MIM ROAD WORN SMALL THIMBLES

[javi15872]

Hello,,,, I bought a used Jazzmaster Road Worn. The guitar is beautiful... but I quickly realized that the bridge didn't have much travel back and forth when using the tremolo. I measured the inner diameter of the thimbles and the diameter of the bridge support post and the difference was 0.5 mm, in the American models the difference is 1.mm. When I use the tremolo arm the guitar goes out of tune a little. I am going to change the tremolo system for an original Fender one with a Lock tremolo and the bridge for an American one that has more space for the bridge to move forward and backward (1mm). There is also the option of putting the mastery bridges. I don't understand why the MIM models come with thimbles with less space. Did anyone have the same problem? thank you so much ! greetings

[skelt101]

My MIM Vintera II Jazzmaster had the same small diameter thimbles. The bridge did rock with vibrato use, but not much at all. I replaced the barely rocking thimbles with AVRI, and got much better movement. Be advised, you will probably need to ream out the existing holes to accommodate the replacement thimbles. Also, there should be a ground connection in the treble side hole.

[alexpigment]

Although it’s possible the tuning stability issues are related to the bridge, I would first look at the nut, as that’s generally always where tuning issues start. If you don’t have files, you can put the next larger string in the slot (e.g the b string in the E string’s slot) and tune up and down a handful of times while applying some pressure to the string behind the nut. After doing that which each string, put some nut sauce or Vaseline in the slots and tune up.

One other indication that it’s the nut would be that only some strings go out of tune. If they all go out of tune, then the bridge is a bit more likely.

[javi15872]

Hello Skelt101... thank you very much for your response. I plan to do the same with my Road Worn. Question > Did the thimbles come off easily? Did you use extractor or heat and screwdriver? To ream out the holes, did you use 3/8 bit in reverse? When putting on the new thimbles you have to solder the ground connection first.

[javi15872]

Thanks a lot Alexpigment , si tenes razon . el nut es importante que este bien configurado ... una vez que yo consiga los respuestos para hacer el upgrade , va a pasar por el luthier para revisar y corregir el nut . recomiendan comrar el el AVRI dedales y puente en Fender.con o pueden recomendar otro sitio ? muchas gracias .

[alexpigment]

That depends on where you live, I suppose. I've always had extra thimbles since they're included if you buy American Fender bridges, but you can also get them a la carte on Amazon (USA) here:

https://www.amazon.com/Fender-American- ... B005SGBE10

On the other hand, you search for Fender 0054447049 (which is the official part number) and see if anything comes up on Google that's closer to where you are and/or cheaper.

[skelt101]

Hello Skelt101... thank you very much for your response. I plan to do the same with my Road Worn. Question > Did the thimbles come off easily? Did you use extractor or heat and screwdriver? To ream out the holes, did you use 3/8 bit in reverse? When putting on the new thimbles you have to solder the ground connection first.

The thimbles did come out easily. I used a spiral screw extractor, and just twisted it by hand. I used a 3/8" reamer to enlarge the holes, rotating by hand first and then a wrench. (Power tools around guitars make me nervous...) Soldering the ground to the thimble is not necessary but might give good peace of mind. I just made sure there was good contact during the installation.

[jibbit]

i just picked up second hand vintera jag and was really surprised by the thinner thimbles.. i find it harder to re-centre the bridge if you knock it out of place, and you get less travel - what's the point? But most of all i was surprised that i didn't know in advance. I've spent so long reading OSG, reviews, watching youtube.. and never seen it discussed

[alexpigment]

i just picked up second hand vintera jag and was really surprised by the thinner thimbles.. i find it harder to re-centre the bridge if you knock it out of place, and you get less travel - what's the point? But most of all i was surprised that i didn't know in advance. I've spent so long reading OSG, reviews, watching youtube.. and never seen it discussed

When you say you get less travel, do you mean *bridge* travel or tremolo arm travel? If the latter, I suspect something else is going on (i.e. the tremolo arm is knocking against the cavity route (which you would hear). The latter scenario is unfortunately common with the current production batch of AVRI arms, assuming you've pushed the arm all the way down.

[jibbit]

ah sorry no i mean bridge travel.. the thimbles are barely wider than the bridge posts

[timtam]

i just picked up second hand vintera jag and was really surprised by the thinner thimbles.. i find it harder to re-centre the bridge if you knock it out of place, and you get less travel - what's the point? But most of all i was surprised that i didn't know in advance. I've spent so long reading OSG, reviews, watching youtube.. and never seen it discussed

The unannounced mess and confusion (for compatible bridge replacements) that Fender has created with the non-standard, non-vintage, smaller-ID Vintera thimbles has been discussed ...
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=127413&p=1814685#p1814685

[MayTheFuzzBeWithYou]

i just picked up second hand vintera jag and was really surprised by the thinner thimbles.. i find it harder to re-centre the bridge if you knock it out of place, and you get less travel - what's the point? But most of all i was surprised that i didn't know in advance. I've spent so long reading OSG, reviews, watching youtube.. and never seen it discussed

Yes, it was discussed in the thread mentioned above (I honestly couldn't remember) - I'm also sure I posted about it when I received my Vintera Jaguar in 2021 - as I wanted to try the Mastery Bridge (M1 Thimbles) and they didn't fit - the Staytrem did - but as you say - very little movement. I had no real issues with that - also I didn't knock it out of place. Another small issue is, that the AVRI guards line up almost perfectly except for the thimbles which are oddly out of place - so that you need to slightly enlarge the holes on the guard.

[GilmourD]

i just picked up second hand vintera jag and was really surprised by the thinner thimbles.. i find it harder to re-centre the bridge if you knock it out of place, and you get less travel - what's the point? But most of all i was surprised that i didn't know in advance. I've spent so long reading OSG, reviews, watching youtube.. and never seen it discussed

The unannounced mess and confusion (for compatible bridge replacements) that Fender has created with the non-standard, non-vintage, smaller-ID Vintera thimbles has been discussed ...
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=127413&p=1814685#p1814685

Just skimmed that thread real quick and I don't see if anybody figured out the outer diameter of the Vintera I and/or II thimbles.

[skelt101]

Just skimmed that thread real quick and I don't see if anybody figured out the outer diameter of the Vintera I and/or II thimbles.

Just eyeballing it, mine look to be about 8.5mm. Sorry, I don’t have digital calipers or anything like that…

[GilmourD]

Just skimmed that thread real quick and I don't see if anybody figured out the outer diameter of the Vintera I and/or II thimbles.

Just eyeballing it, mine look to be about 8.5mm. Sorry, I don’t have digital calipers or anything like that…

For an import (Squier type) thimble you drill a 9mm hole and 3/8" hole for US spec thimbles. So even if the whole is just shy of 9mm (the actual thimbles are 8.8mm-ish) then a Squier-type thimble should fit and those have a usable inner diameter.