Jeff Tweedy's Jag

othomas2 · Post by **othomas2** » Sun Feb 24, 2013 9:21 pm

Do like this Jag quite a lot !!

paul_ · Post by **paul_** » Sun Feb 24, 2013 9:33 pm

I like it too but that's weird how it has CAR showing around the pickguard and between the plates. Did someone strip it without dismantling it or something?

laterallateral · Post by **laterallateral** » Sun Feb 24, 2013 9:42 pm

I wonder what the extraneous switch does.

Also Masturby bridge. Although, it sorta makes sense on a touring instrument.

Fran · Post by **Fran** » Sun Feb 24, 2013 9:44 pm

paul_ wrote:Did someone strip it without dismantling it or something?

Looks like it how the red feathers into the undercoat the closer to the scratchplate.

Like it, always like stripped down old guitars but never liked guitars 'natural' when new.

James · Post by **James** » Sun Feb 24, 2013 10:22 pm

Fran wrote:Like it, always like stripped down old guitars but never liked guitars 'natural' when new.

+1

Here's a picture of a vintage Jazzmaster owned by a guy I know online. I can't remember the year but it's full on

, maybe a 59 or something shortly after that. I actually like it with the stripped finish. It was stripped before the guy I know bought it and he also got it in the super-cheap era before the prices were anything like they are today.

BillClay · Post by **BillClay** » Mon Feb 25, 2013 12:41 am

Gotta hear bout them switches!!!

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Mon Feb 25, 2013 9:43 am

I still don't like the look of the Mastery and still don't get why they don't have individual saddles.

robert(original) · Post by **robert(original)** » Mon Feb 25, 2013 1:08 pm

the masturby bridge doesn't really need indivudial saddles, the screws go thru a threaded bit, that rotates so the saddles can shift side to side.
its a rather smart lil design that i do admire, the price. well that still perplexes me a bit.
that extra switch has peeked my attention.

laterallateral · Post by **laterallateral** » Mon Feb 25, 2013 4:31 pm

So it seems the switches do sweet fuck-all. All five of them (lolz).

Apparently Tweedy had this cobbled together by his tech and the HB is wired straight to the vol+tone+output. The crazy switch was there when he bought it. He just never bothered removing it/ALL OF THEM.

Seems weird that you'd pop a mastery bridge on a guitar but not be arsed ridding it of a bunch of useless protrusions but whatever works for him, eh?

I still would rub my jenks all over this thing.

paul_ · Post by **paul_** » Mon Feb 25, 2013 6:52 pm

Like robert, I hate the price of mastery bridges as much as anyone but don't mind the design (especially when someone else is using one). Maybe he likes the sound/feel of Jags but wants to play it however he chooses with a lighter gauge or something. TOMs are no real solution, they turn it into a totally different guitar.
I'd use a Mastery if I could afford one, then I could ditch this stupid buzzstop.

James · Post by **James** » Mon Feb 25, 2013 7:09 pm

robert(original) wrote:the masturby bridge doesn't really need indivudial saddles, the screws go thru a threaded bit, that rotates so the saddles can shift side to side.

I would imagine this is going over old ground but -

I don't understand how that works. Suppose the B and high E are spot on, but the G is out - how do you adjust it without changing at least one of the other two? I could understand if it had three saddles with two strings on each. It would be inconvenient but workable. If your G was slightly out you could change the angle of the D/G saddle to get improve it, then adjust it again to compensate for the change to the D, then back to the G to adjust for that change. Eventually you'd get as close as most guitars get for intonation. With three strings per saddle, though, I can't see how that can work.

I've never played one so wouldn't judge entirely but there is definitely something odd in a design that claims to solve problems but also creates unnecessary new ones.

othomas2 · Post by **othomas2** » Mon Feb 25, 2013 7:20 pm

James wrote:
robert(original) wrote:the masturby bridge doesn't really need indivudial saddles, the screws go thru a threaded bit, that rotates so the saddles can shift side to side.
I would imagine this is going over old ground but -

I don't understand how that works. Suppose the B and high E are spot on, but the G is out - how do you adjust it without changing at least one of the other two? I could understand if it had three saddles with two strings on each. It would be inconvenient but workable. If your G was slightly out you could change the angle of the D/G saddle to get improve it, then adjust it again to compensate for the change to the D, then back to the G to adjust for that change. Eventually you'd get as close as most guitars get for intonation. With three strings per saddle, though, I can't see how that can work.

