Is the Jazzmaster for me?

Re: Is the Jazzmaster for me?

:D
abatsd.jpg
 
Re: Is the Jazzmaster for me?

There's nothing like the sound of those things; if it's bright and cutting with snarl, the Jazzmaster is the ticket. Of course with the tone circuit the way it is, you can get some warmer tones out of the neck, but I remember trying one out in the store and gravitating towards the way that you could do all sorts of odd chords with gain and it would all come out so clearly.
 
Re: Is the Jazzmaster for me?

I have played several standards and an Elvis Costello sig and I really prefer the MIM JM just because of the fretboard radius. Nothing sounds like a Jazzmaster!
 
Re: Is the Jazzmaster for me?

I love evrything about it but the tailpiece/bridge thing. I like the Squier's strat style bridge better, just for the familiarity.

Other than the bridge, I dig the Elvis sig best.
 
Re: Is the Jazzmaster for me?

At the risk of being accused of spamming, there is a very good, specialist website for fans of the Fender offset waist electric guitars.
 
Last edited:
Re: Is the Jazzmaster for me?

no high output needed here. I want the jazzmaster for what it is: a classic fender design, with unique pickups and a trem.(

This is why I bought a beaten up, pre-owned Fender CIJ Jaguar and fitted Antiquities and USA pots. (NOTE: The 1meg pots are important. The resistance taper is not much use but changing to 500 or 250k messes up the tone.) This guitar does "textural" tones.

I wish I could put a wide range humbucker in the neck of my tele. :(

A school contemporary of mine owned a CBS-era Fender Telecaster Deluxe. Through his Park (a Marshall pseudonym) Master Volume 50w valve combo, the neck pickup on that guitar did a fantastic Hendrix "All Along The Watchtower" solo tone.

must. acquire. jazzmaster.

My Jag has an Antiquity I bridge PU and an Antiquity II neck. I do not know whether the same options are available for the JM? IMO, Five-Twos for JM would be interesting.
 
Re: Is the Jazzmaster for me?

This is why I bought a beaten up, pre-owned Fender CIJ Jaguar and fitted Antiquities and USA pots. (NOTE: The 1meg pots are important. The resistance taper is not much use but changing to 500 or 250k messes up the tone.) This guitar does "textural" tones.



A school contemporary of mine owned a CBS-era Fender Telecaster Deluxe. Through his Park (a Marshall pseudonym) Master Volume 50w valve combo, the neck pickup on that guitar did a fantastic Hendrix "All Along The Watchtower" solo tone.



My Jag has an Antiquity I bridge PU and an Antiquity II neck. I do not know whether the same options are available for the JM? IMO, Five-Twos for JM would be interesting.

I think so, yes. So let me get this straight. What the forum is insinuating is that the Jazzmaster's pickups sound great, BUT it would sound even better if I dropped some duncans for jazzmaster in it?
 
Re: Is the Jazzmaster for me?

So let me get this straight. What the forum is insinuating is that the Jazzmaster's pickups sound great BUT it would sound even better if I dropped some duncans for jazzmaster in it?

OPINION: The Fender Jazzmaster does some interesting sounds that your Gibson and hot-rodded Stratocaster-derived guitars can not.

FACT: There is a wide range of price points from USA Custom Shop signature models through Japanese and Mexican replicas down to Squiers that are only loosely based on the original design.

The questions you need to ask yourself are;
1) How often are you going to play this guitar?
2) How much money do you want to pay for the privilege?
3) If you only really use this "alternative" guitar for recording projects, can you justify spending over a thousand dollars to buy it?

This is the process by which I "rationalised" purchasing and modifying my CIJ Jag. Total cost to me, four hundred pounds (approx. 550 USD) including brand new, form-fitted Hiscox Liteflite case.

The truth is that there was nothing rational about my decision. Somebody traded the Jag in my local music store. The shop proprietor knew that I wanted one but not enough to pay full MSRP. Ker-ching!

I, for one, am not suggesting that you pay full price for a Fender CS Jazzmaster and then immediately start mangling it. On the other hand, dropping Duncans into a mid-priced JM replica is justifiable. I enjoy my modified CIJ Jag. It has character.
 
Re: Is the Jazzmaster for me?

