Recommended techs in Austin, TX?

[rowyerboat]

There are a lot of guitar techs here, and many are well thought of, but every one I call seems to hate Jazzmasters...I've heard more than one guy call it the "worst guitar design ever." Not sure I trust someone to do the best job when they have no appreciation for the instrument. Anyone know someone around here who actually likes working on JMs?

[alexpigment]

Austin Vintage Guitars has always *sold* a lot of offsets (new and vintage), and I think that would be the first on my list of who to call. Having said that, I would guess that they might be a bit more expensive than your average tech. South Austin Music would be a good place to call, and Strait Music after that.

Out of curiosity, what are you wanting done to your guitar?

[rowyerboat]

The bridge developed a catastrophic buzz/rattle completely out of the blue. Really weird; it had been totally fine since I bought it around '08. Hadn't put on new strings or made any adjustments. I can't for the life of me imagine what could have caused such a sudden, extreme change. Took it to one guy whose "fix" was to put rubber grommets of some kind around the bridge posts, which fixed the buzz but made it so the bridge doesn't "float." That, in turn, means the strings detune immediately when using the tremolo arm.

Anyway thanks for the recommendations. A friend of mine also recommended Austin Vintage Guitars, so I'll give them a try first.

[adamrobertt]

The bridge developed a catastrophic buzz/rattle completely out of the blue. Really weird; it had been totally fine since I bought it around '08. Hadn't put on new strings or made any adjustments. I can't for the life of me imagine what could have caused such a sudden, extreme change. Took it to one guy whose "fix" was to put rubber grommets of some kind around the bridge posts, which fixed the buzz but made it so the bridge doesn't "float." That, in turn, means the strings detune immediately when using the tremolo arm.

Anyway thanks for the recommendations. A friend of mine also recommended Austin Vintage Guitars, so I'll give them a try first.

Is this the stock bridge with the threaded saddles? First thing I would do is put blue Loctite on every single screw thread on the bridge. Intonation screws, bridge height screws, post screws. See if that solves it.

If not, switching to a good quality Mustang style bridge is a no brainer.

[rowyerboat]

@adamrobertt

It is the stock bridge ('62 AVRI). I did see the Loctite solution in a post somewhere, but I wasn't completely confident I could pull it off without screwing it up. It also sounded like a lot of work Also still considering the mustang bridge...

[GreenKnee]

Lubricate the nut and ensure the slots are clear, should help with tuning stability

[rowyerboat]

@GreenKnee

Appreciate the suggestion, but I'm 99.9% sure it's not the nut. Never had problems before this tech modified the bridge to stop floating. Also, the tuning problem is far beyond "unstable;" if I use the tremolo at all, multiple strings immediately detune by a half step or more.

[rowyerboat]

Fwiw, I decided to order a Staytrem bridge. I'll drop that in myself and hopefully it'll do the trick!