A mod-free way to keep your Jag-Stang in tune!

[andy_tchp]

if you just tune that vibrato system to pitch and play, and do a lot of heavy bending, the odds of it returning to pitch are very low so either you don't bend very much, or if you do, not aggressively, or you're a very lucky guy.

Hmm, I’m not sure it’s luck. From memory I got setup tips from someone on here to move the springs to the highest tension notches (what a shit of a job that is) and tighten the cigar tube right down.

Having said that, prior to doing all of the above the tuning stability on that guitar (MG65 Mustang) was extremely poor. Even a subtle warble from the vibrato would have most strings returning out of tune simultaneously…

Well that's because, as I said numerous times now, this advice is for those who DON't want to use the tremolo arm. Setting up the springs "sharp" like this allow for bending but NOT vibrato. If you want to use the tremolo arm you have to use a totally different method, the "wiggle method."

In other words, the "cigar tug" method is stable for bending if you want it to behave like a hard tail, but the downside is you CANT use the tremolo arm.

the "wiggle" method, as described by some other posters, is how you get equilibrium for use with the trem. The downside to this is, sometimes aggressive bending will not return the guitar to pitch, so you need to "wiggle" the bar to get the spring back into equilibrium. This is also true on strats but it's more of a problem on Mustangs because a mustang has two fulcrums.

Yeah, OK. I never had to do that either, huge amounts of tension provided by the springs in the one I owned, tuning stability was amazing whether I was bending or vibrato-ing.

Sadly I didn't get on with the neck profile.

[ChrisDesign]

Or just set the vibrato up properly…

First, use the lower notch under the saddle for heavy string, the upper notch for light strings. Tune up, set the cigar at a height to be 90 degrees against the body. When the two are in balance, play and bend like crazy.

If your strings are going flat, Lower the cigar to angle the string back and increase spring tension.

If your strings are going sharp, raise the cigar to angle the cigar forward and decrease tension.

Keep both sides of the guitar the same height.

[alexpigment]

Guys, come on. The OP clearly wasn’t trying to give a tip on setting the trem up properly and the more you guys keep chiming in about how to set it up for stable trem use is clearly missing the point. Let’s stick a fork in this one.

[andy_tchp]

More pointing out that it's not a case of being limited to only one or the other, at least on the instrument I owned (and again I can't attribute this to 'luck').

It's not like I set it up to use the vibrato and not bend strings, or 'hey I feel like bending today so I guess I'll set it up differently for that, shame I can't use the vibrato at the same time'.

Because that would be madness.

Feel free not to read the topic if you believe it to be 'done'.

[neutralomen]

I do know how to set up a mustang properly. That's actually how I usually prefer them. However even when they're perfectly calibrated, it's not the cigar, but the rocking bridge that's the problem. Ideally, you set it up such that, after you wiggle the whammy, the bridge rocks into place at 90 degrees.
With this particular technology, you can only get SO reliable. Sometimes when you wiggle, your spring has been properly calibrated but the bridge rocks into place at like 95 degrees or 92 degrees. You sometimes then have to wiggle it once or twice more to get it to rock back to that perfect calibration point.

When you bend strings on a floating mustang, the rocking bridge rarely returns to its neutral spot, and you often have to give it a little wiggle to reset it.

This is very similar to how you need to manage a strat vibrato but the mustang is slightly less stable.

I don't think it's wild of me to point out that many offset users block their mustangs precisely for these reasons.

I LIKE the mustang trem and if you know how to manage the design flaws it is relatively stable. Set it up to equilibrium and then wiggle every so often to throw everything back into tune. Not a huge deal.

The tug method gives you the benefit of rock solid tuning stability that just isn't provided with a float. I'm not saying the float is UNSTABLE but it isn't perfect.