Tell Me about the Fender Jazzmaster (MOD: Also Jaguar, etc.)

What do the slide buttons do at the top?

Controls “Lead” Circuit: Volume, Tone,
“Rhythm” Circuit: Volume, Tone
Pickup Switching 3-Position Toggle:
Position 1. Bridge Pickup
Position 2. Bridge and Neck Pickups
Position 3. Neck Pickup

(Lead Circuit)

2-Position Slide:
Up: Lead Tone Circuit
Down: Rhythm Tone Circuit

the mustang bridge trick is the common swap, i have this thing called a buzz stop on my jaguar which basically just holds the strings where they're supposed to be. (which is what the bridge should really handle but anyways...). some people like tune-a-matics on them. some people just put washers on the strings before the bridge. in any case, theres a couple fixes to keep the strings on board, but the thing will always have a kind of rattle that wont affect anything but may annoy some.

the pickups are not really like p-90s, though they are often incorrectly referred to as 'soapbars.' they are relatively low-output, mellow, and much less in your face than a p-90. they are unlike other fender pups. they're pretty good pickups, if you get real ones- the ones that come in imported jazzmasters are more or less trash. duncan makes some excellent replacements.

i generally like very low output pups. they sound clearer to me.

I haven't exactly kept it in a box - I've been rehearsing and gigging with the thing - but it's not been subjected to much worse wear and tear than, say, my Danelectro was, which just took it like a warhorse.

Thats a mighty interesting link you posted. Oddly, the two pickups I've been most interested in trying are the P-90 and the Charlie Christian... definitely let me know how those Novak joints stack up. If they're the biz, I'd have excuse to finally get a JM...

I will definately post my opinion of the tone produced by the Novak pickups.

Still need answer to my original question. What position does the circuit selector slide switch need to be in if you want both pickup activated? Obviously, toggle switch is in the middle position.

My Jazzmaster is a2003 and it's still mint. I can only base my opinion on a couple of weeks of ownership, but mine seems as solid as my Strat or Tele. And there's something about the JM that makes it more fun to play than any of other guitars I own.

Down. At least that's how it is on my '65 JM

if it's down, you put the toggle switch in the middle to have both pick-ups pickin' up. if it's up, then the toggle switch is cut out of the circuit altogether and the pick-up "mix" is controlled by how far one of those two funny little wheels on the upper part of the body is to the right or left (i forget which of the two wheels). it's a custom blend of the two pick-ups.

btw, just played two '66 vintage JM's at chicago music exchange, one of which sounded tinny and rattley, one of which sounded so warm and organic and lush it blew my mind more than a guitar has in a long time. but at $4000 i won't be walking out with it any time soon.

Here's a generally useful tool for Fender dating:

http://www.fender.com/support/dating/

http://www.fender.com/support/diagrams/index.php

and scroll all the way to the bottom of the page (which will take a while) there's a really straightforward Jazzmaster switching diagram in pdf format. I would post it, but I'm not smart enough to know how to post .pdf format to Ilx.

As far as I can tell the Jag has one more fret (not important), a strangle switch (is this good? I like the sound of it), different PUs (any info about the characteristics of these would be interesting). How do the different circuit/pick-up combos compare?

Jim - you said yr old JM was way better than yr Jag. Any more thoughts?

Also, thoughts on the bridge. Are they really as dodgy as people say? I am happy to put in a buzz bar or a mustang bridge, but your thoughts welcome.

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2363/1091/1600/may11guitar.jpg

What an odd wiring design.

I think the Jazzmaster/Jaguar body shape is really underused by Fender. I like the look without all of the extra switching. This Jaguar Baritone looks sharp and would be great as a two humbucker or P90 jazzmaster scale guitar. It would be like an SG with a Strat scale length.

ihttp://www.electric-guitar-review.com/images/Fender%20Jaguar%20Baritone%

http://www.fender.com/products/search.php?partno=0259505515

So incredibly good it hurts.

ihttp://www.fendereurope.com/news/images/Jag_Baritone_Special.jpg

http://www.fender.com/products/prod_images/basses/0259505515_md.jpg

Actually, we have one of those coming as well. They're fantastic. The Geddyleeidness I referred to is the Mod Shop style of that bass (badass bridge, etc.). My only actual critique of the bass is the black neck binding, which is legit, but still bugs me for some reason.

The switch on top…at least on the MIJ I am playing in the down position is normal operation with volume and tone knobs and in the up position is only the neck pickup and the “wheels” are volume and tone for the neck pickup and the other controls are disabled. But the neck pickup rules and the bridge is too quiet but I think I can wedge something under it to raise it a little to match volume of neck pickup.

