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Jazzmaster - where have you been all my life?

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  • Jazzmaster - where have you been all my life?

    So I guess I'm a Jazzmaster guy now.

    I recently picked up a TVL Signature Jazzmaster in a trade and it was the first time I'd ever actually played a JM before. I've always been a Tele guy, but holy crap am I enjoying the JM! First off, it's comfortable to play. Second, it doesn't sound like anything else I already have. It's got a distinctly Fender sound, but it's also NOT a Strat and NOT a Tele. Totally it's own thing. And man does it sound GREAT! I've been having more fun than I have had in years with a new guitar just messing around on it and playing with all the different sounds and tones I can get out of it.

    I can't believe it's taken me this long to try one! They're fun!
    -
    My Rolling Stones tribute band: The Main Street Exiles

    At the battle of the bands, the loser is always the audience. -Demitri Martin

  • #2
    Re: Jazzmaster - where have you been all my life?

    Nice!

    That and a John Marr Jag and I’d be in offset heaven!
    Oh no.....


    Oh Yeah!

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    • #3
      Re: Jazzmaster - where have you been all my life?

      They're definitely my favorite for clean tones and for certain fuzzy sounds. Both of mine are with my repair guy right now and my only other single coils are P90s in an LP Special which are completely different.
      green globe burned black by sunn

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      • #4
        Re: Jazzmaster - where have you been all my life?

        The Jazzmaster body design is far and away the best thing Leo Fender ever did. They're very comfortable to play standing or sitting, they balance perfectly no matter how heavy the neck or body is, upper fret access is way better than a strat because there's no annoying lower horn to bump your wrist into. Traditional JM wiring is great, but takes a little time to wrap your head around if you're used to keeping all the knobs set to max. That just doesn't work most of the time with a Jazzmaster.
        Join me in the fight against muscular atrophy!

        Originally posted by Douglas Adams
        This planet has - or rather had - a problem, which was this: most of the people living on it were unhappy for pretty much of the time. Many solutions were suggested for this problem, but most of these were largely concerned with the movements of small green pieces of paper, which is odd because on the whole it wasn't the small green pieces of paper that were unhappy.

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        • #5
          Re: Jazzmaster - where have you been all my life?

          I love that the controls get darker as you turn down, get a warm base tone and then your lead boost comes with various degrees of treble boost depending on if you roll it up all the way or not
          Pretty useful when you get used to it! Almost thought about trying 1meg controls on more guitars.
          The jazzmaster is known for lots of jangle and I love that you can kill it when you want and it's mostly a regular guitar but wind it up and you get that "extra" bit on top that sounds very lively. Can cover many styles with it, and they are indeed comfortable, and they used to be cool before hipsters caught wind of all the fender offsets which I think are almost all great and have cool and fun quirks

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          • #6
            Re: Jazzmaster - where have you been all my life?

            For years I thought Jazzmasters/Jaguars were for dorks. They looked dorky and melted, just.... wrong.

            Then I bought one of the Squier Vintage Modified Jaguars with 2 humbuckers... Not only did I dig the 24" scale length, but the body was SO COMFY. Why didn't I figure this out decades ago? I mean - I always preferred the offset body of the Jazz bass over the P-bass. I bought another couple offset bodies just to have for projects. Everybody should try one.
            aka Chris Pile, formerly of Six String Fever

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            • #7
              Re: Jazzmaster - where have you been all my life?

              Seems like it could be made even more ergonomic with a trem and electronics tweak. I think what always turned me off is the music usually associated with it, but I bet it could be one cool technical axe.
              Administrator of the SDUGF

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              • #8
                Re: Jazzmaster - where have you been all my life?

                Click image for larger version

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                This is my perfect jazzmaster. Now, change the wiring and I'd get it in a heartbeat.

                Or I can build me one.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Jazzmaster - where have you been all my life?

                  Originally posted by orpheo View Post
                  [ATTACH=CONFIG]103457[/ATTACH]

                  This is my perfect jazzmaster. Now, change the wiring and I'd get it in a heartbeat.

                  Or I can build me one.
                  Needs a floyd, maple fretboard, and neon pink paint job. :P
                  Join me in the fight against muscular atrophy!

                  Originally posted by Douglas Adams
                  This planet has - or rather had - a problem, which was this: most of the people living on it were unhappy for pretty much of the time. Many solutions were suggested for this problem, but most of these were largely concerned with the movements of small green pieces of paper, which is odd because on the whole it wasn't the small green pieces of paper that were unhappy.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Jazzmaster - where have you been all my life?

