Staytrem vs. Mastery or Mastery vs. Staytrem

[_nash]

I'm not crazy though, right? All this extra crap does seem to negate most of the supposed pros, in favour of the Mastery over others, no...?
Of all the problems in the world to be having... this is a pretty good one. I should go back to caring less, I think.
Maybe I'm just extra bitchy these days...

You aren't crazy. For what they cost they should drop in and make magic! I had a Mastery for about 4 weeks and sold it. I bought a Staytrem arm and bridge and it's much better (my opinion of course), and less expensive.

[spacecadet]

I would say yes. I just replaced a Japanese Mustang bridge on my CIJ JM with a Staytrem. The 52mm spacing seems to match with the spacing at the nut, meaning that the distance from the edge of the fretboard to the string is consistent down the entire length of the neck.

Well, I finally found a tape measure and just measured my CIJ and AVRI. Both are actually 55mm, which seems super odd because I thought the AVRI had much wider saddles. I guess that's an illusion caused by the thicker slots. Looking at 52mm vs. 55mm with the tape measure up against my strings as they are now, I feel like that would be really tight for me. It's definitely more significant when you look at it with a tape measure up against the strings, and you can see how much you'd have to move things over.

I've got some more thinking to do. I think I'm gonna try switching my CIJ and AVRI bridges first and just see if a) that cures my problems on the AVRI, and b) it causes the same problems on the CIJ as I have with the AVRI. Then I'll know if it's really all the bridge's fault or something like the nut being cut wrong (which I suspect it is, though it doesn't look like it should be bad enough to make the high E so consistently close to the edge of the neck). But I also have a lot of buzzing and pinging unless I set the saddles flatter than the fretboard radius, which doesn't feel very good. If I find out my CIJ bridge works as well in the AVRI as it does in my CIJ, then I may just buy a Mustang bridge or another regular AVRI JM bridge - maybe mine just sucks.

[HorseyBoy]

Popped a Staytrem bridge on my new American Vintage 65 Jazzmaster and it works a treat. It's a really well-designed piece of kit - the easiest and most accurate intonation set-up I've ever done.
Looks good, too

[nobody]

I would say yes. I just replaced a Japanese Mustang bridge on my CIJ JM with a Staytrem. The 52mm spacing seems to match with the spacing at the nut, meaning that the distance from the edge of the fretboard to the string is consistent down the entire length of the neck.

Well, I finally found a tape measure and just measured my CIJ and AVRI. Both are actually 55mm, which seems super odd because I thought the AVRI had much wider saddles. I guess that's an illusion caused by the thicker slots. Looking at 52mm vs. 55mm with the tape measure up against my strings as they are now, I feel like that would be really tight for me. It's definitely more significant when you look at it with a tape measure up against the strings, and you can see how much you'd have to move things over.

I didn't think it was that drastic of a change, it's a subtle change that actually makes the guitar a bit easier to play for me. And the skin of my palm no longer mutes the high-e accidentally.

[FredJr]

Are there any US dealers for StayTrem bridges in the states or is it a strictly "Over there" operation? I just wish I could find the cost of one of these in dollars.

[spacecadet]

I didn't think it was that drastic of a change, it's a subtle change that actually makes the guitar a bit easier to play for me. And the skin of my palm no longer mutes the high-e accidentally.

I'm not saying it wouldn't be fine for anybody else, but for me, I already have enough trouble the way my fingers are shaped (the tips actually widen out, whereas I think most people's fingers taper to kind of a point). I'm constantly muting extra strings even when I hit things properly. So I really need to use as much of the width of the fretboard as possible. The thing is on my AVRI, basically all of the strings are shifted a bit to the high E side. So the low E is pretty far from the edge, but the high E is very close - close enough that I pull it off the fretboard a lot. I thought it might be the neck not being straight but I've checked that and it is. If I move things around so it feels right, I end up with strings sitting over grub screws, which makes them ping out (and looks stupid). But my CIJ, which has the same 55mm width at the bridge, has the strings placed perfectly on the fretboard - there's plenty of space between the edge and both E's.

I had originally thought the Staytrem might be the answer for fixing that issue on my AVRI, but after looking at what 3mm actually means, I just don't think it'd work for me.

[andy_tchp]

Are there any US dealers for StayTrem bridges in the states or is it a strictly "Over there" operation? I just wish I could find the cost of one of these in dollars.