But I need a trem arm for the MIJ can anyone help? If you don’t use yours can I buy it from you. To me that’s the hero of the guitar is the trem system. I play in a surf band so it is necessary for me.
Thanks Scot

The switch on top…at least on the MIJ I am playing in the down position is normal operation with volume and tone knobs and in the up position is only the neck pickup and the “wheels” are volume and tone for the neck pickup and the other controls are disabled. But the neck pickup rules and the bridge is too quiet but I think I can wedge something under it to raise it a little to match volume of neck pickup.

But I need a trem arm for the MIJ can anyone help? If you don’t use yours can I buy it from you. To me that’s the hero of the guitar is the trem system. I play in a surf band so it is necessary for me.
Thanks Scot

'65 Mustang MIJ reissue arriving for Fender summer production. Will be announced officially at Summer Namm.

now for more pretty pictures

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j314/backsliding/33294_b.gif

$702 to my door

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j314/backsliding/49464_b-1.gif

$827 to my door

Kate - have you modded your JM in any way, or is it absolutely stock. Any mods to the bridge? I ask because you're the only person I know who has a JM, and I've heard how good it sounded in action.

'tremoro' system!

Also the buzzstop kills the tone and feel. There is a reason for the extended string length and height after the bridge.
If I have to listen to anyone else ruin a Jazzmaster with these stupid mods I will puke!!!!!!!

No mods to mine, Dr. C, however it is broken, and I can't get it into the jazz circuit - maybe an unintentional mod!

It keeps good tune, however, I did have to customise (OK, wrap in tape and jam in so it doesn't lock) the tremolo arm to get the proper floaty wooziness.

detail: i didn't put in a mustang bridge, just a buzz-stop.

i know these are rattly guitars, but is this normal? should i try to have my guitar guy set it up again in some different way?

The trem is...interesting.
set the trem-lock to locked. Tighten the adjustment screw until it suddenly stops doing anything(but still moves without more effort) re tune. Now turn the screw the OTHER way until the guitar goes a tiny bit flat. Then simply tighten slowly until it goes back in-tune.

you're done!
If you still have problems, it's either THAT guitar or....you.

GZ out.

some questions:

1. what is AV?
2. if i was bad at shop class, won't i fuck this up?

Shop class...
Hmmm.
I could send the wood for like a buck, but I can't guaratee It'll be fitted.

it'll have hole that line up, but John will need to have the neck off a strat with the neck off so I could get the shape approximated.

Anything else is just... difficult.
John, tell him how to take a neck off.

Taking a neck off is easy if you can just get past the inherent scaryness of it.

1. Prop the instrument face down on some sort of inclined surface, so that it's supported only at the base of the body and at about the 3rd fret. Think towel on a table, with a stack of books under the neck.

2. Capo the neck at the 1st fret, if the strings are still on it (yes, it is ok to leave the neck under tension. Don't worry so much.)

3. Grip the instrument with your thumb on the neckplate and your fingers on the front of the neck. What you want to be able to do is counteract the tension of the strings as you remove the neck bolts. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT, because if you don't, the string tension will pull the last screw out of the hole and strip/crack it. Which is bad.

4. Now, while maintaining your death grip, remove the screws in a cross-pattern (upper right, lower left, lower right, upper left). When you have removed all screws, slowly release your hold on the neckplate, and let the strings pull the neck from the body in sort of a clmshell motion. Ta-dah! Now you are a skilled luthier. Tell all your friends.

To reattach neck, operate in reverse.

First thoughts :

1) Amazing build quality
2) Really nice neck - great finish, really fast. Action nice and low.
3) ALL the pick-up positions sound good and the rhythm circuit wasn't as dark as I was expecting. Will definitely be able to get masses of good sounds out of this.
4) Why the feck do they ship these with 09 gauges on? I reckon I'll have to go up to 11s right away. Mind you, even with 09's I didn't get the strings to pop out of the saddles on bends, apart from the low E which jumped when I yanked it hard.

Incidentally, Peter Cook's is a pretty strange place - it's in a residential street off the Uxbridge Road, and is sort of in a couple of houses knocked together. Really shabby from the outside, but nice inside and v.friendly and helpful staff. Good prices too.

