GotA wrote: ↑Wed Mar 20, 2024 7:51 am
Thanks, Ive built a number of parts guitars from the ground up and it's always a labor of love.
That's a nice way to put it - I know a few techs who build, including the chap who made me a MOSFET booster based on the Catalinbread SCP, and really tweaking stuff to make it all fit together, schematically/physically/tonally, is part of the process.
GotA wrote: ↑Wed Mar 20, 2024 7:51 am
I have a love/hate relationship with humbuckers, either too dark or overly compressed.
Depends on the 'buckers sir! I find JMs and Jags are good platforms for them as they are naturally bright and twangy, so if you choose a good one it'll smooth that out without completely neutering the legendary spiky offset attack. The Fireball ones in the Meteora are nice, and tap well too. Low output so they're a bit more dynamic and bright than most; Fender knew what they were doing there.
I recently tracked a song where the two electric rhythms are the Meteora on coil tap for twang, I think bridge (panned left) and middle (panned right) and I never thought I'd do that with tapped 'buckers but yeah, they work well either way.
GotA wrote: ↑Wed Mar 20, 2024 7:51 am
They really need the 1meg pots to bring out the best in them IMO.
Yeah I initially thought that too, but on my Jag at least, there's so much distance between the rhythm and lead circuits I always ended up compromising one to suit the other, so you end up with an ear-searingly bright lead to compromise for the rhythm circuit, or a muddy rhythm circuit to balance out the brightness of the lead. 250K like a Strat would have been too far, but 500K like a Gibson (the donor guitar for them was an old busted Epi SG, including the speed knobs) works well. Also makes the thin switch do more, which as someone who needs to play funk for band reasons often is pretty useful if I don't have time to do a guitar swap (or the Meteora has thrown a string at a gig and can't be switched to).
GotA wrote: ↑Wed Mar 20, 2024 7:51 am
As for the staytrem, when I got it I was ordering the collet and thought why not try it. I never had issues with the mustang bridge and having the fixed string spacing made total sense. It was cheaper than a mastery and I figured if it didn't work out I could flip it and get a mastery. I've never had issues with it and I like that it rocks like the original bridge, plus I think it looks better
Yeah on Jags I've only ever had stock bridge, Mustang bridge clone (one of the ones where the saddles don't quite push together as they're too narrow), tried a Gibson ABR-1 style but obviously the camber mismatch was a problem (Gibson 12" and CIJs have 7.25" for those reading who don't know what I'm talking about), and the Mastery, which went on the guitar and stayed there. Mastery was such a new company when I spoke to them I basically ordered from Woody directly, and had a nice back and forth with him about offsets years and years ago; I suppose mine is the Mk. I bridge with the different-sized logo but I don't think the design has changed much. Sustain, tuning stability, tone and feel all improved as compared to the others I had and it barely ever needs reintonating.
I was in a guitar store having a conversation about StayTrem earlier this week - how do they compare to the Mustang bridges, my point of reference? It looks like the saddles are bigger/more dense but I could be wrong.
ANYTHING is better than the stock bridge, where the saddles and bridge posts themselves often sink without Loc-Tite or whatever and poke you in the fingers with the grub screws.