CIJ Jazzmaster bridge/trem upgrade (and general help!)

[misowaki]

Oh hi there. I'm new here.

I've been trawling through the pages here and found many suggestions and ideas but nothing definitive enough to set my mind at ease so apologies if this is repeating what has gone before.

So, I've come into my dream guitar, an Olympic white and tort Jazzmaster. CIJ, A-serial so 97/98. Not taken it all apart to confirm everything yet but I'm not fussed about upgrading electronics yet. It suits me just fine that it sounds more like a Strat as I dig the Strat sound, I just don't like to play them. Maybe a little shrill but tone pot down, job done. Maybe I'll replace it eventually. But now to the point...

I've cleaned it up some and given it a once over but it's in a slightly shitty state. Huge lacquer cracks in places but I like that. Trem arm was missing but a replacement is on the way as are some new saddle screws (one missing, one rusted out) but I've dug up all sorts in my research which has led me to believe maybe I should replace the bridge and trem assembly altogether. Didn't even notice until just now that the string spacing on a CIJ is off, so that was fun. And for those of you who like bullet points:

- Not up for paying £200 for a Mastery bridge so am gonna wait out the week and get in touch with Staytrem. I know they do a 7.25 radius which I believe my JM to have. I think it's a JM62 but don't know. Can anyone confirm? (as before, A serial CIJ)

- Came accross a blog that says the AVRI trem assembly is the winner b/c string spacing etc. But don't they also have domed screws? Isn't that part of one of the major known issues? Will go to a hardware store tomorrow to see if I can replace those and save me having to raise the bridge even more, but...

- Is a corectly spaced bridge plate where the strings enter available separately?

- If not, anyone able to hook me up with a UK supplier of the AVRI bridge at a reasonable price? My Google prowess is falling short. All I can find is the omni-expensive Stringsdirect at £100 for bridge plate alone, no trem.

- Lastly, anyone know where I can find a nice tweed case for it that doesn't cost my soul? Looking at around £100

As soon as the saddle screws and trem arm arrive I'll experiment with a shim/bridge/saddle height and filing an existing bridge slot for the low 'E' as I'm yet to run into any real issues outside the 'E's (low 'e' rusted, high 'e' missing screw) but knowing about the string spacing is bugging me now. And the GAS is real so obviously I just want to spend money I don't have...

Cheers, oh knowledgable ones.

[misowaki]

Also, having just received the saddle screws, it turns out they're imperial! I don't know what's going on anymore. I thought all Japanese Fenders were supposed to use metric threads.

[misowaki]

Really happy to be talking to myself here...

For anyone that cares, the guitar shop sent me the wrong saddle screws. They were metric, bog standard M3 x 8. The shop (probably accidentally) lied. Boo/hiss. Local hardware store sorted me out in the end as they always do.

Tried a mustang bridge in a store today. Although the posts fit in the holes, the low E was pushed right out to the edge so no dice. Still, saddle screws and a once over have made it more playable.

Still having a weird issue with the bridge plate though, despite taking it apart and trying it again. Top e side seems to sink beneath the slot which means the string is sat firmly atop the screw. Any leads on an AVRI bridge assembly much appreciated.

As for the case, I just finally bit the bullet and got a regular Mono M80 as they were on sale. Worth having at least one decent gig bag though, eh.

[timtam]

Still having a weird issue with the bridge plate though, despite taking it apart and trying it again. Top e side seems to sink beneath the slot which means the string is sat firmly atop the screw. Any leads on an AVRI bridge assembly much appreciated.

Yes that's weird about the saddle screws. Every bridge I've seen lately has been metric. I got a stock of M3 grub screws in 6, 8, 10mm lengths to cover different saddle heights without the screws digging into my hand.

What do you mean 'sink beneath the slot' ? If the string is touching the front of the intonation screw you can switch to shorter screws. It's generally import bridges on which they come too long (18mm .. switch to 16mm). If the screw is angled up too much it may also mean you can raise the whole bridge a tad and lower the saddles slightly, so the string then clears the screw. The principle is to set action more with bridge height than saddle height.

There are limited options to get 52mm spacing, eg Staytrem. You can't just buy a standard bridge (or just the bridge plate) with 52mm E-E hole / string spacing. Stock is 56mm. You could re-drill holes to 52mm on the opposite edge of the stock bridge plate with a template. You can't buy blank plates with no holes AFAIK.

[misowaki]

Mate, thanks for the reply. Useful stuff.

I'm trying to add a pic of what I mean by sinking beneath the slot but as a newb I'm having difficulty with the format of this forum.

Watch this space, I'll figure something out...

[misowaki]

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1iU9oxa ... sp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1C-qAkZ ... sp=sharing

See how the bridge plate anchor (or whatever that part is called) sinks in slightly towards top 'e'?
I've taken it apart, checked the piece that the screws attach to and made sure nothing weird is going on, completely slackened the spring to try raise it but as soon as I put it back together again and begin to adjust, it goes back down. I'd have thought that with string tension it would raise so colour me confused.

As for shorter screws, my hardware store only had countersunk which meant the same problem, just upside down.

[timtam]

Ok I see what you mean now. 'Bridge' plate threw me. Your trem plate is not level. It's down on the high E side side.

It would be worth setting it up so that everything is under tension in the right way. That may hold it all level.
http://offset.guitars/the-goodies/setti ... lo-system/

It's also possible that you do have a poorly machined or bent trem plate. Most trems (AVRI or otherwise) don't have your problem. But you can't buy just the plate (and it would be risky to do so ... everything has to fit together just right).

Changing the domed head screws for flat head ones (or mounting them upside down) is not always necessary. Only if the string angle is too flat (bridge height, neck shim) or the strings don't enter a level trem plate, like in your case. If you solve that problem you may not need new screws.

[misowaki]

I've looked at all that and checked again but as soon as I reassemble the trem plate sinks on the top 'e' again

And yeah, I reckon it could be a bent plate which is why I'm after the AVRI plate to correct the spacing issues on the trem plate and all this.

[misowaki]

All sorted! For anyone interested/experiencing similar issues, I took this over to the tech/setup section:
http://www.offsetguitars.com/forums/vie ... 7&t=109983

It's the fulcrum/string anchor (bit attached by the 3 screws). Basically, either badly machined or taken the mother of all knocks which has rendered it useless. Gonna try file it to match the AVRI fulcrum (plumped for that, it really is as good as everyone says) to see if that fixes it or failing that, might buy a cheap assembly and steal the fulcrum from that to see if it fixes it.