jazzmaster owners, say it loud!

[chuckocaster]

seemed kinda dead in here, thought i'd try to stir up some conversation. all those strat guys are always postin like mad over their strats.


so what do you got? stock? modified? going to build one?

currently i only own one jazzmaster. a beautiful mid 90's MIJ. candy apple red (or whatever they call it) with a matching headstock. i've swapped the pups for some custom one off alan hamel's. rewired it cause i pulled out the rhythm cicuirt. and i also replaced the guard with a gold anodized guard.

it is my number 1, and i wouldn't have it any other way. it is my go to guitar. i'm planning on one day building myself another one like this one, or finding a nice MIJ to hot rod also. but that won't be for a while.

like i said, there usually isn't too much talk in this part of the forum. so what do you got?

[SGHarry]

Do Jaguars count? ;)

[chuckocaster]

of course! why leave anyone out?

[VibroCount]

CAR CIJ Jazzmaster with Seymour Duncan Vintage pups, new (larger) pots, Graph Tech saddles, and a white pearl pickguard. Like Danny Amis's one he played with Los Straitjackets, but with the mother of toilet seat pickguard. I love both the non-Strat non-quack tone & the shape and size of the neck.

[guitar george]

American Vintage '62 Jazzmaster in Sunburst with tortoise guard. Completely stock.

Crank up the reverb and hit that first position e minor chord and it's a sound like no other!

[Power_13]

Here's a question for you guys...what is the difference between a Jaguar and a Jazzmaster?

And all those buttons and switches...I know basically that they activate different circuits...but what are those circuits? Rhythm circuit? Lead circuit? What does it adjust? :O


Just a question or two from the Tele-loving technophobe ;)

[chuckocaster]

the scale length is different between the two. i don't own a jag (yet of course) so i couldn't tell you what it is. 24" maybe?

as for the jazzmaster rhythm/lead curcuit. when it is down you can use the three way, master vol and tone like a tele. when it is up it activates the neck pup along with the "rhythm" curcuit which is just another vol and tone for the neck.

i never really liked mine, i always hit it when playing, and it always sounded too muddy. so i yanked mine and it is now basically a tele style set up. those pups i own are a cross between a tele and a jazzmaster, VERY COOL!

i know someone else will chime in on the jag controls, can't help you there.

[Old Tele man]

.

[chuckocaster]

i love oly white on a jazzmaster! i would also love to have one with the blocks, they are just too cool to me.

[SGHarry]

Ive never liked block inlays on Fenders, i think they should just leave them to gibson, but each to their own.

2003 CIJ Jaguar in Surf Green, all stock. Im looking to buy a mustang bridge soon though.

And yes - Jaguars are 24" scale-awesome with 11's and still easy to bend:)

[Sven]

I've had my eye on the CAR Jazzmaster with matching headstock on Ishibashi for a long time.

[SGHarry]

Well, i just changed out the old bridge for a new Mustang one today, *such* an easy, beneficial mod - it's great!

[Fripperton]

I picked mine up in a pawnshop about 5 years ago. It's so clean I thought it was an Reissue but it's a 1962 that somewhere along the way had a 1965 neck put on it. Came with the original brown case so I guess the original neck was either damaged or a previous owner wanted a matching headstock. Someone refretted it with Jumbo frets and I've had to replace the pickup selector switch. Everything else is original.

[chuckocaster]

fripperton,

that thing looks so clean. nice score man!

[Old Tele man]

.

[T-Bone-BBQ]

I'm new to the board, but I've got a completely stock 1962 Jazzmaster that my Grandpa gave me a coupla years ago. The only thing not stock on it are the strings. He bought it brand new in '62 and was the original owner. He's also got a '68 Jazzmaster that I'll hopefully get one day.

Here's a pic of the '62 Jazzmaster along with my other guitars...



He also gave me his 1961 Fender Bandmaster amp that he bought brand new in '61 also...here's a pic of it.

[chuckocaster]

nice collection BBQ! i should photograph all of my guitars and amps someday. nice pic man!

sg harry,

if you get a chance, and have the tools, next time you change your strings. pull off that mustang bridge and grind down the side that doesn't have the screw holes. then install it with the ground down side pointing towards the bridge.

i learned this mod awhile ago, but it really helps with your downward string angle from the bridge to the tailpiece. granted your intonation will need to be adjusted, but the difference is like night and day with a jazzmaster.


anyways fellas, i'll gab at ya'll later. hope this thread gets hoppin some more. :troll

sorry, i've looked at that "smiley" since the board has been revamped and thought it was funny.

[Jim Shine]

I have a '59 in blonde (see through on ash) with the cool 'Mary Kaye" style more opaque band and gold anodized pickguard. I also have a '62 olympic with factory non-matching headstock and slab fretboard.

[fezz parka]

I still think that a 25.5 scale Jag would be awesome.

[NeoFauve]

It!!!

I don't have a Jazzmaster, but I just felt like saying "it" loud.

