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I wanted to try a Mustang Bridge on my Player Series Jazzmaster, as I have got a bit sick of all the buzzing.

I found this one online and it is on the way...

https://www.emma-music.com/mustang-brid ... dius95.cfm

I have since read a few posts that this might not actually be made by GOTOH, and in fact if you look at their site, they don't seem to make Mustang bridges.

I emailed the shop to see what they say, and since it is now purchased anyway I will fit it, see if it improves my guitar and report back.

If it is an improvement, it will be 26 € well spent (especially considering I started out looking at a Mastery bridge).

You mean Gotoh. Not sure if they make this bridge or not, but I do know they make a ton of parts. Whether or not it will be an improvement is kind of up in the air - these cheaper bridges are usually pretty poor quality, to be honest.

But at least you'll be cutting down on all those height adjustment screws, which will definitely help buzzing. I'm not sure what the string spacing is though, it may be 55 mm instead of 52, which you will likely be disappointed with (the outer strings end up being way too close to the edges of the fretboard with this spacing)

I would have suggested an American Pro Jazzmaster bridge as a similar alternative, although they are a bit pricier (about $75 USD) but still cheaper than a Mastery. (and better imo)

adamrobertt wrote: ↑

Sun Sep 13, 2020 7:58 am

You mean Gotoh.

Whoops, yes I did! Edited the original post...

I will give it a go, and hopefully the quality won't be too bad. But just googled the American Pro Jazzmaster bridge, that does look better...probably should have asked here first...

adamrobertt wrote: ↑

Sun Sep 13, 2020 7:58 am

I'm not sure what the string spacing is though, it may be 55 mm instead of 52, which you will likely be disappointed with (the outer strings end up being way too close to the edges of the fretboard with this spacing

Just checked, and my current set up has 55mm of string spacing?!

Snowmonkey wrote: ↑

Sun Sep 13, 2020 9:30 am

adamrobertt wrote: ↑

Sun Sep 13, 2020 7:58 am

I'm not sure what the string spacing is though, it may be 55 mm instead of 52, which you will likely be disappointed with (the outer strings end up being way too close to the edges of the fretboard with this spacing

Just checked, and my current set up has 55mm of string spacing?!

A lot of the stock and cheaper bridges still have that spacing. If you don't have a problem with it then there's nothing inherently wrong with it... it's just that a lot of us tend to like a narrower spacing so there's no edge jump issues. The Staytrem and American Pro bridges have the 52mm spacing, as well as the Mastery. But a standard Mustang bridge is usually 55mm.

If you’re in the UK, buy a staytrem bridge. They are incredible!

ChrisDesign wrote: ↑

Sun Sep 13, 2020 10:38 am

If you’re in the UK, buy a staytrem bridge. They are incredible!

This.

It'll definitely be money well spent.

I am not in the UK, but could probably arrange for a staytrem to be sent to a friend's house and then forwarded.

I am treating this purchase as a test, cheap enough to see if it fixes the problem. If it does, will look at getting a staytrem at a later date when they are back in stock.

I just realised something else, getting a bridge with 52mm string spacing will solve my other "issue", namely that the E strings sit wide of the pickup poles. It looks as though if you buy a cheaper Jazzmaster, they fit the wrong size bridge for you!

Thanks for all your advice...

I bought an aftermarket Maestro Vibrola from that shop and they insisted it is a Hosco though it clearly wasn't: http://www.offsetguitars.com/forums/vie ... &p=1485728

It didn't have original packaging and the break angle looked totally different from what it should be ... also hosco only manufactures a nickel version
In the end I had to pay for the return shipping costs although the vibrola was so deformed that it was impossible to use it...
I wouldn't be surprised if that Mustang bridge is just a generic made-in-china knockoff from ebay labeled as "Gotoh" - seems to be his business practice
Also weird that a google search does not come up with a single result for "gotoh mustang bridge" other than that emma music site

Ah, it seems I may have ordered a dud then...

Just to pile on, someone here mentioned the other day that Emma Music sells "Gotoh" thimbles for just €5, but Gotoh doesn't seem to make them, either.

https://www.emma-music.com/-gotoh,us,4, ... NSERTS.cfm

Edit: the same applies to their "Gotoh" JM/Jag bridges and vibratos:

https://www.emma-music.com/-allparts,us,4,GOT-BG09N.cfm (notice the word "Allparts" in the url)

https://www.emma-music.com/gotoh-jazzma ... 11-010.cfm

Looking on the brightside, in future if someone googles "Gotoh Mustang Bridge", they will probably find this page and realise that all is not what it seems at Emma-Music!

Just a quick update, the probably fake gotoh bridge arrived today. The bridge itself is poor quality, and the legs are thinner than on my existing bridge so it rattles around a bit. However, the saddles, springs and screws all seemed okay and they fit into my Fender bridge with no problem.

So for now, it all works well and my dreaded bridge rattle has gone. I will probably upgrade to a staytrem at some point in the future anyway!

Thanks for all the pointers and advice...

Sorry to hear that you got kinda scammed, but I'm really glad that the end result was that your original issue was solved after the saddle transplant! That's a great way for it to have worked out.

There are a number of 9.5" radius Mustang bridges out there now, following on from Fender (MIA Am Pro, 52mm E-E) and Squier (CV 52mm E-E; made where ?) starting to supply them in recent years. Some of these others from uncertain origin have 55mm E-E spacing and some are unstated (55mm works fine for some necks). eg
https://www.eyguitarmusic.com/Chrome-Mu ... _2681.html
https://www.customworldguitarparts.com/ ... adius.html
https://www.emma-music.com/mustang-brid ... dius95.cfm

Just like with import guitars from premium brands, which often come out of a few known factories in Korea - but exactly which factory is sometimes uncertain - the origins of the offset bridges not made in California by Fender are uncertain. Fender's import bridges have often been made in Korea, although they have also used Gotoh AOMs. So it is possible that Gotoh, Hosco etc do supply unbranded MIJ OEM offset bridges to some other vendors, but that is unproven. In some ways the cheaper bridges are easier to be sure about - they are unlikely to come from a premium manufacturer. OTOH a more expensive part could be from a better manufacturer or just a vendor inflating their profit on a cheap part.

And of course we are prone to simplistically think "cheap=bad" and "expensive=good", although no one has measured any of these bridges to determine tolerances on screw threads etc that might influence how prone to rattling/slipping they might be. But Fender, Mastery etc like us to think that way.