the jazzmaster!

[dcr]

Hi Everyone,

New to the board; I actually just read about this website from another forum, and it looks interesting.  I've been playing guitar for 14 years, and played an Ibanez PF5 acoutic and an American Std. Strat for the first ten of those 14 years.  I bought a '62 Reissue SG about three years ago, and picked up a American Reissue Jazzmaster a month ago.  I've done a fair amount of reading about the Jazzmaster and Jaguar, and I am experiencing some of the bridge/saddle issues that I'd read about before purchasing the guitar.  Right now I'm trying to decide between a buzz stop and a mustang bridge (to solve the issue with the saddle heights slipping down), and I'm also trying to decide between the Fender and Warmoth mustang bridge...not sure if the adjustable heights of individual saddles on the Warmoth bridge hold in place better than the original Jazzmaster bridge.  I'm hoping to keep it sounding as close to what I have right now with 10s & the original bridge.  Wondering about the tone changes that might come with the buzzstop.  Lots of decisions, including 10's or 11's for strings.  I play through a '65 Deluxe Reverb Fender amp, and mess around with a Rat pedal, English Muff'n, and DD6, but I go for a clean sound most of the time. 

dcr

[idiotbear]

Welcome!

I like the Warmoth mustang bridge, but as a former buzz-stop user, I have to say DON'T DO IT! Not if you want a classic offset tone. Makes it too sustainy, IMO.

I've never met an offset bridge that didn't start behaving itself after a really good setup. A lot of techs suck at setting these guitars up, btw.

[RumorsOFsurF]

Welcome!  I might as well ask first.....Perhaps you could post some pics of your gear? 


Also, for info about bridges, check this thread out: index.php?topic=3911.0

[dcr]

thanks for the welcome...and the info.  i haven't taken photos of the jazzmaster yet, but i will post them once they're taken (and when i figure out how to include an image in a post...i'm slow on this front).  i have pics of the sg & amp and some pedals, but the i think i'm using the "image insert" button incorrectly. 

thanks for the link, too.  i'm definitely leaning toward avoiding the buzzstop & seeing what i can do with the original with the original bridge.  idiotbear...any issues with tone changes after the warmoth mustang replaced the original bridge?  do you use 11's to avoid buzzing?

i'm also working with the problem of a jammed tremolo arm (this just happened yesterday).  i'm going to do some searching for solutions right now.  anyone else encountered this issue? 

thanks again!

[Jay]

Welcome!

Mustang bridges sound a little bit different but it's not extreme by any stretch.  I'd try some loctite before switching bridges though. If you're not having any string jumping or other offensive rattling outside of the grub screws winding out, that's the best way to go IMO. 

[dcr]

thanks for the reply.  is there a good thread that explains the workings of the loctite? i saw video on youtube where the guy seemed to recommend that height screws should be lubricated...seems like that would make them slide down even easier...no?

[Jay]

Yeah, the height screws should not be "lubricated."  That's pretty absurd actually...

Loc-tite is just liquid that turns into a rubber like compound.  So you stick it on the threads of the grub screws and it will give them some grip inside the saddle to keep them from slipping.  Using it is as easy as unscrewing a screw, sticking a drop on, and screwing back in.  Once you've hit them all go back over and adjust the heights to spec.

[dcr]

I thought it sounded strange.  Is the loctite also used to prevent the string from jumping from one groove to the next?  Or is it just to keep the height screws from slipping?  A guitar tech in Boston that does some work with Jazzmasters/Jaguars said he uses woodglue...Any experience with woodglue? 

Also, is the loctite easy to remove from the grooves if you need to make readjustments?

Thanks.

[ohm-men]

Loctide helps to keep the saddles in place. Make sure you get the blue variant, not the red. Blue is easier to adjust, while the red dries rock hard....
As for slipping strings, this is mostly due a too shallow angle of the bridge. Also using heavier strings (where the JM was designed for originally)
A set of 0.11 does the trick. And they don't feel that different to 0.10's to me as well. I found the JM to be more verstaile this way.

[RumorsOFsurF]

I use 10's on all my offsets with no probs.  My prob with 11's is that most sets have wound G's.  I bend a lot (Country), so that doesn't work for me.

[Loomer]

Right now I'm trying to decide between a buzz stop and a mustang bridge (to solve the issue with the saddle heights slipping down), and I'm also trying to decide between the Fender and Warmoth mustang bridge...not sure if the adjustable heights of individual saddles on the Warmoth bridge hold in place better than the original Jazzmaster bridge.  I'm hoping to keep it sounding as close to what I have right now with 10s & the original bridge.  Wondering about the tone changes that might come with the buzzstop.  Lots of decisions, including 10's or 11's for strings.

I have the Warmoth Mustang with height adjustment screws on my JM. The screws stay put much nicer than the stock bridge's. But I'm sure Loctite works great too. The mustang bridge does, however, retain the strings a bit better, but purists will tell you to just file the stock groove a bit.

As far as Buzz Stops, I'd say try one. You never know if it's your thing till you do. That's the beauty of such a totally reversible mod. I like mine. I play aggressively at times and it really helps the strings stay put. Plus, I happen to like the sustain the Buzz Stop affords. It really is significant. There's almost no sustain w/o it, in my experience. You do lose a lot of the nuance of having that string length behind the bridge, but for me the benefits outweigh the draw-backs.

I put 11's on every guitar I own. Better tone, better stability... And I never have a problem finding sets with an unwound G string.


That's my $.02.  Welcome!    Hope you enjoy the board!