I just got a Staytrem bridge for my JM jag, and plan to do a full setup tomorrow and also try to investigate some little nagging issues I've had since I got the guitar. I currently have a set of skinny top/heavy bottom 11's with a wound G, and everything is setup pretty well and it plays nicely. Whenever I follow the usual setup guides, I end up with the bridge pretty close to the body and the pickups sunk pretty far into the guitar. Looking at a pic of Johnny's jag, it looks like he has the bridge and the pickups quite high:
If that doesn't work: pic.twitter.com/otARoANn4j
How can you set it up that way and still keep the action low? Would I need a shim? I'm interested in doing that to see how the guitar feels, and especially to get a little extra string tension. It feels great now, but I'd really like to at least have the option of using lighter strings and especially an unwound G. How are people getting away with using 10's?
I've had lots of gremlins using lighter strings...with strings sounding dead or muffled, not really ringing out very clearly. It's mostly with the G, but it seems like nearly all the strings have had that problem at one time or another. I'm pretty sure this is only with open strings (I say pretty sure because it seems like I've also noticed it with a capo and I'm at my wit's end). I've had a tech file the nut down quite a bit and the problem is more-or-less gone with the 12's, but I'd like to know what's going on and have a little more flexibility with regard to string gauge.
Blah blah blah, it's basically in good shape now, but I would really like to fine-tune some of the setup issues on the guitar. Hence I'm asking the experts...thanks in advance for any tips!
Thanks,
Gary
