-= Bridge FAQ =-

For help with setups and other technical issues.
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tremoloworkout
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Re: -= Bridge FAQ =-

Post by tremoloworkout » Sat Oct 05, 2013 9:48 am

I've resolved my string breaking issue by using bullets, now I'm running into a different issue.
I'm still using the stock bridge on my VMJM, and for some reason when I was playing last night, the bridge began to be able to be moved up and down length-wise, which was causing all my strings to be diagonal along the neck a little bit if the bridge was not set in its standard position. Is this a common issue or is it meant to do this? What can I do to make it stay where it's supposed to be?

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hoddyman
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Re: -= Bridge FAQ =-

Post by hoddyman » Sun Oct 06, 2013 4:01 pm

The Jaguar/ Jazzmaster/ Mustang bridge is made to rock back and forth, lengthwise in order to move wnen the vibrato is used. the assumption is that the strings are intonated while under tension with the bridge in a completely vertical position, able to rock back and forth as the vibrato is pushed in or pulled back. There is nothing holding it up but the tension of the strings, and it can be easily be pulled forward or back by simple hard playing, or bumpy travelling, or whatever. Some, like myself, intonate, and set up our bridges with the whole thing pulled back, in the first place, because it's easier to find the right spot to put the bridge to have it be best in tune that way, than it is to have to find the perfect "middle", after the bridge has been knocked or pulled out of place. The bridge can also be made immobile, by using tape, or anything else you like, to hold the bridge ridgid and upright in it's "thimbles", which will make the vibrato work less smoothly, but if you don't use it, it won't matter. Some people get a properly-radiused, fixed, tune-o-matic bridge, which also makes the vibrato cause friction over the saddles, if used, and other people send for a rather expensive "Mastery " bridge, which is also ridgid, but is designed to work smoothly with the vibrato. One other thing, is to make sure the height-adjustment screws on the "legs" of the bridge have something on them to dampen vibration, like nylon tape, or Locktite "Threadlocker Blue" (which tightens screws, without immobilizing them), because playing can cause them to loosen, and vibrate themselves out of adjustment.

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Re: -= Bridge FAQ =-

Post by tremoloworkout » Sun Oct 06, 2013 4:37 pm

thanks for the in depth analysis, but I must apologize because I think you may have interpreted my bad description incorrectly. I know its supposed to rock back and forth for the trem and im fine with that. but my bridge was moving the other way, side to side. It's hard for me to explain but basically from the perspective of the guitar in playing position, the whole bridge would slide up and down, like from E to e, if that makes sense. I seemed to have fixed it by raising my bridge slightly, but if anybody has any info on this in case it happens again, I would appreciate it.

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Re: -= Bridge FAQ =-

Post by hoddyman » Mon Oct 07, 2013 3:31 pm

Side to side? How is you bridge mounted? A "floating" bridge, like on some hollowbodies, and some early Gretsch, Harmony, and Kay solidbodies, can move side to side, but the "thimbles" that hold the "legs" of Jaguar/Jazzmaster/Mustang bridges should pretty much prevent that from happening. I've noticed lately, looking at some new Jazzmasters and Mustangs in stores, that the neck angles on these guitars are really flat and low, and that the bridges are practically flush with the guitars' tops. I wonder if the slightly-pointed, height-adjustment screws at the bottoms of the "legs" are even screwed down enough to act as proper pivots for the intended rocking motion of the bridges. This condition may make a small ammount of sideways movement of the bridge possible, but I don't really know. A small shim (no thicker than a plastic card) at the body end of the neck pocket will increase your neck angle and string tension over the bridge, which will have to get raised a little, if that's the problem.

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Re: -= Bridge FAQ =-

Post by Reynman » Sat Jan 25, 2014 5:45 am

As you can see on my AV65...the spacing of the saddles is too wide. Led me to moving strings all over saddles to compensate...uneven balance=buzzing.

Image

I wanted to add a mustang bridge, but the fender version had the same problem...too wide. E's to the edge of the fretboard.

Build your own Staytrem.

Buy an allparts bridge and take the saddles off.

Image

53.5 cm. perfect.

Take fender channel (the allparts channel is too high...have to worry about break angle) and turn it around so holes are toward neck...put bare allparts saddles in...lay strings over saddles to get perfect placement and then mark the bridge. Redrill holes on the back side of saddle... voila. Throw some blue loctite on the height screws and you have an incredibly solid Jazzmaster bridge.

Image

Perfect spacing (right over pole peices and e's on the neck). 7.5 radius. $25 and an hour of my time.

Hope this helps someone else cure their Mastery or Staytrem envy....

Patrick

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Re: -= Bridge FAQ =-

Post by hubcapbrian » Mon Feb 03, 2014 7:09 am

What bridge options will work with my Pawn Shop Bass VI? How about the Buzz Stop?

I tried the search but it doesn't like "bass vi", sigh

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Re: -= Bridge FAQ =-

Post by tremoloworkout » Tue Feb 25, 2014 12:08 pm

If I buy allparts Mustang saddles, and put them on the bridge for a Squier VM Jazzmaster, will they be tall enough to clear the sides of the bridge?

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Re: -= Bridge FAQ =-

Post by bigsnaketex » Thu Mar 06, 2014 8:24 am

This was an incredibly helpful thread - thanks to all who contributed.

As a relatively new "offset" guitar owner (but one who has build "regular" guitars for years), I have found the answers that I was seeking (in a "mostly" real-world application) right here in this thread.

