The Best Jazzmaster

darthed1981

Hi All,

Looking to maybe browse some offsets, especially a Jazzmaster with P90 goodness in it, inspired partly by Noel G's almost exclusive use of them these days.

Where is a good place to start?  Mexican?  Squier Vintage modifed?  The new "Pro" range seem to lack the fun switching options I'd associate with a Jazzmaster.

Or should I look at other manufacturers?

Brize

You know that Jazzmaster pickups aren't P90s, right?

stimpsonslostson

Id suggest a J.Mascis or Squier Deluxe both have more P90ish pickups- adjustable polepieces etc.
 The necks on both are marvellous, the choice is whether you prefer white (Mascis) or red (deluxe). 

stickyfiddle

MJT build :P 

But srsly, don't go in thinking they sound like P90s - they're a different kettle of magnets & wire.

I would suggest not getting hung up on switching options though. Almost none of us JM folk actually use them.

impmann

If you are dipping a toe into the water, I wouldn't go mental... a Mascis is great, or a s/h MiM job. And as has been said the pickups are very different to a P90 - they are much brighter and a fair amount thinner sounding. A lot of VMs have iffy necks/fretting - fine if you don't bend notes, but if you do... you may need to send it away for some work. The Mascis doesn't seem to suffer from this.

They are an aquired taste and to get the best from them, you need to set your amp very differently from the Les Pauls etc you already have. They truly don't suit everyone but they suit some people completely.

FWIW - Mr G's live sound was IMHO terrible with the Jazzmaster during his stint at the Biggest Weekend. Clanky, toneless and generally meh. As soon as he swapped over to the 355, he sounded like Noel again. I'm *not* a fan of this latest album - not just the content but the sound of it either. He sounds *bored* and he looked it on stage too (so did his band - exception being the drummer, the hero of the night) - so did a lot of the crowd. I gave up and went to bed in the end, as it really didn't move me... and I say that as a Jazzmaster fan and a Noel G fan.

And don't get me started about "our Kid" and his terrible going-through-the-motions-off-key-whilst-swaggering-like-its-1995-yet-looking-creepy-and-sad...

darthed1981

Brize said:

You know that Jazzmaster pickups aren't P90s, right?

Actually, yes and no, I'm aware they aren't P90s in the same sense as Gibson ones but I just googled it and didn't realise how non-P90 "proper ones" are.

Thank you for educating me sir!

darthed1981

stimpsonslostson said:

Id suggest a J.Mascis or Squier Deluxe both have more P90ish pickups- adjustable polepieces etc.
 The necks on both are marvellous, the choice is whether you prefer white (Mascis) or red (deluxe). 

I played and liked both.

I come on here though with an NGD of a Squier and everyone who spent £1300 on an MIA will assume/comment it's crap.

My Squier Classic Vibe Tele is just brilliant in every way IMHO, better than the mexi I tried against it.  Shame they don't do a CV Jazzmaster

I personally struggle to tell the difference but thought I'd get the opinions in before I drop any cash

Brize

darthed1981 said:

Brize said:

You know that Jazzmaster pickups aren't P90s, right?

Actually, yes and no, I'm aware they aren't P90s in the same sense as Gibson ones but I just googled it and didn't realise how non-P90 "proper ones" are.

Thank you for educating me sir!

You're welcome! I love the sound of Jazzmaster pickups. They're very under-rated in my view, and I say that as someone that doesn't own a piece of vinyl and has never ridden a fixie bike.

Grunfeld

stickyfiddle said:

But srsly, don't go in thinking they sound like P90s - they're a different kettle of magnets & wire.

I would suggest not getting hung up on switching options though. Almost none of us JM folk actually use them.

I'm hoping I'm not the only one who's rolled the volume of the rhythm circuit to zero, forgotten all about it, and at some distant gig accidentally clicked it in and panicked that something has died!

I love the sound of the pickups on my classic player JM (god they've shot up in price since I got mine!).  The only issue is the neck.  Makes my hand ache -- at least I think it's the neck -- I suppose it could be other things like how the JM sits.

However, I'm still really keen to try a JM with a neck that feels like an Ibanez wizard.  I get on with RGs so well.  Don't really need 24 frets though.

But I don't think there's such a thing as a JM with a wizard neck.  Unless any one knows different?

kt66

http://www.hotroxuk.com/revelation-rjt60-jazzmaster-vintage-white.html

as good as a Squier I think, P90s too. 

JerkMoans

Compare and contrast... P90s, JM pickups, we got the lot...

Grunfeld

JerkMoans said:

Compare and contrast... P90s, JM pickups, we got the lot...

https://imgur.com/a/fzPAD 

How come two lefties?

BigLicks67

I liked the American Vintage 65 when I tried it and there's always the CS option. For something a bit different you could try a Fano JM6 with Bigsby, it's a bit like a Jazzmaster/Firebird combination, light as a feather and plays like a dream.