                    I loved the look of my Jazzmaster. And parts of the feel. But I never cottoned to the bridge, old school neck radius (it was an AVRI) or the sound, even after I put Antiquities in.

                    I still regularly toy with the idea of getting another one, though. Easy to find them with 9.5" necks these days and most of the more recent ones have moved the trem closer to the bridge, so the strings don't jump off so badly. Or, hell, some have a Strat trem or a T-o-M.

                    And I'm sure I could find some pickups I liked, even if they weren't REALLY Jazzmaster pups. Novak builds all kinds of weird ish into a JM cover.
                    ---------------------------
                    The most popular thread I've ever made was 1) a joke and 2) based around literally the most inane/mundane question I could think of. That says something about me, or all of you, or both.

                    https://forum.seymourduncan.com/show...or-for-a-Strat

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                    • #11
                      Re: Jazzmaster - where have you been all my life?

                      Heavy strings and a lighter touch work great with the stock bridge if the strings are jumping out

                      Lowering the bridge too much makes it worse, if you want low action it can help to raise the whole bridge and shim the neck, increasing the break angle at the bridge.

                      But yeah... Compared to some other bridges it seems like a really outdated design but I've got mine where it's behaving. I like 11s on it. Also helps balance out the super jangly nature of that much string behind the bridge with a stronger mids and fundamental note

                      The stock setup is not for everyone for sure

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                      • #12
                        Re: Jazzmaster - where have you been all my life?

                        Mine came equipped with a Mustang bridge. Apparently either that or a Mastery bridge completely solves the bridge issues. I've had none so far.

                        The pickups are possibly the most interesting thing. They're not regular Strat type SC's and they are also not P90's. It's a different design and tone all their own. With the volume wide open they're bright and soooooo jangly. Roll back the volume even a little and they darken up to an almost woody tone. With overdrive on that jangle turns into an absolutely gorgeous glassy grind sound. There are so many options for tone on the guitar itself - it's not a one trick pony that's for sure.

                        The vibrato on mine is very stable and also quite musical. It's got a lot less travel than a typical strat trem system. (So no divebombs). I'm enjoying it and I've found no tuning issues with its use.
                        Last edited by Powdered Toast Man; 02-23-2020, 11:12 AM.
                        -
                        My Rolling Stones tribute band: The Main Street Exiles

                        At the battle of the bands, the loser is always the audience. -Demitri Martin

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Jazzmaster - where have you been all my life?

                          A Jazzmaster with stock wiring in the right hands can make any tone you want it to make. Add a proper setup with the neck angle that Leo originally intended for them, and there are none of the "problems" that people complain about. Probably Fender's most advanced and versatile guitar design of all time.
                          Last edited by ItsaBass; 02-23-2020, 12:50 PM.
                          Originally posted by LesStrat
                          Yogi Berra was correct.
                          Originally posted by JOLLY
                          I do a few chord things, some crappy lead stuff, and then some rhythm stuff.

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                          • #14
                            Re: Jazzmaster - where have you been all my life?

                            Originally posted by Powdered Toast Man View Post
                            Mine came equipped with a Mustang bridge. Apparently either that or a Mastery bridge completely solves the bridge issues. I've had none so far.

                            The pickups are possibly the most interesting thing. They're not regular Strat type SC's and they are also not P90's. It's a different design and tone all their own. With the volume wide open they're bright and soooooo jangly. Roll back the volume even a little and they darken up to an almost woody tone. With overdrive on that jangle turns into an absolutely gorgeous glassy grind sound. There are so many options for tone on the guitar itself - it's not a one trick pony that's for sure.

                            The vibrato on mine is very stable and also quite musical. It's got a lot less travel than a typical strat trem system. (So no divebombs). I'm enjoying it and I've found no tuning issues with its use.
                            That's mostly the 1meg pots I think you're hearing, slap 250ks in there and they sound like dull strat pickups to me
                            They jangly sounds are in the acoustic tones of the whole guitar and any brightish pickups with 1 Meg's
                            which sound like almost straight through to the output jack will get you there (like a no load tone control but combined with no load volume control, how bright! It's that effect picking up the behind the bridge harmonics, some people even like to kill those with a tensioning bar that pushes the sounds back up above your hearing)

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                            • #15
                              Re: Jazzmaster - where have you been all my life?

                              Originally posted by ICTGoober View Post
                              Then I bought one of the Squier Vintage Modified Jaguars with 2 humbuckers...
                              That's the one I have. In Fiesta Red,with the Duncan Designed JB/Jazz set in Zebra. It's one of the few guitars that I haven't messed with. Bone stock.

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