New Jag project... need input on bolt on parts.

[ShortyMedlock]

OK... so I am starting to collect parts for my Jag project. I have the body (vintage routing on a basswood body) and the neck (maple neck with rosewood fretboard, white binding with perloid block inlays).

I would like to use good quality parts so I'm thinking Fender locking tuners, stock '62 pickups, saddle and bridge. Likely using Fender chrome bits on the guitar face as well. I wanted a clean, jangly surf sound.

My question are there any parts that would be better than the Fender parts?

I have wanted a Jaguar for decades... building one is the best solution for me.

Thanks..

[601210]

Parts wise the main "premium" upgrades are probably the Mastery vibrato and either a Staytrem or Mastery bridge, but both of those have more of a brushed steel look than chrome so not sure if it would suit your needs.

[hexes]

if you’re comfortable setting up guitars, then a stock jag is awesome. I highly recommend a staytrem bridge, or depending on your neck radius, a mustang or american professional bridge. fixed radius bridges like these solve a lot of complaints about the slotted jaguar bridge.

the new stock jaguar bridges are just as sloppily machined as cheap imports (rattling, height adj screws backing themselves out, etc)

if you go stock fender bridge, or choose the staytrem bridge, keep a neck shim in mind. i used a full pocket stew mac .5 degree shim so I could have the jaguar mute installed.

mastery is fine, just crazy expensive. there is also less need for a shim on a mastery as it’s a completely different concept than the rocking bridge on a jaguar. this also means you likely can’t use the jaguar mute to its potential.

as for the vibrato, i put USA fender vibratos on all my offsets. i like the feel of them, and if you’re tough on the arm and find the collet weakening over time, staytrem has an arm/collet you can buy as well. i’ve never had a problem with the stock fender arms in my vibratos, fyi.

[Lotek]

+1 on the Am Pro bridge. I recently installed one on my Jag and it was a big improvement over the stock bridge. The height adjustment screws are made to fit tighter. I don't see them ever moving on there own. Slightly cheaper than Staytrem which has a fairly long wait right now, I think two months or so.

[Lotek]

Check out this post on the 62 pickups. viewtopic.php?t=95707
I have a set of Bootstrap Big spotted cat pickups on the way, great reviews and a little less expensive. Locking tuners, if you've used them and like them go for it, I have the vintage style tuners on my JM, Jag, and Mustang, I've had no tuning issues. The AVRI trem unit is great. Have fun!

[ShortyMedlock]

Great info guys...

The bridge is one of the things I was worried about having heard opinions fron a few players who had nothing good to say about the curtrent Fender Jag bridge.

I'm usually less interested in color than sound/performance/feel of a guitar but I can't help but think of some of the great colors I have seen on Jags over the last 55 years or so. One of my band's lead players in '64 had a lucihous three tone sunburst. My buddy had a sparkling Jag in metallic blue with a painted head stock. And a Jag in Candy Red is always a good choice.

Maybe I will paint mine UPS brown.. just kidding!

[Ceylon]

The Staytrem bridge is I think the single biggest upgrade you can get for a Jaguar or Jazzmaster. It's an improvement in both feel and sound and of course stability over the standard type bridge. Highly recommended.

Also you might as well go with a US-made vibrato from the start, since that's what most people upgrade to eventually. Again, there is a Mastery offering that might be a Little bryter but costs quite a bit more.

[HarlowTheFish]

+1 for a Staytrem or AmPro, which are modernized Mustang-style bridges -- these are way easier to set up and work with than the original Jag design because you only have two adjustments: intonation (per string) and height (for the whole bridge), with the radius being preset by the saddles. Staytrem can be had in vintage-accurate 7.25" radius and the more modern 9.5" radius, and the AmPro, which is a bit cheaper stateside and a bit easier to get, is available in 9.5" only -- there's the Johnny Marr bridge which is basically the same in 7.25" radius, but it's hard to get and people scalp the hell out of these. The original design can be perfectly workable, but it needs a lot more dialing in and is pickier about setup.

For the trem, it's honestly not worth the trouble to go for anything other than the AV or AmPro units. AVs use a push-in collet, and AmPro use a screw-in one, but other than that they're the same unit. The AV, at ~$70, is only like $20 more than the next-cheapest option, but it's so much better in quality that it's genuinely not worth the trouble to go cheaper -- especially because you're probably gonna want to swap it out at some point.

