OffsetGuitars.com

B wrote: ↑

Sat Sep 08, 2018 12:31 pm

Sounds like it's time for some skilled US machinist to get crackin'.

Do we think a stock Mustang bridge is convertible ? Or do you need to start from scatch ?

- nylon post bushings - presumably available from engineering shop suppliers. Fender put them on the Marrguar.
- 52mm E-E spacing - there are already aftermarket 56mm Mustang bridges with excess space between the saddles. Squeezed together they would come close to 52mm - you only need to gain 0.8 mm per inter-saddle space to get from 56 to 52mm.
- re-drilling intonation screw holes for 10.4mm spacing. Easy with a template. Someone suggested doing that on the other side of the bridge plate here the other day.
- 9.5" radius - requires filing the string grooves on the stock 4 middle saddles down, or flatten the underside, by the correct fraction. Easy with a file and digital caliper.
- tighter thimbles - Fender already puts a nylon anti-rocking flanged bushing / sleeve bearing into the top of the thimble on the Am Pro. Presumably available from engineering shop suppliers.
- nylon washers on the intonation screws - available on ebay from China

Perhaps the only thing that would be more difficult is the offset placement of the intonation screws. That would require new saddle blanks, drilled offset from the string groove. But the stock intonation screw placement is not a huge hassle, especially if the M3 screw is 16mm instead of the too-long 18mm screws on some aftermarket Mustang bridges (keeps it away from the string).

I share the scepticism re Fender ever licensing the Staytrem. Which is unfortunate, as Fender probably has most or all of the above parts 'off-the-shelf' in their US factory for existing guitars, to screw together a Staytrem-clone tomorrow.

If Fender gave a shit about making a good bridge for their guitars they wouldn't have to license a version of their bridge that someone else is making. There's nothing Staytrem is doing that they couldn't do themselves, you know? They have a machine shop and shit.

You'd all better just forget about that.

If the reports of 52mm E-E spacing on the new LPB marr jag are correct, and the bridge presumably still has the nylon post bushings, then Fender have already gone a fair way towards a Staytrem clone already, at least for 7.25" radius. Swap out the springs for nylon washers and it's even closer.

But I guess their current notion of an ideal bridge is that on some custom shop offsets, which borrows mostly from the Mastery .. and you can't buy on its own (same as Marr bridge) ...

Hi all,

I wrote to John about the situation, and got a typically polite response a short time ago.

The reason for scaling-down operations is simple - John is retiring from full time work. He plans to carry on working a couple of days a week, but doesn't feel he can produce enough to satisfy demand beyond the UK.

I thought this is worth sharing so that we don't go any further down the speculative, scandalous route

Cheers!
J.

i also wanted (needed) one for my jarman signature. been waiting the last months because it was out of stock, and now THIS.

wooderson wrote: ↑

Sat Sep 08, 2018 3:50 pm

Brexit isn't going to change the way customs works between the US and UK, for instance.

Have you got a source for that or is it just wishful thinking? Okay, the possibilities I outlined up-thread are just that, but they're based on what I've learned is definitely going to happen if the UK government doesn't work out thousands of trade agreements in advance of next March....and frankly there wouldn't be time to do that at this stage, realistically, even if the power to do it hadn't been put in the hands of yet another incompetent.

This is worth a listen if you need a reality check on what post-Brexit trade will actually look like.

Like I said, customs officials will most likely be wise to the fact that there'll be a lot of small packages where the sender has tried to dodge the duty by putting a low value on the customs declaration, and that's likely to lead to greater scrutiny, resulting in longer processing times. I really can't see how it would go any other way.

.

JVG wrote: ↑

Sun Sep 09, 2018 2:48 am

Hi all,

I wrote to John about the situation, and got a typically polite response a short time ago.

The reason for scaling-down operations is simple - John is retiring from full time work. He plans to carry on working a couple of days a week, but doesn't feel he can produce enough to satisfy demand beyond the UK.

I thought this is worth sharing so that we don't go any further down the speculative, scandalous route

Cheers!
J.

Thanks for that J.

UlricvonCatalyst wrote: ↑

Sun Sep 09, 2018 3:56 am

wooderson wrote: ↑

Sat Sep 08, 2018 3:50 pm

Brexit isn't going to change the way customs works between the US and UK, for instance.

Have you got a source for that or is it just wishful thinking? Okay, the possibilities I outlined up-thread are just that, but they're based on what I've learned is definitely going to happen if the UK government doesn't work out thousands of trade agreements in advance of next March....and frankly there wouldn't be time to do that at this stage, realistically, even if the power to do it hadn't been put in the hands of yet another incompetent.

