I splashed out on a replacement trem assembly for my beloved JM and fitted it this evening. It's an official Fender made-in-USA that cost me a bit more than the cheap no-brand units, but damn...what a difference!

It's not as dramatic as replacing the pickups and I'm not sure whether there's some psychosomatic thing going on here, but the guitar *feels* better now. It's not just the trem action - the arm 'clicks' in the collet of CIJ units when you use them and the arm doesn't fit as well as in the US versions - but the sustain's improved too. Really. Another important thing is the string spacing is correct now, which means the strings are stretched parallel to each other beyond the bridge so don't lie closer together towards the tailpiece. Whether that's what's improving the sustain, I don't know. All I know is it works.

Between this and the pickups I reckon I've spent no more than £250 on a guitar that cost around £600 second-hand. The only other way I could've got a JM of this quality would be to spend twice the amount of all of this for an AVRI!

The pickup swap is probably the best thing a CIJ Jazzmaster owner could do but changing the trem for a genuine Fender replacement is something I'd recommend as well. I guess I'll need to replace stuff like pots and switches in time, but they're fairly cheap jobs that can wait until they actually stop working properly.

What's next? Nothing...until I finish that Mustang build...

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Guitar rig: CIJ Fender Jazzmaster/CIJ Fender Mustang -> TU-3 -> RV-5 -> OD-3 -> Magnetic Effects White Atom -> custom IC Muff -> PS-2 -> DD-3 -> Small Clone chorus -> RE-20 -> LS-2 -> Fender '65 DRRI & Mesa/Boogie F-50

Bass rig: Fender MIM Jazz Bass -> TU-2 -> RAT 2 -> Sansamp BDDI -> RV-3

"...So now you know the true secret to great tone: all the espresso you can handle."

Why not a Mastery Bridge? That seems to be The **** when people talk Jazzmaster bridges.

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- IAN C. -
Rig: PRS | Schecter USA | Gibson | Axe-Fx II | empress effects
Beta tester: Fractal Audio | empress effects

Bridges and materials can make quite the difference..... Was night and day when I went from a Gibson ABR-1 to a Tone Pros locking bridge....

Sounds like you have your main guitar now though It'll go through more mods I'm sure, including pickups again, but well, you know the "can't stop, feels too good"

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ESP Eclipse Limited (3/100) or Gibson Les Paul Standard (97) - Fulltone OCD - H.B.E. Detox EQ - Laney GH50L - 80's Ibanez AD-9 (in loop) - Randall XL 4x12
Tortex "The wedge" picks, Blue Steel strings, Line 6 Moble In, Charvel Model 6 modded to a Model 5FX.... Probly other stuff as well

@iaresee: I've heard a lot of people talk about Mastery bridges and several people on here have installed them. Some people frown on them but I think that's due to the price more than anything! The string saddle groove problem isn't much of an issue with me for some reason - a set of Allparts saddles works fine unless I really thrash at the strings.

I'm not even sure if going up to a higher gauge helps, either. I used .11s for a while but I think that thicker strings inevitably don't sit as far into the grooves, which offsets the effects of increased downforce. .10s are more comfortable for me.

@Supergrunged: yeah, there's always that temptation, isn't there? The pickups are pretty much exactly what I want so unless something breaks or my playing style changes drastically, this is how the guitar will stay. I've considered removing the rhythm circuit completely but Murphy's Law states that as soon as I do that I'll want to use it again!

The three-way toggle's getting a bit temperamental and it's only a matter of time before the pots start to crackle, but I'm enjoying that 'mission accomplished' feeling while it lasts!

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Guitar rig: CIJ Fender Jazzmaster/CIJ Fender Mustang -> TU-3 -> RV-5 -> OD-3 -> Magnetic Effects White Atom -> custom IC Muff -> PS-2 -> DD-3 -> Small Clone chorus -> RE-20 -> LS-2 -> Fender '65 DRRI & Mesa/Boogie F-50

Bass rig: Fender MIM Jazz Bass -> TU-2 -> RAT 2 -> Sansamp BDDI -> RV-3

"...So now you know the true secret to great tone: all the espresso you can handle."