If you want more boutiquey options, there's the Mastery stuff which is a bit more high-mass and sounds a bit chunkier, which some people dig but isn't necessarily traditional; the Descendant trem (though they're working on a bridge too, but no news on that yet) which gives you a bit more break angle; and the Halon bridge and trem, which are like the European Mastery stuff. These will have a bit more of their own sound, not the most traditional look or feel (and, if you care, none of them have the trem lock), and Mastery and Descendant won't match great with Fender chrome parts -- you can get the Mastery at least partly chrome-plated, but at that point IMO it's kinda dumb expensive, and whether it's worth it or not depends on how much you like it.

For tuners I'm gonna say skip the Fender ones and go for Hipshot open-gear locking ones: super nice, good feel, well-made, and I regularly find them for less than the Fender ones ($50 vs. $60 for the big F). For pickups, Curtis Novak or any of the boutique builders can dial in exactly what you want, but especially if you want a good baseline Jag sound, the Fender ones can be had for not much and are objectively great quality.

[ShortyMedlock]

I am going to figure out the neck radius before I order a bridge...this one may be 12". Seems a little flatter that the average Fender or Squire.

Neck radius gauges are on the way.

[hexes]

12” radius throws all the slightly more affordable bridge options out the window. you can get there with a mastery, though.

[ShortyMedlock]

Thanks Hexes...

How good are the MIJ Mustang bridges? Still have to figure out the radius.

How about the MIJ. tremelo? Okay?

I don't have any pickups right now although I did buy a used vintage reissue neck pick-up... just don't have it right now. How do the pick-ups mount? Dumb question but I have never messed with a Jag.

[Embenny]

How good are the MIJ Mustang bridges? Still have to figure out the radius.

MIJ Mustang bridges are good quality but have the wide 55mm string spacing that can put the E strings too close to the edge of the fretboard on some guitars/for some people's tastes.

Staytrem, Mastery, and Ampro bridges are 52mm E to E, which many people prefer. Vintage Jag bridges had the advantage of being whatever spacing you wanted. I recently swapped a 55mm bridge onto a guitar that had a 52mm Staytrem for years, and the feel changed noticeably. I used to think I didn't care about the spacing, since I enjoyed my Jaguar with a Mustang bridge for years before learning about 52mm bridges, but it turns out that I guess I do.

How about the MIJ. tremelo? Okay?

The MIJ vibrato is noticeably worse than AVRI. The string spacing of the holes is narrower, so the strings pinch inward from bridge to tailpiece and create extra friction points on the side walls of the saddle grooves needlessly. The knife edges are also known for being duller, or certainly for at least dulling over time, compared to AVRI.

I have one guitar with an original MIJ vibrato that u haven't changed because I never really had any issues with it, but I'd never buy a new MIJ vibrato for a parts guitar. On the price:performance spectrum, AVRI is well worth the few extra bucks compared to MIJ, but there is then a steep drop off where Mastery/Descendant/etc boutique options offer debatable benefit for very significant cost. AVRI is a sweet spot that I'd never drop down below, unless you wanted the screw-in arm of the MIM units (like HNB, who loves them).

I don't have any pickups right now although I did buy a used vintage reissue neck pick-up... just don't have it right now. How do the pick-ups mount? Dumb question but I have never messed with a Jag.

You use wood screws to mount the pickup directly to the wood of the pickup cavity. You put a piece of thick, high-density foam underneath the pickup to provide the resistance that lets you set the height by adjusting the screws.

[ShortyMedlock]

I saw the $7.99 stripes of foam...I guess I will scrounge up my own.

Thanks for your opinion on tailpieces. Never thought about the width... I did pick up a MIJ tailpiece NIB for $10.00... I will have to make a decision about that.

I mocked up the body and neck last night... this thing feels so good on my knee that I am surprised I never seriously considered buying a Jag even though I loved the looks. I've been thru 20 or so Fender Tele's and Strats including a very nice '79 Mary Kay blonde with gold hardware built custom by Fender before the had a custom shop. Great guitar but not as comfortable as this new deal. Even those cherished St. Blues that I collected for many years can't compare.

[HarlowTheFish]

12” radius throws all the slightly more affordable bridge options out the window. you can get there with a mastery, though.

There's also the Reverend roller ToM, which will work without mods on a body routed for the standard offset bridge with the Goldo adapter posts. That's 12" and not super tall.

[ShortyMedlock]

I understand some guys use a Wilkerson roller bridge with success.