I've never played one so wouldn't judge entirely but there is definitely something odd in a design that claims to solve problems but also creates unnecessary new ones.

I agree, there's a good chance it could intonate fine, and there's a good chance it wont too... for that reason I wouldn't buy one although I have thought about it. I would want it to be 100% bang on.

But then again you can have a similar issue with a 3 saddle tele bridge, with or without compensated saddles.

But mastery rectify that again by doing nothing about it... fnar fnar...

robert(original) · Post by **robert(original)** » Mon Feb 25, 2013 7:44 pm

that is a grand point on the intonation end of things. although if you think about the fixd lp style wrap around bridges and an acoustic saddle those generally intonate fine in standard tuning. and the mastery is able to mimic that.
i would like to say that if you someone like aen who tunes differently then the mastery is not a good option. at all. you wouldn't be able to obtain perfect intonation for your strings.

benecol · Post by **benecol** » Mon Feb 25, 2013 8:03 pm

That'll be why Sonic Youth now have them on all their guitars then.

robert(original) · Post by **robert(original)** » Mon Feb 25, 2013 8:08 pm

would you really like to start this benecol. we can have aen attest to this if you wish. and in reality aen does some pretty crazy stuff with stringed instruments.
altho, i do know that when i saw them preform both times they had either the stock bridge or a tom on thier guitars.

benecol · Post by **benecol** » Mon Feb 25, 2013 8:11 pm

Which I'm guessing wouldn't have been over the last couple of years (when they've adopted them and Mastery have upped their production), what with your prior engagements and all?

Aen can attest all he likes, but I don't think he's the be-all-and-end-all of altered tunings, with all due respect to him.

So yes, I can get into this all you fancy, what with, you know, having one and frequently playing in altered tunings and all.

robert(original) · Post by **robert(original)** » Mon Feb 25, 2013 8:17 pm

aen is an example i use becuz i can garentee that it would not work for him so i would definitly not tell people that it would work out just fine for them.
then you would have a rather expensive paper weight wouldn't you?
and indeed i saw them for the nurse tour and rather ripped.
who is to say that the grooves havent been slightly filed to allow better intonation. a frequent user of alternate tunings you must be a pro. please you be the leader in this and prove that this bridge is worth it all and will intonate with not problems no matter what the tuning or scale of the instrument in question. it would certainly take all the guess work out for those of us that don't own one, or let alone even own a guitar at this point in time.
bring some science, don't be skurd

benecol · Post by **benecol** » Mon Feb 25, 2013 8:22 pm

The Rather Ripped tour was seven years ago. Happy to tell people (not that anyone was asking whether to buy one) whether it would work for alt tunings since, like I say, I've had a good go at it, but you're right: based entirely on your supposition, they probably wouldn't work for Aen, and Sonic Youth probably file them down.

robert(original) · Post by **robert(original)** » Mon Feb 25, 2013 8:28 pm

it is entirely possible yet still that depending on what tuning you are going for then certain string gauges would be more conducive to this, that, or the next.
anytime i had to work on one of aens guitars i had to ask him what he wanted it tuned as and write it down somewhere, and when i was playing music with him i had to completely re-set up a couple of my guitars, mainly my tele since it became my "baritone" but not a normal baritone at all. i remember the low string was f# and the b and e strings were doubled b's. but im unsure of how the rest went.

othomas2 · Post by **othomas2** » Mon Feb 25, 2013 8:34 pm

Sonic Youth were probably given them as a promotional tool, along with Wilco and the rest...

Maybe that's why Sonic Youth split because they couldn't intonate properly with the Mastery bridge !!