Designing a bridge for the Jazzmaster/Jaguar

[Jess Loureiro]

Everybody who has played a Jazzmaster/Jaguar guitar with the original bridge has seen the problem: The E string just dances if you hit it and then produces a nasty buzz, that is very unpleasant. No matter if you are using a squire or a custom shop guitar, all have the same problem because the design was bad. There is only two ways to solve the original design:


- To make saddles with depth string guides.
- To increase the angle of the strings.


So, the first solution is the one that uses the Mastery bridge. I have tried it and is nice, but due to the lack of competition in the market and a very good marketing (including some famous players promoting it) I think that is very overpriced. Are you gonna spend 200 bucks in a bridge to upgrade a squier? So it goes to the high end league. Guys selling Jazzmasters with alder bodies and maple/indian rosewood necks, but adding some overpriced electronics and hardware want to charge you 4000-6000 bucks for this guitars. Pricing high is also a good strategy to persuade customers that you are selling a great product. Is not a bad thing, but not for me. When I design a product I always think in the real player, the one that is doing a partmaster or want to improve his 600 guitar and blow away his bandmate that plays a custom something guitar.

So, the second option is the one that is used by the buzz stop, I never tried it so I don’t know if it works fine or not. I think that it looks kind of ugly, but it just a personal opinion (like everything that I write here).

So I decide to enter the market with a new design, using the second option: to increase the tension of the strings and then avoid the buzz/dance of the E-string. I thought about it and came to a very simple solution, a one that even Leo Fender could have used in his original design, using parts that he had designed. How did I solve the E string dance? just increasing the angle of the strings before touching the saddles, by using 6 holes guides through the bridge. I’m in love with the original Telecaster bridge design, I think that brass saddles are the best for a true Fender tone, so I use some compensated brass saddles. The result: a great tone, no more buzz/dance (even with 0,09 strings), and a great vintage look.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGiotopqfLU
https://www.flickr.com/photos/48045538@ ... ed-public/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/48045538@ ... ed-public/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/48045538@ ... ed-public/


Some answers about questions that I have from customers about this bridge:

- Tuning stability is great.
- Strings runs smooth, the bridge won’t damage your strings or increase the break ratio.
- The installing is very easy, it will fit in your guitar without any mod.
- The bridge rocks a little (as you can see in the video), just like Leo design it. But due to the increase tension it keeps the tuning. I had plans for a
non rocking bridge but this works so nice that I’m not going to do it.
- It have an adjustable radius, so it will fit any neck radius.
- The bridge have the standar height adjust screws, but because you have the adjustable height saddles you won’t need it (only if you have a guitar
with a big height difference between body and fretboard, that is not very usual).


I also develop a relic version, fully functional (just aging the parts than don’t need to be screwed).

https://www.flickr.com/photos/48045538@ ... ed-public/

http://jlguitars.eu/shop/index.php?id_p ... &id_lang=4

[Shadoweclipse13]

I like it a lot! My main guitar is a Tele Custom (Warmoth mostly, put together personally) which has a Hipshot Tele bridge with 3 compensated saddles. With good tuners (just upgraded), it stays in tune forever. The only thing I wonder about with yours is how the brass saddles hold up over time with strings "cutting into" them? If the brass holds up well, that might be the best JM/Jag bridge on the planet

Looks great too!!

[Grey]

So, the first solution is the one that uses the Mastery bridge. I have tried it and is nice, but due to the lack of competition in the market and a very good marketing (including some famous players promoting it) I think that is very overpriced.....

....So, the second option is the one that is used by the buzz stop, I never tried it so I don’t know if it works fine or not. I think that it looks kind of ugly, but it just a personal opinion (like everything that I write here).

Are you unaware of the Staytrem bridge or did you specifically not mention it? Because it costs half as much as the Mastery and is well known as an alternative to it. Using a Mustang bridge is also a cheap, popular choice.

Not putting down your design though, more options in the market are never a bad thing. I'm not clear on the OSG policy regarding making an account just to advertise your product so this may or may not get nuked since you included retail links.

[Jess Loureiro]

Hi Grey,

Of course, there are more solutions, the staytrem, a mustang bridge, to use some gibson design bridges, mosrite... I don't now why you don't mention this others. I just have to give my two cents to the community.
I can make an account with another name, or just ask a friend or even a customer, and then write the same thing. I think that is fair that I post here with my account. Anyway, thanks for your comments and for bring your point of view about it.

[Jess Loureiro]

Hi Shadoweclipse13,

Thanks for your comment and nice words. I have one installed since almost 1 year ago and there's not string break, strings moves smooth. That's one of my worries when I design it but finally it turned out not to be a problem

[oid]

That is a simple elegant solution, looks good too.

