Fender’s iconic Jazzmaster and Jaguar are renowned for their unique offset body shapes, rich tonal qualities, and great playability. However, the floating tremolo system and bridge often cause a lot of frustration to guitarists.
Whether you’re considering an upgrade to an old Jazzmaster, replacing a broken bridge on a Jag, or even building a custom guitar, choosing the right bridge will impact the guitar's tone, stability, and overall performance.
So, let’s get started and find out everything you need to know about buying a Jazzmaster bridge or one for a Jaguar.
A Brief History of the Jazzmaster Bridge
Designed in 1958, the original Fender Jazzmaster bridge incorporated an innovative floating tremolo system. However, its deep grooved threaded saddle design often caused issues such as strings slipping off the saddles, saddle buzz, and poor sustain.
How to Ensure Jazzmaster Bridge Compatibility
All Jazzmasters basically look the same, they have very similar dimensions, and even close up they look identical apart from obvious factors such as the color. But things unfortunately aren’t that simple, with differences depending on:
- The manufacturer - Fender, Squier, or someone else
- The country it was manufactured in - USA, Japan, Mexico, China, or somewhere else
- The year of manufacture - 50s, 60s, 70s, etc.
- Whether it is a signature or custom model e.g., the Jay Mascis Jazzmaster
All these factors need to be taken into consideration before you buy a new bridge for a Jazzmaster or Jaguar. For example, modern Fender Professional Series Jazzmasters use a different post spacing to vintage examples. Which brings us nicely to…
The Key Factors to Consider When Buying a Jazzmaster Bridge
Radius
You need to ensure that the bridge radius perfectly matches the fretboard radius of your neck.
You can find the neck radius of your Jazzmaster or Jaguar by checking out the specifications for your guitar online. When searching for the information, be as precise as possible, including the year of manufacture, the country where it was built, etc. Then compare this to the radius details of the bridge, which can normally be found on the manufacturer's website.
Post Spacing
As previously mentioned, a modern American Professional Jazzmaster’s bridge won’t perfectly fit on a vintage instrument without modification. Therefore you need to check the post spacing. You might be able to get this information online, but it isn’t always available, especially for more unusual guitars or cheaper Squiers. If that’s the case, you will need to measure the distance from the center of one of your bridge posts to the other using a measuring tape or ruler.
Then check that the distance is the same as the bridge you are interested in buying, which can again be found on the manufacturer's website or by contacting them directly.
Some bridges are supplied with additional spacers that allow them to fit into different-sized bridge post holes. If the one you are interested in does, make sure that one of the options perfectly fits the bridge hole dimensions of your guitar.
String Spacing
As long as you buy a bridge with the correct radius, this is usually not an issue because the saddles will perfectly align with your strings above each pickup’s pole pieces. But you can always measure the space between your strings to make sure.
Height
Again, this shouldn’t be a concern for nearly all the bridges you can buy for a regular Jazzmaster or Jaguar. However, if you are creating an outlandish custom-designed guitar featuring a Jazzmaster bridge, the height adjustment could be an issue.
Saddle Design
The original Jazzmaster bridge featured six saddles with deep threaded grooves. This design is still available to die-hard purists after the vintage tone but is not recommended because of the well-documented issues. Most guitarists, myself included, replace these bridges even if they are on valuable vintage Jazzmasters and Jaguars with modern, much more functional designs, but keep the original bridge in case the guitar is sold to a collector in the future.
The choice of modern designs is vast, from premium examples such as the Mastery M1 to this more affordable Roller Bridge from Guyker.
Bridge Material
This is a matter of personal choice, and even though the sonic differences between them are slight, you might notice a slight improvement in sustain and tone. Options include steel, brass, and aluminum.
Wrapping It Up
Investing in the right bridge for your Jazzmaster or Jaguar can transform your guitar's playability, tuning stability, and overall sound quality, making it a very worthy upgrade.
Your playing style, budget, and desired tonal qualities will all affect your decision, but with a little research, you’ll find the perfect bridge that will be 100% compatible with your Jazzmaster and make it the guitar of your dreams.
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