Squire Jazzmasters

Evan · #1 01-09-2012, 08:20 PM

Has anyone played either of these?

Fender Squier Vintage Modified Jazzmaster. I played one of these last weeknd and liked it - thought it did have a bit of string buzz. I may have liked the Squire Vintage Modified Jaguar HH a tad more - but I like that the JM has two single pickups. The Jag had two humbuckers.

Squire J Masics Signature Jazzmaster (I see these for somewhere around 450.00). This didn't appeal to me so much immediately, but the more I look, the more I like.

Both are in my price range and seem promising. No nearby stores have the J Masics to play though. But I did found a few videos on you tube of a guy (User "Stichfam") playing jazz on both and they sounded really good.

I read today that the jazzmasters were designed to have .11 gauge flat wound strings. The poster said that anything less - or using round wound strings would cause numerous problems (such as string buzz) which people typically complain about and use in support of claiming that it's not a good guitar for Jazz.

I don't know if any of that is true though.

I recently saw that Johnny Marr (of The Smiths) has a signature Jaguar coming out - but the price is way too high for me. $1700.00 is the least I've seen it for. It looks amazing though.

Atticus · #2 01-09-2012, 08:58 PM

Wait, so people say it's not a good guitar for jazz because you can't use rounds? Something seems off there. There are some people who think solid body guitars should use rounds, but not only can the Jazzmaster take either, but they can both sound good, depending on what the rest of your set-up is.

I've seen the J Mascis guitar in a local store but haven't sat down with it. I have spent some time with the VM Jazzmaster, and I dig it. Good tone, comfy body shape and neck. I'm a Tele fan myself, but I'd love to have a Jazzmaster in my collection.

Evan · #3 01-10-2012, 05:24 PM

The j mascis jag was made in the sig (high dollar) line and in a squire model.

I can't find a similar thing with the cobain model.

How does that work with fender? I would be very excited about a lower price Johnny Marr jag. Is there any chance of that happening?

jazzbow · #4 01-10-2012, 05:50 PM

Yup, bought the squier. Hot P90 type pickup, pots are 'meh' (replaced).

Surprisingly well set up out of the box so to speak, the MIM jazzmasters I tried in the past were poorly set up in the music shops I tried them at (Guitar guitar in Glasgow and Dawsons in Warrington UK). In fact in both cases the music shop staff were indifferent to my concerns which put me off,

Original vintage Jazzmasters and vintage reissues are a real pain to set up, I won't go into any detail as it is boring to write and read.
However both the MIM and Chinese Squiers have hotter pickups and TOM bridges etc which improve the playability but it does lose the quirky vibe of the originals.

The Squiers have Basswood bodies and the MIM ones are Adler yet both have maple necks + rosewood fingerboards (People get snobbish over guitar body wood but Jazzbow always says 'If you like the feel and sound of a guitar then it's a keeper!').

I've modded the pots and caps on my Squier within the first week to make it more flexable as Jazzmasters can sound way too brittle with their 1meg pots.

The Squier is a sound piece of kit if you want to mod it or have it as a keeper due to its low purchase price (cheaper than buying the parts to make a bitza), if you want something you might want to trade in later then the MIM Fender holds its value better.

With a Marshall 40 watt combo set to a crunch/early break up tone you can set the rhythm circuit to jazzy twang with low volume and then click it into the lead circuit for saturated blues tone! Nice......

I think it's a great tool for different tones, I'm well chuffed with it. For me if it were a reissue/MIM or Squier I would have to change the lead circuit pots because poor old Jazzbow cannae tak tha greetin' howls!

Oh, and furthermore Squire are releasing a Telecaster with a Jazzmaster neck and neck pickup in the spring of 2012, that would be interesting, don't you think?

I've documented and taken pictures of the set up and simple mods I've done to the Squier and if someone PM's me on how to load up pix to threads with a windows 7 laptop then I'll post up a thread.

I hope this helps

Evan · #5 01-10-2012, 06:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jazzbow

Yup, bought the squier. Hot P90 type pickup, pots are 'meh' (replaced).

Surprisingly well set up out of the box

That all sounds very promising but which squire did you get?

SamBooka · #6 01-10-2012, 07:59 PM

The original design jazzmasters really dont like anything less than 11s it is true. Back then that is all anyone used (or heavier) so the break angle on the bridge is pretty shallow and the strings tend to pop out if you play aggressively. You can shim the neck to get a better angle but ultimately the the "issues" go away with 12s. I have never heard of issues with flat vs roundwounds. I found that the classic alt/surf jazzmaster tone comes from flats more than rounds.

When I first started playing jazz it was on a MIJ 97 Jazzmaster. As I developed as a player the JM left me underwhelmed and I went the Epi/Gibson route. A JM IS in my ever so humble opinion, the most comfortable guitar to play sitting down.

I sold my JM this fall because I didnt need it, unbonded with it, and really found the pickups (neither the stock ones or the SDs I put in) really suited my tastes. Maybe P90s would be and interesting option but my current solid body goes from old van halen to deep purple to pink floyd without a problem. I dont know what jazz players it sounds like because when I play jazz I sound like me (for better or for worse).

Funkwire · #7 01-11-2012, 12:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SamBooka

The original design jazzmasters really dont like anything less than 11s it is true. Back then that is all anyone used (or heavier) so the break angle on the bridge is pretty shallow and the strings tend to pop out if you play aggressively. You can shim the neck to get a better angle but ultimately the the "issues" go away with 12s. I have never heard of issues with flat vs roundwounds. I found that the classic alt/surf jazzmaster tone comes from flats more than rounds.

