Squier VM Jaguar tremolo feeling "tight" to use

[rydera81]

Hello all,

I've been an owner of a 2012 Squier VM Jaguar for a couple of years now, found it on eBay for a great deal so I couldn't pass it up. When I got it, I brought it to my local tech and he installed Graphtech saddles as well as taping the feet of the bridge with copper so it didn't move while using the trem (see pic below). Ever since then I noticed the trem has been less fluttery and effortless to use. It takes more strength to get the bar fully down (I'm not dive bombing on this, but my point is it's less fluid to use while doing flutter effects).

Is this the result of the bridge being secured by copper tape? Or does the trem just need an adjustment. Also, the bridge seems raised, not sure if my tech did this or they're just like that. I plan on lightening my strings from 10's to 9.5's so will the less tension make the trem easier to use? Any tips are appreciated.

https://imgur.com/a/t6HY4yC

[Danley]

I've never gotten a good result from wrapping the bridge posts/keeping them from rocking - but I also haven't tried to do that for many years (nor have I had a need.) Preventing the bridge from rocking (even using Graph-Tech saddles) might *perhaps* result in increased effort to use the vibrato due to an increase in friction, but my guess is it's probably that your tech tightened the center adjustment spring; that spring also controls the amount of 'float.' Do you have up-bend?

The bridge height is a bit high but not overly so. Did your tech shim the neck? I wouldn't worry about it if it works. Going to 9s will cause the trem to balance differently, but might not affect the amount of effort needed to use the bar. If anything, since the strings' force pulling against the spring will be lower, it might take more effort - not to mention that lower gauge strings typically require a bit more trem movement to get the same drop in pitch.

TLDR, if the tech did anything that increased the tension it is probably the screw - but could still be due to the string friction against the non-rocking bridge. Might be worth a shot un-doing the copper, if you know your spring is in the correct place. That said, If it were my guitar, I'd still un-wrap the bridge posts and swap back to the stock saddles (Graph-Tech aren't a good option if the bridge is intended to rock) - but more for other reasons, rather than influencing trem tension if that is your goal.

[rydera81]

What would be the benefit of unwrapping the bridge besides possibly loosening the trem arm? I believe he said it improves tuning stability was the reason he did it, but this was almost two years ago so I don't fully remember.

I don't remember if he shimmed the neck or not. I found the receipt from my first service with the guitar and it doesn't mention any shimming. It says "secured bridge studs/bushings to prevent bridge wobble.

Yes, my guitar does up-bend. I'm going to take the guitar to him this Saturday to take a look at it. He's offering curbside service so we will be staying safe during these times. I will be installing a new bridge on it as well, I found a Fender-made adjustable bridge for offsets on eBay https://ebay.us/Z9HspQ. It looks like the Graphtec but made of metal. I'm doing this swap mainly for tonal reasons than anything else.

I wanted to get more opinions on the matter, because I don't always end up agreeing with some of the decisions he's made on my guitars and I'm trying to balance the pros and cons for my needs.

[Danley]

A lot of people on this board don’t wrap the bridge posts, because it defeats the original rocking design (that is, the bridge is supposed to move along with the strings, and actually prevent tuning issues when using the trem.)

If you observe how much rocking does occur on a proper set up bridge, you can see how tuning issues can actually be *caused* by not allowing the bridge to rock with string movement - and that’s a problem that typically occurs when people try to use bridges like TOMs that don’t rock. But at least your tech had the idea to use Graph-tech saddles, to reduce the friction somewhat.

Mostly, people who choose not to wrap the bridges don’t find them any less stable when set up to rock, so there’s just not much of a reason to do it. If you really want to make sure the bridge stays on-center while retaining some ability to rock, Fender makes nylon bushings for a lot of newer guitars like American Professionals.

FYI, I would never trust a tech to set up one of my offsets; too many misconceptions from people who haven’t spent a significant amount of time with the guitars or actually researched how they work. That does make them a bit more of an advanced option for users

[rydera81]

The non-rocking bridge could be the difference I'm hearing in the sound of the tremolo. I feel like it sounded more "surfy" when I first got it.

The guitar came with mustang saddles instead of the stock, I assume installed by the previous owner. The guitar played terribly because of the mismatched radiuses between the saddles and the neck, which lead into getting the Graphtech saddles. My guess is the previous owner installed the mustang saddles without knowing about the mismatched radius problem and never got along with it.

