Position on 60´s tremolo jag

Discussion of vintage Jazzmasters, Jaguars, Bass VIs, Electric XIIs and any other offset-waist instruments.
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Guitarman555
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Position on 60´s tremolo jag

Post by Guitarman555 » Mon Aug 15, 2022 1:19 pm

Hi guys, I am setting up vintage jag tremolo, have the mastery bridge, which doesn´t allow me to shift strings to on sides and 1st string touches the tremolo bar (it touches very lightly and is fully playble and plays great). In normal thread jag bridge I would just shift e string. Mastery bridge doesn´t allow this. Is there a way how to shift tremolo bar coming from a inside the hole? Maybe 3 mysterious screws in 1 line could be solution?
I am attaching different guitar from website to have idea what i am talking about. This one is with standard tremolo, where you can change positions of string so here my problem would be solved super easily:
https://mmguitarbar.files.wordpress.com ... 26-imp.jpg
Last edited by Guitarman555 on Tue Aug 16, 2022 12:21 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Position on 60´s tremolo jag

Post by 46346 » Mon Aug 15, 2022 10:34 pm

that's a tough one. i've installed three mastery bridges, but never had the string rub against the trem arm.

but on my 1965 Jaguar with mastery bridge, the high E and B strings don't line up well with the bridge pickup, even though it's an original pup.
i don't think it's the mastery's fault in my case, though.


when you take out the bridge, and just have the strings run from the nut to the trem plate, does it clear the trem arm ok?
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Re: Position on 60´s tremolo jag

Post by Guitarman555 » Tue Aug 16, 2022 12:12 am

thanks, I will check it without mastery. The touch of string to tremolo bar is very very light. So I think just a very light changing of tremolo position would help - I still believe that I could use those 3 screws on the tail - I haven´t found anywhere what are they really for.

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Re: Position on 60´s tremolo jag

Post by fuzzjunkie » Tue Aug 16, 2022 6:50 am

Guitarman555 wrote:
Tue Aug 16, 2022 12:12 am
thanks, I will check it without mastery. The touch of string to tremolo bar is very very light. So I think just a very light changing of tremolo position would help - I still believe that I could use those 3 screws on the tail - I haven´t found anywhere what are they really for.
Offset tremolo setup

No, those hold the plate to the mechanism. I can’t see them adjusting anything in the way you want.

You might be able to reseat the plate slightly so it doesn’t touch. Remove or loosen all the screws around the edge that holds the plate to the body. Move it slightly so the string doesn’t touch. Tighten the plate back down. If it’s just a slight adjustment that should be enough and not affect any playability or change where the plate sits to any degree.

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Re: Position on 60´s tremolo jag

Post by fuzzjunkie » Tue Aug 16, 2022 6:54 am

Another thing to look at : is the Mastery level? Does it need to be? Do you want it to be?

I usually have my bridge lower on the treble side and higher on the bass. If this is your setup, raising the treble side should lift the strings slightly away from the tremolo arm.

Edit: I don’t have a Mastery bridge, the above is how I set my vintage Offsets, so maybe the Mastery isn’t adjusted that way?

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Re: Position on 60´s tremolo jag

Post by Guitarman555 » Mon Aug 22, 2022 11:26 am

Alrite, I will try to shift the tremolo plate a bit direction up. At the same time I can try to shift a bit the mastery bridge in its holes direction down if it is possible.

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Re: Position on 60´s tremolo jag

Post by Guitarman555 » Thu Aug 25, 2022 11:23 pm

Any other idea how to shift the 1st (e) string out from tremolo bar?

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Re: Position on 60´s tremolo jag

Post by Guitarman555 » Wed Sep 14, 2022 3:28 am

So I tried to move the tremolo plate for a tiny bit, but it still sits to the initial position. Unfortunately the moving of tremolo plate would mean too force, too violate steps, I would have to put screws to slightly different positions, so this step doen´t have a sense, it is much better to let string slightly touch the tremolo bar.. Any other thought?

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Re: Position on 60´s tremolo jag

Post by TeaLifeTeaMind » Wed Sep 14, 2022 6:12 pm

I just looked at my 64’ Jag. There is 1/32” clearance between the trem collet and the high E string. Not much, but it’s there. I also have a Mastery bridge. I suspect that if the high E string was touching, I could loosen the 6 outer screws that hold the whole trem assembly down and shift it very slightly to get some clearance between the high E and the trem collet. Then screw it back down. Over the years, in many cases screw holes may have opened up a bit, so that whoever last made any trem adjustments may have screwed it back down without realizing a string was touching. Just a thought. Over the years with vintage offsets in particular, I feel like there can be a small amount of wiggle room to get any number of things dialed in.

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Re: Position on 60´s tremolo jag

Post by Guitarman555 » Wed Sep 14, 2022 10:27 pm

Yes, that´s exactly what I tried to do, losen 6 screws of tremolo plate and trying to push tremolo plate down a bit. But I didn´t want to use too much power. To me, better if the string touches the bar slightly. That´s why I am wondering if there is any other way to set it up. Bridge also doesn´t have a space to play around with, unfortunately.

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Re: Position on 60´s tremolo jag

Post by GreenKnee » Thu Sep 15, 2022 12:18 am

It might be worth trying loosening off the bridge posts of the Mastery from the bridge and seeing if you can move the bridge towards the treble side to see if that can give the high E some clearance.

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Re: Position on 60´s tremolo jag

Post by JSett » Thu Sep 15, 2022 12:21 am

Just checked my '64 Jaguar that has a Mastery...there's about 1mm of clearance between the high-E and the vibrato collet.
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