Jazzmaster, Strat, or Tele?

[Benjy_26]

Hello all.

I recently won a Mighty Mite neck on ebay that I didn't think I would win. It's a 25.5" scale neck with 22 jumbo frets, a birds eye maple board, abalone inlays, and a satin finish.

I have no real use for it, so I've decided to look at getting a body and starting a parts-caster build. I found Rosser Guitars on ebay and decided to go with one of their pine bodies with a thin, distressed, nitro finish.

Out of the bodies they sell, I decided that their hard tail strat, their tele custom, or their jazzmaster bodies looked the coolest. I can't decide, so I'll leave it up to you.

FWIW, I own a LOT of strats, all with trems, two teles; one a thinline and the other a solid body with a SM1b in the neck, and a Mustang, as far as offsets go. Vl

 

[jeremy]

i like the look of a jazzmaster but would never own one with that awful bridge. if a gibson style bridge and stoptail was an option, then id go for that

 

[GuitarStv]

Hardtail jazzmaster, jazzmaster with a strat trem, or jazzmaster with a Floyd. The jazzmaster body is awesome to play on, lovely upper fret access and very comfortable both standing/sitting. I don't like the regular bridge though.

 

[Benjy_26]

i like the look of a jazzmaster but would never own one with that awful bridge. if a gibson style bridge and stoptail was an option, then id go for that

There's a company that makes a bridge plate that turns that guitar into a hardtail. The ball end passes through and is anchored underneath, improving string angle in the process. If I go jazzmaster, I'd probably do that AND get rid of the goofy rythm circuit.

 

[jeremy]

oh yeah, i dont need that crap either.

 

[esandes]

I voted jazzmaster because you don't have one. I love my jazzmaster. The electronics only consist of a single 1M volume pot. The pickups are antiquity 2 jazzmasters-just flawless tone.

I replaced the bridge with mastery. If the bridge hole is small it's a Japanese style jazzy. If big, US style. The mastery can be either. It immensely improved the sustain and got rid of the string slipping off the saddle. Tremolos inherently destroy sustain. If you don't use it I'd go hardtail.

 

[Mincer]

A Jazzmaster shape with 2 humbuckers and a good bridge. Something that not only looks unique, but every part is a functional piece of the guitar.

 

[Benjy_26]

A Jazzmaster shape with 2 humbuckers and a good bridge. Something that not only looks unique, but every part is a functional piece of the guitar.

I was thinking of leaving the pickups as jazzmaster pickups. I've never lived with them, but I enjoy tele, strat, P90, and filtertron sounds, so I assume I won't hate the jazzmaster soapbars.

 

[Mincer]

I was thinking of leaving the pickups as jazzmaster pickups. I've never lived with them, but I enjoy tele, strat, P90, and filtertron sounds, so I assume I won't hate the jazzmaster soapbars.

Yeah, they are their own thing But certainly a better bridge.

 

[Chistopher]

A Jazzmaster shape with 2 humbuckers and a good bridge. Something that not only looks unique, but every part is a functional piece of the guitar.

I disagree with this line of thinking. One of the reasons to own a Jazzmaster is because you've had your share of anything else. Why buy a cool guitar just to turn it into a non-reverse firebird?

 

[Mincer]

I disagree with this line of thinking. One of the reasons to own a Jazzmaster is because you've had your share of anything else. Why buy a cool guitar just to turn it into a non-reverse firebird?

Most likely because it will work better. I am not for keeping features on a guitar that don't work well. The JM bridge is a nightmare.

 

[Chistopher]

Most likely because it will work better. I am not for keeping features on a guitar that don't work well. The JM bridge is a nightmare.

The Jazzmaster bridge is an excellent chance to learn picking and dynamic control. I'm among the camp of thinking that using varied styles of guitars even if they are "worse" forces you to enter into new ways of playing and thinking and as such are an excellent pathway to growth.

 

[jeremy]

thats nice, but i cant have some wonky piece of kit on a gig.

 

[Chistopher]

Having a guitar doesn't mean you have to gig with it. Ideal practice and performance require different tools is what I'm saying.

 

[JB_From_Hell]

I really thought the JM bridge was dumb, until I owned a Classic Vibe or Vintage Modified Jaguar a few years ago. If you use a Mustang bridge rather than the all thread weirdness, it’s really cool, works well, and is similar to a Bigsby. All that extra string length behind the bridge really makes it feel different, too.

 

[Chistopher]

I really thought the JM bridge was dumb, until I owned a Classic Vibe or Vintage Modified Jaguar a few years ago. If you use a Mustang bridge rather than the all thread weirdness, it’s really cool, works well, and is similar to a Bigsby. All that extra string length behind the bridge really makes it feel different, too.

Or even better just put graphtech saddles on, so you get the height adjustment of the Jazzmaster saddles with the slots of a Mustang

 

[jeremy]

Having a guitar doesn't mean you have to gig with it. Ideal practice and performance require different tools is what I'm saying.

i understand, and for many people that may be true. i dont really practice much, everything i own needs to be gig worthy or i shouldnt own it.

i do get that the bridge changes things, maybe even in a cool way for some people, but i dont use the trem and would much rather have solid tuning and better sustain

 

[Mincer]

i understand, and for many people that may be true. i dont really practice much, everything i own needs to be gig worthy or i shouldnt own it.

i do get that the bridge changes things, maybe even in a cool way for some people, but i dont use the trem and would much rather have solid tuning and better sustain

I feel the same. If I can't take it on a gig because it doesn't stay in tune, I will get something that does. I never used guitars to force my perspective to change...I do that with learning and writing new music or techniques.

 

[alex1fly]

Jazzmaster builds are love/hate. Play a few before committing to that body style, if you can. I test drove a Fender JM for about 3 weeks and quickly decided it wasn't for me. The body was simply massive and the entire instrument was only a few inches shorter than my Precision Bass. That may be great for you, though.

So I'd pick hardtail Strat or Tele. Simpler, less to mess up. Highly suggest test driving a Jazzmaster if you want to go that route. It's a different animal than Fender's other offsets.

 

[Jack_TriPpEr]

What's a solid example of a famous song where you can hear the tone of a Jazzmaster guitar clearly? A song that is on Youtube so i can take a listen to it. I ask cuz I am not sure what the "classic Jazzmaster tone" sounds like.