OPINION: The Fender Jazzmaster does some interesting sounds that your Gibson and hot-rodded Stratocaster-derived guitars can not.

FACT: There is a wide range of price points from USA Custom Shop signature models through Japanese and Mexican replicas down to Squiers that are only loosely based on the original design.

The questions you need to ask yourself are;
1) How often are you going to play this guitar?
2) How much money do you want to pay for the privilege?
3) If you only really use this "alternative" guitar for recording projects, can you justify spending over a thousand dollars to buy it?

This is the process by which I "rationalised" purchasing and modifying my CIJ Jag. Total cost to me, four hundred pounds (approx. 550 USD) including brand new, form-fitted Hiscox Liteflite case.

The truth is that there was nothing rational about my decision. Somebody traded the Jag in my local music store. The shop proprietor knew that I wanted one but not enough to pay full MSRP. Ker-ching!

I, for one, am not suggesting that you pay full price for a Fender CS Jazzmaster and then immediately start mangling it. On the other hand, dropping Duncans into a mid-priced JM replica is justifiable. I enjoy my modified CIJ Jag. It has character.

How often am I going to play this guitar?

assuming I purchase anything from the $800 model up, I will play this guitar often. If it is literally the Jaguar body shape, but with the strat scale, I believe I'll really be into it, it's the best of both worlds, like combining my two favorite guitars.

how much money do i want to pay?

I want to purchase the best guitar that I can, no matter the price. (granted, the $1,800 one is wishful thinking).

I'd use this guitar live. As I've said before on the forum, I hot rod my guitars so I need less gain from the pre amp. I dont like fizzy crappy gain. I like lower gain sounds, and, if anyones used a smooth high output humbucker, you'll notice that at lower gain levels, it's not as noisy as a weaker pickup.

I see purchasing the $800 one and putting duncans in it as a great idea.

something like...


567201.jpg


and for pickups...

the vintage for jazzmaster

96de2631cc6d6529be888f6dc847f435acaa7222.jpg


Model: SJM-1
Category: Seymour Duncan Pickups for Jaguar, Jazzmaster & Danolectro
DC Resistance:
Neck: 7.75 k
Bridge: 8.4 k
Resonant Peak:
Neck: 9 KHz
Bridge: 8.81 KHz
EQ: 6 / 6 / 4 (Treb / Mid / Bass)
Magnet: Alnico V Rods

---

sadly, i don't see 8.4k doing it for me, unless these pickups sound so good they justify the loss of output.

----

96de2631cc6d6529be888f6dc847f435acaa7222.jpg


the hot for jazzmaster...

is too hot.

Bridge: 14.11 k ? thats not what I'm going for.

also, a resonant peak under 6khz? :question: its a dark pickup, to boot? no way man.

------------

Quarter Pounder for Jazzblaster

0f085a34c8b32904c3ce64b619bf0b2e9c087d43.jpg


is looking pretty interesting.

Bright and punchy - with a harder edge
Model: SJM-3
Category: Seymour Duncan Pickups for Jaguar, Jazzmaster & Danolectro
DC Resistance:
Neck: 11.85 k
Bridge: 12.97 k
Resonant Peak:
Neck: 5.2 KHz
Bridge: 5 KHz
EQ: 6 / 5 / 9 (Treb / Mid / Bass)
Magnet: .25" Alnico V Rods
Cable: Single Con. PVC

----


I know the resonant peak is lower than the hot for jazz, but for some reason the treble is marked as higher. I like that its kind of a compromise between the two extremes, its not incredibly hot, so i should get some nice clean sounds, right? and this IS still a jazzmaster single coil pickup, so I should retain at least *some* of the sound?


=========


I don't like that they're black. Can they be ordered in the cream kind of color seen in the jazzmaster picture?
 
Last edited:
Re: Is the Jazzmaster for me?

If it is literally the Jaguar body shape, but with the strat scale, I believe I'll really be into it, it's the best of both worlds, like combining my two favorite guitars.

I don't like that they're black. Can they be ordered in the cream kind of color seen in the jazzmaster picture?

Yes, the JM is literally the Jaguar body shape except that, chronologically speaking, the JM predates the Jaguar.

QPs are usually meant to be installed without a cover. Their rod magnet polepieces are flush with the vulcanised fibreboard top plate of the pickup. I imagine that the QPs will fit inside a the plastic pickup cover but, of course, the polepieces will not protrude like a vintage instrument. No big deal.

