Cheap(est) Guitar With Jazzmaster Trem/Bigsby ?

[Seizurema]

Hola. I'm searching for a cheap guitar to record some stuff with. I am primarily a bassist and not too concerned with my future guitar playing.

My main concern is its tremolo system - I'm really only a fan of the Jazzy trem and the Bigsby, and extreme whammy manipulation is my primary reason for seeking a guitfiddle.

My secondary concern is its price - The cheapest I found is something like an SX Liquid (but it is sort of ugly). Like 200$ is my upper limit. What should I get? What is there to get?

It will be so bathed in noise (and subject to experiments) that it's clean tone doesn't necessarily matter. (Though darker is better)

I am inexperienced in low-end good-deal guitars .. guide me, ILF

[rfurtkamp]

I'd just look for a used Squier VM (with the trem) Jazzmaster or Jaguar and call it good.

Should be able to find one used at about your upper limit with patience or saving a few more bucks at most.

You may not need it to be good outside of noise and experiments, but as somebody who's been burying their guitars in effects for twenty-some years now, you want something with a relatively quiet, usable signal path on its own before you start to muck around.

The Squiers will give you that.

[bronzetalon]

I'd just look for a used Squier VM (with the trem) Jazzmaster or Jaguar and call it good.

Should be able to find one used at about your upper limit with patience or saving a few more bucks at most.

You may not need it to be good outside of noise and experiments, but as somebody who's been burying their guitars in effects for twenty-some years now, you want something with a relatively quiet, usable signal path on its own before you start to muck around.

The Squiers will give you that.

Thissss the vm series of squiers are the best guitars for the money.

[Gone Fission]

When you speak of extreme whammy manipulation, I assume you don't mean the range of up or down pitch bends -- the jazzy/jag trem and Bigsbies are subtle in pitch range, extreme in expressiveness.

If you want Floyd Rose type of string-flapping dive bombs and big pull-ups, I'd look at Mustang trems, given your hardware preferences. There is or was someone doing metal-style demos on YouTube with a Mustang and/or Jagstang, and it was doing the extreme whammy tricks very well, including tuning stability. Belew was big on the Mustang trem before Kahlers came along.

[rfurtkamp]

I went opposite Belew ironically, from Kahlers to Mustangs to Jag/JM ones.

Yea, I don't get the obscene metal divebombs (but I have pedals for that now) but the JM/Jag is the closest in sensitivity to a well-set up Kahler I've played and surpasses it in a lot of other ways.

The Mustang trem you can do extremes with but it doesn't have a huge amount of precise control and lacks a certain subtle.

[Obulus]

If you are after the extreme range of pitch bends, I would pick up a cheap strat copy with trem. I have one of those piece of crap Santander strats that you pick up for between €50 and €75. I divebomb the shit out of it and it doesn't go out of tune too much. I did upgrade the tuners (and maybe you also have to replace the nut), but even then you are looking at a total of +- €100. I guess these numbers translate to dollars directly since this type of stuff is usually even cheaper in the US.

[rfurtkamp]

Cheap superstrats with Floyds are even cheaper, nobody wants them much.

[theavondon]

I regularly do giant pitch bends with my VM Jazzy, and it handles it fiiiiiiiiiiine. I remember I played a show in Houston and right before we were gonna play, this guy standing right in front of the stage says "Oh, nice Jazzmaster. Though, I hate the trems on those. Can't get as crazy as a Strat trem" to which my bass player said "Dude, just watch."

[DarkAxel]

so you have it set extra tight?

[skullservant]

Musicians Friend is having a Stupid Deal of the Day on Blacktop Jazzmasters:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/stupid/?icid=200510

[rfurtkamp]

Tuning stability hasn't ever really been an issue with any of the JM/Jag trems I've ever used with a couple basic tweaks, and is rock, rock, rock solid on a few examples I've played to a point where it puts locking trems to shame.

The standard AVRI-type with TOM bridge on my early Classic Player (still has the locking button, unlike some later ones I've seen) that I use for a Roland synth guitar controller in addition to other duties is criminally good - it's one of those guitars you can play for hours and it's still where you started, to a point where tuning it up before recording or jamming is a formality rather than a need.

[DarkAxel]

care to share those tweaks?

[rfurtkamp]

Just basic, correct setup, making sure the nut is cut properly, and using reasonable strings.

I know the in vogue thing is to use 12s or higher on these, but frankly, it's something that I never saw recommended back when these were cheap instruments and have stuck with 10s since my first Mustang. I asked once about using 12s or 13s and was told to not put that much pressure on the neck (which I also think was bunk), but I use standard JM/Jag bridges or TOM bridges or Mustang bridges without incident without the need to spend $300+ on an aftermarket 'solution' to a problem that frankly I've never seen necessary.

Set saddle relief correctly, check nut, set spring tension on the trem itself using the adjustment springs so it requires a little bit of strength to move, and use sane strings, and call it good.

[theavondon]

Yeah, I also use 10s on my JMs. And, I set the trem arm kinda low in the body, and loose. And, I swing it around by it. And, I end up punching the strings a lot, and bleeding. But, stays in tune. Also, TOM bridges are tiiiiiiiiiiiiiight on Jazzys.

[rfurtkamp]

TOM on any of the offsets works fine, I had never tried one on a Mustang but my MIJ '69RI came with one from the factory and it, well, does all the Mustang stupid stuff