Please Educate Me - Jazzmasters

Josh_Cosku

I watched below video from this musician and checked out more of his work. I am totally in love with the tone and playing. It is kind of a clear and bright - edge of break up - neck pick up tone. 

Can you please educate me about Jazzmaster's and Pickups? 

I owned teles, strats, P90 and HB guitars, but never a Jazzmaster.  Closest thing was a Novo Serus J with firebird PUs and I remember that I was not a fan how how strings felt with a flatter break angle at the bridge.

Anyways, shall I get one? Or I am  just under the influence of playing rather than the tone

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DJYMAhQc9s

munckee

I’ve recently gone from Strat and tele to jazzmaster and tele.  The JM sounds like something different and is very comfortable to play. It is bright and I use the tone and volume knobs more than any other guitar. 

The pickups are not p90s but flat single coils and sound more like single coils. I do use the treble cut switch but not very often. 

GavRichList

As you’re probably the last remaining guitarist on the planet yet to own one, I say go for it 

stickyfiddle

They're usually mental bright, and bridges can be a faff. But they're also super-comfy, and in the right context they're incredible. 

Funkfingers

Sixties era pickups do the bright, Surf Music thing. I gave my AV65 a pair of the darker-sounding, Fifties style, Seymour Duncan Antiquity 1 pickups.

I bypassed any bridge issues by fitting a Staytrem and a pair of nylon washers for the "thimbles". (By the time the AV65 and Johnny Mart signature model were launched, Fender had revised the vibrato arm and collet to resemble the Staytrem design.)

Josh_Cosku

@munckee @stickyfiddle @Funkfingers ; thanks a lot! very helpfull indeed.

The Novo was also very comfartable to play, I guess that body shape and increased neck height helps a lot. 

@GavRichList special thanks for the direct encouragement

stickyfiddle

FWIW on bridges I agree it's not that big a deal provided you just budget for one the obvious replacements. Staytrem & Mastery are excellent, and the newly-released Tuffset seems to be even better (early days but I'm very impressed). 

On pickups you can't go wrong with Mojo or SD Antiquities

francer

Looks like a partscaster? TOM bridge, unbranded neck and trem, perhaps you should contact him and ask for the spec?

GavRichList

Pithy comment aside, I’d sell mine if it didn’t sound so bloody glorious. I love the guitar itself, but have grown so very tired of turning up to play gigs or festivals and every. Single. Band. Playing them. 

Creed_Clicks

GavRichList said:

Pithy comment aside, I’d sell mine if it didn’t sound so bloody glorious. I love the guitar itself, but have grown so very tired of turning up to play gigs or festivals and every. Single. Band. Playing them. 

Seems to be a thing right? And Jaguars too, but Jazzmasters mainly! I am looking around for some cheap guitar that will become an alternative rock favourite and I can flip it in a few years...

guitarjack66

Are Jazzmasters shorter scale length? Or is that the Mustangs? I get confused between those offset models.

stickyfiddle

guitarjack66 said:

Are Jazzmasters shorter scale length? Or is that the Mustangs? I get confused between those offset models.

Mustangs and Jaguars are 24”. Jazzmasters are 25.5”

guitarjack66

stickyfiddle said:

guitarjack66 said:

Are Jazzmasters shorter scale length? Or is that the Mustangs? I get confused between those offset models.

Mustangs and Jaguars are 24”. Jazzmasters are 25.5”

Thanks. I wasnt sure which was which tbh.

Whitecat

Jazzmasters are awesome-sounding things if you’re willing to do some fettling with them to get them setup right. IMO the very best Jazzmasters probably don’t have actual JM pickups in the bridge - swapping them out for a JM-sized “something else” usually takes the edge off - JM-sized P90s make excellent replacements. The JM-sized WRHBs that Fender does now are pretty intriguing too but I’d wonder how they balance with a stock neck pickup. 

That neck pickup though is just a thing of wonder and beauty and I wouldn’t change that for anything. 

Whitecat

GavRichList said:

Pithy comment aside, I’d sell mine if it didn’t sound so bloody glorious. I love the guitar itself, but have grown so very tired of tuning up to play gigs or festivals 

This is how I read this the first time round 

goldtop

That is a great tone. GAS alert! :-o

GoFish

As a rough comparison,

Mustangs = small and slight. But sounds thick.

Jaguars = small and dense. But sounds airy.

Jazzmasters = Definitely a cousin to Teles and Strats. Sounds sharp.

allen

I've just got my first guitar with jazzmaster pickups and I'm really enjoying it. Sounds like a single coil, but seems to have something 'more'. Obviously it's not night and day though.

AK99

Josh_Cosku said:

I watched below video from this musician and checked out more of his work. I am totally in love with the tone and playing. 

Anyways, shall I get one? Or I am  just under the influence of playing rather than the tone

There's a wise - but very rarely mooted question

crunchman

munckee said:

I’ve recently gone from Strat and tele to jazzmaster and tele.  The JM sounds like something different and is very comfortable to play. It is bright and I use the tone and volume knobs more than any other guitar. 

The pickups are not p90s but flat single coils and sound more like single coils. I do use the treble cut switch but not very often. 

How can they sound more like single coils when the P90 is a single coil?

goldtop

AK99 said:

Josh_Cosku said:

I watched below video from this musician and checked out more of his work. I am totally in love with the tone and playing. 

Anyways, shall I get one? Or I am  just under the influence of playing rather than the tone

There's a wise - but very rarely mooted question

That's true. I think Michaelangelo could have done the Sistine Chapel pretty nicely with a 5-for-£1 set of emulsion brushes from B&Q.