Fender "Panorama" Tremolo System -- American Performer II Jazzmaster

[Ricey]

Does anybody know if the pop-in bar is available as an aftermarket part? If not, will the American Ultra Strat pop-in bars work with Panorama?

[Vendetagainst]

Does anybody know if the pop-in bar is available as an aftermarket part? If not, will the American Ultra Strat pop-in bars work with Panorama?

That would be an interesting experiment, of course, the Strat arm would be much shorter so you probs won’t be able to do the glide guitar Kevin Shields thing, but if you don’t care about that it would be cool to see if it works. Does anyone here have both?

[Ricey]

I have my Classic Player (CP) Jaguar HH in the shop getting the Panorama I got from Darren Riley's installed. I asked the tech to try an American Ultra Strat pop-in bar in the Panorama and he said that it does work. I have not gotten the guitar back yet, so I will let you know. It should work at least as an interim bar until the Panorama bar becomes available. Darren Riley emailed me that he does expect to get them at some point.

You are correct that the Strat bar will be shorter, but, interestingly, the bar on my CP is too long, because they moved the bridge up at least 1/4" towards the neck on the CP Jags, but didnt shorten the bar! This was to increase the break angle of the strings over the TOM style bridge. When I eventually am able to get a Panorama bar, my intent is to try and cut it down by 1/4". I have been using a Staytrem collet and bar that they cut to the correct compensated length for me, but the Staytrem bar and collet does not fit in the Panorama.

Hopefully, the shortness of the Strat bar won't be as much of an issue with the CP Jag and, hopefully, it will be a temporary solution.

[Mad-Mike]

I see Darren Riley sells them but not too sure if it's enough of an improvement/upgrade for me to spend $159.00 a pop for one for my Jaguar and one for my Jazzmaster.....maybe I'll wait around and watch.

[Vendetagainst]

I see Darren Riley sells them but not too sure if it's enough of an improvement/upgrade for me to spend $159.00 a pop for one for my Jaguar and one for my Jazzmaster.....maybe I'll wait around and watch.

Yeah same dilemma for me, especially since I needed to buy a new laptop as well, and that the arm isn't for sale too...

[Ricey]

OK, so I finally got my CP Jag HH back with the Panorama installed. It took longer than expected, because I also requested some custom wiring mods.

The first thing I noticed is that the ringing high pitched harmonics I experienced with the stock bridge were gone, which I greatly appreciate! I know that some offset players like that particular quirk, but it drove me crazy! I had to stuff a piece of foam under the strings where they came out of the tailpiece stop bar to prevent the incessant ringing from the stock tailpiece! With the Panorama, I am able to finally say goodbye to the unsightly 9-year old piece of foam!

Second, the American Ultra Strat pop-in bar works perfectly in the Panorama with my CP Jag, which is GREAT, because Fender would not sell me a bar and Darren Riley did not ship a bar with the bridge (still perplexed as to where to bars for the units Darren Riley has sold are disappearing to?). Even though it is shorter than a proper Jag bar, the Strat bar is actually the perfect length for the CP Jag, because the CP Jag tailpiece was moved about 1/4" closer the bridge to increase the break angle of the strings over the bridge. The stock bar that came with my CP Jag was not shortened to compensate for the modified bridge position and I actually found it a bit too long for me. The tip of the bar now rests perfectly under my extended pinky when I am picking (and I have relatively small hands). If you have a JM or vintage style Jag, you may find the Strat bar is too short.

Third, I adjusted the tension spring on the Panorama as designed so that when the trem lock button is engaged, I cannot pull the bar up. This is so the guitar stays in tune better when I break a string or drop tune. With this set-up, I can drop the low E down just a bit flat of A, but not all the way down to Ab. I watched Ryan's video and saw his chart where he said he could dump the low E on an AVRI unit down just shy of Bb, while the Panorama goes all the way down to F#; however, he was not comparing apples to apples. For the AVRI demo, he was using a CP Jag Special, which, except for the pickups. is identical to my guitar, while he used a Jazzmaster for the Panorama demo. The Jazzmaster has a longer scale length/increased string tension and a different bridge than the CP Jag, so I suspect that is why he saw such a dramatic difference in downward range when comparing the Panorama to the stock AVRI type unit. With the stock brigde on my CP Jag, I could drop down to the exact same same B-Bb flat range as Ryan did with his CP Jag in the video, as shown on his chart. Bottom line-I gained about 1 step of increased downward travel with the Panorama on a CP Jag HH. It definitely did not get me into "Eruption" territory.

Fourth, the Panorama seems more solidly built and heavier than my stock tailepiece.

Overall, I am satisfied with the cost-benefit ratio I experienced with the Panorama, but others may not find that extra step of downward travel to be worth $160, especially if they are particularly fond of those quirky harmonics generated by the vintage style Jazz/Jag tailpiece. If you play a JM or Vintage style Jag with traditional tailpiece spacing, you may find the Strat bar too short and might want hold off until the longer Panorama bar is available as an aftermarket part.

[Ricey]

Here is a pic of my CP Jag HH with Panorama installed:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/a8cQHUxvJozzxGGp9

You can get a good sense from this pic as to how the length of the Strat bar works on a CP Jag.

[Veitchy]

Pretty thorough stuff. Thanks for that.

[Ricey]

One more thing I just remembered. There is an adjustment screw to set how freely the bar swings around in it's socket. If the screw is too loose, the bar swings around flaccidly. You need to ensure you get it set to your preferred tension prior to installing the tailpiece, because you have to remove the tailpiece in order to get to the screw, which is fairly inconvenient! I have to periodically readjust this screw as the bar slowly loosens up over time on my '99 AmDlx Strat, which is easy, because the screw is easily accessible on my Strat. Not so on the Panorama, so, hopefully, the Panorama won't require re-adjusment as frequently as my Strat.

[Futuron]

I've not had to touch that screw. I bought the Jazzmaster in January

[Ricey]

Good to know!

[Vendetagainst]

Darren Riley is selling the Panorama with the arm! It's pricey but I got one on account that it was my birthday recently. Will let y'all know how it goes.

[adamrobertt]

ugh he's out of stock already

[deadcoldfish]

Sorry, that might have been from me.

[Vendetagainst]

Yea I was the other one then, sorry. I really hope Fender releases the trem as a stand-alone part soon, this is getting ridiculous.