Mastery Replacement Bridge

oolu · Post by **oolu** » Mon Nov 09, 2009 8:30 pm

Has anybody tried the Mastery replacement bridge? Thoughts?
I think I'd like to throw it into a Bigsby-equipped tele that I've got and do away with the jaguar bridge that i've got in there right now.

oolu · Post by **oolu** » Mon Nov 09, 2009 8:36 pm

They do seem rather expensive, I must say... US$159 + shipping.

Thom · Post by **Thom** » Mon Nov 09, 2009 8:41 pm

Rather expensive? Fecking ridiculously expensive.
Don't think that there are many people here who have got one, it's more of an Offset thing.

Noirie. · Post by **Noirie.** » Mon Nov 09, 2009 8:51 pm

I'm pretty certain Aeon on here has one.

Thom wrote:Rather expensive? Fecking ridiculously expensive.

+1

Josh · Post by **Josh** » Mon Nov 09, 2009 9:06 pm

he does.
from what i hear they are great bridges, but probably nothing you can't do with a TOM, mustang bridge, or a properly set up jaguar bridge.

aen · Post by **aen** » Mon Nov 09, 2009 9:15 pm

Josh wrote:he does.
from what i hear they are great bridges, but probably nothing you can't do with a TOM

No where near the smooth string movement, I'm sure

Josh wrote:mustang bridge,

hehe

Josh wrote:or a properly set up jaguar bridge.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA!

I really don't think these are overpriced at all. They're hand made, folks. They work. You can play hard and have smooth trem action. Good luck finding a TOM to match the radius on your JM or JAg, BTW. I am seriously considering one for my new jag, and ummmmm, some other stuff that maybe robert roiginal and I will tell you about later.

Aeon · Post by **Aeon** » Mon Nov 09, 2009 10:54 pm

Hold on, I'll repost my initial review in a moment...

They are definitely worth the money, imo.

edit: original thread: http://www.shortscale.org/forum/viewtop ... highlight=

Well I received my bridge today. Quick rundown:

1. It is easy to install. There is none of the headache-inducing counterbalancing that's involved with the AVRI bridge.
2. It immediately made the guitar play better, and subtle-ly made it sound better .
3. The Jazzmaster character is still all there, just better.
4. The guitar now feels a lot more stable.
5. The tremolo still works and sounds fine, and returns to pitch just as well, if not better than stock.

Is it worth $165? That's a personal thing. I think its cost is justified, given the tooling and materials that go into its production. When you consider how much other replacement options cost (Mustang saddles, other alternative saddles, buzzstop, tune-o-matic installation, etc.) and then see how they don't really solve all of the issues, the Mastery I think is clearly a better option.

I play .11 gauge strings and don't have a super heavy attack, so I've never had too many issues with the stock bridge (at least strings popping off, or the bridge lowering). But I did hate how it was impossible to get really low action without having the strings hit the back of the bridge or the intonation screws getting in the way (yes I know they can be cut, and I had to do that on the G string's screw to get a decent setup). But the Mastery nullifies this issue completely and now I can set up the guitar up perfectly.

If you have a Jaguar or Jazzmaster, I highly recommend this product. The only downfall that it is rather pricey.

Now onto the audio comparisons...

I ran my guitar into a Firepod, which went into my iMac. I used ghetto-tastic Garage Band (Apples, ugh, I know) and Guitar Rig 3 plugin. The settings I used were as above.

These files will be available for a week as of January 4. If someone wants to host them elsewhere, that'd be great.

http://www.yousendit.com/download/WnBUR ... VGFGa1E9PQ
http://www.yousendit.com/download/WnBUR ... aWFGa1E9PQ

Aeon · Post by **Aeon** » Mon Nov 09, 2009 11:00 pm

I will post sound samples again sometime at a more permanent source, but basically your guitar still sounds the same, with perhaps a bit more even bass response/"girth".

