Question:
Is this a good idea? I just bought a used Jazzmaster and the bridge is all fuckered up, missing screws for saddles and the like. I was just wondering if I should replace the missing parts and keep the orrigional bridge, because I've been hearing lots of stories about string jumping and buzzing. They say the strings jump when you play hard and use lots of palm mutes, and thats pretty much me in a nutshell... would throwing 52 guage strings in there fix that if I used the old bridge?

Answer:
That'll def. help, but JM's are kind of particular.
Heavy strings and a pro set-up will get rid of a lot of the buzz. The thing about the JM bridge and design is that once you figure out the source of the buzz, something else will pop up. Once I went to '11's, most problems just evaporated (I've never tried flatwounds, but that's what the JM was origianlly designed for, so that may be some help).
A lot of JM owners will always tell you to just get a Mustang bridge and be done with it, but then it's not really a JM then, is it?
Buzzstops work really well, too, but even then, they increase sustain and kind of block access to the strings behind the bridge and the trem-lock. I have one and every once in a while I'll put it back on and play that way for a while (it really does change the sound) but I always end up taking it off.
JM's need really close care and a good, quality set up to get rid of the buzz. But once you've got it (and it took me 5 years or so!) you won't go back.
Tune-o-matic on a JM? Stops being a JM at some point don't it?

Answer:
I disagree entirely that a bridge change makes it less of a Jazzmaster.
I have a Jaguar HH with a tune-o-matic, and it's still very much a jaguar, even with low-output humbuckers and a ToM.
As for changing the bridge, I'd just fix it first. If it's still an issue, then worry about changing it.

Answer:
Well, I understand the bridge change thing because apparently there are alot of strange sounds that it will produce that no other bridge will make. However, I just want something that I can pound the fuck out of without having strings popping every this way and that.
If it makes you feel better, I'm tossing the CIJ pickups and putting Duncans in... a SJM-3 and SJM-2. I've even heard that the pots are crap, so I'm thinking about switching those, too...
This guitar won't be playable for a while. Right now, its sitting in my work shop with most of the finish sanded off... the rest comes off tonight!

Answer:
My Gretsch Duo Jet Elliot Easton has a tunomatic style bridge instead of the typical Grestch floating space control bridge and it works great with the Bigsby. I was skeptical at first. I thought that the strings would get hung up in the saddles, but it doesn't happen. I do keep the saddles and nut lube with nut sauce. Your Jazzmaster should be fine. In fact, aren't the new ones coming with tuneomatics?

Answer:
If you go with a Tune-O-Matic on there, you need to know that they're generally made for a neck with a flatter fretboard radius than a Jazzmaster neck has. And since you can't individually adjust the height of each saddle on a standard Tune-O-Matic, you won't really be able to compensate for that difference.
If you go for the Mustang bridge, however, it's designed for a normal "vintage" radius Fender neck so it already has the slight difference in height for each saddle to matches the fretboard radius. That's why people generally use them instead of a Tune-O-Matic. Though people do use Tune-O-Matics on Jazzmasters/Jaguars/Mustangs so you can certainly do it.

Answer:
I'm in the camp that a JM isn't a JM with a tunomatic, but that's just me. If you're having problems, a buzz stop may do the trick without losing the true feel and nature of a JM.
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