The Stratocaster scale is 25.5" from saddle to nut. This is only about 4% difference in scale. All Gibson guitars, Les Pauls etc, are 24.75". That's only a quarter of an inch difference between the Jaguar and the Les Paul. Far too often is the Jaguar referred to (and dismissed) as a "short scale" guitar. When in fact it is more of a medium scale. And as has been mentioned, not dissimilar to the standard Gibson scale. There are also smaller scales than 24" used for guitars as well. For example, the 22.5" scale necks used on 'student' Mustangs, Musicmasters and Duo-Sonics etc.

The fretboard radius is curved to 7.25" on a Jaguar, the same as alot of other Fender guitars. Some people complain about "choking off" on these radius. A problem which can always be solved by raising the action by a very small amount. If people are insistent on having the action so low, in combination with bending 8's two whole notes, then nothing can stop choking off on a 7.25" radius. A Japanese Jaguar special has a 9.5" radius fretboard.

Sonic Youth signature Jazzmasters: http://fender.com/sonicyouth/

The Thurston model looks kinda cool actually.

i'd quite like the lee ranaldo one!

My Jazzmaster is in my mom's closet in America and I miss it so much.

as a committed wide-range humbucker fan, the lee guitar looks amazing.

I guess what I really want is the Lee model with the green finish of the Thurston one.

Honestly though, shouldn't the signature models be just a box of Jazzmaster parts to build your own config?

Anybody know what they mean by "newly revoiced and improved Fender wide range humbuckers"? Did they actually use cunife magnets this time around? Curious bout what's actually under the hood.

probably overwound like every other bastardized fender pickup of the last 10 years :(

What y'all think of this jazz/jag bridge: http://www.masterybridge.com/home.html

My thoughts:
1) $HMMM.00
2) Posts are set or whatever and it doesn't swivel. They say it stays in tune w all kinds of divebombing: but how??
3) Otherwise, want.

Offset guitars website have many users of the mastery bridge. Most are totally positive about it, but there are a few reports that you MAY still need to use tape/glue etc to stop unwanted movement. I haven't seen or used one, but it seems a pretty expensive solution to me. I don't believe you can divebomb with it - i've certainly not read any reports that the range of operation is any greater than with any other jag or jazz trem/bridge combination.

I've just changed the bridge on my Jag to a Mustang bridge with tape-wrapped posts, and it's 100% stable. I think you may lose a little bit of trem range by locking the posts compared to a properly set up, fully floating system (I have my Jazzmaster with stock bridge for comparison), but I was having so many rattling and tuning problems with the stock bridge that I decided to switch.

Dude does some divebombing in a video on the website, actually.

Hmm - I'll have to look at that.

dude in one of my bands sprung for one of those mastery bridges, it's pretty sweet

Bumping to vent how much I hate setting up my Jazzmaster. I hope GZeus doesn't yell at me cuz I shimmed it with match sticks.

WTF

WAI?

(ahem: What about it?)

They look like the bullets from the "tooth gun" in eXistenZ.

I can see that they'd make a difference to a fixed bridge instrument, but on a Jazzmaster with so many other things affecting tone?

ahem: What about it?

Oh nothin really, just WTFing because I have an abundance of time, and basically what snoball said. Like it'd probably be way more effective to develop some G&L style saddle lock thing or something, or something to directly increase string>body transference, etc... Also LOL @ "man made ivory" angle for yr weird plastic parts.

I have decided that I need one of these things more than I need financial security

I guess sooner or later [...] this happens to everyone?

Are the Mexican Classic Player ones regarded as a pretty good bet with these (JM or Jag, haven't played them recently to work out which one I like best)? There don't seem to be so many Japanese reissue ones readily available anymore as per Dr C's annoyingly shrewd investment upthread. I'm not so interested in the affordable blacktop ones because they come in shit colours. Yeah.

The CP ones are like c£700 in the UK and $800 in the US; are US dealers allowed to ship these things to Europe? Does anybody know any good websites that do? Alternately, is trying to import from Fender Japan worthwhile?

The Classic players are variable. I have played a few, mainly Jags - one was a great sounding guitar but a couple were virtually unplayable because of bad set-ups and/or badly cut nuts. That can obv be fixed though. The CP Jazzmasters seem to have a good reputation - the one I played was a nice guitar.

I ended up buying a CP Jag HH, which I got for £375 + a fuzz face in part-exchange. I wasn't really looking for one, but it was an unbeatable deal. It too, had a badly cut nut and took a lot of work to get stable. I still haven't gigged it as I'm not 100% confident in the tuning stability. I might replace the tune-o-matic type bridge with a roller bridge, which seems to be a popular mod.

