Please Educate Me - Jazzmasters

GoFish

goldtop said:

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.

The infuriating thing is ... he bloody could! He'd do a bang up job with any old tat he had lying about - Form is in the fingers with that one.

The thing about his carving of "David" is not that it's glorious (though it is) - he used a marble offcut, pretty much, that was infamous for being impossible to carve. Many had already tried n failed.

How does this relate to JMs? Well, a "Master" could even play Jazz on it, if pushed. It has it's own sound and feel alright but doesn't have to be brighter than Tatooine and can if fact be as soft and pillow-y as a chloroform dream.

Josh_Cosku

I contacted him about his gear and he replied to me thankfully. 

He is using a J Mascis Jazzmaster (Stock) with a 1977 Princeton. Pedals are Exotic SP Compressor and EHX Oceans 11 Reverb mived with some amp reverb. 

I also googled and learned that J Mascis JM has P90s, not normal JM pickups. This might be the reason that I was drown to a JM first time.

GoFish

They are good guitars and the pickups are quite different from traditional ones.

The hand wired Princeton with double reverb will also be a big part of the sound.

ArchtopDave

There's quite a range of Jazzmasters these days.

I don't like bright guitars, and largely have humbucker loaded guitars. However I bought my first and only Jazzmaster a couple years back, which I like, and use a lot. It's a Jazzmaster Ultra, which is somewhat different from a traditional Jazzmaster in quite a number of features. 

goldtop

Josh_Cosku said:

I contacted him about his gear and he replied to me thankfully. 

He is using a J Mascis Jazzmaster (Stock) with a 1977 Princeton. Pedals are Exotic SP Compressor and EHX Oceans 11 Reverb mived with some amp reverb. 

I also googled and learned that J Mascis JM has P90s, not normal JM pickups. This might be the reason that I was drown to a JM first time.

Interesting. I had wondered if the reverb - which was perfect for the tone, not intrusive nor inconsistent - was done in post-processing and riding a fader. That the EHX does such a decent job is a pleasantly affordable surprise.

GoFish

That Oceans 11 is a great all rounder, though I confess I mainly use the spring for the drip until I can get myself a Surfybear. It's good enough though, which is why I'm still waiting on the Surfybear!

26.2

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. 

Ha yes. I bought a JM in 2002 and I reckon it was my main gigging guitar for 10 years. I hardly ever saw another one in that time. Everyone was playing Teles and Strats, also a lot of SGs around. Now JMs are ubiquitous. I still have mine and was thinking of taking it to rehearsal tonight. Maybe I will. 

munckee

crunchman said:

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?

Typical single coil sound I meant, p90s don’t really sound like a typical single coil to me. 

26.2

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. 

Treble cut switch? 

willo

I ended up picking up an AVII JM, which is a wonderful thing. The additional rhythm circuit gives you four distinct tones available immediately. The neck is fat but clear; bridge can be sharp but not overly, and the middle position is a perfect unique sound. The way I describe it is that you get loads of harmonic content, all at once, then none at all (short sustain).

I get the impression that the bridge is one of the key parts of the tone. I upgraded to the staytrem and it is great.

Obviously they are visually super cool which is probably part of their rising popularity, although I don't think I've seen more than one in the wild (guess we're playing more with the older, less cool, Les Paul crowd!).

willo

Oh and putting 11s on it transformed everything but didn't feel like inhibited my playing. If anything, felt comparable to 10s on my other guitars (except when bending).

munckee

26.2 said:

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. 

Treble cut switch? 

Rhythm circuit switch but it effectively cuts the treble to my ears. 

ewal

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. 

My Toronado has a lot in common with a JM, except being common Well more a Jazzblaster - it's got WRHBs.

francer

Josh_Cosku said:

I contacted him about his gear and he replied to me thankfully. 

He is using a J Mascis Jazzmaster (Stock) with a 1977 Princeton. Pedals are Exotic SP Compressor and EHX Oceans 11 Reverb mived with some amp reverb. 

I also googled and learned that J Mascis JM has P90s, not normal JM pickups. This might be the reason that I was drown to a JM first time.

Interesting, it doesn’t look like a Mascis in the OP video, unless it’s been distorted by the camera angle, trem spacing looks more vintage style, Mascis trem would be closer to the bridge, unless it’s a MIJ but then would have matching headstock. I wonder if he’s swapped all the hardware and parts from a Squier Mascis onto a different body?

JayGee

I like mine (a humble Squier VM with a Staytrem bridge), it’s different but yet surprisingly usable, and the (oft maligned) rhythm circuit is in my view an absolute genius idea…

Funkfingers

I recommend engaging the Rhythm Circuit when playing through a nasty fuzz pedal.

26.2

munckee said:

26.2 said:

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. 

Treble cut switch? 

Rhythm circuit switch but it effectively cuts the treble to my ears. 

Ah yes. I never use it!

JayGee

crunchman said:

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?

My understanding is that the P90 is actually what Ted McCarty Gibson used as a reference when “voicing” the original Gibson humbucker so, while it is a single coil design it’s also kind of the jumping off point for the classic Humbucker tone families…

Josh_Cosku

francer said:

Josh_Cosku said:

I contacted him about his gear and he replied to me thankfully. 

He is using a J Mascis Jazzmaster (Stock) with a 1977 Princeton. Pedals are Exotic SP Compressor and EHX Oceans 11 Reverb mived with some amp reverb. 

I also googled and learned that J Mascis JM has P90s, not normal JM pickups. This might be the reason that I was drown to a JM first time.

Interesting, it doesn’t look like a Mascis in the OP video, unless it’s been distorted by the camera angle, trem spacing looks more vintage style, Mascis trem would be closer to the bridge, unless it’s a MIJ but then would have matching headstock. I wonder if he’s swapped all the hardware and parts from a Squier Mascis onto a different body?

He mentioned that it is stock except than custom paint job. You can see it in the comments under the video. 

simonhpieman

willo said:

Oh and putting 11s on it transformed everything but didn't feel like inhibited my playing. If anything, felt comparable to 10s on my other guitars (except when bending).

May I recommend the heavy bottom Ernie Balls? Something like 52s for the wound strings (badass!) and 10s on the top for the easier bending.

Been using those for ages. Going to try the on my Mustang, too. Will report back...!