The strings will eat the brass with time if you use the trem much, but tele saddles are cheap enough and should give enough life to please most players, or bronze saddles could be made for a considerably increased lifespan. I think someone does, or at least did, produce bronze tele saddles, have a vague memory of seeing those.

If the trailing/leading edge of the string holes are eased into a curve it will help string life, bending around a hard edge will shorten the life of the strings. A rotary tool with a small round burr followed by a round fine abrasive stone would do the job simply enough. perhaps you did that though, hard to tell in the photos on my phone, for some reason flickr will not load on the computer.

A small bit of clarification for what I suspect is just technical details lost in translation. You are not increasing tension, your are increasing the break angle over the saddle and downward force on the saddle, and decreasing the break angle off the trem. If you increased the tension you would would raise the pitch of the string.

[frelonvert]

It is not a new design^^:
viewtopic.php?f=8&t=63435&hilit=bridge+ ... er+saddles

[Jess Loureiro]

Hi Oid,

Thans for your clarification with the tension thing, I didn't thought about it, thanks

Hi frelonvert,

This design is different to that, just check the pictures and read the explanation and you will see it. Merçi

[PJazzmaster]

cool. I'd give it a try.

[hwestman]

That's very clever indeed!

[6AM]

It appears to me that anyone who uses the trem frequently is also going to be frequently breaking strings from the rubbing.

[mizbiz]

It is not a new design^^:
http://www.offsetguitars.com/forums/vie ... er+saddles

I've created several of these modified offset bridges because of this ^^^ thread. As with many of the mods that I have done previously, it was heavily inspired by one done here. With that said, I think that this mod works better going over the top of the bridge with 3 grooved telecaster saddles, as opposed to utilizing the old adjustment saddle screw holes in the side of the bridge to string through with the 3 compensated saddles. Nonetheless, it is a mod that I've seen several times here on this site and can be done for a fraction of the cost. All you need is an inexpensive set of brass telecaster saddles and an aftermarket offset bridge. Just drill three holes in between the existing saddle screw holes, use 3 of the short screws/springs from the old offset saddles and set the 3 new brass telecaster saddles in the newly drilled holes. It can be done in 5 minutes and cost well under $20.

Can't see the justification of charging $40+ dollars for drilling 3 holes, but whatever... I guess that is for other people to rationalize if they're so inclined to purchase it.

[mizbiz]

Also... excuse my ignorance, but what the hell does wax potting a bridge do for it?

"The bridge main structure is made by steel and have a chrome finish. The brass saddles have been designed to compensate the pitch of each string and have been hand polished to allows the strings to slide with the tremolo action. All the bridge have been wax-potted in order to keep it more stable."

[timtam]

Also... excuse my ignorance, but what the hell does wax potting a bridge do for it?

"The bridge main structure is made by steel and have a chrome finish. The brass saddles have been designed to compensate the pitch of each string and have been hand polished to allows the strings to slide with the tremolo action. All the bridge have been wax-potted in order to keep it more stable."

Basically stops everything rattling. It's in the official bridge FAQ ...
http://www.offsetguitars.com/forums/vie ... 911#p52958

If the bridge is buzzing because of loose screws, or you find that the saddle or bridge height screws (or even the intonation screws) shift, you can simply use your own way of gunking the bridge up. White teflon tape, available in hardware stores, is a good method. Wrap the tape counter-clockwise around each screw so it stays put when the screw is rethreaded. Loctite, which is a kind of glue designed for this sort of purpose, is also a classy way to do it - the "light" version (blue) is recommended.

However, you can use pretty much anything you might find around the house - if you have buzz from one or two loose screws, drops of clear nail polish or superglue onto the part are reversible with nail polish remover (acetone). For a bridge full of rattles, you can dip the entire bridge into wax like potting a pickup - let the stuff cool down, take out the bridge and wipe off excess wax. The screws are basically glued in place, yet the wax is soft enough to allow for easy adjustments. Even hair pomade has been used by one forum member to coat each individual bridge part and does the job.

[mizbiz]

Well shit... I've never heard that before. I stand corrected. It seems like a rather messy and inefficient way to achieve locked down adjustment screws and more effort and hassle than a worthy result, but I guess some people do it. You learn something new everyday!...

Another serious question though... what do you do about all the wax that enters the top of the two main posts of the base frame of the bridge? You have to adjust those with a hex allen wrench from the top down... doesn't that obstruct the wrench? Are the adjustment screws removed from the posts prior to potting?