School Me On Jazzmasters

[CaptainWampum]

I've fallen for the beautiful jazzmaster tones, and I'm thinkin' I gotta bite the bullet and pick one up, only one problem, I don't know jack about which models are better than others, what kind of price is a good/bad deal, or the upsides/downsides to owning and playing one, so just share your experience with them. Thanks a ton.

-Wampum.

[Astricii]

American are nice and spensive

Japanese are nice and kinda hard to come by unless you find a used one through Ishibashi or the like

I have a mexi Jag and it's actually a lot nicer than you'd think. I like it just as much if not more than my 93 MIJ Jaguar.


Classic Player (mexi) usually run about 8-900ish new

Japanese are about 700-1000 used if you find one in good condition

It should be noted Japanese Jazzmasters don't have true Vintage style wide single coil pickups. if you pull the cover it's actually more similar to a strat pickup under a large case so really it'll sound more like a jag than an american jazzmaster.

American made are like 1,500ish

if you want cheap jazzmaster style tones. I've played my friend's Eastwood SideJack DLX looks just like the green one on their site. It's P90 rather than the true Jazzmaster pickups but share a lot of tonal qualities.

Here's a good site about the jazzmaster's pickups and their differences from other guitars.
http://www.lollarguitars.com/mm5/mercha ... ps-guitars

Here's the eastwood you can nab one for less than 700 new if you're on a budget.
http://www.eastwoodguitars.com/GTRs/sid ... LX_frm.htm

[Snowblind]

Check this site out they will have everything you need to know...

http://www.offsetguitars.com/forums/index.php

[DarkAxel]

Here's the eastwood you can nab one for less than 700 new if you're on a budget.
http://www.eastwoodguitars.com/GTRs/sid ... LX_frm.htm

you son of a bitch

[Radiohead625]

Good luck finding one for $700... i've been looking for awhile. However, ive been avoiding the MIMs because of the non-traditional trem.

[CaptainWampum]

Yeah, I've heard negative things about the tremolo hitting the bridge or it buzzing or whatever. Also it's expensive as shit for a Mexican made guitar. But damn it sounds good.

I wish there was just a "standard" Jazzmaster for me to look at or play. I feel overwhelmed with all these weird ones.

[Gunner Recall]

Just sit down and play a few if you can, most guitar shops have some form of jazzmaster or another.
Guitarists on the whole are ULTRA conservative...what works for some might not work for others, but variation from "vintage" are usually met with anger.

The CP's have overwound pickups, and a shorter trem distance to increase the break angle...these were player requests. It changes the sound some, but you might like it.

The blacktops have a sorta mustang/jazz hybrid bridge. The bridge humbucker is a nice touch imo because odds are if you've never used a jazzmaster before, the standard JM pickups aren't going to have enough kick (many JM users go after overwound/hot aftermarket pups so this was actually a smart move by fender)

ALL jazzmasters buzz...they just do. Grab some loctite blue and hit up the saddle screws.
Generally JM's like heavy strings...11's should be good, you can go heavier if it's your thing.

[univalve]

i changed them to lollars
but they are quite good. one is still in the rehearsal guitar (see thread "strat pickups in jazzmaster") and i like the neck PU.

i like jazzmasters. i do not like the original bridge. that's why i bought the jmascis jm. tom is for my needs better. i like the strings open behind the bridge and not buzz-stopped with the buzz stop. i have, after a time getting used to it, no more problems with strings jumping out of the string trees.

edit: i play 009-042 on my jms

[DarkAxel]

After my summer job in scotland i'd like to look for a new guitar. I was thinking about Jazzys and Jaguars alot because they are "different", i love the snappy attack and strange jangly sound...

it's super hard to check out any offsets here...

now that i've seen Eastwood Sidejack DLX, my focus has probably moved to that one... plus i can get some from Taranaki Guitars in Germany

http://www.eastwoodguitars.com/GTRs/sid ... eFINAL.jpg

http://www.eastwoodguitars.com/GTRs/sid ... tFINAL.jpg

TIGHT

anyway... if a MIJ jaguar/jazzy pops up, i'll definitely consider it... it's just a whole new ground for me

[univalve]

Taranaki Guitars in Germany

highly recommended. nice guys to deal with.

[DarkAxel]

[quote="DarkAxel"Taranaki Guitars in Germany

highly recommended. nice guys to deal with.[/quote]

so i've heard a friend of mine got his Eastwood Ovation Ultra GP tribute and a few Reverends (also interested!) from them


i was wondering - is the Balcktop Jazzmaster still jazzmasteresque without all the tone controls and stuff?

[Gunner Recall]

If you're

i was wondering - is the Balcktop Jazzmaster still jazzmasteresque without all the tone controls and stuff?

If you mean the rhythm circuit, it isn't a big deal. It basically bypasses the bridge pickup/volume/tone knobs and activates the neck pickup and roller volume/tone controls.
It's like having a preset switch on your guitar.

Useful if you are used to gibsons and other 4knob (vol/tone vol/tone) guitars and make use of quick and drastic changes in your bridge/neck tones.
Not really integral to the jm sound...though you can mod the switches/rollers to do other things

[futuresailors]

The upside: everything
The downside: No panty melt ray...

But keep an eye out on craigslist, cuz you can usually find something for around 40-50% off retail. I got my CIJ jag for $550 and my AVRI JM for $800...

[fetch]

Jazzmaster fact #242

If you have a single guitar effects unit you will LOVE and were MEANT FOR the Jazzmaster.

[mathias]

I've heard really good things about these JM clones from Guitar Fetish:

http://www.guitarfetish.com/XV-JT-Serie ... c_208.html

masked elwood has one and likes it.

They can be had for about $280 with a hardshell case, IIRC. Fits Fender standard necks if you really want that and/or hate the orange tint they used on the necks.

Eventually I want to get one of these in cream or dakota red.


They also make a cheaper Telemaster-type setup but I don't like it nearly as much:

I just don't think that compares to the real Telemaster-type guitars in terms of looks: http://www.makenmusic.com/productImg/Fe ... ntBody.jpg