[Power_13]

But did Chuck want us to say "It" loud, or did he want us to say "It loud"?


The answer: neither. Since we don't own Jazzmasters.

(BTTT for this thread ;))

[Moody]

Oh yea, I have a CIJ Jazzmaster, cool cool thing.

I tested couple vintage pieces and they where very good, but my CAR is quite there, tone wise. Great finish and great neck.

LOVE IT!

[chuckocaster]

But did Chuck want us to say "It" loud, or did he want us to say "It loud"?


The answer: neither. Since we don't own Jazzmasters.

(BTTT for this thread ;))

:hee :hee

[FenderBoy]

I've got a '63 Sunburst that I bought in 1973 after missing my original '64 which I bought new for $450 with case but sold in 1970 when I needed money to go off to school.

My '63 has 4JUL63 stamped on the base of the neck.
I've had it apart only twice...last time was last September when I had my tech clean it up for it's 40th birthday.

I must admit, I don't play it much anymore...but it was my only guitar for a very long time and it served me well...always turned heads with it back in the day.

BTW...I bought that '63 Jazzmaster in Poughkeepsie, NY for $250.00!

[stevedenver]

now this isnt a troll-this is from a guy that grew up with a 64 jag-and have played a few jazz masters (the better of the two for playability IMHO)

and i mean this with no dirsepect

to the jag and jazz master owners-is it that you lust after the body design (IMHO one of the best ever-including Les Pauls and strats)

but I have never been able to get really great sound out of either-are there things i have missed-or is sheer love of the guitar-like guys love older english cars(from a guy in the US with a 69 e type, my British cousins)-you put up with it just because you love it understanding that there are more functional and productive models to be had

[photoweborama]

That's Seymour Duncan's favorite guitar. That's the guitar he collects.

The Jazzmaster.

Seymour and the Jazzmaster

[chuckocaster]

great article photo!

steve,

i bought my jazzmaster about 8 years ago, brand new. it is an mij reissue. back then i thought it was the greatest guitar ever. then a couple of years ago i grew tired of it. so i had a custom set of handwound pups made for it. the mij pups are pretty lifeless. not that the guitar sounded bad, i just knew it could sound better.

but after playing that guitar for so long i learned all of the quirks of a jazzmaster. and now it is my number one guitar. i own a bunch of fenders, but i always turn to the jazzmaster. it sounds so amazing that it is hard to put down. one of the things i really like about it is the simplicity of the controls. i pulled out the stupid lead/rhythm switch. so it is now just a 3 way selector and master volume and tone.

i know they are weird and not for everyone, but this is the guitar for me. i know you are not attacking me, i sometimes don't understand the fascination with les pauls. i have never been able to make them sound great. i just wanted to share my feelings and experiences with you.

hope that answered your question, have a good one.

chuck

[stevedenver]

chuck thank you for your response - I would like to learn more- first my experience with JM's are they are noisy but give a very good rock-a-billy p-90 sound -bright and punchy-big but bright- but they seem quite noisy-did your SD pups help with this-

as far as LP's go -i think each of us has certain 'associations' with certain guitars-oddly for me the LP was a combination of things, a small compact shape (ala woman), and not only a rock axe but also a jazz (ala Methany, Coriel or Les Paul), and a thing of beauty to me as I was building guitars and lutes when a babe

- when i was seventeen i just fell in love with the overall quality and relatively ornate appoinments and refinement

-it could well have stemmed from having a Sears silvertone with a one piece neck as my first guitar (no finger board-fret right into the neck) and since some fenders were built this way, i assumed them to be lesser guitars

-i have come full circle and know better now-and love my very simple no frills broadcaster clone-just strange stuff-and just as an LP can be muddy and flat-with time you learn how to get real sounds out of them-

to be honest I am looking at another Tele now with JM pups and played it for about two hours- kinda liked the sound-described as above-and very quiet for JM pups-just trying to broaden my base -

[VibroCount]

I have used a number of guitars since I started playing in '63 & went pro in late '65. I've played a couple Japanese Jazzmaster imitations, Gibson 335s (including a 12-string), a Gretsch Country Club, a Mustang Bass, a Gibson SG Special (that I bought new in '67 and still play), a Performer Bass, an American Standard Strat, a Danelectro 6-String Bass, a '62 RI Jazz Bass... but I play my CIJ '62 RI Jazzmaster (with SD Vintage pups & a few other upgrades) to obtain the exact sound I want when I play instrumental surf music. No Strat (and certainly not a Tele) can create that tone that is unique to a Jazzmaster. When I was playing in the surf bands in the '60s (with a St. George Jazzmaster-style, but 3-pups), I recall a few guitarists trading in their Jazzmasters or Strats for Jaguars... every one I knew who did this traded back for their old Jazzmaster or to a new Jazzmaster. A few surf guitarists used Jags, but more that I knew preferred the Jazzmaster.