And the trem action feels just as smooth and you can get all Kevin Shields on your guitar and not have to retune for an entire gig. It's awesome and definitely worth the price. It will make a good guitar even better.

jcyphe · Post by **jcyphe** » Mon Nov 09, 2009 11:18 pm

WTF is the appeal of a hand made bridge. That's quite frankly stupid IMO. It's a part with a mechanical function, who the fuck cares if it's hand made?

Fran · Post by **Fran** » Tue Nov 10, 2009 12:07 am

oolu wrote:They do seem rather expensive, I must say... US$159 + shipping.

Yeah but you will sound liek Sonic Youth if you get one, its a small price to pay.
I dunno, it makes you wonder how everyone went on before the Mastery Bridge lol.

aen · Post by **aen** » Tue Nov 10, 2009 1:49 am

jcyphe wrote:WTF is the appeal of a hand made bridge. That's quite frankly stupid IMO. It's a part with a mechanical function, who the fuck cares if it's hand made?

I don't, but I imagine they havent got the capitol to create a factory.

jcyphe · Post by **jcyphe** » Tue Nov 10, 2009 1:55 am

aen wrote:
jcyphe wrote:WTF is the appeal of a hand made bridge. That's quite frankly stupid IMO. It's a part with a mechanical function, who the fuck cares if it's hand made?
I don't, but I imagine they havent got the capitol to create a factory.

I am not saying his price is unwarranted if he's one dude making them himself, that's not my point. My point is its a part that functions as something that needs exact tolerances something a computer or mechanized process can do over and over a million times better than a person and for cheaper, to exact accurate tolerances every time. A metal bridge for an electric guitar being handmade and using that as a selling point/talking point would be like talking about hand made tuning machines. Who the fuck would really want that?

Mages · Post by **Mages** » Tue Nov 10, 2009 2:44 am

maybe it's not exactly a desirable selling point but it is a fair justification for the price.

finboy · Post by **finboy** » Tue Nov 10, 2009 3:30 am

if someone got one and sent it to a plant in china you could c&c those things and probably sell them for $20

Justin J · Post by **Justin J** » Tue Nov 10, 2009 3:57 am

finboy wrote:if someone got one and sent it to a plant in china you could c&c those things and probably sell them for $20

not likely. the cnc setup fees alone would make the cost very high considering how little market there is for something like this.
also, a well-trained machinist can make things to the same tolerances as a machine. you just have to pay him more money.

oolu · Post by **oolu** » Tue Nov 10, 2009 4:06 am

Justin J wrote:
finboy wrote:if someone got one and sent it to a plant in china you could c&c those things and probably sell them for $20
not likely. the cnc setup fees alone would make the cost very high considering how little market there is for something like this.
also, a well-trained machinist can make things to the same tolerances as a machine. you just have to pay him more money.

Money, money, money... everybody should just give me shit for free.

finboy · Post by **finboy** » Tue Nov 10, 2009 5:19 am

Justin J wrote:
finboy wrote:if someone got one and sent it to a plant in china you could c&c those things and probably sell them for $20
not likely. the cnc setup fees alone would make the cost very high considering how little market there is for something like this.

you could probably get more business pff the telecaster sites, and rates aren't that crazy

http://www.emachineshop.com/

jcyphe · Post by **jcyphe** » Tue Nov 10, 2009 5:41 am

Somebody on Tampa area craigslist is selling a Jazzmaster with one of these and Novaks for $1200.

http://tampa.craigslist.org/pnl/msg/1423606752.html

Ty · Post by Ty » Tue Nov 10, 2009 5:58 am

jcyphe wrote:Somebody on Tampa area craigslist is selling a Jazzmaster with one of these and Novaks for $1200.

http://tampa.craigslist.org/pnl/msg/1423606752.html

Paging OSG stat.

Post by **Mike** » Tue Nov 10, 2009 9:46 am

It's a shame it looks like the claw of a Terminator.