<snip>

I dont know what jazz players it sounds like because when I play jazz I sound like me (for better or for worse).

It's funny how a guitar called the Jazzmaster became instead one of the pre-eminent surf guitars!

And I'm sure most everybody has seen this...and it's NOT a Jazzmaster, but a Jaguar...Joe Pass playing jazz on a Fender. Evidently, the only guitar available to him while he was in detox was this Jaguar. He sounds incredible, as always:

YouTube Video

jazzbow · #8 01-11-2012, 01:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Evan

That all sounds very promising but which squire did you get?

Ah yes, J Mascis Squire Jazzmaster.

The pole pieces in the pickup are steel? with a magnet either side as per P90 type P/U.

Evan · #9 01-11-2012, 06:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jazzbow

Ah yes, J Mascis Squire Jazzmaster.

The pole pieces in the pickup are steel? with a magnet either side as per P90 type P/U.

Please tell us more about it. It's at the top of my list but I wish I could find more info about it from jazz/blues players. It looks like a very well made guitar, but None of my local shops have one. Please post pics of your mods, and close ups of all the bits and parts.

I see that the pups are like p90s on some forums. Others say they aren't anything like p90s. Not many vids of guys playing jazz on it, so it's tough to judge the tone. Too many vids of dinosaur jr. Songs.

Is it uncommon for fender to release a lower end model on a signature series?
I might end up regretting if they release a 700.00 version of Johnny marr's jag, but can't find any hint that such a thing might happen.

Did you buy online, or in a shop?

I haven't ever done any electronic tinkering with past guitars. But It would be great if you posted more about the mods you made.

jazzbow · #10 01-12-2012, 12:54 PM

Have a look at this forum, it's a great place for offset shaped guitars.
OffsetGuitars.com • Index page

here's a jazz guy twangin' a Squier mascis, note that he starts in the lead circuit with both P/U's on, the rhythm circuit is more 'jazzy' sounding.

YouTube Video

I bought in a shop, always try before you buy, no two same make guitars sound the same.

Yes Squire do seem to release signature series guitars, Avril Levine comes to mind

for all the wrong reasons....

I think J Mascis was central to the decision to make the JM through Squier, a good move IMO.

As for tinkering with electrics, so long as you can use a soldering iron without burning your fingers off you should be ok. Besides you can always resolder the original parts back if you don't like what hear.
Over the years I find I like Audio (log) pots for both volume and tone and orange drop capacitors. The Jazzmaster starts off with 1000k (1meg) audio pot for volume and 1meg linear pot for tone, being a guitar built to a price point these parts are cheap so even an upgrade to superior pots and capacitors at the same electrical value is a vast improvement.
I chose 500k vol and 250 tone for darker tones. Lovely.

Will post pics when ready.

Evan · #11 01-12-2012, 09:53 PM

That's the video I mentioned in my first post. I know that guy changed the pickups soon after getting his jm, but it wasn't clear on the Misty video if he was playing with the original pups or not.

My local shop can order it for me - said they won't make me buy it if I don't fall in love, but it'll take 30 days. Fender is out of stock.

To further complicate matters, I made the mistake of playing a really beautiful American Standard Strat tonight (all creamy white with rosewood neck). It's double the cost of the JM JM, but it felt really nice. Sounded surprisingly really mellow too.

jazzbow · #12 01-13-2012, 03:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Evan

I made the mistake of playing a really beautiful American Standard Strat tonight (all creamy white with rosewood neck). It's double the cost of the JM JM, but it felt really nice. Sounded surprisingly really mellow too.

Ah, guitar love

Guitar Law #1 Every guitar player must have either a Strat, Les Paul, Tele or ES355.

There you go, don't worry. Have fun. Whatever you buy it will be the right choice.

Evan · #13 01-13-2012, 04:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jazzbow

There you go, don't worry. Have fun. Whatever you buy it will be the right choice.

Too bad that wasn't the case with my epiphone alleykat.

jazzbow · #14 01-13-2012, 06:28 PM

What do you want in a guitar (now there's a problematic question).

Have you been playing long?

What is your favourite type of pickup?

Comfortable playing and feeling guitars are irreplaceable, pickups are not.
The strat you mentioned could be tweaked a little to get a darker sound and is a great workhorse.

I'm finding the Squier JM JM a 'Jack of all trades' for jazzy type sounds and blues to rock sound as well! I feel it manages quite well, it saves having 2-3 guitars hanging around our mini music room/dining room.
Nothing would replace my thinline hollow jazz guitar, the strat and Yamaha P90 rock machine. But the go to guitar for all styles for me is the JM JM.

Of course there's always another guitar out there we can find a reason to buy for

jazzbow · #15 01-13-2012, 06:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Evan

My local shop can order it for me - said they won't make me buy it if I don't fall in love, but it'll take 30 days. Fender is out of stock.
.

Funny that, the shop I bought the JM JM from said that it was the 7th it had in since October last year.

I hadn't intended to go out and buy a JM as I was planing to try all the different types of Telecasters there are at the moment. But it caught my eye and I had to give it a go. I was playing it through a Blackstar valve amp set to clean and was playing 'My Funny Valentine' and I was complemented on the tone of the guitar by a complete stranger.
I think he was wanting to try it for himself but alas he was too late