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Fixing Fender Jaguar Bridge (and other improvements to the design)

Dave Montalbano, GuitarPhysics.net ! November 21, 2013 !

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Copyright GuitarPhysics 2013 " 1

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GUITAR PHYSICS Dave Montalbano

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Replacing the bridge on a Fender Jaguar.

Why would you need to replace the bridge on a Fender Jaguar? Because the original vintage

style bridge suffered from two major issues that makes the guitar less than a player. The first

issue is the buzzing and the second is related and deals with staying in tune. First some history.

The Jaguar was actually at the top of the Fender guitar line-up in the 60s and Leo Fender

incorporated some innovations in his top of line guitar. One was the two control/circuit for lead

and rhythm and another was the pivoting bridge. As conceived, this bridge was supposed to

move with the tremolo and maintain intonation. In practice it moves and doesnt hold tune well.

There are lots of Blogs and Forum posts stating that it is a setup issue but it is not. It is a

design issue.

The original bridge buzzes because the downforce angle of the strings is insufficient. A common

fix is to replace the bridge with a bridge off the Fender Mustang. This included a single deep

grove saddle and helped with the buzzing. It did not help with the tuning issue.

The above pictures show the original bridge and the thimble bushing pivot. The smooth

thimble like bushings hold the bridge and the screw tip balances in the bushing. There is room

for it to move and it does...... usually as you play and the intonation changes. The downforce is

not sufficient to prevent movement which is probably why Fender chose a shallow angle. He

wanted movement with the tremolo use but hard playing and string bends can cause it to move

and it doesnt return to its original location but can be slightly off.

Looking at the above picture you can see how loose the fit is. It worked so well it was

discontinued. It is interesting to note that a Johnny Marr version of the Jaguar is a modern fix that

includes a Mustang style bridge that is locked in place (doesnt pivot). It also has more usable

Lead circuit controls.

I decided to fix the problem by increasing the downforce angle and mounting a tremolo friendly

bridge. I selected a Schaller adjustable roller bridge. It has adjustable string spacing and the

radius is close. To install this bridge would require dowelling the old bushing holes and

shimming the neck to increase the angle. This required moving the bridge position closer to the

neck to maintain the scale length.

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Beginning the Project

The first thing you have to do is remove the neck, pickguard, bridge and mute (if equipped).

During the disassembly I noted the pickguard had shielding but it was not grounded. This is a

works because ungrounded shielding near the pickups can inductively couple to ground through

the

pickups and actually make the guitar quiet. Shielding in a cavity must be grounded to reduce

noise.

Removing the old bushings from the guitar body was difficult because most set ups have a bridge

screw that a bushing puller can use. Because these are smooth hollow thimbles that was not an

option. I had to use a razor knife and score the finish around the bushing and then use a small

putty knife to pry up the bushing far enough for the puller to work.

Next step was to cut some hardwood dowels to fill the hole.

The dowels were glued in and allowed to dry overnight.

The new bridge position is slightly closer to the neck and a new bushing hole must be drilled out.

The hole is drilled and the new bushing is set. Care must be taken on a finished guitar to make

sure the bushing hole is tight but not to tight that it creates radiating finish cracks. I always

slightly under drill the hole and then use a dowel with sandpaper to make it fit right.

The new bushing is then seated. Fortunately the pickguard will conceal the exposed damage and

bushing change. I use a small amount of Titebond on the bushing and let it dry. It is then time to

mount the new bridge and shim the neck. Because the shielding was not grounded I did this

before I mounted pickguard and new bridge. I simply added a bare wire that was grounded to the

system that would touch the shielding when the pickguard was installed. See below.

Next, its time to install the pickguard and bridge.

!I looked at the wiring diagram in the Shatten book for the Jaguar and it was obviously wrong! I

had the 2003 edition and can only hope it has been corrected. Here is the diagram.

Odds and End

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It should be as follows:

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The guitar intonated beautifully and holds tune. I will be installing an LSR roller nut and locking

tuners and then this should be a player. Here is a picture of the Schaller roller bridge that was

installed.

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Summary

The Jaguar and Jazzmaster shared this pivot bridge design. Leo Fender needed a downforce

angle at the bridge that was light enough to allow his moving/pivot bridge system to work. A

consequence was buzzing and tuning problems. The design did not work as planned and was

rightfully abandoned. The original bridge has a saddle with screw threads that the string fits in.

With insufficient downforce it is common that bends cause the strings to move to other grooves

and this changes spacing, tuning (especially with lighter gauge strings) .. The Mustang bridge

with its single deep groove solves this but does not address the bridge pivot. I have read on

Forums that a properly setup Jaguar will play in tune as well as a Strat. My experience is heavier

strings help but I hate constantly fiddling with the tuning which was excessive and a result of the

bridge design.

This was an interesting project and fairly easy. The guitar I have is a Japanese reissue and came

with 9s installed. I prefer 10s and the G-string nut groove pinched (common problem). For

me, a tremolo guitar needs a low friction string path and so I believe in locking tuners, a roller

nut and roller saddles. In Part Two Ill install the LSR Nut and Part Three will show the Locking

Tuners.

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Part Two- Jaguar

Project

Installing LSR Roller Nut

Dave Montalbano

!!!!!!!Installation

I assume the reader knows how to install a nut and I will deal with the differences with the

Fender/LSR nut. This nut comes on several Fender Custom Shop models like the Jeff Beck

Strat. That guitar uses an LSR roller nut and Fender (Schaller) locking tuners. I have one and it

stays in tune and is arguably the best Strat I have ever played. It influenced my choice on the

Jaguar project.

Removing Old Nut

The original nut was in a narrow slot and was epoxied in. It would not release and I had to cut it

out. The LSR instructions say to use a Dremel router but I prefer the control of hand tools for

delicate work. I used an Exacto saw to cut the nut out and a flat small needle file to clean the slot.

The LSR nut was wider and so the slot had to be widened. Unfortunately there was not enough

wood behind the slot to accommodate the new width.

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Using a flat bar with sandpaper flatten the slot area. The LSR nut has small screws and a plastic

cradle. The instructions are very clear that you must use a .067 drill bit (#51) or you will break

the screws.

I use a Pinvise to drill the holes. Again precise controls prevents mistakes...

Measure the nut height in the slot and take the slot down until you are at about 5-7/64ths at D

string. Then mount the LSR nut. The screws should easily screw-in and if you have any

resistance you will break the screw..... use the right bit!

You may need to string and check and sand and

check.......

Take your time. I removed several times to get it to

seat properly.

Let the strings, neck, bridge come to equilibrium and

then do a setup. This guitar is now a Player but will be

even better with the Locking Tuners.

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!Part Three- Installing Locking Tuners

Dave Montalbano

!The final piece in our Jaguar remake is to add Locking Tuners. There are several reasons to do

this. ease of restringing, and no slippage being the most important. I ordered some Fender

graduated 6- in -Line Locking Tuners.

Replacing tuners (particularly vintage style) sometimes requires plugging old tuner screw holes

and drilling out the tuners holes. That was the case for our Jaguar. I used natural color

toothpicks to fill in the tuner screw holes and Titebond. When dry I trimmed the toothpicks

flush with the neck. I then drilled the Tuner holes to the right diameter and because the new

Tuners had a double key index (each Tuner) I drilled out two small index holes per Tuner to

accommodate them. Installation was simple and quick.

This has now become a great playing guitar with these mods. I may go ahead and rewire to the

Johnny Marr style electronics thats a future project.

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