What do you think of Jazzmaster?

[Hep To The Jive]

I was visiting NYC and I got a gig (not jazz) where I had to borrow a guitar, and one nice guy gave me his Jazzmaster Squier J Mascis. It felt really good! First of all it was very light, and it played very comfortably. The sound was pretty good too, very P90 ish. I'm thinking of getting one for myself now.

What I hear is the trad jazzmaster tone is pretty thin, due to the pickups I guess? But if I switch them to my fav TV Jones 'trons it should be a totally different beast, right? Thing is, I love the tremolo, but I don't want a strat, and bigsby on a tele comes with the sacrifices. So with the right pickups jazzmaster can do jazz ok?

[Gladders]

I had a jazzmaster and couldn't quite get the tone I wanted. Amp matching might be quite important. Ergonomically, it was the most comfortable guitar I've ever had.

If I remember correctly, the Mascis pickups are re-sized p90s rather than trad jazz master pups. People rave about those guitars.

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[Hep To The Jive]

I had a jazzmaster and couldn't quite get the tone I wanted. Amp matching might be quite important. Ergonomically, it was the most comfortable guitar I've ever had.

If I remember correctly, the Mascis pickups are re-sized p90s rather than trad jazz master pups. People rave about those guitars.

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Yea that's my point, ergonomically beautiful, looks cool, only the trad pickups don't sound too good. I mean some people love it obviously for its sound, but I don't. So the pickup swap should fix it... theoretically.

[Gladders]

I think that's right. You can't go wrong with the right p90s for jazz, or there are plenty of boutique jm pups around. I was put off swapping by the added complexity of the rhythm circuit. I might have been worrying about nothing - I didn't actually research it much

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[Tal_175]

I was able to get good tones out of a jazzmaster by cutting the tone a bit in the rhythm setting. But swapping out the pickups with something you like is gonna work better.

[One_Note]

Yeah, the JMascis version should be great for Jazz with the P90-ish pickups. The standard Jazzmaster neck pickup is pretty fat sounding for a single coil with magnetic pole pieces, especially with the rhythm circuit. There are also plenty of PAF style pickup options that work for Jazzmasters.

[andrew]

Sorry, this is not the direction you intended to go with it, but I have to jump in to defense of the Bigsby tele. Look into the Bigsby B16. It was Paul Bigsby’s original idea for putting a Bigsby on a tele. It takes some effort to get it installed, but once it’s on, it works great and there are no tuning issues.

[Gladders]

The JM trem works beautifully with heavier strings on. 11 upwards I'd say are enough.

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[GuyBoden]

I had a Jazzmaster, it was a great body shape for playing whilst sitting.

If I bought another, I'd get the Jaguar, same body shape and I prefer the Jaguar's smaller scale length 24inch.

The Squier Jaguar looks good too, with 2 humbuckers.

[Woody Sound]

I've been working with a Jaguar recently. Interesting, different.

[Hep To The Jive]

The JM trem works beautifully with heavier strings on. 11 upwards I'd say are enough.

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What would be the reason for that? Iirc the one i played felt like a regular 10's, it was good, but i didn't use the tremolo.

[Hep To The Jive]

Sorry, this is not the direction you intended to go with it, but I have to jump in to defense of the Bigsby tele. Look into the Bigsby B16. It was Paul Bigsby’s original idea for putting a Bigsby on a tele. It takes some effort to get it installed, but once it’s on, it works great and there are no tuning issues.

Sorry, I've never considered B16. First, that contraption looks weird, secondly I use a humbucker in the bridge, so it wouldn't work anyway. I have B5, no tuning issues, looks great, but the feel of a tele a bit compromised.

[Al Haig]

I'd never get a Jazzmaster and then not put Jazzmaster pickups in it. They're unique and really cool sounding. If you want them fatter then just replace them with hotter aftermarket Jazzmaster pups and/or mod your pots and caps.

Seymour Duncan Quarter Pound™ Jazzmaster Pickup | Seymour Duncan

[Gladders]

What would be the reason for that? Iirc the one i played felt like a regular 10's, it was good, but i didn't use the tremolo.

The whole design relies on a certain level of tension to operate. Lighter strings can slip out of the saddles, which are a unique design in themselves. The bridge rocks with the trem and will return to pitch perfectly if it is under sufficient tension. Granted, we aren't likely to be pushing the system to its limits, so it is probably less of an issue for us jazzers than it might have been for My Bloody Valentine.

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[GuyBoden]

The whole design relies on a certain level of tension to operate. Lighter strings can slip out of the saddles, which are a unique design in themselves. The bridge rocks with the trem and will return to pitch perfectly if it is under sufficient tension.

This is the truth.

[Tal_175]

I like these hardtail, humbucker versions. I wonder if they are available outside of Japan:
Fender Made in Japan Limited Adjusto-Matic Jazzmaster HH - gearnews.com

[lawson-stone]

I briefly had an ultra-cheap Squier Jazzmaster and really liked the sound and playability, when I could get the neck relief+string height combination to work, which never consistent did. But when it did, I really enjoyed it. Liked the sound a lot, especially if you want a bit of the rolled-off tone sound.