Any experiences using the saddles I linked in my previous post? I haven't heard about them until I stumbled across them on eBay, but apparently it's a Fender product. Maybe it's new?

[Bradley-Jazz]

If those saddles are for the Cobain Jag, they won’t be very new, but I can’t say I’ve seen many of those advertised (I’m in the UK). It *ought* to be a decent bridge, and I’d expect it to be tonally more like what you’d expect on a Jag.

If you are in the UK, or can find one on eBay, the Staytrem is available in 9.5” radius and many people on here (myself included) would regard that as the best option. The one you link to looks like the Warmoth modified mustang bridge. There is an old thread here discussing these options.... http://offsetguitars.com/forums/viewto ... 8&t=103069

If you do find the saddle grub screws drop with use (some say they do on a Warmoth, and they did on my stock bridges), you can put Loctite or nail varnish on to hold them.

If it was mine, I’d Staytrem if possible, and un tape the legs. If I then sold it down the line, I’d take the Staytrem off first and hang on to that.

[Danley]

The funny thing is, one of the best Offset bridges I have came off a stock Squier - at the same time, the only bridge I've ever had that ever had the 'saddle/post-drop' problem was also a Squier bridge (but that means out of about a dozen bridges, I've still only seen one do it.)

That said, the bridge you linked can probably be set up to work fine. However, if you want an adjustable saddle Offset bridge with the best tolerances (which in terms of Offset bridges means - adjustment grub screws seated most firmly in the saddles, and intonation screws that are tight in the baseplate) then I would look for a used AVRI bridge. Plenty of people take these off to replace with Staytrem etc. so you can find a decent deal. They have shorter intonation screws that allow a better range of height adjustability than other bridges.

[rydera81]

I'll definitely look into the nylon bushings/grub screws (are they the same thing?) lol. This is my first and only offset so far so I'm still learning about them. I haven't really bonded with it besides the initial honeymoon phase, but I think I can unlock its full potential if I get the ingredients right and hopefully it becomes a guitar I want to pick up again.

I'm in NY, so Staytrem isn't an option for me since they don't ship to the US anymore I believe.

[timtam]

The bridge you linked is the Korean 0081239049 bridge that Fender has put on few import guitars in recent years. There are also unbranded versions that may or may not be the same.
https://darrenriley.com/store/fender-mu ... 081239049/

Design wise, it is basically the vintage-style bridge without the screw-thread barrels (which some people don't like because the strings can jump out easily with heavy playing on a low bridge, and others find useful for adjusting string-spacing where necessary). Like Mustang-style import bridges, they tend to have too-long intonation screws (which can foul the strings) and saddle height grub screws (which can dig into the hand); but if either of those become problems, screws are all M3 so easily swapped. Mustang barrels are larger, and now come in either 7.25" or 9.5" radii (the latter being the Am Pro and Squier CV bridges).

As others have said, stopping the bridge from rocking is not how it was designed. The nylon Am Pro bushings do the same thing as wrapping only more elegantly - but still antithetical to how the bridge is supposed to work. Your Graphtech saddles may have kept the friction problem with your now-non-rocking bridge to a minimum (they are not widely popular). But the bridge is designed to rock when the strings grip and move the saddles/bridge (for which friction is good) with trem use. If allowed to rock, your bridge height looks sufficiently high to have good string downforce/saddle friction/rocking stability; a small, tapered, full-pocket neck shim would give it a bit more height if that becomes necessary for more stable rocking/less post screw slippage/rattling.

The trem screw is ideally set to the neutral middle position, for balance between string tension and screw compression. But that is most easily done on a trem with lock, which yours doesn't have (whole trem would need to to be replaced to get the lock/better trem). However, you can just adjust the screw to achieve similar, more approximate results ...
https://offset.guitars/the-goodies/sett ... lo-system/

Sounds like you got a good bargain. If you're so inclined, enjoy learning/playing with the options to set it up right. It's no harder than many other guitars. But don't expect every tech will know how to do that.

[rydera81]

Thanks, I'll probably ask him if he could set it up for rocking with the new bridge. At one point he mentioned there was a high fret and it needed a fret level, but I held back on doing that until I wanted to put that kind of investment into the guitar. Honestly, I think it plays fine right now with minimal buzzing, but the action could be a bit lower.

Now I'm thinking instead of putting $150 into a fret level, I could get a used Fender Player neck on Reverb for $200 and it will have a bone nut on it (I think all Mexicans have bone nuts?)