Fender Jaguar / Jazzmaster Bridge Mod

The Jaguar / Jazzmaster stock bridge is notorious as one of the most poorly designed guitar parts of all time. There really isn’t much right with it, and almost all guitarists with the experience of playing one have some kind of gripe about it….

Common problems include:

• The bridge buzzes a lot
• The strings sometimes jump out of their saddles during playing
• The grub screws tend to work their way out of the bridge, lowering the action during playing
• The grub screws tend to fall out of the bridge, causing mid-gig frantic searches for a 2mm piece of metal
• The bridge creates a ringing sound due to the strings vibrating behind the bridge

Stock Jaguar Bridge

Solutions:
There are many ways to solve the above problems. Many of the solutions will only affect one of the design faults with the bridge. For example, a buzz stop bar can be fitted behind the bridge to increase tension going over the bridge and reduce ringing behind the bridge. Also, a liquid product called “Lock-tite” can be purchased to stop the grub screws from working their way out. The strings jumping out of the saddles can be prevented by filing the slots deeper with a nailfile.

However the best solution, and most economical in terms of money, time and effort is simply to replace the bridge with the Fender Mustang style bridge.

Stock Mustang Bridge

This bridge will solve all of the previously described problems simply and quickly. The bridge has the same spacing as the stock bridge, so the pickups will still line up ok and the guitar will sound good.

Here is a picture of a Jazzmaster with the taped Mustang bridge in place. Simply apply electrical insulation tape around the bridge posts until the bridge will only just fit into the pots and then push it into the guitar firmly and you’re done! Please guys, if you do one thing for your Jaguar/Jazzmaster, let it be this!

Jazzmaster with Mustang Bridge