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Re: jazz/jag/stang-o-matic

Posted: Sun Mar 31, 2013 2:38 am
by marcello252
Did this on my Squier jaguar VM 2012, worked like a charm.

I got rid of the original bridge switching to a tune o matic with roller saddles. Very stable, never had a problem with tuning, but the sound wasn't right, I lost that Jaguar 'plunk' I always loved.

So I tried this mod using original bridge and the tune o matic post. Good, really good, right sound and no noises, very stable, a winning solution
thank you.

Re: jazz/jag/stang-o-matic

Posted: Thu Jun 20, 2013 7:15 pm
by hypnoraygun
Thank you for this. I tried the original bridge on my CP Jag, and it buzzed. Nail polish was a bit better, but not happy. Tried a roller bridge.. eh.. about the same.. I tried this mod with a $22 bridge from ebay. I popped the "legs" off, (WAY TOO easy, scary)then widened the holes with a metal reamer tool, adjusted the height of each saddle, popped it on.. BOOM. SO much better. YEAH! :w00t:

Re: jazz/jag/stang-o-matic

Posted: Tue Nov 19, 2013 9:24 pm
by 017493816
One thing I tried recently was the use of screws and springs to secure the bridge, I slid springs in between the bridge and the body, and screwed it in using the holes where the thimbles used to be. It seems to counteract the string tension, while maintaining upward force on the bridge, and with bushings between the screws and the springs, I believe it could work as the world's most simplistic vibrato effect.

Food for thought. Try it on that crap guitar you have lying around.

Re: jazz/jag/stang-o-matic

Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2014 8:44 pm
by kujoalt
Did this mod to my CP Jazzy. Works great!

Re: jazz/jag/stang-o-matic

Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2014 10:33 pm
by Johnophean
Hey guys, so do we have an official consensus from fender that the Fender Adjustomatic bridges are a 12" radius and not 9.5"?
I ask because I have been using a Gotoh TOM on my Jagstang for years(redrilled and put in there permanently, neck shimmed and vibrato bar reversed and locked)...It's not that I don't like the Gotoh bridge, but well, I don't love it, not only because of the mismatched 12" vs 7.25" issue, but those little hex nut screws like to come loose and then the bridge saddles rattles until you can get in there and hold them with your thumb while you re-tighten and re-intonate it. I also messed up when I installed the bridge by not angling the bridge, I installed it straight like the Mustang bridge was and the low E won't allow for dead on intonation. it's about 10 cents sharp on the fretted octave, all the other strings are intonatable though.
Soooo...
Before I either try my best at a filing of the Gotohs saddles to a 7.25", or opting an AOM (if it is in fact a miraculous 9.5") anyone have any tips or suggestions. Is the tonal difference between a TOM style and a Mustang style come back when you do the JAZZ/JAG/STANG-O-MATIC mod to a Gotoh/Mustang bridge splice job? I only really hated the original Japanese Mustang bridge because it was gappy and the G string sounded kind of dead. But anytime I play a vintage Mustang somewhere I always feel they have THE sound. Does anyone make a vintage Mustang "gapless" but preset like Mustang bridge? I don't need adjustable radius like the Warmoth one. (I know that's not gappy anymore). The Stay Trem? I don't want to hack a pretty and also costly Stay Trem though.
I just went looking for the Jag-stang's Mustang bridge I took off years ago in my parts cabinet and wouldn't you know it...I sold it on eBay a few years ago and forgot I did that. Maybe one of you even bought it from me and did this mod to it. (rambling...) Anyone ever get to ask Fender about the AOM or check with a radius gauge?

Re: jazz/jag/stang-o-matic

Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2014 11:27 pm
by Johnophean
I found it!!!!
Staytrem bridge, drop in replacement for Adjusto-Matic/Gotoh style bridges!
http://staytrem.com/epages/950002362.sf ... _Category3

They even make replacement thimbles for TOM or AOM Fenders if you want to go with the vintage style Mustang/Jag/Jazz type Stay-trem bridge! :o
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Conversion-th ... 27ee12862a

Re: jazz/jag/stang-o-matic

Posted: Thu Oct 23, 2014 1:23 pm
by Johnophean
I guess I was late to the party and you all knew about this huh?
I'm torn...I don't know what to do. Trying to make the Gotoh TOM have a 7.25" by filing the saddles slots is not going so well. The high e has a permanent buzz now. No matter what height it's at. I think it's because it's sitting on more metal because the slot is deeper and it isn't on a sharper point anymore. I think I f**cked up. :fp:

Re: jazz/jag/stang-o-matic

Posted: Fri Oct 24, 2014 7:59 pm
by Johnophean
I just can't afford a new bridge right now so yesterday on my rainy day off I said the heck with it and spent 9 hours yesterday turning a Gotoh TOM bridge w/ a 12" radius into a 7.25" radius. What a pain!!! :squint:
Filing, broken parts, more filing, more broken parts, more filing, etc, etc...but it's done!
In the end, it def feels better and has a more "Fender" feel.
Now the question is do i do my Jaguar's too? Back in 1998 or 99 I permanently installed a Gibson Nashville TOM bridge on it and throught the years have filed the notches closer and closer to a 7.25", but by feel. It's not bad, but it's not perfect.
Doing this to my #1 guitar was long before the days of other options to replace a Jag or Jazzmaster bridge outside swapping for a Mustang bridge.
I do still have the original Jag bridge and I might do the Jag-o-matic mod to it this weekend that way well, I have both.

