TVL Jazzmaster/mustang bridge advice

[JonnyB]

Hey folks first ever post and just looking for some advice on my new guitar.
Picked up a Troy van leeuwan jazzmaster around 2 months ago. Brand new and set up by shop beforehand. Went in to try a strat and had a shot and instantly felt it was too good that I didn’t want to miss out and regret the one that got away.
So it plays great with nice low action but I noticed bends were pretty brutal and just put it down to me being used to 9s and this was clearly heavier gauge.
Tuning was really stable and that was with me using the trem quite a bit.
So I’ve just done my first string change and I put 9s on. And it seems to go out of tune now if I touch the trem.

I’m wondering then if anyone can advise me if heavier gauge strings with this trem system and mustang bridge would help tuning stability?

Also is it common for the small screws that go into the saddles to work loose and fall out? This has happened twice already in the short space of time I’ve had the guitar.

Thanks for any advice

[MattK]

Jazzmaster bridge and trem are designed for much heavier gauges of strings - 12s were the norm at the time (and still are for jazz of course). You may need to adjust the trem tension, which is done by turning the large screw behind the lock button - make sure you look up how it’s done first. Another common solution is to shim the neck to angle down a little, and raise the bridge height correspondingly - increases the break angle and stiffens things up slightly.
As for the saddle screws you can use a dab of loctite or clear nail varnish to stop them wandering. Hope you enjoy it!

[JonnyB]

Thank you.
I will go up a couple gauges next time I change strings.
Appreciate the advice

[timtam]

You don't necessarily need higher gauge strings. You need a sufficiently high combination of string tension (gauge) and string break angle over the saddle. If you have a high enough break angle (tapered neck shim->bridge height->break angle), you don't need as high a string gauge; and vice-versa.

That combination creates the sufficient downforce on the saddles to create high string-saddle friction - high enough to ensure that the strings maintain their grip on the bridge. Leo Fender described that in his original patent for the bridge a trem. When the strings maintain their grip on the bridge, the strings can rock the bridge consistently all the way forward and back with trem use, returning it to exactly where it started; and hold it there the rest of the time.

To ensure such consistent rocking, you must also never lubricate the string-saddle contact points, nor do anything to block the bridge from rocking freely.

Trem setup is described here:
https://offset.guitars/the-goodies/sett ... lo-system/

[JonnyB]

So me putting lubricant on the saddles will impact tuning stability?
I did do this!
Cheers for answering my post and I will check out the link.
Seems it’s a must to familiarise yourself with how the bridge/trem is set up and be able to tweak it yourself?

[timtam]

Yep, lubricating the string-saddle contact points destroys the high string-saddle friction on which consistent bridge rocking relies. It allows the string to lose grip on the saddles and thus the rocking bridge can sometimes return to a position other than neutral after trem use (or just drift away from that stable position at other times). And so tuning is unstable. Don't feel too bad - Fender used to recommend string-saddle point lubrication on their knowledge base page for setting up guitars other than strats and teles, where jazzmasters and jaguars were specifically mentioned (strats and teles each have their own setup pages at Fender.com, which rightly suggest lubricating those points on the bridges that those guitars have). That page fortunately disappeared a few years ago.

And it is a good idea to learn the ins and outs of the rocking bridge and trem. It's no harder to manage than say a strat bridge/trem (in fact it's easier than a floating strat bridge/trem setup). Also, not all guitar techs know how to do it (historically they did counterproductive things like taping the bridge posts, and retro-fitting TOM-style bridges or buzzstops).

[JonnyB]

Thanks.
I’m guessing it’s a journey with a jazzmaster to get it to suit yourself and your playing style?
Love it so far

[MattK]

Can be! For me when I realised I could sit the heel of my hand on the strings behind the bridge I realised how nice to play it was.

[JVG]

Yep, the Jazzmaster bridge and tremolo do have some quirks, but when set up properly it should hold tune perfectly.

By the way, i love the fact you held out for almost 10 years before making your first post. That’s a serious build up.

Enjoy your guitar, and feel free to post pictures - we never get bored of seeing guitars!

[JonnyB]

Haha yeah it’s taken me a while.
Actually only just came back to owning an offset after having a couple jags in the past.

[JM Convert]

It is common for the screws to fall out of the bridge.

Blue (not red) Loctite will keep them in place.

Some people use clear nail polish.

[karolt]

I played my MIJ Hybrid II with 9s on it. It had the same Jag bridge as yours and slightly factory shimmed neck.

With those strings I couldn't get the guitar perfectly stable with trem floating. When using subtly it was fine, but any bigger movement and the guitar was out of tune.

So because I wasn't ready to go up a gauge yet, I simply "decked" the trem using lock button. This way I could only detune while using trem, which was good enough for me. Also spring tension needed to be enough to counteract strings, so it wasn't as light when pressing the trem bar but I got used to it.

Also as it was suggested Loctite is a great little thing to have for that bridge. I also used it on strap locks, otherwise nut would move and undo itself overtime. Piece of mind.