Squier J Mascis Jazzmaster bridge question

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ReniMani
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Re: Squier J Mascis Jazzmaster bridge question

Post by ReniMani » Fri Apr 29, 2016 3:05 pm

mackerelmint wrote:Oh man, that's a lot of work.

I just filed the inside of the holes on the bridge until they would accommodate the spacing of the bushings. Took me about 5 minutes. It ended up being a very snug fit, which helped it with resonance.
What did you use for filing the bridge holes?

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mackerelmint
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Re: Squier J Mascis Jazzmaster bridge question

Post by mackerelmint » Fri Apr 29, 2016 3:19 pm

Just a little round file from the hardware store.
This is an excellent rectangle

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zaza_3121
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Re: Squier J Mascis Jazzmaster bridge question

Post by zaza_3121 » Fri May 06, 2016 11:03 pm

Thank you all for the replies, much appreciated. I reconsidered my options and I think I'll invest in Staytrem bridge. It's a little bit more expensive, but if I bought a cheaper one, I'd still have to travel to Prague, pay for the tech and it would cost nearly the same price.

I've got another two questions - if I buy Staytrem bridge AND the conversion thimbles, do I just replace the parts and that's all?
And the last question - will the Staytrem bridge solve intonation issues with the g string around the 12 fret?

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mackerelmint
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Re: Squier J Mascis Jazzmaster bridge question

Post by mackerelmint » Fri May 06, 2016 11:09 pm

zaza_3121 wrote:

I've got another two questions - if I buy Staytrem bridge AND the conversion thimbles, do I just replace the parts and that's all?
And the last question - will the Staytrem bridge solve intonation issues with the g string around the 12 fret?
Yes. The thimbles come with instructions and a bolt you screw in there to help you get the TOM thimbles out.
As for your intonation issue, without knowing what's causing it, there's no way to say for certain, but I think it most likely will. Do you play a wound G? I'm pretty sure people on the board have mentioned it adjusting to a wound G OK.
This is an excellent rectangle

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zaza_3121
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Re: Squier J Mascis Jazzmaster bridge question

Post by zaza_3121 » Fri May 06, 2016 11:25 pm

Unwound g string, I bend a lot ;D I know I can turn the g string saddle around and it will intonate properly, but I don't like that bridge anyway. It buzzes like the purest shoegaze band, lol. At least it stays in tune, though.

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Re: Squier J Mascis Jazzmaster bridge question

Post by mackerelmint » Fri May 06, 2016 11:31 pm

Ah, OK. Well, if it's just range of adjustment that's a problem, then the staytrem should be just fine.
This is an excellent rectangle

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Re: Squier J Mascis Jazzmaster bridge question

Post by zaza_3121 » Fri May 06, 2016 11:35 pm

Thanks a lot :) I will order it soon, can't wait to improve my JM.

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Re: Squier J Mascis Jazzmaster bridge question

Post by TTHX » Sat May 07, 2016 11:28 am

mackerelmint wrote:
zaza_3121 wrote:

I've got another two questions - if I buy Staytrem bridge AND the conversion thimbles, do I just replace the parts and that's all?
And the last question - will the Staytrem bridge solve intonation issues with the g string around the 12 fret?
Yes. The thimbles come with instructions and a bolt you screw in there to help you get the TOM thimbles out.
As for your intonation issue, without knowing what's causing it, there's no way to say for certain, but I think it most likely will. Do you play a wound G? I'm pretty sure people on the board have mentioned it adjusting to a wound G OK.
The staytrem and thimbles don't come with a screw anymore to remove the previous bushings. I just installed it on my JMJM a couple of weeks ago. Intonation for me is spot on as well. Also consider if you want to keep it as a rocking bridge or stationary as there are options for both.

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Re: Squier J Mascis Jazzmaster bridge question

Post by zaza_3121 » Fri May 20, 2016 4:21 am

As TTHX says, those thimbles don't come with the screw - pulling the old ones out of the body was a struggle. Anyway, I replaced the stock bridge with Staytrem - what a change! Tremolo action is smooth, it stays in tune and it sounds different, more vintage possibly.

But I have some questions. When I was replacing the thimbles, I had to push them into the body. That wasn't as easy as it looks and at first they were not deep at all. I pushed on the bridge and finally they went deeper. I'm still not sure if I did it right, because I can't pull them out and I'm a little bit afraid to really push on the bridge.

Image

Is it supposed to be that way or should I push more, as there seems to be about 2mm place left? Is it okay to push on the bridge or just on the thimbles (I don't want to break anything)?

EDIT: I loosened the strings and correctly pushed the thimbles into the body. Is the bridge supposed to be really high? On all the pictures with staytrem it's very close to the body.

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Re: Squier J Mascis Jazzmaster bridge question

Post by dandelor » Tue Feb 23, 2021 12:45 pm

Jffor Jag cleverly came up with the idea of inserting some small grub-screws (stainless steel M8 12mm long thread pitch 1.25mm) into the threaded AOM thimbles for a standard trem to sit on - If you can't bear the way the AOM bridge makes your E string heights unplayable with it's mis-matched radius and also makes you tremelo screw with your sound/tuning then hopefully this will help!
I bought a standard Staytrem bridge (He doesn't make the special one for AOMs any more) cos I think they're great but you could probably use any rattly standard jazzmaster bridge if that's your want.
I found some grub screws with a large allen-key socket (4mm) at one end and in the centre of the socket it bowled-out nicely. I used some 6mm springs in the holes underneath these as the threads on the AOM thimbles stop short in the holes, so I needed something to keep the pressure on the grub screws from underneath in case they ran out of thread at the bottom - lose them and you'd have to remove the thimbles completely to recover them.
Once I'd screwed these in, the 2 fulcrum pins on the bridge sat quite happily in their allen-key sockets, perfectly centred but with enough room to rock back and forth as you use the tremelo.
The only issue I had was that the bridge now sat a little too high for the best action, so a 1mm shim was required to change the angle of the neck a tiny bit - I had been intending to do this anyway to increase the string angle from the bridge to the trem as it apparently increases sustain but also helps to stop strings slipping out of the bridge when you play hard. I got the very friendly and accomplished guys at www.jacksinstrumentservices.com to make me a couple of shims and these were just the ticket.
With 1mm of shim inserted in the pocket, the angle of the neck was adjusted perfectly to give me great adjustability on the action, and the guitar now not only plays great, but stays in tune!
Here are some pics of the bits - hopefully they'll make it easier to understand what I'm trying to explain :-

https://photos.app.goo.gl/qdkxt8da24XPSxAF9

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