ShortScale.org

I recently managed to snap up a real bargain on eBay, a Japanese Olympic White Vintage '62 Reissue and a hard case for £450. Couldn't believe it when I saw it.

Anyway, despite being happy with the instrument in its original state, after recently breaking a string I thought that it was a perfect opportunity to make a few common modifications to the bridge and the trem arm.

I was wondering about string gauges and what would be best if I was to change the Jaguar bridge for a Japanese Mustang one. Would a set of flatwound .12s be suitable for the Mustang bridge saddles, or what would you recommend if otherwise?

Also, probably a bigger issue for me is the trem arm. I am wanting to raise it ala Kevin Shields/Andy MacFarlane/etc. and was wondering if anybody could shed some light on their own experiences of this modification and giving any tips on how to do it. I am aware of doing it by:

1. Adding electrical tape to the trem arm (not entirely sure how this is done)
2. increasing the angle of the bend on the arm to give additional clearance when performing these 'tremolo strums' (is it as straight forward as holding it in a vice and appling force?)
3. One idea I was toying with was starting from scratch and buying a rod and shaping it myself, but that seems a bit drastic...

Thanks in advance.

i am generally not a trem guy, so i'll just address the stuff i have experience with. personally, i don't think switching to mustang saddles is necessary, and you lose a bit of functionality when you do as the jag/jazz saddles are individually height adjustable. others have found the slots on the mustang saddles to be be more accommodating, but i'd personally rather file the jag slots slightly to accomplish the same result.

the jag seems to lend itself pretty well to flat-wound strings, but i've nevery really gotten on with those too much. i use round-wound 11's on my 62 avri, but 12's should be no problem as i've seen lots of guys on here using them.

dots wrote:i am generally not a trem guy, so i'll just address the stuff i have experience with. personally, i don't think switching to mustang saddles is necessary, and you lose a bit of functionality when you do as the jag/jazz saddles are individually height adjustable. others have found the slots on the mustang saddles to be be more accommodating, but i'd personally rather file the jag slots slightly to accomplish the same result.

the jag seems to lend itself pretty well to flat-wound strings, but i've nevery really gotten on with those too much. i use round-wound 11's on my 62 avri, but 12's should be no problem as i've seen lots of guys on here using them.

I second everything said above. When I had my Jag, I used 11s with the stock Jag bridge and was very pleased with that set-up. I also am not the biggest fan of flatwounds and tremolos.

Thanks for the replies so far, chaps.

arara wrote:is it as straight forward as holding it in a vice and appling force?

I believe so. I haven't done it myself though. Just a little at a time and you chould be fine I can't see it snapping, and you can always pick up another on eBay.

In terms of bridge, I've swapped out the original for a Mustang and it works just fine, though there are plenty of people who will say that with a proper set up the original bridge works just as well.

I use heavy bottom - medium top strings which suit me: