help a newbie out?

[Jimmyjazz]

Hi all
I have been playing the strats and a little tele for years, mostly more off than on. Got my hands on a 2015 vm jazzmaster. After playing for while I have some questions since not familiar with the jazzmaster I have looked over the forum here and elsewhere esp but pretty soon the head spins esp on the bridge replacement issue.

1 I am getting a lot of noise scratching or crackling thur the amp. I switched out the cable to a relatively new one, switch outlets, even plug in a Strat-which played without noise. When I hit the whammy the noise comes , when I bend a string the noise comes matching the pitch pretty much somewhere in the background is static crackling noise at allow level.

2 volume pot is scratchy. Not sure if related to #1, only way is to fix is take off the pick guard and squirt it?

3 Bridge I notice when I use the whammy bar, the bridge does not move much at all. Not rocking back an forth. Is that correct or should it be loosen up? What tool is need for the poles to be adjusted? and the screw to raise the saddles , maybe the same as a strat?

Any help given would be greatly appreciated

[BlueSparkle]

Check the earth on the tailpiece. It's usually made of a tiny pissweak braid.
Pull the pickguard, replace it with some decent gauge wire.

If you are not skilled at soldering or electronics, take the guitar to your tech.

[mylona]

I think it is an earth or more likely a static problem. I put a Staytrem arm on a Jaguar and every time I used there was a crackling noise through the amp. I thought something was loose but couldn't anything. I probably made myself look an idiot by contacting John at Staytrem about this and he said push the arm fully down into the housing to earth it. It sits in a nylon sleeve which stops it free swinging. It is earthed at the bottom via metal to metal contact with the housing. After fully seated the noise stopped. So if you have a multimeter check everything is grounded. If the trem housing screws are not fully tightened the earth wire connection may not be good.

[Francer]

You should definitely fix or replace the volume pot before spending any more time looking for static noise, you could try lifting the pickguard and giving it a squirt of contact cleaner, it might clean it up otherwise replace the pot.

The bridge doesn’t move a great deal, just enough to match the movement at the string anchor plate when you move the trem. Make sure your bridge is centred in the thimbles, so it can move feely in both directions, check no one has wrapped tape or something around it to stop it moving properly.

Strange noises on trem usage, if not electronic related could be strings hitting the screws or the edge of the bridge when use bend the trem, check this isn’t happening. If the screw ends are pointing too high and contacting the strings, either slide the string across the saddle one notch so they are not directly over the screws and/or lower all the saddles equally and then then raise the whole bridge at the posts. Beware this doesn’t cause strings to hit edge of bridge, but a happy medium will be possible.

It’s not rocket science, a bit of patience and fiddling around and you should get a feel for what’s right.