Love my new '59 JM reissue...BUT

[Shinobi]

Hi everyone, this is my first post on here as I am new to the world of offset guitars - so thanks for adding me.

I just fell for a black '59 reissue JM - one of the 60th anniversary models from 2018. Anyway, I love it, looks great, it plays great, mostly, but there are some serious issues with the guitar and (as I am discovering) these may be issues common to Jazzmasters.

*loosey trem-arm fitting - rattles too

*the stock bridge has rattles - loose screws - poor string support

*pickups are making an intolerable hum - they have to go!

I am looking into solutions to these ranging from quick fixes to buying complete new parts. Any suggestion for places to find good parts in the UK would be welcome. NB - I would like to retain a 55mm string spacing - so the Stay-trem bridge is no good (@52mm).

Best of pluck, Toby

[Larry Mal]

Hi Toby! Welcome!

1) The tremolo arm can be made to fit better by taking the strings off, pulling the unit, and then there is a little metal claw that the arm slides into on the underside of the unit. That claw has four metal pieces that can be (gently) pushed in tighter with a wrench of some kind. It's not hard or anything. Buying a Stay-trem arm is a better improvement, but either works.

2) You can immediately improve the experience of a Jazzmaster by purchasing a Mustang bridge. The Stay-trem is the best in terms of quality out there, but there are a lot of decent ones out there at a pretty reasonable price point. Most will have the wider string spacing I would think but double check.

3) Do the pickups hum when you are in the middle position?

[Shinobi]

Thanks Larry, I'll take a look at that trem myself and see about upgrading to a stay trem at some point. I like the Warmoth Modified Mustang bridge - but have to get it from USA so will be a tidy penny! I have a 9.5 radius on my guitar so ideally need the bridge to be adjustable - most of the set mustang bridges seem to be made for 7.25 radius. The pick ups hum in every position, it's horrendous! I found a couple of UK makers for pick ups - House of Tone and The Creamery both look pretty good.

[Larry Mal]

The Warmoth modified bridge is one that I would emphatically not recommend, though. The good thing about the Mustang bridge versus the Jazzmaster bridge is the simplicity, the radius is already set on a Mustang bridge, so there aren't any moving pieces that can get out of adjustment and add buzzing.

With a Mustang bridge, all you need to do is set the height of the bridge and then do the intonation, it's as easy as it can be. Less moving pieces equals better sound, in my opinion.

The Warmoth modified throws that simplicity out the window and adds complexity that is needless in almost all users' cases, it is designed for the rare situations in which a person wants their bridge to be a different radius than their neck, or if they have a neck radius that is compound or other than that most typical with Fender guitars.

Your radius is 7.25"... so just get a bridge that is already set to that and call it a day. Why make it harder than it has to be? Save yourself some money also.

[Larry Mal]

Regarding the buzzing, Jazzmasters can be kind of noisy, it's inherent to the pickup design unfortunately. You should have a decent amount of shielding under there, but you can always add better shielding and I do.

I've also added an aluminum pick guard on one of my Jazzmasters, but that might be moot in your case- do you already have one on the '59? I'm not super familiar with your exact model.

[Shinobi]

Cool, I'll look into adding some better shielding, not done that before so - Youtube here I come!

I get your point about the bridge - less moving parts is better - but I have a 9.5 radius so just need to find a bridge that is set to that size, ideally.

The pick guard on this one is a dark reddish tortoise shell. Cream pick ups & knobs. Black paint job on the body.

Could go all the way and strip the body back to the wood and varnish it - turn it into a Costello custom!

[Larry Mal]

Ah, OK. Well, a quick and easy thing to do would be to pull the pick guard and apply copper shielding to the back of that.

Here's a good article about shielding.

Here's a pretty nice shielding bit- it just fits directly under the pickguard, quick and easy.

You do have some shielding inside the cavities I'd expect, there should be some little copper plates there. That's the standard Jazzmaster shielding and it works OK, so you might want to try the pick guard shielding and see if that might to the trick.

I'm pretty sure there are 9.5" Mustang bridges out there. Good luck with your projects!

[Maggieo]

The ground may have come undone. That happened with my Johnny Marr Jaguar. Easy fix, works wonders.

[Shinobi]

Sweet, I'll get ON it! Thanks Larry.

[Larry Mal]

The ground may have come undone. That happened with my Johnny Marr Jaguar. Easy fix, works wonders.

Yeah, right? I feel I should have mentioned that at some point.