Pity that the Hot and QP versions are not offered a with coil-tapping option.

Finally, have you listened to the Sound Clips of any of your preferred replacement pickups?
 
Re: Is the Jazzmaster for me?

I'm not sure, but somewhere on this site I believe it says the JM pups are furnished without covers. That leads me to believe that the SD JM pups are to be mounted under the
cream (covers?) furnished with the guitar.

Can someone clear this up?

As for the selection, you might be happier paying for a custom wound set with neck around 9k and the bridge around 11k. The QP set may look good on the treble side, but look at all the bass! It looks like a major shift away from the vintage JM vibe.
 
Re: Is the Jazzmaster for me?

Yes, the JM is literally the Jaguar body shape except that, chronologically speaking, the JM predates the Jaguar.

QPs are usually meant to be installed without a cover. Their rod magnet polepieces are flush with the vulcanised fibreboard top plate of the pickup. I imagine that the QPs will fit inside a the plastic pickup cover but, of course, the polepieces will not protrude like a vintage instrument. No big deal.

Pity that the Hot and QP versions are not offered a with coil-tapping option.

Finally, have you listened to the Sound Clips of any of your preferred replacement pickups?

upon listening to clips and viewing youtube videos:

the vintage is more or less what I want. the hot isnt as hot as i thought.

theyre probably equally noisy right?

heres a question: do you guys think the vintage best represents the classic jazzmaster sound, since it shoots for it, while the pickups fender puts on the guitar are just fender brand single coils?
 
Re: Is the Jazzmaster for me?

I'm not sure, but somewhere on this site I believe it says the JM pups are furnished without covers. That leads me to believe that the SD JM pups are to be mounted under the
cream (covers?) furnished with the guitar.

Can someone clear this up?

Yep, it's no different than half of Seymour Duncan's pickups. You buy the pickup, you use the pre-existing pickup cover.

upon listening to clips and viewing youtube videos:

the vintage is more or less what I want. the hot isnt as hot as i thought.

theyre probably equally noisy right?

heres a question: do you guys think the vintage best represents the classic jazzmaster sound, since it shoots for it, while the pickups fender puts on the guitar are just fender brand single coils?

Assuming that you're buying this guitar in a store, I'd listen to the thing first and then decide whether or not replacement pickups are needed. There's nothing wrong with stock pickups and who knows? You might really like what they sound like. I forget what model Jazzmaster I tried out, but the stock pickups sounded great. I have no doubts in my mind that Duncans would sound different, but you'll have to decide what's lacking with the stock ones before justifying the extra coin.

Also, if you are looking at replacement pickups, keep in mind that 8k isn't underpowered by any means (I'd even go as far as to say those are about ideal because the pickup will give a bit of a push to the amplifier without overtaking its tone). Any decent amplifier with some gain will sing from pickups in that range, so don't think you can't rock out with them because they're under 10k. If I've learned anything over the years it's that higher wound pickups tend to be more limiting, lower wound pickups seem to have more vibe and are more responsive.
 
Last edited:
Re: Is the Jazzmaster for me?

I don't like that they're black. Can they be ordered in the cream kind of color seen in the jazzmaster picture?

Once upon a time, in a galaxy far, far away, CBS thought it would be a good idea to kit out the Jazzmaster with black plastic parts and large block inlays.

Give me lots and lots of money NOW or else I will Google up a photograph of a mid-to-late Seventies Jazzmaster. Bwah, hah, hah!
 
Re: Is the Jazzmaster for me?

Cart before the AZ, get the guitar in the house and play it first then worry about the pickup options. Now go get it already!!!!!!!

Is there a Jay Mascis JM sig.....???? hmmmmm................
 
Re: Is the Jazzmaster for me?

And to answer my own question yes there is!

Mine I called it!!!

fenjazzpurspk2.JPG


Just a side note my bass player has been going crazy over a red Jag bass but found he really liked the Jet King bass better.
 
Re: Is the Jazzmaster for me?

Why did I even pop in here...I've wanted a Jazzmaster on and off for years.

Came REAL close to grabbing a mid 80's MIJ Jazzmaster some years ago and let a buddy of mine talk me out of it...bummer...
 
Back
Top