Jazzmaster Bridge Comparison - Mastery M1 vs Fender American Pro

Описание к видео Jazzmaster Bridge Comparison - Mastery M1 vs Fender American Pro

Just a casual video - Made this for myself but wanted to share in case others would find it helpful so apologies for the sloppy playing! For context, this jazzy is a 2017 American Pro, which came stock with an older version of this bridge that had string spacing + radius/general setup issues that I couldn’t work around.
I’ve had the mastery bridge on this guitar for almost 4 years now and while I felt it was a huge improvement on the stock bridge (fixed all those string spacing/setup issues), in these last couple years I’ve been bothered by the almost metallic bright attack of this guitar (sorry for buzzwords, but prepare for more). It didn’t feel like it had the warm depth and balance in sound/feel of other jazzmasters I’d tried in stores since. So I bought the newer version of the Am. Pro bridge with proper 9.5″ radius and 2-1/16″ string spacing to see if it would fix my issues regarding sound and feel, and here we are!
Ahead are just my personal opinions, so your experiences may vary, but here’s my thoughts on each of these bridges:
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Mastery
I’m able to get the action very low
There’s increased sustain for sure which was not necessarily a pro for me but may be for some
Brighter with what feels like a more immediate and emphasized attack
An “airier” open sound. Some might call this increased resonance.
Changes the feel of the guitar pretty dramatically (I really noticed this after using it for 4 years then taking it off)
Changes the resonance or frequency (is that the right word?) in how the strings ring out. You can especially hear the difference in the acoustic clips which is why I included them. Not necessarily for good or bad, it’s up to preference. This translated overall to how the guitar felt while I played. To me personally, this was even more drastic of a difference than the sound, which is somewhat different yes, but not as dramatic as the feel for me.
I realized how much more strat/telecaster-ish the Mastery feels as far as tension goes. For some this may be just what you’re looking for, but for me it prevented this guitar from really feeling and playing like a jazzmaster in the classic sense. My number 1 guitar is a jag with a Staytrem bridge (which I LOVE) and I am used to how that feels and sounds, so it may be why the feel of the Mastery throws me off so much.
I’ve never pulled a string out of the slot or had it slip out, this is sturdy! I also only had to set it up once and forget about it. Never encountered issues on a technical level whatsoever.
If I can make the simplest of comparisons, the mastery sounds/feels more “present” and less “round” than the Am. Pro bridge.
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American Pro
I’m not able to get the action as low (so far) as I was with the Mastery. It’s still very much within my playing preferences and not too different but trying to get it even lower may come down to needing to re-setup the guitar, or maybe it’s just the way it is. I’m no pro when it comes to setups haha.
Sounds not necessarily “darker” than the Mastery, but “warmer”
In my opinion, with barre chords across all 6 strings, the sound is more “balanced” with an even touch of lows, mids, and highs…. less spikey treble on the upper strings ESPECIALLY in the attack. I feel like this makes the sound slightly less “defined” than with the Mastery.
It sounds unexpectedly louder and more full acoustically than the Mastery
I may be talking absolute nonsense but in the best terms I can describe, overall it sounds like the Am. Pro bridge has more emphasis on the fundamental note whereas with the Mastery you can hear more of the upper harmonics ring out. This is most apparent to me on the higher strings (G,B,e). I have no idea what the actual technical term is so sorry if this isn’t making any sort of sense (I’m trying my best haha).
Although much less so than the typical offset jag/jazzmaster bridge, I can still slip a string from the saddle if I pick/strum hard enough (extremely rare for me though).
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Overall, I experienced a larger difference in feel than in sound with these two bridges. The sound is slightly different for sure, but not so much that I would be able to tell them apart in a full mix. Feel is very very very important to me, and acoustically the American Pro bridge aligns more perfectly with what I personally prefer from this guitar and my overall preferences in feel/sound.
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Timestamps:
0:04 Chords
1:15 Acoustically
1:47 Arpeggios on the high strings

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