This currency converter will get you in the ballpark: http://www.xe.com/

When I looked at the price in Australian dollars the other day it worked out at about $95. So you'd be looking at around $100USD, or just under.

[HorseyBoy]

Are there any US dealers for StayTrem bridges in the states or is it a strictly "Over there" operation? I just wish I could find the cost of one of these in dollars.

This currency converter will get you in the ballpark: http://www.xe.com/

When I looked at the price in Australian dollars the other day it worked out at about $95. So you'd be looking at around $100USD, or just under.

Yep, that's about what mine cost shipped to Australia. Shipping was very fast, too - less than a week and it was here.

[nobody]

The thing is on my AVRI, basically all of the strings are shifted a bit to the high E side. So the low E is pretty far from the edge, but the high E is very close - close enough that I pull it off the fretboard a lot.

That makes me think the holes for the bridge legs are not drilled correctly or the neck pocket is not correct on your AVRI.

[spacecadet]

That makes me think the holes for the bridge legs are not drilled correctly or the neck pocket is not correct on your AVRI.

I think it's more the nut or the bridge itself. If the bridge post holes were drilled wrong, then the pickguard wouldn't fit right - it'd be off to the side a bit, and that's not the case. Ditto for the neck pocket - it'd be easy to see if it was wrong by the way the neck heel and pickguard lined up.

When I put an aftermarket pickguard on (Allparts gold one, the one they have that I know is AVRI-sized), the only issue I had was that the neck heel cutout was a little too *long*, but it wasn't off to the side or anything. The heel is perfectly straight in the pickguard cutout for it.

I still haven't tried my CIJ bridge because I'm lazy, but I will get to it one of these days. When I look at pics of other AVRI's or even vintage models, they almost (even usually) look like this - I actually think it's at least common, if not normal, but I just don't like it. And it *is* one of the issues the Staytrem people say their bridge solves, so it's not just me.

[parry]

Spacecadet ^^^ with regard to your string alignment issue... before you get too far in to swapping parts and such around...
back the strings off, so they're still wrapped around the tuner posts, but loose enough that there's hardly any tension on the neck.
Loosen the neck screws so the neck isn't tight and then adjust the position of the neck. It just sounds mis-aligned to me.
My Costello was like that when I got it. The high E was right on the edge of the fretboard.
I backed everything off, placed the guitar on the ground (on it's side, with the headstock ball and lower body touching the ground), to keep it adjusted and in place while I re-tensioned the neck screws.
It took a few tries to get it just right, but it did the trick.

[spacecadet]

Spacecadet ^^^ with regard to your string alignment issue... before you get too far in to swapping parts and such around...
back the strings off, so they're still wrapped around the tuner posts, but loose enough that there isn't much tension on the neck.
Loosen the neck screws so the neck isn't tight and then adjust the position of the neck. It just sounds mis-aligned to me.

Did that, it's not misaligned. btw, check the pics here - all the "official" pics from Fender look exactly like mine: http://www.offsetguitars.com/forums/vie ... 8&start=15" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

You see how much closer to the edge the high E is than the low E in all of those pics.

So I think this is actually the way it's supposed to be, but I'm not used to it. Most people probably wouldn't notice.

[parry]

Well. That's all I've got, then

[spacecadet]

Well. That's all I've got, then

Thanks for trying I give that same advice to other people sometimes. Mine is not really that bad, I'm sure I'm making it sound worse than it is. I originally came in this thread just looking to see if one of these bridges might be a solution, but I could just live with it as is if I had to. It's just not "perfect" for me, or even as good as my CIJ is in this regard. It's just a little uncomfortable for me to play.

[nobody]

Spacecadet ^^^ with regard to your string alignment issue... before you get too far in to swapping parts and such around...
back the strings off, so they're still wrapped around the tuner posts, but loose enough that there isn't much tension on the neck.
Loosen the neck screws so the neck isn't tight and then adjust the position of the neck. It just sounds mis-aligned to me.

Did that, it's not misaligned. btw, check the pics here - all the "official" pics from Fender look exactly like mine: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=65628&start=15

You see how much closer to the edge the high E is than the low E in all of those pics.

So I think this is actually the way it's supposed to be, but I'm not used to it. Most people probably wouldn't notice.

Those pics look like they were shot at a bit of an angle so that the high-e appears to be close to the edge of the fretboard. Notice how you can see a bit of the neck heel on the bass side of the guitar.