Wilkinson Roller Bridge for Jazzmaster

Talk about modding or building your own guitar from scratch.
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photoglyph
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Wilkinson Roller Bridge for Jazzmaster

Post by photoglyph » Tue Jul 05, 2022 12:19 pm

I have a Squier VM Jazzmaster that came with a Graphtech bridge (w/Teflon string saddles), it was a poor choice for this guitar and after several years, the Teflon seems to be deteriorating and I'd like to put a Wilkinson Roller Bridge on it.

I contacted StewMac and they told me the Wilkinson bridge will not work on a Jazzmaster; I wanted to ask if anyone on this forum has installed a roller bridge on to a Jazzmaster and if they had any tips.

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Re: Wilkinson Roller Bridge for Jazzmaster

Post by MayTheFuzzBeWithYou » Tue Jul 05, 2022 12:30 pm

I had a Schaller Roller Bridge on a Jaguar (well it came with it, I sadly sold the bridge as I already had a Staytrem at home - waiting for the guitar to arrive) - a friend has the same one on his
J Mascis JM - and (as far I remember it on both of them) I‘d say it works fine.

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Re: Wilkinson Roller Bridge for Jazzmaster

Post by Horsefeather » Wed Jul 06, 2022 12:53 am

Tip #1: Don't listen to Stewmac.

It's annoying how dull the "help" can be. You have a guitar with six strings and it's a bridge for a six string guitar. Of course it will work. The nice thing about that Wilkinson roller bridge is that even though its radius is not matched to that of the Jazzmaster, you can remove the saddles and put shims under them to adjust the radius and get it where you need it if the mismatch isn't working for you.

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Re: Wilkinson Roller Bridge for Jazzmaster

Post by Lost In Autumn » Wed Jul 06, 2022 12:55 am

it will not work without modifications. You will need to pull the bridge bobbins, drill out the holes and install Tune-O-Matic bridge lugs. Ultimately, you will have a radius mismatch and your E strings will be higher off of the fretboard than they ought to be. Most here, including myself, recommend a Fender American Professional or Staytrem bridge. Both are under $100 and will drop in with no modifications to your guitar. Others swear by Mastery, Halon or Descendant bridges; these cost significantly more, but also drop in to your guitar without mods.

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Re: Wilkinson Roller Bridge for Jazzmaster

Post by timtam » Wed Jul 06, 2022 2:42 am

It's not totally clear from the OP's post if the VM JM has already been modded with Graphtech's tune-o-matic bridge (one with tusq saddles), or just has Graphtech's tusq Mustang-style barrel saddles (height-adjustable) added to a traditional-style rocking bridge.
"I just knew I wanted to make a sound that was the complete opposite of a Les Paul, and that’s pretty much a Jaguar." Rowland S. Howard.

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Re: Wilkinson Roller Bridge for Jazzmaster

Post by photoglyph » Wed Jul 06, 2022 5:21 am

timtam wrote:
Wed Jul 06, 2022 2:42 am
It's not totally clear from the OP's post if the VM JM has already been modded with Graphtech's tune-o-matic bridge (one with tusq saddles), or just has Graphtech's tusq Mustang-style barrel saddles (height-adjustable) added to a traditional-style rocking bridge.
It's the Graphtech Mustang Style, similar to this...
https://reverb.com/item/3502559-squier- ... e-shipping

And of course, Graphtech bridges eliminate bridge grounding.

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Re: Wilkinson Roller Bridge for Jazzmaster

Post by photoglyph » Wed Jul 06, 2022 5:24 am

MayTheFuzzBeWithYou wrote:
Tue Jul 05, 2022 12:30 pm
I had a Schaller Roller Bridge on a Jaguar (well it came with it, I sadly sold the bridge as I already had a Staytrem at home - waiting for the guitar to arrive) - a friend has the same one on his
J Mascis JM - and (as far I remember it on both of them) I‘d say it works fine.
I'm liking the sound of this... going to check out the Schaller. I just returned from the UK but passed on the idea of getting a Staytrem -mostly because I don't want to spend that much on this guitar; I've gone back and forth between considering getting a Fender JM and keeping this one but the variations of JM's are so over the top.

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Re: Wilkinson Roller Bridge for Jazzmaster

Post by photoglyph » Wed Jul 06, 2022 5:27 am

I appreciate all the input and suggestions you've all provided.

Thank you.

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Re: Wilkinson Roller Bridge for Jazzmaster

Post by photoglyph » Wed Jul 06, 2022 5:30 am

MayTheFuzzBeWithYou wrote:
Tue Jul 05, 2022 12:30 pm
I had a Schaller Roller Bridge on a Jaguar (well it came with it, I sadly sold the bridge as I already had a Staytrem at home - waiting for the guitar to arrive) - a friend has the same one on his
J Mascis JM - and (as far I remember it on both of them) I‘d say it works fine.
Which particular Schaller Bridge was on your Mustang, was it a Mustang purpose-designed version or a Les Paul version?

