Staytrem Jaguar tremolo upgrade...Worth it?

taylornutt · Post by **taylornutt** » Mon May 21, 2012 3:39 am

I was wondering if anyone has tried this on their Jaguar/Jazzmaster yet.

http://staytrem.com/epages/950002362.sf ... __Category

Same one from the Johnny Marr Jaguar. I have a AVRI Jaguar and my Jazzmaster project has the same tremolo.

How is the tremolo arm different from a US one?

Phil O'Keefe · Post by **Phil O'Keefe** » Mon May 21, 2012 5:33 am

I've only tried it on the Marr Jaguar, and it works as advertised - the bar stays in whatever position you leave it, without "drooping" down like they do when they get loose. Thirty pounds ($47.51 USD) seems a bit steep for a bar and a collet, but it's probably worth it to a lot of folks. Other than the price, it seems like a good product though.

Magnawolf · Post by **Magnawolf** » Mon May 21, 2012 8:59 am

I like mine. Mine was already installed on my Classic Player and it's hard to go back for sure. I end up grabbing the air on my CIJ.

taylornutt · Post by **taylornutt** » Mon May 21, 2012 3:01 pm

My Jaguar bar will stay firm if you press it, but gets floppy once I use it. I am considering it for my Jazzmaster project since I need a tremolo arm anyway and I already have the guitar apart. I am not much of a tremolo user, but that is in part because the arm flops and makes it less convienent to use. If I liked it on the Jazzmaster, then I might get it for my Jaguar as well.

Do they have a solution for the mustang tremolo? I know you can tighten the screw, but then it can't swivel without loosening the screw.

Concretebadger · Post by **Concretebadger** » Mon May 21, 2012 5:09 pm

taylornutt wrote:My Jaguar bar will stay firm if you press it, but gets floppy once I use it. I am considering it for my Jazzmaster project since I need a tremolo arm anyway and I already have the guitar apart. I am not much of a tremolo user, but that is in part because the arm flops and makes it less convienent to use. If I liked it on the Jazzmaster, then I might get it for my Jaguar as well.

Do they have a solution for the mustang tremolo? I know you can tighten the screw, but then it can't swivel without loosening the screw.

I recall a thread recently that linked to an article on setting up a Mustang trem...there was a mention of tucking a piece of rubber in where the screw makes contact with the 'root' of the arm. It's supposed to add grip and also prevent metal-on-metal wear between the arm and screw. I might try it with my Mustang tailpiece when it arrives to see if it works.

As for the JM/Jag replacement arm...at 30 quid it is a bit expensive, but it's a simple and neat solution and if it works advertised I might be able to justify it since I do actually use my JM's trem. I'm actually quite surprised that the market isn't already littered with products from rival companies competing to come up with solutions. It's a recurring pet peeve of JM and Jag owners, second only to the bridge issues (and how many types of replacement JM and Jag bridges are on the market for that!?).

stewart · Post by **stewart** » Mon May 21, 2012 7:23 pm

taylornutt wrote:My Jaguar bar will stay firm if you press it, but gets floppy once I use it.

mine is always floppy.

perhaps i should see a doctor, etc.

NickD · Post by **NickD** » Tue May 22, 2012 11:42 am

The trem on my parts Jazzmaster is a Japanese one and the bar barely stays in anymore, if I played live it would be impossible to use. The JMJM is better, but probably because its new. I may have to invest in a couple of these.

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Tue May 22, 2012 12:41 pm

Price issue aside, for a hand made bit of kit I found it to be superb for my purposes. I use whammy a lot if I'm playing with one and am pernikity about the feel. The screw-in arm on the classic player was jank and I've never been 100% happy with stuffing it with teflon. I got in touch with Alan at stay-trem and he wasn't sure if his kit would fit the MIM CP or not. I sent him the collet and arm, he took his measurements and then tailor made the pieces (which he now sells as a regular item for MIM CPs). If I remember rightly his findings support the idea that the CP plates are AVRI because the Collet/arm unit was some strange combination of metric and imperial mesurements. Essentially a metric conversion collet for an imperial plate I guess - can't recall the exact details.

Long story short. I loved my stay trem. Excellent handiwork, perfect action. Good stuff.

Jaded · Post by **Jaded** » Sun May 27, 2012 2:35 am

Definitely worth it if you hate the arm flopping about, if you don't then its not.

I've got them in all 3 of my Jags and using a regular arm now just feels like downgrading. It also cures any metal on metal squeaking you get with a regular arm. You can adjust the tension to your liking too. They do something similar for the Mustang trem too but i'm not sure how good that is, the rubber on the screw solution is probably just as effective though.

Oh and on the price subject... It's not much more than upgrading to a Mustang bridge and roughly the price of two AVRI arms? It's just as important if you're a trem user

but i suppose its all subjective.