What you have to know is that the pickups on the classic player series are hotter than the CIJ or AVRI Jags and JMs. My Jag never really sounds clean but it certainly growls with crunch or fuzz. The coil split really works well, with loads of tones available. Full single coil is quite Jag-like, although a bit chunkier. You can't quite get the classic Jaguar tones with them.

There are now the MIM Blacktops, which seem to have had good reviews, but I think they look hideous and are very far from the orginal designs. There are Squiers on the way too, but I wouldn't touch them. My advice would be to look out for a 2nd hand CIJ, or if you can afford the extra, then try to get one from Ishibashi in Japan. I've heard good reports about their customer service and you'd have access to all kinds of custom colours that we don't often see in the UK. Or, if the hotter pickups don't bother you, then try some Classic Players, but watch for quality problems.

Hunt down a j. Mascis unless the sparkle purple or tunamatic is a dealbreaker.

Those things look pretty cool but I already got a sparkly signature model type guitar and I think I want something a bit more traditional/non-affiliated.

Thanks a lot for all that Dr C, I was starting to lean towards CIJ so that kind of confirms it for me. Ishibashi seems to have become a bit more of an expensive proposition these days so I might just keep an eye out for cheap second hand ones here and bite the bullet on importing later in the year if nothing turns up.

I was winning a Japanese white Jazzmaster for £500 on Ebay with 30 seconds to go and then two people piled in while I was elsewhere and it vanished for £627; I could have Bought It Now for £625. This is the end of the world.

Don't worry, they do come up quite often. Other ideas:

1) Call Pete Cooks. They are not listing any CIJs on their website, but may still have some left, or be able to get some.
2) Andertons have a CIJ 66 reissue (blocks and binding) model on their website. It's £700 though, but they do normally negotiate. I got a great deal on an AC30 there.
3) Macaris still has one or two quite recently.
4) Regent Sounds - I think they can still get them and may have one or two left. I work quite near Denmark Street and could look if you like.

Absurdly, the punchline to that Ebay situation was that the winning mystery bid was actually some spectacular counter-gazumping by my own girlfriend to fend off the late interloper. Hopefully she will let me play it.

The possibility of getting a good deal on an AC30 certainly still appeals though, once I've got out of the poorhouse.

Oh cool - didn't you realise at the time? So you have the guitar then? If so that's great news - I think you'll love it. Mine is my absolute number one guitar, I alternate between it and my CIJ Jag for gigging - they're both great guitars but the Jazzmaster is the one I couldn't live without. It's absolutely stock apart from a Mustang bridge - a lot of players claim that the stock CIJ pickups are no good, but I'd violently disagree with that. It's true that they're not the same as the vintage or AVRI pickups, as they are narrower and more Strat-like, but they sound fantastic to me.

Yeah, it was a private auction so all I could see was that I'd been outbid by two other people in the last minute while I was working late. Wifey put up with about an hour and a half of my psychopathic brooding before coming clean, concerned that I might sell a kidney to import one from Japan before she could spring the surprise.

I haven't actually collected it yet so I don't know how well it's been looked after, but I'm glad to hear you're happy with yours in its original state, cos after springing money I don't have to get it I'm a bit too cleaned out to be thinking about AVRI pickups or buzzstops at this point.

Yeah I'm playing this thing with old strings and the stock Japanese pickups through a shitty, beat up Roland Cube-60 and it still sounds pretty great to me

Fender Japan is making all the cool stuff right now. I really like the look of this Jazzmaster HO hollowbody

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyFI21QFe4Q

That Jazzmaster hollow-body kind of looks reminicent to a a Reverend Flatroc with that double binding.

It looks cool though.

Ocasek's pink Jazzmaster on the beginning of "My Best Friend's Girl" is the ur-sound of all Jazzmasters.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKuAPXd-M7U

That's a cool clip. Sounds good and right up on the band. You can see that Ric has the Jazzmaster in the middle position and that Elliot is flipping back and forth between the neck and bridge pickup on the Tele.

How it started

https://qc-ckb.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/ilx/red-jm-1.jpg

How it's going

https://qc-ckb.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/ilx/red-jm-2.jpg

wow very neat wiring!