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Re: Wilkinson Roller Bridge for Jazzmaster

Post by timtam » Wed Jul 06, 2022 6:03 am

photoglyph wrote:
Wed Jul 06, 2022 5:21 am
It's the Graphtech Mustang Style, similar to this...
https://reverb.com/item/3502559-squier- ... e-shipping

And of course, Graphtech bridges eliminate bridge grounding.
OK, thanks for clarifying. They're Graphtech saddles on a rocking bridge. AFAIK Graphtech don't make that full bridge.

So your difficulties are the same as anyone trying to fit a tune-o-matic style bridge (of which the Wilkinson-style is a variant) in place of a rocking bridge. That's not a common mod these days (it was decades ago, eg Kurt Cobain's jag). I think some of the comments assumed your guitar is already drilled for a TOM. Most people who do the swap to a roller TOM swap have one of the several Fender offsets that already come with more conventional non-roller TOMs (why they have any TOM with the trem is really only known to Fender); in any case they are already drilled, for at least one common bushing size, for which the Wilkinson may be a simple drop-in replacement.

The option many would actually consider first would be just replacing the tusq saddles for metal Mustang-style ones that match your neck radius, or the whole bridge for another rocking one with such saddles. Although the closest match to what you have (adjustable height saddles) is probably the Warmoth Modified Mustang bridge ....
https://warmoth.com/index.php/modified-mustang-bridge

If you decide you really want to switch to a fixed bridge, you would need to check the bushing outer diameter in the specs of the variant of the Wilkinson-style you're considering, against the outer diameter of your thimble holes (there are small variations). Usually the holes need enlarging by a mm or two. Although there may be Wilkinson variants with smaller bushings than the thimble diameter (it's hard to keep track of everything out there bridge-wise these days); in which case you'd need to dowel and re-drill. But I have not seen any that are a perfect match to the thimble holes.
"I just knew I wanted to make a sound that was the complete opposite of a Les Paul, and that’s pretty much a Jaguar." Rowland S. Howard.

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Re: Wilkinson Roller Bridge for Jazzmaster

Post by MayTheFuzzBeWithYou » Wed Jul 06, 2022 6:49 am

photoglyph wrote:
Wed Jul 06, 2022 5:24 am
MayTheFuzzBeWithYou wrote:
Tue Jul 05, 2022 12:30 pm
I had a Schaller Roller Bridge on a Jaguar (well it came with it, I sadly sold the bridge as I already had a Staytrem at home - waiting for the guitar to arrive) - a friend has the same one on his
J Mascis JM - and (as far I remember it on both of them) I‘d say it works fine.
I'm liking the sound of this... going to check out the Schaller. I just returned from the UK but passed on the idea of getting a Staytrem -mostly because I don't want to spend that much on this guitar; I've gone back and forth between considering getting a Fender JM and keeping this one but the variations of JM's are so over the top.
It was the Schaller STM or however it‘s called.
It came with parts that fitted into the bridge thimbles and if you put on the other parts it came with it would have fitted a Tune-o-matic thimble.

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Re: Wilkinson Roller Bridge for Jazzmaster

Post by photoglyph » Wed Jul 06, 2022 9:00 am

timtam wrote:
Wed Jul 06, 2022 6:03 am
photoglyph wrote:
Wed Jul 06, 2022 5:21 am
It's the Graphtech Mustang Style, similar to this...
https://reverb.com/item/3502559-squier- ... e-shipping

And of course, Graphtech bridges eliminate bridge grounding.
OK, thanks for clarifying. They're Graphtech saddles on a rocking bridge. AFAIK Graphtech don't make that full bridge.

This is sounding a good option as well. I've recently noticed the saddle-height screws working their way out on the low E string. I know Threadlocker is an option but I'm wondering if anyone has ever ran the saddle-height screws through springs to hold tension? Admittedly, an idea that's out there..

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Re: Wilkinson Roller Bridge for Jazzmaster

Post by photoglyph » Wed Jul 06, 2022 9:10 am

Thanks!

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Re: Wilkinson Roller Bridge for Jazzmaster

Post by threewordname » Wed Jul 06, 2022 10:09 am

Anything will fit if you drill enough holes.

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Re: Wilkinson Roller Bridge for Jazzmaster

Post by MayTheFuzzBeWithYou » Wed Jul 06, 2022 10:59 am

Here is the proof that these (Schaller) fit without drilling extra holes:

Image

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