Fender Jaguar: MIJ -> Vintage Bridge Swap

[Silence Kid]

Slow improvements to my MIJ Jaguar; got a vintage (later/70s) bridge.

TLDR - I'm happy. Very happy. DO THIS if you have an MIJ Jaguar/Jazzmaster or a Squier. Forget Mastery/Staytrem.

Tonal & Practical Differences

• Vintage: Clearer/Louder tone. More attenuated highs. Better attack. More midrange honk. More fundamental focus. Better intonation & range due to smaller saddles. More solid feel & better sustain (probably in part due to MUCH more solid saddles that flop around less, especially the high string saddles during surf/tremolo picking.) Behind-bridge overtones more pronounced
  
• MIJ: Less un-plugged volume. More high end content. More harmonic/less fundamental focused note content. Less consistent decay/sustain due to floppier saddles. Less intonation range due to larger saddles. Less pronounced behind-bridge overtones

Primary Physical Differences-

Saddle Material:
Vintage: Rusty Steel
MIJ: Clean Zinc

Saddle Diameter:
Vintage: Smaller
MIJ: Larger

Saddle Threads:
Vintage: Wide
MIJ: Wide & Fine Combination

Saddle Screw Diameter:
Vintage: Fit the Baseplate Tight/no movement
MIJ: Wiggly & Crappy

Saddle Screw Length:
b]Vintage:[/b] Short/Unobtrusive
MIJ: Long & Obtrusive (touches the strings half the time)

Saddle Screw Springs:
Vintage: Thick Guage/Solid
MIJ: Thin Guage/Floppy

Grub Screws:
b]Vintage:[/b] Smaller Allen Key
MIJ: Larger Allen Key

Baseplate:
Vintage: Small Nipples
MIJ: Large Nipples

Mod List-

• AVRI Vibrato
• Seymour Duncan SJAG-1 Set
• Cloth Wiring
• Vintage Bridge
• Tree Spacer Removed
• Jumbo Re-Fret

 

[jeremy]

Re: Fender Jaguar: MIJ -> Vintage Bridge Swap

nice! glad you like the improvement

 

[Silence Kid]

Re: Fender Jaguar: MIJ -> Vintage Bridge Swap

I actually bought the bridge for my Squier Jazzmaster (Squier bridge is total crap,) but tried it on the MIJ Jaguar first; there it's staying.

I thought of Staytrem but dislike inability to tweak individual saddle action. I don't like the Mastery; it doesn't rock (I get that it's supposed to be reduced friction, but...) and has even less adjustability than Staytrem. The Mastery won't work with all string gauges (wound G for example.) I would be interested in a well engineered roller bridge though.

Most vintage bridges cost well above a Mastery/Staytrem, but really happy I grabbed this one when I could. The MIJ bridge never rattled, but the high string tone really benefits from the more solid saddles, and there's a lot less compromising saddle height for the setup.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Fender Jaguar: MIJ -> Vintage Bridge Swap

can you throw the mij bridge on the squier?

 

[Silence Kid]

Re: Fender Jaguar: MIJ -> Vintage Bridge Swap

Yeah, that's the plan. The Squier grub screws have a way of backing themselves off over time.

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Fender Jaguar: MIJ -> Vintage Bridge Swap

I love Candy Apple Red Jags.

I was in love with a guitar just like yours when I was in high school: MIJ CAR Jag, with matching head. It sat in the shop for years, as did this Wine Red Les Paul Standard that I also loved. Both were early '90's models. They finally got liquidated when the shop went under, but I was away in the USN at the time, so I missed out.

 

[Silence Kid]

Re: Fender Jaguar: MIJ -> Vintage Bridge Swap

Thanks! I love the guitar after the decade and a half of work I've put in it... But wish I bought an AVRI at the out-set. The driver for me getting the MIJ (aside from the reduced price) was that in '03 or so, AVRIs didn't come with matching headstocks. Also, this particular MIJ has a beautiful flamed maple neck (irony; it would still look great with a non-matched headstock.)

Later I fell in love with a friend's AVRI Jaguar; better pickups/hardware out of the box, and much more comfortable/accurate contours. I'm also not a huge fan of the neck and finish Fender Japan use. But at the end of the day this guitar feels comfortable & right to me; I fall away from Jaguars periodically, but I really am a Jaguar player.

My biggest (yet most petty) MIJ Jaguar nitpick is below:

(MIJ/CIJ - Really heavy beveled arm cut) <--- ---> (AVRI - Gradual beveled arm cut)

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Fender Jaguar: MIJ -> Vintage Bridge Swap

Man, they look so good. I really wish the AV '65 Jazzmasters had come in C.A.R. with a matching head.

I'm eyeing one of the upcoming 60th Anniversary Classic Series Limited Edition JMs in black with matching head. Yummy. That said, I might just get a '65 AV and spray some black nitro over the sunburst and the head, and get a new decal for it. Nicer guitars all around, and I prefer the dot inlays to the blocks that are on the 60th Anni Classics. Plus, If I'm overspraying anyhow, I can save some money by getting one that's a bit beat already.