Oh nice!! What jazzmaster is that? Am currently sorely tempted to get a J mascis squier as an upgrade on my crap strat

I would guess that’s a proper old one which has had a nice refinish

The good parts are from 1965

https://qc-ckb.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/ilx/red-jm-3.jpg

Hi Abigail! Her pickup + the AC30/Ampeg amp pair is a reason to keep living.

https://qc-ckb.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/ilx/red-jm-4.jpg

On a long-enough timeline every guitar you own will eventually become a vintage collectable. When I got hold of it in 1996 I knew that the body was refinished and the wiring was questionable, but other than a refret in 2007 it's been change-strings-and-go ever since. Three days into quarantine, the strap broke and somehow the guitar transformed into a neutron star material and crashed down on my foot. Ironically, we were playing The Cure's "Grinding Halt." Creativity just stopped around here and I spent much of the rest of the year disassociating and walking up and down the San Gabriels.

Anyway, the crash broke some of the wiring inside and it was time to do something about it. The pickups are off at Fralin getting new leads put on (my soldering skills are no way good enough to that job) - I should get them back this week.

whoa whoa whoa which Ampeg? AC30 and 60s blue-check are my go-tos... seems I should look into the Jazzmaster...

whoa whoa whoa which Ampeg? AC30 and 60s blue-check are my go-tos... seems I should look into the Jazzmaster...

heh. '64 reverberocket, '66 Jet. and i still have a zoom ultra-fuzz around here somewhere. guess it really is jazzmaster time!

Oh I wanna see it when it’s all back together.

Wow, don’t think I’ve ever seen an Ybarra Jazzmaster pickup! And an A width neck too. Rare bird!

https://i.imgur.com/ZGF3Sh6.png

I guess this is the only photo I've taken of my Jazzmaster (which is currently in its case buried behind a dozen packing boxes). I bought a set of the new wide range humbuckers but I can't bring myself to have it routed to fit them.

I've never played one, or even held one. Isn't that odd?

i haven't either! but i've become JM-curious

Cool-looking JM milo. I’m wanting to build some sort of Lake Placid Blue w/black pickguard/knobs JM as my WRHB project, but I want to make it more of a big mid-70s era “what if there was a 1972 Jazzmaster Deluxe?” than a Ranaldo knock-off. I love the look of those 70s pearl blue/black Gibson SGs and want to reference that in a JM build, but I’ll need a B&B neck, etc.

milo you should pick up e.g. a Mascis Squier to put the WRHBs into, that's a beauty. AV65?

and here's my trinity (1968 Teisco TG64, 1967 Mory, 1984 Fender Japan)
https://c1.staticflickr.com/6/5611/30406274592_c0e89f2e60_k.jpg

Me and the JM/AC30 revving up in front of MOCA at 1m50s and onward:
https://vimeo.com/25737733

undeniably the coolest rig there

Yep, it's one of the Thin Skin '65s - technically Firemist Silver but it was B-stock because it

For the blaster, I'm thinking of ordering a Guitar Mill JM body routed correctly for WRHBs to start with, then charring it with a blowtorch and oiling or shellacing over that. I did that on a scrap Telecaster body (separating at the glue joints) and it looked pretty cool.

b-stock because the color was off - it's bluer than normal (closer to ice blue metallic, which didn't make me mad)

I def thought it was IBM!
If you’re doing a charred finish you can leave it uncoated after rubbing it back, I’m guessing you know it’s a Japanese woodworking technique, shō sugi ban. The other one to consider is iron and vinegar ebonizing but that’d depend on the timber.

Anybody here own any of the current Vintera series? Any good?

Folks on /r/offset seem to like the Vinteras, especially for modding.

That's good to know, looking to buy my first somewhat decent quality guitar having only ever played cheap ones, don't have enough money for the US Fenders.

Fralin's work queue was 2+ months, so in the meantime I cleaned up the shielding, the grounds, and overspent on Reverb on a legit '65 aluminum pick guard shield. Beliefs can be expensive, but OTOH it was only $55 to fix the pickups.

Putting it all back together...

https://www.quartzcity.net/ilx/jm_assembly.jpg

Puisheen's YouTube channel is essential, if not mandatory, for folks on this thread. Mike is unstoppably boisterous about JM/Jaguars - his current series on refitting this 1961 JM is great knowledge.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrYr3VZqy3g

So in the end, it takes me hours to do what a good tech can do in minutes, but hfs at the end result. I hadn't realized just how much signal I was losing and how many years had passed by in "oh, it just sounds like that" ignorance. Unbelievable improvement. Sounds badass now. gtf out of the way shoegazers.

https://www.quartzcity.net/ilx/jm_assembled.jpg

woo!

looks great et

good lord that's hott

that's pretty

yup, looks great!

Are Mustang tremolos really as unreliable as they're said to be?

