collet rubbing the high E does not sound normal or ideal. The TOM would have I assume narrower spacing than a standard bridge, so who knows- this may be how they all are by necessity, I will let someone else chime in.

But you may be able to 'fudge' this somewhat by loosening the strings and seeing if you can either shove the vibrato tailpiece to the 'right' somewhat on the baseplate. You could even loosen the vibrato from the body to see if the screws are seated improperly and mis-aligning the vibrato. I would hesitate to drill any new screws to re-mount the vibrato, without making sure it won't screw up the alignment of the other strings; again, I'm not sure if all of them are like this.

As for the High and Low E rubbing on the large bridge plate screws, yes- that's pretty much standard on most AVRI/Mexican vibratos, though recent Squiers and MIJs seem to have this engineered out. I find it's not a huge deal- with or without the 'screw rub,' Jaguar/Jazzmaster vibratos tend to eat high E strings by un-winding them, so I recommend using something like Ernie Ball RPS strings that are reinforced.

Thanks!!! The more research I have done, the more I t seems I may have a dud. I have tried to tighten the trem down slightly to the right but to no avail. I’m thinking from the factory, the guitar has had improper alignment of the tremolo-bridge. I only noticed now as I have gotten used to a well set up jaguar with a mastery bridge. It appears my only option would be to fill and redrill yes?

[RoséBear]

Update for anyone from google or whatever that has this issue:

I did something perhaps a bit “dangerous to fix this issue. I essentially screwed one screw in to the trem plate, not tight at all. Then I tightened the high e string so it yanked on the trem plate slightly. I tightened down a few screws. Then tightened the low e so that slightly yanked on the plate, tightened the rest. I also noticed the trem claw (part you put your strings into) shifted side to side slightly. I made sure to push it fully to the low e side before I tightened the strings. Now, that’s not moving at all with everything bolted up. The result: my high e no longer rubs the collet, and somehow the high e also no longer runs against the screw. Perfect.