I like the SG for psychedelic sounds, and I'd still like to add a Heritage or Gibson 335-style guitar to my arsenal... but mostly, on guitar, I'll play the Jazzmaster. (Although a blue, maple-neck, Highway One Strat seems to be calling my name for practicing at home.)

[chuckocaster]

the other thing that drew me to the jazzmaster was at the time i was really into surf music. so the jazzmaster was IT for that stuff.

but slowly i got less into surf and more into the current rock at the time (mid 90's). i saw a lot of bands with jazzmasters and that is why i kept it.

i have had sd pups in the guitar, but wasn't too impressed by them. alan hamel (formerly of the fender custom shop) built me a one off set. the bridge pup is a lot like a tele, and the neck is stock. they are also a little hotter than vintage pups. but that is cool with me cause they retain the basic tone, but give me more of what i'm looking for.

i never really have been a fan of the "in between" sounds of a strat (please no one shoot me), i've always prefered the combined tones of a tele or other 2 pup fender guitar. i may be a but that is just me.

[stevedenver]

well chuck-i went and bought a tele with custom shop jazzmaster pups and now i understand i think ( i just had old memories of my 64 jag-great axe-just didnt sound so good)

-the JM pups are this great cross between strat and p-90-and have agreat clairty while being full

[fetchzee]

90 CIJ sunburst Jazzmaster...the story is the original owner was in the Air Force and stationed in Japan when he bought it. It's currently in the shop awaiting a set of Fralin rewinds.

The only other thing I've got going for it is a buzz-stop...puts a good downward angle behind the bridge (more sustain and no more popping the strings out of the bridge during bends.)

[chuckocaster]

a good trick to do is to grind down the side of the bridge with no screws, and then face that to the back of the guitar. i personally don't like tension bars and stuff like that. but hey, to each their own. let us know how those fralins sound. i'm amazing cause i always hear it. but i'd be interested in their jazzmaster pups.

and steve,

is that a hellacaster tele? i think will ray plays a tele like that. post some pics, i'd love to see it.

[stevedenver]

yes it is the Helecaster Custom Shop WR model-got it for almost a song, less than a new american deluxe tele -and it was unplayed!! lime green and gold leaf-looks better than it tastes -i mean sounds-of all the other colors (blue or orange, both with the gold leaf) it was my least desirable -but its growing on me-the neck is one of the better ive ever played-unique sound-pretty much a JM with a tele bod and strat neck with a gibson radius-now how eclectic can you get?-b-bender is cool but itll take a bit of practice too

i cant post pics 'cause i havent a digital camera-but ill take some and try to get them digitized and then find a host-i am understanding why guys like jazzmasters-(and lucky me -the WR model has a normal-series parrallel switch which allows me to get rid of the hum if its gets too bad-this guitar sounds like a nice vintage JM with a bit of bite-for JM pups theyre a bit hotter-but very nice -really great through tweed or blackface

[kayaman]

This might drive a few of you mad....but what year did CBS come in and buy fender? I am looking at a '68 Jazzmaster and have noticed anything after 1965 really trails off in price.

Thanks!

[TheWizardofAz]

I've got a custom shop JM that was a bit different in its original config. The orginal buyer parted it out: put the neck and Bigsby on a Tele and scrapped the body and pickguard. I've put a Warmoth custom neck on it, a Mustang bridge, Duncan Antiquity IIs and a pearl pickguard. It's a pinup model
Check the link
http://www.wizardsofaz.com/guitars/jazzmaster1.html

[JSJH]

Greetings fellow Jazzmaster afficianados, from metro Chicago.

'Am brand new to forum, 'have an Oly White '95 purchased new, that year. She really does play jazz, and rather well.

Only change was a custom dark tortise pickguard, as the original looked like pizza-vomit.

Peace, Bros and Sisters. Make music, not hate.

[TheWizardofAz]

Mine is dead quiet, I must say. I bet you've got some loose solders or something like that. Are all the shields in place and the solders to them?

On another note, I had a friend over the other night. He was playing one of my strats through my Carvin Belaire 2x12 and doing some nice surf stuff. The song is one I love, but can't recall the name...I hate getting old. Anyway, I picked up the JM, plugged into the bassman and started doing some bass and lead with him. The JM is wearing 13s (call me crazy) and it does bass very well. Anyway, I started playing behind him and he looks up and asked me if I had the reverb plugged into the bassman. Was funny, it was straight into the bassman. The natural resonance of the JM is just sweet, it gives it some great natural reverb all it's own.

[chuckocaster]

played the red head last night. brought a big smile to my face.

there is a little bit of noise, but not more than with other single coil equipped guitars i own. i guess i'm just used to some buzz...

[TheWizardofAz]

My custom shop body was painted with that shielding paint when I bought it. Then I mad my own brass shielding. It's dead silent, even standing right in front of the amp. I guess I should try to play it eh? :)
Seriously, the way the pups are arranged north to south and with standard shielding it should be pretty darn quiet. Maybe you have a loose ground someplace or bad solder.