They're pretty janky and don't return to pitch well for lighter gauge strings. Also only good for dives unlike a floating trem (cf Jag/JM and Strat trems). Reputation has suffered a bit due to folks stringing them the wrong way - the right way is strings going into the "cigar" from the bridge side, then curving under the cigar to come back to the bridge. Many people just pass them from the tail side straight through to the bridge, which wrecks the break angle and makes the trem not really work.
Good news is that they can be locked by replacing the spring posts with a couple of machine screws and two washers above the baseplate.

Maybe I'll go for a Jazzmaster instead, more into floating tremolo rather than divebomb stuff.

I've tried jazzmasters a couple times and feel like I just don't really get them. FWIW I looked at the "notable players" list on this wiki page and there's no one I especially like -- certainly some good players that I respect, but no one I really love listening to. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fender_Jazzmaster#Notable_players

I like the Mustang tremolo a lot - it's not just for dives (the Mustang bridge is floating like a Jag/JM but with the different saddles so strings are less prone to popping out) and you can get cool subtle effects just using the heel of your hand against the lipstick tube instead of using the bar.

see ~5:20 into this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drCCRQf-VYQ

My only complaints about the Mustang are that with older ones a lot of them are the narrow A necks and overall the bodies are so small they don't really feel right for me.

pretty sure I'm team Jaguar now overall, the 24" scale is so fun and easy to play and the stock Pure Vintage '65 pickups in new ones are just right in terms of brightness without being shrill and output without being too hot

yeah I think I was thinking of the Bronco trem re the dives-only

got a rare chance to crank up my jag today. the properly appointed and set up jag is a pretty amazing instrument--between the shape, scale length, and bridge/tremolo design it's easily the most comfortable fender to play at least for me.

As I mentioned on the strat/tele thread, I picked up a set of CuNiFe WRHBs with the long-term plan of using them in some-sort of partsmaster. Not a Ranaldo-style minimal circuitry Jazzblaster, but something more like a what-if '72 Jazzmaster Deluxe. Chunky neck, maaaabyeee stacked volume/tone pots for each pickup, but after MONTHS of quarantine time burned on differing configurations, trawling for parts on Reverb, and getting worked up over esoteric differences on warmoth vs. allparts, I impulsively bought an early-00s CIJ JM-66 Jazzmaster that just showed up on Craigslist a couple days ago.

https://qc-ckb.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/ilx/jm-cij66.jpg

7.25" rosewood chunky neck, most of hardware is pretty good. If I was to source it all separately I'd end up spending a lot more. The previous owner swapped out the 1M tone pot and put in a pair of AVRI pickups several years back. I don't like the boring sunburst/tortoise shell look, but it's aged into a cool guitar. First step is to rout-out space for the WRHBs and swap the pick guard. I'm still considering a Lake Placid Blue refinish, but one step at a time...

Great get, you won’t regret it. For a what-if 70s machine, can’t go wrong with a black pickguard, with the WRHBs it won’t be boring. Headstock’s not 70s but you can draw inspiration from the last original run 82 Jazzmaster like I did.

http://33.media.tumblr.com/597f165a53b7d8e2988c51402faf42d9/tumblr_ml67h7XXAG1qdtuwuo10_1280.jpg

that's pretty

I like Spitfire Tortoiseshell pickguards for sunburst but they’re $$$.

The tort that Fender uses looks like crap but Spitfire has a lot of depth and variation.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CO2_qosBmHm/?igshid=1jmhao90zif5f

I wonder how much it weighs. I’m guessing 15 pounds give or take.

I can't deal with it. Totally sets off my OCD over fingerprint smudges.

Took a chance on a Japanese Mustang 69. The neck is extremely comfortable, the most comfortable neck I've ever played in fact. The tremolo setup is definitely tricky though. It stays in tune if I bend up all the time and it stays in tune if I bend down all the time, but not if I mix the two. Luckily I prefer bending up anyway. It's definitely a great guitar for surf-style playing, techniques like palm muting and tremolo picking are quite comfortable to execute.

You know, if you were wanting to form some sort of evil prog-gaze band and didn't want to hold back - this Fender custom shop double neck Jazzmaster/Bass VI might just be the basis of your entire sound.

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/5k4AAOSwxt1fd0AN/s-l1600.jpg

Accidentally double clicked that link and clicked Buy It Now, will let you know how I get on with it

someone get Takeshi from Boris on the line ASAP

For all those songs where you want the bass part to stop while someone is playing a guitar solo

seems I should look into the Jazzmaster...