For me, my new 50th Anniversary Jaguar is almost a perfect guitar. . . . . except for the bridge "issue". And most of those issues that I have been pondering how to fix have been debated and hashed out in this thread!!

So thanks again. . . . . and "jangle on"
Keep on Rockin' in the Free World. . .

chaseth
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Re: -= Bridge FAQ =-

Post by chaseth » Sat May 03, 2014 6:51 am

Its been a helpful thread. But after I read all 19 pages I wonder, maybe perfectly intonated, buzz less, always true to pitch, music has been done to death.

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bigsnaketex
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Re: -= Bridge FAQ =-

Post by bigsnaketex » Mon May 05, 2014 7:27 am

chaseth wrote:Its been a helpful thread. But after I read all 19 pages I wonder, maybe perfectly intonated, buzz less, always true to pitch, music has been done to death.

We all chase tone constantly so I'm going to have to respectfully disagree. . . .I like perfectly intonated, buzz less, true to pitch music!
Keep on Rockin' in the Free World. . .

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Re: -= Bridge FAQ =-

Post by EvrybdyWngChngTnite » Tue May 20, 2014 1:27 pm

I had a local guitar shop install a pair of SD Antiquitys, replace some pots on a CIJ Jazzmaster over the weekend since they did a good job setting up my Sheraton.

Upon picking it up, the bridge pickup was adjusted at an 45 degree offset towards the 'high e' like a tele. The guy said he didn't want to replace the jazz position pots because he "didn't know why there were separate controls just for the neck pick up" and he "didn't want to mess anything up". In addition to the 'jazz position' ignorance, the part that irks me the most is the guy FLIPPED THE MASTERY BRIDGE UPSIDE DOWN and re-intonated the strings!!! :o

Mine was probably the first Jazzmaster & Mastery Bridge he has ever worked on / ever seen; perhaps he thought it was a modified strat. The baffling part of this story is that the shop is an authorized Fender dealer. Well, off to learn to do it myself!

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Re: -= Bridge FAQ =-

Post by Rhinosaur » Sun Jun 22, 2014 6:49 pm

Hi Gentlemen!

I'm trying to setup my BTJM for the first time by myself and by my own means, i hate, HATE the stock bridge, i tried everything to make it work better but even though i made it "work" decently by doing some of the adjustements suggested on many threads on this forum, i've decided that i had it with this awful bridge and want to replace it in the best possible way. Masterys and Staytrems are off the table because they're too damn expensive for a somewhat "economy line" guitar like this, so i'm trying to get my hands on a Mustang bridge to see if it solves most of the problem. This guitar has 9,5 or 10 radius i think, by looking on the specs on the fender site, i barely know how to use an allen wrench ad havent setup this kind of bridge in my life (i've setted up tune o matics preety decently in the past), so my main doubt its if the radius mismatch from the traditional mustang bridge to the BTJM neck radius is really REALLY that important, in other words: Can i setup this guitar properly by installing a traditional mustang bridge?

I've looked into the Warmoth Modified Mustang Bridge but it looks suspiciously similar to the stock bridges on BTJM's, can anybody tell me if this bridge actually works? because i don't wanna trade one problem for another.

Does anybody have some experience installing a TOM bridge in a BTJM? what would be the specific pros and cons of this mod?

I found this on ebay the other day, is it worth trying?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Guitar-Roller-B ... 4182afc7db" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Sorry to speak so vehemently, i love the guitar, i love the neck, the jazzy neck pup sounds great and i've already replaced the stock humbucker for a proper one, so the guitar sounds very very good, the only problem is the freaking bridge!
if anyone out there can help me with this, the great demiurge will certainly reward him with health and happiness, and i will be very grateful too.

Thanks in advance!

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Re: -= Bridge FAQ =-

Post by MrShake » Fri Aug 01, 2014 5:41 am

EvrybdyWngChngTnite wrote:Upon picking it up, the bridge pickup was adjusted at an 45 degree offset towards the 'high e' like a tele.
Bah-WUUUHHHH??

Do I understand you right? Like, the pickup was set "tilted"? What about the pickguard/routing? Pics? Please? If this is what I think it is I'm horrified and astonished. And if it is what I think it is, you should send pics to Fender and let them know abt that "authorized" tech! Jeez. Good luck!

I was just popping in to say that sadly, I've been fortunate enough to have mostly buzzless, well-intonating offsets until now. So my new friend ( viewtopic.php?f=6&t=83676" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ) is needing a bit more elbow grease than I'm used to to get her buzz-free and set-up. This thread is amazingly valuable. I not just know, but UNDERSTAND a lot more now than just a few weeks ago, and my Jag/JM/Mustangs are playing better for it.. Thanks to everyone who's chipped in with helpful info.

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Re: -= Bridge FAQ =- Mustang bridges

Post by hoddyman » Fri Aug 01, 2014 12:08 pm

I just wanted to mention, here, regarding Mustang bridges, that the bridge I got from the official Fender website has saddles that touch each other side-to-side (as they should), unlike the Warmoth, and Allparts examples I've had before. There's a big difference in tone (for the better) when the saddles tightly support each other.

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Re: -= Bridge FAQ =-

Post by lucas » Mon Aug 04, 2014 1:49 pm

I've just acquired a cheap slightly battered Modern Player Jazzmaster - what are the opinions of the bridge on this model?

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