Squier VM Jaguar bridge swap

[Michiel Wildenberg]

Hey guys,

Last night my girlfriend asked me if I could change the bridge of her squier jaguar with something more stable. Unfortately it's kind of an ought bridge design so I couldn't come up with a standard solution. Any ideas on how to fix this?

Reason for changing the bridge is staying in tune mostly.

[Joshua Levin-Epstein]

What kind of spring mechanism doe this use? It probably would be easier to block it from moving that to replace it. It would certainly be cheaper.

That being said, if this has the typical Jaguar 24" scale, it will not be as stable as, say, a Stratocaster with a block tremolo. Going up a gauge in strings might be helpful, as well.

[Joshua Levin-Epstein]

OK so now I n=know it doesn't have a tremolo. oops.

Try the heavier strings, be sure they are installed properly (safety posts) and pull them to brea them in.

[Brian Evans]

This one is known as the best replacement, according to people on the internet... https://masterybridge.com/ I think it costs about as much as a Squier Jag, though. Apparently a Mustang bridge can be made to fit fairly easily.

Edit: the Squier would use the M1 Kit, which is $185. Not cheap, but I had previously looked at the kit with the bridge and the vibrato, which is around $385, which is getting up to actual money...

[Peter Wilcox]

"Last edited by Jim McConkey on Mon Apr 03, 2017 11:07 am, edited 2 times in total.
Reason: Sorry, Michiel, I had to remove your image. It was clearly copyrighted by Getty Images, and they are abnormally aggressive in prosecuting any unpaid use of their images. Please feel free to post a picture of your girlfriend's actual guitar."

Or a picture of your girlfriend with her guitar.

[Joshua Levin-Epstein]

Brian and I are both guilty of assuming we know what kind of bridge is on the guitar. it is not the typical Jazzmaster/jaguar/mustang bridge we all know and avoid. From what I can see, the bridge in place is pretty simple and stable. The tuning problems are probably due to the short scale length. This can be addressed with heavier strings, maybe an .011 set, maybe with a wound "g" if that is acceptable.

[Michiel Wildenberg]

thanks guys, I'll try to post a picture of the actual guitar this evening. I did post this at work so searched for a simular guitar on google.

indeed this is not the standard jaguar bridge. She's already using 011 strings. I have thought about a shaller bridge like this one: http://www.atgp.nl/eigengitaar/schallerbrug.jpg
But I rather not change the pickguard and I'm concerned about string height and intonation.

[Dan Smith]

For what it's worth,
That Schaller bridge is great!
I've used three of 'em.
Dan

[Mark Wybierala]

I have successfully used a tunematic bridge as a replacement for this type of Fender trem. The distance between the supporting posts was the same. (This needs to be verified against the bridge you have) I do not remember the specifics but I threaded the holes of the tunematic and installed allen screws with the ends sharpened to a point to sit in the cups of the body. With this type of trem, it is important that the bridge be able to rock back and forth. I think that this promotes tuning stability better than a roller bridge would because rocking is nearly zero friction. If the bridge is not able to rock, you will have more instability problems. Tuning instability on most fenders can usually be addressed via the nut and optimizing the height of the string trees to the minimum required or eliminating them entirely. That said, Jags are finicky guitars. I've also installed the mastery bridge mentioned in an above post and its a nicely made bit of hardware that is quite superior to the Fender part.