― Larry Elleison (rogermexico.), Saturday, February 13, 2021

update: holy shit, I may be a "jazzmaster guy." what took me so long?

So that CIJ JM-66 I was talking about upthread four months ago? It looks like this now:

https://www.quartzcity.net/ilx/jm66dlx-a.jpg
https://www.quartzcity.net/ilx/jm66dlx-b.jpg

Everything came together spectacularly well. The Fender CuNiFe's were definitely worth the effort to track down even with the extra hassle in re-routing the body and a custom pickguard. I went through hours of YouTube videos of JM HB replacement pickups and none of them, even the outstanding ones, had the chunky/splat sound I've been obsessing over ever since Jason Pierce switched to '72 Telecaster Thinlines soon into Spiritualized.

Totaling all the costs, I spent slightly more than a current Fender JM Ultra. Like the Grease Rat in Mad Max said "Speed's just a question of money. How fast you wanna go?" When I was first figuring out what I wanted (other than the CuNiFe WRHBs) I was wanting a custom color, B&B neck, but after paging through other folks' Jazzblaster projects I kept noticing just how many screws were visible on the front: 25 when you add in the 8 from the pickups. All of these all-black or all-white pickguards look like it took a shotgun blast. A tortoise shell is great at disguising those and of course that led to $pitfire. I fucking love the result. I have a new #1.

Putting together a guitar out of internet-sourced parts and 15 minute YouTube videos has been an awesome depression-fighter. Recommend it to everyone.

Looks lovely and I agree about tortoiseshell pickguards.

Saddles look a little strange in these photos though, is there something unusual about them?

It's just the standard Mastery bridge for CIJs. I'm still tweaking things - the neck was initially shimmed a bit more than I was used to but I'm liking it. Should be great for .011s.

oooooooooweeeeeee

love this ET - thank you for the update and the hott pix!

I think I have a bad contact… neck pup cuts out when I engage the rhythm circuit but can be restored by tapping on the pickguard. for context, I am reluctant to take it off to diagnose bc I really like the strings I have on there now, so your DIY project gives me courage lol.

Putting together a guitar out of internet-sourced parts and 15 minute YouTube videos has been an awesome depression-fighter

I've done this a few times and concur.

it's gorgeous! i absolute love it.

rogermexico - tune down to slack and capo the strings at the 3rd fret or so. Then you can take the neck off and work under the pickguard etc.

Lovely guitar.

https://www.gearnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Fender-Traditional-60s-Jazzmaster-with-Wide-Range-CuNiFe-Humbuckers-1-2048x702.jpg

Coming soon to a grey marketer/eBay exporter near you:
Fender Made in Japan Traditional 60s Jazzmaster with Wide Range CuNiFe humbuckers

I feel like Fender Japan is looking at what people are building on the internet and just duplicating them. Naturally I'm just going to assume that they saw my build and knew how to get me uptight about it by adding a block neck but I'm happier with the 7.25" in my build.

OTOH, goddamn - what a great way to get into the Jazzblaster game! I'm going to be intensely jealous if there's a Fiesta Red or Lake Placid Blue run of it.

They've done it before, the Lee Ranaldo signature model:
http://fencedinarea.com/Images/Gear/Fender_LeeRanaldo_02_150814_med.jpg

Different pickups though. Fender "revoiced" their then current WRHB to sound like the old ones. There's a very detailed discussion about all this on https://www.offsetguitars.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=107104

I am not going to play a Fender with humbuckers

Not on a boat, not with a goat

I will not do it, sorry. Cool if that's your thing but if I want to play a guitar with humbuckers it will not be anything on Leo's platform

boo my Tele Custom is my favourite guitar

I'm just more comfortable with a Jazzmaster or Jaguar than anything else, if I needed a drop C 7-string with EMGs I'd find a way to do it in one of those.

fender honors 60 years of the jaguar by releasing an "ultra luxe" variant with....dual humbuckers, through-body stringing, a tune-o-matic, and (worst of all, a sin to end all sins) 25.5" scale length

https://www.fender.com/articles/gear/60-anniversary-jaguar?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20220414_Jaguar&utm_term=fender&src=email15DT041422&smtrctid=ffa5dba0-b6db-484d-a883-09fc217e39eb&c3ch=ecommemail&c3nid=20220414_Jaguar

"honouring its rich legacy by systematically erasing every single design element specific to the Jaguar"

if you buy this guitar you go through a time warp and become the rhythm guitarist of a forgettable, thursday-esque 2000s emo band.