JerkMoans

Grunfeld said:

JerkMoans said:

Compare and contrast... P90s, JM pickups, we got the lot...

https://imgur.com/a/fzPAD 

How come two lefties?

Karmic balance on the wall hangers.

(in truth the lefties belong to my Southpaw daughter.  Lefty JM's are rare as hens' teeth.  We waited about 18 months to pick up a special order from Fender Japan via a shop in Belgium; 2 days before our trip another one popped up on a Facebook forum and I bagged it...)

Grunfeld

JerkMoans said:

(in truth the lefties belong to my Southpaw daughter.  Lefty JM's are rare as hens' teeth.  We waited about 18 months to pick up a special order from Fender Japan via a shop in Belgium; 2 days before our trip another one popped up on a Facebook forum and I bagged it...)

Ah!  But it was still faster than trading in your daughter for another right-handed version!

They look lovely btw,  For me a load of the appeal of the JM is its appearance, no doubt about it.

Bucket

impmann said:

If you are dipping a toe into the water, I wouldn't go mental... a Mascis is great, or a s/h MiM job. And as has been said the pickups are very different to a P90 - they are much brighter and a fair amount thinner sounding. A lot of VMs have iffy necks/fretting - fine if you don't bend notes, but if you do... you may need to send it away for some work. 

This is true - I have a VM and can confirm.

I was planning to send it away to have some work done to it, but for now I've set it up for slide  

meltedbuzzbox

darthed1981 said:

stimpsonslostson said:

Id suggest a J.Mascis or Squier Deluxe both have more P90ish pickups- adjustable polepieces etc.
 The necks on both are marvellous, the choice is whether you prefer white (Mascis) or red (deluxe). 

I played and liked both.

I come on here though with an NGD of a Squier and everyone who spent £1300 on an MIA will assume/comment it's crap.

My Squier Classic Vibe Tele is just brilliant in every way IMHO, better than the mexi I tried against it.  Shame they don't do a CV Jazzmaster

I personally struggle to tell the difference but thought I'd get the opinions in before I drop any cash

From reading over at OSG the new Masic JMs have a CV label on them now. 

I've owned most of them now, Squier VM (See shoddy fret comment above), had a squier mascis for a while (nice neck, didnt like the pickups), AVRI (terrible boat anchor), Classic player (not bad if you can live with the non original vibrato system placement). MIJ, my favourite out of the normal production run but you do need to gut the wiring (or atleast the pickups (they are bad strat pickups in a JM casing). On every single one I have ever owned (and Jaguars) I have changed the bridge. 

After double digit ownership of Offsets the only 2 I have left are CS models...

I'd say check out PMT northampton but the in shop stock is usually a bit wank. 
A short jolly to Birmingham will give you a much bigger PMT and GuitarGuitar which both usually have good stock. 
Coda music seem to have a soft spot for all things offset if you can get over there?

JerkMoans

Grunfeld said:

Ah!  But it was still faster than trading in your daughter for another right-handed version!

They look lovely btw,  For me a load of the appeal of the JM is its appearance, no doubt about it.

Thank you!  I agree re appearance: they look cool as.  Although I might be letting the flesh pink one go to make room for all the other crap I keep lusting after/blowing my hard earned on.

FWIW and especially for the benefit of the OP @darthed1981 ;, I am firmly of the view that, bangs for buck, the Troy Van Leeuwen model is the best value out there.  Besides the fact that it looks darkly alluring, while it's at first blush slightly expensive for a Mexican made instrument the quality control seems to be top notch and it has most of the bits that people normally tweak already sorted: AVRI pickups, Staytrem designed mustang style bridge. 

I modded the crap out of mine after getting it second hand as it was scratched to hell and the electrics were buggered: it had been thrown around a lot.  Steep learning curve with a soldering iron, a few after market widgets, and hey presto!  But stock they are great, and pop up for not too silly money on the used market now and again.

darthed1981

Thanks all, I'm planning to go to Andertons tomorrow so will see what they have in there and try a few, see if I find something good!

stickyfiddle

Grunfeld said:

stickyfiddle said:

But srsly, don't go in thinking they sound like P90s - they're a different kettle of magnets & wire.

I would suggest not getting hung up on switching options though. Almost none of us JM folk actually use them.

I'm hoping I'm not the only one who's rolled the volume of the rhythm circuit to zero, forgotten all about it, and at some distant gig accidentally clicked it in and panicked that something has died!

 

Oh yeah.. I mean, never. Only an idiot, etc etc.. 

I'm actually thinking about disconnecting mine or re-wiring it for series/parallel or something I might actually use. But JM wiring is a pain and I'm busy so might wait till I fancy a pickup swap. 

meltedbuzzbox

I used to use the rhythm section as a mute/kill switch all the time but it always used to catch me out at some point. 

I find I tend to use the Rhythm section a fair bit on my Jaguar. Not sure much on the Jazzmaster.