CIJ Fender 65 Reissue Mustang Replacement Bridge?

[ilikeguitar90]

Hi all, found a good deal for a used CIJ 65 RI Mustang but I noticed last second that the bridge is an after market tune o matic style bridge. I’m still interested in the guitar and will give it a shot as is with the tune o matic bridge but I’m leaning towards ordering a mustang bridge for it. I want a mustang for the short sustain “plinky” tone they’re known for and I’m thinking the tune o matic bridge will mess with that.

Would this Fender Mustang bridge be a direct drop in replacement?

https://reverb.com/item/26899683-genuin ... 8-1239-049

Thanks!

[Embenny]

No Mustang bridge is a drop-in for a Tuneomatic. To put the TOM in, they would have removed the thimbles and placed TOM studs in there.

Going back involves removing the studs/thimbles (there's more than one kind of TOM), dowelling, and re-drilling for Mustang/JM/Jag thimbles.

Personally, I'd steer clear of it. I can't imagine how unstable the tuning would be on a Mustang vibrato with a TOM.

[ilikeguitar90]

No Mustang bridge is a drop-in for a Tuneomatic. To put the TOM in, they would have removed the thimbles and placed TOM studs in there.

Going back involves removing the studs/thimbles (there's more than one kind of TOM), dowelling, and re-drilling for Mustang/JM/Jag thimbles.

Personally, I'd steer clear of it. I can't imagine how unstable the tuning would be on a Mustang vibrato with a TOM.

Oof, had no idea switching bridges volved that much work. That’s unfortunate but I think you’re right about passing on it if that’s the case, who knows what the owner did to get that bridge on there. No wonder the price is so low for a CIJ Mustang.

Curious though about the tuning instability comment, don’t a lot of people put tune o matics on their offsets specifically for stability? J Mascis, Thurston Moore, Kurt Cobain, Steven Drozd, Stephen Malkmus. Seems like a pretty common mod among professional musicians. Unless you mean the Mustang tremolo unit specifically coupled with a tune o matic bridge is a recipe for disaster.

[Embenny]

No Mustang bridge is a drop-in for a Tuneomatic. To put the TOM in, they would have removed the thimbles and placed TOM studs in there.

Going back involves removing the studs/thimbles (there's more than one kind of TOM), dowelling, and re-drilling for Mustang/JM/Jag thimbles.

Personally, I'd steer clear of it. I can't imagine how unstable the tuning would be on a Mustang vibrato with a TOM.

Oof, had no idea switching bridges volved that much work. That’s unfortunate but I think you’re right about passing on it if that’s the case, who knows what the owner did to get that bridge on there. No wonder the price is so low for a CIJ Mustang.

Curious though about the tuning instability comment, don’t a lot of people put tune o matics on their offsets specifically for stability? J Mascis, Thurston Moore, Kurt Cobain, Steven Drozd, Stephen Malkmus. Seems like a pretty common mod among professional musicians. Unless you mean the Mustang tremolo unit specifically coupled with a tune o matic bridge is a recipe for disaster.

Nope, a TOM is absolutely never a benefit to tuning stability. Some used it as a cure for strings jumping out of the stock grooves, or the nebulous "to stop buzzing" or because the little set screws on the original saddles move, messing with action, but it 100% invariably is a downgrade in tuning stability if you ever use a vibrato.

TOMs are stationary with a knife-edge saddle. As you operate a vibrato, you increase and decrease the tension behind the bridge, and when the bridge can't move and the saddle can't move, you can get a string that slides across the saddle and then "catches" through friction, rendering it out of tune.

Some people replace TOMs with roller bridges, whose moving saddles allow the string to move back and forth without catching, which restores tuning stability when using a vibrato, but they only come in a 12-14" radius and vintage fenders are 7.25", leaving super high action on the low and high E strings compared to the D and G.

The irony is that Mustang bridges solve the string-jumping issue and screw-shifting issue sometimes encountered with JM/jag bridges, are perfectly matched to the Mustang radius, and allow for the most tuning stability. It's already the perfect bridge for a vintage spec Offset. On a Mustang, putting a TOM on there is a straight up downgrade in function.

[JVG]

Curious though about the tuning instability comment, don’t a lot of people put tune o matics on their offsets specifically for stability? J Mascis, Thurston Moore, Kurt Cobain, Steven Drozd, Stephen Malkmus. Seems like a pretty common mod among professional musicians. Unless you mean the Mustang tremolo unit specifically coupled with a tune o matic bridge is a recipe for disaster.

It’s a bigger issue with Mustangs, because the break angle of the strings over the bridge is greater than on a Jazzmaster/Jaguar, so you’re more likely to have binding/ friction problems.

If you don’t use the vibrato, and you want more sustain, a tunomatic is a decent choice on a Mustang. I’ve got a Cobain Mustang and it’s a fantastic guitar. However, I see your initial comment about sustain, so the Tunomatic may not be for you.

Cheers.