Re: jazz/jag/stang-o-matic

Posted: Tue Oct 28, 2014 9:14 pm
by Johnophean
Anyone know if the current MIJ Mustang bridges are gappy like they used to be or did they fix that situation? All the pics I see online of current MIJ Mustangs the bridge saddles look tight, like vintage ones/Staytrem/Warmoth. Any ideas?

Re: jazz/jag/stang-o-matic

Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2016 7:00 am
by Dan_Q
I know I am posting on a really old thread here, but thought anyone new (like myself) picking up this thread might find this info useful.

I imported a correct part number genuine fender A-O-M from the US a few months ago, May / June 2016, and when measured with a radius gauge, it was indeed 12"

Interesting idea to convert the original bridge to fit the A/T-O-M posts, I've never heard of that! Nice one.

Re: jazz/jag/stang-o-matic

Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2016 8:55 pm
by mynameisjonas
For the record, I think Staytrem offers a bridge that's made to fit TOM/AOM posts nowadays (possibly inspired by this thread?), so you don't need to go trough the hassle of modifying an existing bridge.

Re: jazz/jag/stang-o-matic

Posted: Fri Dec 11, 2020 7:17 am
by jonnyrocket
mynameisjonas wrote:
Thu Feb 18, 2010 3:46 am
i know i've posted this before, but i couldn't find the post, and i suspect some of the newer members might find it interesting... so:

let's say you have a guitar equipped with a tune-o-matic or adjusto-matic bridge, but you want to use a jazz/jag or mustang bridge. here's one way of doing it that doesn't require any mods to the body:

1) remove the legs from your jazz/jag/stang bridge by bending them with a pair of pliers. it must be a reissue bridge. a vintage bridge has the legs welded in place and are therefore much harder to remove, plus it's just stupid to ruin a valuable vintage part. you could still use vintage saddles though.

2) measure the posts of your tune-o-matic bridge and find an appropriately sized drill bit (you might want to go slightly bigger to give the bridge base a little room to wiggle, but try an exact fit first)

3) drill out the holes in the jm/jag/stang bridge base

4) drop the bridge in place. done!

if your guitar has a 12" radius fretboard, you'll want to use jazz/jag saddles or the adjustable modified mustang saddles, since mustang saddles are made for 7.25" radius.
or if you're anything like me, you could do it the hard way, and file down the underside of the mustang saddles to adjust the radius permanently.

important! this applies to tune-o-matic/adjusto-matic bridges with the larger bridge posts (see pics below). if you have a nashville or ABR type bridge, the holes left in the bridge base when you remove the legs will be too large for the posts. it may work on those bridges too, but i haven't tried it. i suspect that the bridge will have too much wiggle room and you may run into tuning and/or buzzing issues.

the result of this mod is a bridge that has the stability and sustain of a tune-o-matic, and the smoother trem action of a jazz/jag/mustang bridge. and it will sound like a 50/50 mix of the two.

here's what it looks like:
Image
Image
Thanks so much for this mynameisjonas!

I know it's a very old thread but I find it very interesting. I have been trying to find better solution for the AOM bridge on the Cobain Mustang in order to more closely match the neck radius (7.25) with the bridge (9.5) and this solution might be one of the best to try. For now I purchased a Gotoh 510BN which is a TOM bridge with height adjustable saddles. However, I like that this method here allows for more variation as it would be cool to use the Jazzmaster saddles in order to play around with string spacing. I tend to like a bit wider around 10.8mm between strings. It might also be cool to try it out with tele type saddles! It seems they would fit but the intonation screws might have to be shortened a bit.

Does anyone know what would be the pros and cons of going with the suggested method on this thread compared to a TOM bridge that has individual height adjustable saddles? One of the negatives of the TOM rout that I could think of is that it might not be as good if using the vibrato.

How about sustain, do you guys think that the suggested method here has an impact on sustain compared to a TOM?

I really like the feel of this guitar and that's why I haven't gotten rid of it but I don't like the AOM/TOM very much. I have a Jazzmaster with a Mustang bridge and I love the rocking bridge!

I like that the suggested method on this thread does allow for some rocking!

cheers,
Jon

Re: jazz/jag/stang-o-matic

Posted: Mon Feb 08, 2021 7:20 am
by Nick and the Noise
The radius mismatch on the Cobain Mustang is so annoying and I don't use the vibrato myself (since the Jazzmaster one is far superior). I agree a Mustang (or better yet, Straytrem) bridge is the way to go if you use a vibrato.

I didn't know about the Gotoh 510BN! It looks great if you don't use a tremolo and you don't want to drill the bridge. Allparts seems to be the only supplier? Also, I can't seem to find any reviews of it.

Re: jazz/jag/stang-o-matic

Posted: Thu Feb 18, 2021 3:40 pm
by Gitardave
;D

Re: jazz/jag/stang-o-matic

Posted: Sun May 16, 2021 4:24 am
by Interludes
Hi everyone!
I'm on the hunt for a Squier Starcaster to use as a modding platform for some funky ideas I'm having.
I'd like to try the stang-o-matic trick on the Starcaster, but from what I've seen in pictures, the AOM looks ever so slightly inclined, as on Gibsons.

I would replace most parts with Fender parts, do you think that's doable? Would the inclination prevent the strings to sit properly on the Mustang saddles?

Is so, would replacing the Mustang saddles with Telecaster's give the strings more room to sit properly on the without being bound to the straight Mustang slot?
Help me out, no Starcasters around here (yet! 8) )