Jazzmaster, Strat, or Tele?

[GuitarStv]

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.

Clean they tend to sound pretty pokey - think Television's Marquee Moon or Costello's Watching the Detectives. They tend to take gain and effects pretty well though. Thom Yorke used one for the recording of Airbag on OK computer. Dinosaur Jr, My Bloody Valentine, do heavier stuff with them.

Pretty clear JM tones on the solo at about 2:50 -

 

[Chistopher]

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.

Funny, most of the "classic Jazzmaster tones" that come to mind were probably played on a Strat

 

[Nightburst]

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.

Same experience here, owned a player series JM with the dual humbuckers, it was a nice guitar nothing wrong with it at all. Stock pickups sounded great too actually, especially when split. Just decided I didn't like the big body and the feel and the weight of it. It's a different kind of beast for sure. I think it looks really cool though but I'll stay with more ergonomic guitars like strats and sg's.

 

[jeremy]

im 6'2" and 240lbs so a little bigger of a guitar isnt much of an issue for me but i can see how it might not be as comfortable for others

 

[alex1fly]

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.

I wouldn't overthink it too much. It's squarely in the Fender realm of tones - they shimmer, they grunt, they drive, they warm up, they twang, they are pretty clear, they take FX well, they get nasty. Some have P90-esque pups under that pickup cover (bar magnet, adjustable polepieces), some have Jazzmaster pickups (alnico rods, non-adjustable).

The tremolo when set up right is really fun. Very shimmery. The tremolo lock button is handy, too.

My favorite part of the JM test drive was setting it up with .11s (as intended) and playing fingerstyle. The classic bridge puts the strings far off the body, and it was pretty novel and encouraged me to play differently. I would've kept it just to have something way different if I weren't so fixated on both acquiring the perfect Telecaster and keeping my guitar collection down. I'm 150 lbs and the thing was totally massive, not more massive than a large bodied acoustic guitar but then I don't like playing those much. It was cool, for sure, and one may work its way back into my life at some point. I guess in that way, it could make a great candidate for a parts build. There's just more to do setup-wise with JMs... neck shims are commonplace, the original bridges are plagued with problems (just visit offsetguitars.com for a plethora of bridge-related threads). If I were doing a JM build I'd strongly consider doing a fixed bridge. Many of the modern Fender JMs coming out have fixed bridges.

 

[GuitarStv]

im 6'2" and 240lbs so a little bigger of a guitar isnt much of an issue for me but i can see how it might not be as comfortable for others

+1

I'm also over 6' and grew up playing a 335 . . . so pretty much everything seems small in comparison. Jazzmaster body size is perfect.

 

[Jack_TriPpEr]

Clean they tend to sound pretty pokey - think Television's Marquee Moon or Costello's Watching the Detectives. They tend to take gain and effects pretty well though. Thom Yorke used one for the recording of Airbag on OK computer. Dinosaur Jr, My Bloody Valentine, do heavier stuff with them.

Pretty clear JM tones on the solo at about 2:50 -

Big thanks Steve. That Wilco song was something else. Getting to hear how a Jazzmaster, Tele and Strat each sounded against the other. The impressions i got for the Jazmmaster was that it didn't have the glassyness of a Strat and was more PAF ish /P90 ish. It was a really useful tone.

 

[GuitarStv]

Big thanks Steve. That Wilco song was something else. Getting to hear how a Jazzmaster, Tele and Strat each sounded against the other. The impressions i got for the Jazmmaster was that it didn't have the glassyness of a Strat and was more PAF ish /P90 ish. It was a really useful tone.

No worries!

Yeah, the interesting (frustrating?) thing about JM traditional wiring and pickups is that it's capable of some radical tone shaping. They are kinda chameleons in that they go from super crazy bright and plinky to dull/woofy with a pillow over the speaker sounds and everything in between. It can be a little off-putting if you're used to traditional guitar wiring and not much playing with the knobs. If you always find yourself playing with the controls on your guitar you may find the JM traditional wiring to be perfect though.

 

[Jack_TriPpEr]

No worries!

Yeah, the interesting (frustrating?) thing about JM traditional wiring and pickups is that it's capable of some radical tone shaping. They are kinda chameleons in that they go from super crazy bright and plinky to dull/woofy with a pillow over the speaker sounds and everything in between. It can be a little off-putting if you're used to traditional guitar wiring and not much playing with the knobs. If you always find yourself playing with the controls on your guitar you may find the JM traditional wiring to be perfect though.

To your point: did anyone notice if the switches on that guy's JM in the Wilco video were set in a way where we weren't hearing the pickups in their normal mode ?

 

[jeremy]

nels also uses a fair amount of pedals to color his tone. i did enjoy the fact he had to fix his tuning mid song

 

[Jack_TriPpEr]

nels also uses a fair amount of pedals to color his tone. i did enjoy the fact he had to fix his tuning mid song

I saw that too. I'm always impressed by someone who can correct an out of tune string on the fly.

 

[jeremy]

ive had to do that a bunch of times over the years, usually it gets the tuning close enough to finish the song but i always check again once the song finishes. i was more commenting on the jazzmaster not even staying in tune for a full song

 

[GuitarStv]

To your point: did anyone notice if the switches on that guy's JM in the Wilco video were set in a way where we weren't hearing the pickups in their normal mode ?

His rhythm/lead slider switch is in the down position for the whole video, which would normally mean it's in neck only loaded down pots 'rhythm' mode . . . but he also switches the lower toggle from neck to bridge just before the solo and it definitely sounds like a bridge pickup with the tone rolled off. I think he has just reversed the rhythm/slider switch so that down is normal 'lead' mode.

 

[jeremy]

or disabled the rhythm circuit

 

[GuitarStv]

or disabled the rhythm circuit

Yep. Always a popular mod for those who don't feel the need for a 'mud' switch.

 

[esandes]

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.

Dinosaur Jr.
sonic youth

two bands that are exclusively jazzmaster

 

[Jack_TriPpEr]

ive had to do that a bunch of times over the years, usually it gets the tuning close enough to finish the song but i always check again once the song finishes. i was more commenting on the jazzmaster not even staying in tune for a full song

Ahh, JM's don't hold tune well, gotcha. Is that due to that funky vbrato bridge design?

 

[Chistopher]

Yep. Always a popular mod for those who don't feel the need for a 'mud' switch.

Mud mode works a lot better if you add a treble bleed and turn the tone control into a bass cut.

 

[Chistopher]

Ahh, JM's don't hold tune well, gotcha. Is that due to that funky vbrato bridge design?

It holds tune just as well as any non-locking vibrato. They are just known for hopping out of tune if you whack a string out of its slot, that's why most people replace the saddles with ones from a Mustang

 

[alex1fly]

It holds tune just as well as any non-locking vibrato. They are just known for hopping out of tune if you whack a string out of its slot, that's why most people replace the saddles with ones from a Mustang

The newer Fender I test drove had a tune-o-matic bridge paired with the classic tremolo