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Hey all, I was thinking about swapping out the stock bridge on one of my jazzmasters and was wondering what the general consensus is on the best option. With proper set up I don't have any problems with my current setups...am just itching to mix things up. Also curious where/who has the best prices. Many thanks.

Consensus will be Mastery from folks who can't set up the stock ones or don't want a Jazzmaster to be a Jazzmaster.

The Staytrem/Mastery stuff makes the instrument lose some of its special soul (Jaguar/VI too) IMO.

It's like putting a Floyd Rose on a Strat, it becomes a different guitar.

Mustang was the go-to back in the day when one came into the shop in pieces or had lost strings in the case and the bridge went to heaven somewhere in the intervening decade.

It's a functional replacement but I only really love it on..well..a Mustang.

With the increased break angle trems (Classic Player, 50th Jaguar, Mascis, etc), the TOM is fine and still preserves the behind the bridge resonance well enough. It's not quite the same in pure cork-sniffer sense but it's not the dead in the water that the modern replacements sound like when I hear them.

rfurtkamp wrote: With the increased break angle trems (Classic Player, 50th Jaguar, Mascis, etc), the TOM is fine.

Thanks for the insight, yeah i really dont want to lose the character of the guitars, nor do i have a problem setting them up properly...just want to try something different without shelling out for a new guitar
I would probably be doing the mod on my classic player, ive replaced the pups and wiring harness in it already so its sort of my project guitar, although I have been thinking bout swapping the stock pups in my pawnshop bass vi to all single coils and might swap the bridge on that one

what is the TOM?

I've used a Mastery for several years and I love it. Extremely solid/stable bridge and setup is simple. I don't notice much change in sonic character, still sounds and plays like a Jazzy imo. I also added the Mastery tremolo last year, very smooth and looks fantastic but probably overkill for me.

The Staytrem is great too, have one on my Bass VI. It's a little less expensive than Mastery as well.

As far as price goes, both are generally direct ordered from the manufacturers so not much flexibility there.

And a TOM is a Tune-O-Matic.

Classic player uses a TOM (Tuneomatic) like a Gibson. Note the saddles etc just like a standard (modern era) Gibson tailpiece.

Same as on my 339, Casino, etc.

On my Classic Player (stock old shot) with a GK3 as well.



Yea, if you do the Pawnshop that'd be the one I'd touch. Add push-pull strangle switch as well if you don't go whole hog, you'll be happier.

You'll also lose less on the fundamental oddity of the VI versus the Jag/JM due to string thickness/resonance as well IMO.

If you do though, test with ebow after, curious to see if say a Staytrem kills the behind the bridge ebow glory on a VI that is even better than on the Jag/JM.

Holy Schnikes wrote:
And a TOM is a Tune-O-Matic.

of course
Thanks for the insight. Is the mastery tremolo a direct replacement for the stock fender? I hadn't thought about swapping the tremolo, stock is such a great design as is but that's not a bad idea too

rfurtkamp wrote:Classic player uses a TOM (Tuneomatic) like a Gibson.

I just checked my cp and it does have the TOM already, so does my j mascis jazzys. Maybe I'll focus on the bass vi then, or my jvri jazzmaster. Does anyone know if there is any issue with swapping made in Japan bridges compatibility wise? I know the stock pots are smaller than vintage spec and I think the pickup holes are drilled differently.

MIJ bridge will fit in the trem holes for a MIM instrument on an offset to the best of my knowledge.

On the CP and stuff already equipped with the TOM, I'm not sure it's a drop-in fit - I'd consult Mastery/Staytrem on that.

Not sure how compatible the thimbles are, and my CP's strings are just now in that medium dead stage like I prefer or I'd rip them off and tell you if a standard bridge drops in.

Over the last 3 years I've transitioned all of my offset bridges to staytrems. I find it to sound the most like the original bridge and it's built to last with no shitty intonation springs, no weird vibrations from the saddles, no screws that loosen over time, & a set radius that never changes. And if you don't want it to rock like offset bridges are supposed to, he makes nice little sleeves that fit over the legs to stabilize the bridge. He also makes conversion thimbles or a drop-on bridge for TOM replacement on CPs or Mascis JMs but I haven't tried either. I've grown to dislike the mastery bridges for their own quirks over the years, but the mastery vibrato is awesome if you can afford one, sooo much smoother than the reissue trems.

Should add that your Mascis will have the relocated trem as well - so you can throw a GK2/3 on it if you ever get a wild hair up your butt using the Gibson install kit and it'll fit on the strap post behind the bridge. Standard position JM/Jag trem it WILL NOT - and it barely fits on the moved version but....synth madness is possible and it's a heck of a platform for that sort of thing should you need.

Uncle Grandfather wrote:

Holy Schnikes wrote:
And a TOM is a Tune-O-Matic.

of course
Thanks for the insight. Is the mastery tremolo a direct replacement for the stock fender? I hadn't thought about swapping the tremolo, stock is such a great design as is but that's not a bad idea too

Yep, it's a direct replacement. Check out the Mastery site for a breakdown of the design tweaks. There's no lock mechanism on the Mastery but I never really use that feature anyway and it def has a smoother feel than the stock Fender trem. You can get them polished or brushed but I went with brushed as it matched my bridge and my guitar has a little older look to the finish overall. Brushed just looked right.

rfurtkamp wrote:synth madness is possible and it's a heck of a platform for that sort of thing should you need.

Good to know
That's an area I've never really considered, I imagine it would open up a world of possibilities.

Holy Schnikes wrote: Check out the Mastery site for a breakdown of the design tweaks.

Thanks for turning me onto this, I'm going to look into getting one for sure now

It's an emotive issue for some people but I have a Mastery installed and consider it to be a slight improvement over the stock (CIJ) bridge. I think any alteration to the sound of the guitar is minor and mostly positive.

Holy Schnikes wrote:

I forgot how sexy that guitar is. Makes me want to put a mint guard on my cij mustang bass.

Well I just ordered the mastery tremolo for my cp jazzy, along with a bridge to try on another jazzy....probably the bass vi to get those mods going.