[Hammerhands]

Have you owned a Jazzmaster and a guitar with a B3, B6, B11 or B16 for a long time?

How do you find using the Jazzmaster's vibrato?

I was at the stores playing them through Silverface Princeton Reverb reissues today and I thought a very small movement dropped the pitch very quickly, it was a bit hard to control.

 

[vadsy]

I found the Jazzmaster vibrato to be much more sensitive than its Bigsby counterpart. I no longer own a Jazzmaster for this reason, although I do miss it at times, but I still have a Bigsby equipped guitar.

 

[EchoWD40]

Both are terrible designs, but ESPECIALLY the Jazzmaster's.
IMO of course.

 

[Granny Gremlin]

It's important to remember that there is a huge difference between proper US made JM and lower end models. A Proper US one, when proplery set up (not hard, but also not very intuitive) they are very stable and work well (use the lock!). The main thing I don't like about them is, yes, the sensitivity- I'm too hamfisted, as well as the arm mount - there is no way to prevent it from being a flop around . A bigsby will stay in place, which I prefer.

A Bigsby looks cooler, and is a very simple elegant mechanism that is both intuitive and much easier to maintain that the JM.

Currently I only have an axe with a Bowen Handle, which is Bigsby-ish but even simpler. I have no issues with it;for a mod-less retrofit (post mounted in place of a stop bar) there's not much bad to say about it. If tuning stability becomes an issue, remember to use the lock when not whamming, but I haven't had an issue and often forget. The lock could maybe be a bit easier to actuate I guess; as is it's not something you could do easily mid-song.

 

[djmarcelca]

Jazzmaster trem's are horrible.
Bigsby's only mildly better.

But If I had to chose, I'd take the bigsby.

Hardtail is the best though

 

[Granny Gremlin]

Both are better than a strat trem (show stopper for me).

 

[High/Deaf]

A Bigsby looks cooler, and is a very simple elegant mechanism that is both intuitive and much easier to maintain that the JM.

That's the crux of it. Looks cool as hell, it's a simple mechanism that even the least mechanically-inclined can comprehend, and it's easier to maintain than most others. And it just works for what it's intended for. Perhaps too subtle for the FR crowd, but not to worry, fellas, there's a locking vibrato arm out there somewhere for you. Keep your complicated setups and string changes, what the Bigsby does works PERFECTLY for what I WANT IT TO DO. For those that don't get it, well, it's a big bad world out there and we all don't get everything, I guess.

 

[Ronbeast]

I also prefer the feel and action of a bigsby over a jazzmaster vibrato; I have a B5 on one of my sgs.

That being said, I prefer 2 point strat trems and floyds over the bigsby, but that's more to do with range than feel.

 

[chimo]

I disagree with almost every opinion voiced voiced here.

Full disclosure, I'm a bigsby fanatic and most of my guitars have them installed. All the Bigsbys are usa models. I've had my current Jazzmaster since early 2007, its my fourth jm I think. I've had 50+bigsby loaded guitars over the years

I'm also a professional tech with lm

My jazzmaster absolutely slays my best bigsby in terms of sensitivity, tuning stability and feel.

It's a Japanese unit with a Mexican Classic Player collet and arm (screw in not pop in like every other JM arm). The threads are silk taped to get the arm super solid and tight.

The biggest issue with a jazzmaster/jaguar /tele with bigsby isn't the tailpiece. It's the piece of garbage bridge they install at the factory. I have a bridge from the UK installed in mine from a company called staytrem. Very very very highly recommended, and much cheaper than a Mastery bridge. My jazzmaster has stock tuners, nut and tree

 

[chimo]

I might also mention, I can pick the Jazzmaster up by the arm, pump it in the air and bring it back to play without any tuning issues.

I wouldn't dream of doing that with any of my bigsby equipped guitars.

 

[High/Deaf]

I might also mention, I can pick the Jazzmaster up by the arm, pump it in the air and bring it back to play without any tuning issues.

I wouldn't dream of doing that with any of my bigsby equipped guitars.

I wouldn't either - and not because it might go out of tune. I suspect we used vibrato arms differently. LOL

I don't ever have tuning issues with Bigsby's because I don't use them to drop 2 tones, for example, more to just vibrate or shimmer chords. And the occasional 'half-tone or a bit more' drop, a la Led Zep's For Your Life.

 

[chimo]

LOL... me neither but I was very confident in the system setup and needed to prove a point... the first time.