It radically changes customs/trade between the UK and EU states, but most of the rest of the world (anywhere that doesn't have a customs union with the EU) is unaffected by that specific change - shipping between the UK and US (or Germany and the US) already involves international customs and fees.

Like I said, customs officials will most likely be wise to the fact that there'll be a lot of small packages where the sender has tried to dodge the duty by putting a low value on the customs declaration, and that's likely to lead to greater scrutiny, resulting in longer processing times. I really can't see how it would go any other way.

This already happens - but the scrutiny is by the receiving country's customs office. I pay import duties to the US, not the UK. Post-Brexit, shipping a small item from the UK to Italy will now be like what shipping a small item from the UK to the US is today - which is to say that if someone's already shipping internationally to non-EU states, Brexit won't impact that.

Oh no!!!! I was just now pondering getting a staytrem or mastery bridge for my new american pro jazzmaster, but I was leaning towards the staytrem. I had such a great experience with the staytrem on a bass VI, that I was thinking it is the bridge to get for my jazzmaster. Really great bridge. This sucks...

carron wrote: ↑

Sun Sep 09, 2018 10:25 am

I had such a great experience with the staytrem on a bass VI, that I was thinking it is the bridge to get for my jazzmaster. Really great bridge. This sucks...

Same here. Bought the wide staytrem for my PS VI a few years ago, and finally got around to buying staytrems this summer for my AVRI Jag and TS AV65. Got them just in the nick of time it appears.

Brexit schmexit. The real outrage here is that awful, eye gougingly atrocious fender custom shop abortion.

wooderson wrote: ↑

Sun Sep 09, 2018 10:14 am

UlricvonCatalyst wrote: ↑

Sun Sep 09, 2018 3:56 am

wooderson wrote: ↑

Sat Sep 08, 2018 3:50 pm

Brexit isn't going to change the way customs works between the US and UK, for instance.

Have you got a source for that or is it just wishful thinking? Okay, the possibilities I outlined up-thread are just that, but they're based on what I've learned is definitely going to happen if the UK government doesn't work out thousands of trade agreements in advance of next March....and frankly there wouldn't be time to do that at this stage, realistically, even if the power to do it hadn't been put in the hands of yet another incompetent.

It radically changes customs/trade between the UK and EU states, but most of the rest of the world (anywhere that doesn't have a customs union with the EU) is unaffected by that specific change - shipping between the UK and US (or Germany and the US) already involves international customs and fees.

Yeah, I know shipping UK to US already involves customs fees. The point is, when the UK switches to WTO third country status, those fees become considerably higher, hence the additional interest US customs (and those of other countries) will probably take in small packages from the UK purporting to be of low value.

It may be a moot point as far as Staytrem is concerned, but it'll affect more than just specialised guitar parts, and more than just Americans, buying from the UK.

bdf83 wrote: ↑

Sun Sep 09, 2018 5:22 am

I’m UK based and happy to forward bridges on for whatever it costs to ship em if people are desperate for one?

PM me

Duly noted. I will need a Bass VI Staytrem one man f these days, when I get a Bass VI...

JVG wrote: ↑

Sun Sep 09, 2018 2:48 am

Hi all,

I wrote to John about the situation, and got a typically polite response a short time ago.

The reason for scaling-down operations is simple - John is retiring from full time work. He plans to carry on working a couple of days a week, but doesn't feel he can produce enough to satisfy demand beyond the UK.

At some point, he'll run out of ones to to make completely...how many people in the UK could possibly want one? Offset players are already a small sliver of the (electric) guitar-playing population (which itself is already a minority group among a general population). I would guess that damn near anyone in the UK who wants a Staytrem probably has one by now, and the ones who don't (or don't realize it yet) can't possibly be some gigantic, all-consuming number.

I'm all for a person retiring/cutting back, after a lifetime of working (and producing such a quality product, for however long he's been making these things). But perhaps if he comes to see that the UK demand is being met with little trouble, he'll have periods of "okay, I'm shipping worldwide for a while...get 'em while they're hot!". I'd be okay with that. Let the man relax and work on his own terms and then maybe 1-2 times a year he makes a batch available for a limited time, once he's caught up with any and all UK demand? And during that time, maybe he works on finding someone to sell the business/design to who can carry it on, full-tilt, into the future? Because at some point I'm sure he'll want to retire completely, and it would be wonderful if he passed on his "recipes", tooling/machinery, blueprints, etc. and the product(s) lived on via a younger, qualified individual/group who he saw fit to sell the operation to? He'll have time to vet/train any prospective buyers, stipulate that quality and integrity be upheld, etc.

I'd rather see either of the above happen than for sharks snapping them up and selling them on eBay for $300+ or whatever, "just because". That's probably gonna happen some anyway, unfortunately, but maybe it won't get completely out of control...