Lol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkibmgLoRa0

A real Jagblaster with the offset bridge and vibrato and the new Cunife Wide Range Humbuckers would be fucking awesome and the total amount of retooling needed by Fender would be updating CNC files to rout the bodies and pickguards for the humbuckers.

Or if supplies are limited on those, just put in regular humbuckers, whatever.

or Firebird pickups

burn the heretic

Could always just get a CIJ Fender Jaguar Special HH - at least you'll have a 24" neck and 7.25 radius to start with.

or if you want a longer scale,
https://images.reverb.com/image/upload/s--huFLClf9--/f_auto,t_large/v1619740724/nl7pxhnvufgeqm8hjkmf.jpg

Offsets without the offset bridge and vibrato are crimes against god IMO. Pickups, scale length and headstocks are negotiable but those two things are required.

Also semi-hollow offsets that do away with the forearm curve, bad very bad.

squier makes a shoreline gold and a fiesta red HH jaguar that I've thought about buying used to convert to an actual jaguar but neither has the proper bridge or trem routing and one has a stupid strat jack on the front

My friend has an unstained dark wood jazz master, it’s a thing of beauty

There's a Jaguar partscaster on Reverb with Super Distortions that's oddly compelling - I mostly hate the idea of a maple neck with black blocks, especially on an offset, but it winds up looking pretty good on this one.

Good review of the AVII Jazzmaster.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jr9_sa_fsLo

yikes. never been in the market for a usa-made fender but they have seemed to have a decent rep for a long time now, certainly not with qc issues like that

yeah wow those am vintage series were always prided on being super mint

I have a squire jagmaster. It was the vista series from the 90s. Wonderful neck. Great vibrations

I have a squire jagmaster. It was the vista series from the 90s. Wonderful neck. Great vibrations

https://guitarsforidiots.com/2019/10/02/under-appreciated-guitars-the-squier-vista-series-jagmaster-according-to-mckinley-kitts-of-flor/

I had a 62 reissue. Cool looking guitar but I ended up not liking it and sold it a few years later. That one did hold its value though. I guess I am pretty much a Strat guy for my surf tremolo guitar action.

Jazzmasters are funky instruments and definitely not something that is ready to go out of the box. The vintage style bridge and it's location can be a bit tricky. I'd definitely file it next to the Firebird banjo tuners, a Bigsby and any guitar with a Floyd for stuff you got to figure out how to deal with if you want to play one on a regular basis.

Fender seems to have sold a boodle of the Squire J Mascis models and people seem to like them.

couple of honeys hanging at my place
https://i.imgur.com/d2ZKdIj.jpg

That red matching headstock looks sharp.

Cheers. I was never a Candy Apple Red fan but that one is 35 years old and has darkened up nicely.

Roy Clark is the best...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rT2PTetKMU8

Someone posted photos of the new Squire 12-string Jazzmaster's insides to r/offset and everyone is going full Zapruder film on the parts and possibilities
https://www.reddit.com/r/offset/comments/144c2d9/for_anyone_wondering_these_are_the_inner_workings/

Upgrade the wiring and the pickups and you would have a hell of a cool guitar with one of them.

do i need one of these? no

do i want one of these? fuck yes

For those that have a rat, big muff, blues driver AND a tone bender... a little something for everyone!:

https://www.fender.com/en-US/effects-pedals/boost-gain/fender-shields-blender-limited-edition/0234552099.html

huh i have a fender blender but i almost never use it, it's such an extreme and distinct sound

Run a pedalboard with the Albini Dude Incredible, Shields Blender and Sunn O))) Life Pedal to cover all your non-time based bases.

toss in the hizumitas pedal that earthquaker did w/the lady from boris!

I have a Rowland S Howard signature pedal - MXR D+ + Blue Box but I've never been able to tell if it's not functioning correctly or if the Blue Box is just that unusable for me. D+ side sounds great though.

I'm bringing my Acid Fuzz Sonic Boom 3-in-1 to this signature pedal festival.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjY2QJ1QnsU

(the catch is that you have to figure out Shields' tuning in order to do all that)

trying to figure out why this is $2-300 more than a stock Blender and it's basically the sag/clipping voltage feature (not really present on any mbv material afaik?)...

seems like i would rather take my regular blender and bring it to my soldering/mod guy and pay him $50 to mod it?

Ultra deep dive on the Squire Jazzmaster XII

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYvll3Jwn2M

People need to stop making me want that.