Jazzmasters - Whats the best bang for buck?

meltedbuzzbox

duotone said:

Cheers @meltedbuzzbox ;
Cheers @Gagaryn ;
Looks like a Squier Vintage Modified might be the best for me, with a possible pickup upgrade further down the line.

Personally I'd go for the mascis. They generally seem more consistent.
I owned a vm and it was nice and all but the fretwork on it was pretty shocking past the 12th fret. 
I've not noticed that on mascis models

rivercider

meltedbuzzbox said:

duotone said:

Cheers @meltedbuzzbox ;
Cheers @Gagaryn ;
Looks like a Squier Vintage Modified might be the best for me, with a possible pickup upgrade further down the line.

Personally I'd go for the mascis. They generally seem more consistent.
I owned a vm and it was nice and all but the fretwork on it was pretty shocking past the 12th fret. 
I've not noticed that on mascis models

I had a Mascis for a while and it was a really nice guitar.  Neck was great.  I think I read that J based the neck on a Rory Gallagher strat he'd played and loved. Anyway, I shoulda kept it, although my neighbour bought it off me so I still get to play it once in a while.  No other points of reference really, so can't compare it to other JMs, but it was definitely a cut above most other Squiers I've tried. 

Gerz6558

Or the Squier Deluxe Jazzmaster, more or less the jmascis but significantly cheaper.

duotone

rivercider said:

meltedbuzzbox said:

duotone said:

Cheers @meltedbuzzbox ;
Cheers @Gagaryn ;
Looks like a Squier Vintage Modified might be the best for me, with a possible pickup upgrade further down the line.

Personally I'd go for the mascis. They generally seem more consistent.
I owned a vm and it was nice and all but the fretwork on it was pretty shocking past the 12th fret. 
I've not noticed that on mascis models

I had a Mascis for a while and it was a really nice guitar.  Neck was great.  I think I read that J based the neck on a Rory Gallagher strat he'd played and loved. Anyway, I shoulda kept it, although my neighbour bought it off me so I still get to play it once in a while.  No other points of reference really, so can't compare it to other JMs, but it was definitely a cut above most other Squiers I've tried. 

Interesting, I'm gonna need to try these before I decide.  Went a few weeks ago to GuitarGuitar (Camden) but the cheapest jazzmaster I saw was £600-700ish.

paddyb

Peach have a B-Stock 60th anniversary jazzmaster for 849

http://www.peachguitars.com/namm2018/fender-60th-anniversary-classic-jazzmaster-pau-ferro-fiesta-red.htm

TheMarlin

meltedbuzzbox said:

I really can't recommend mojo pickups enough for replacement jazzmaster pickups. They are honestly in a different league to fenders offerings. 
I've owned a lot of jazzmasters. Every single one has been improved with a set of mojos

Agreed. I have Mojo’s in my Jazzmaster. Sounds spectacular.  

wesker123

meltedbuzzbox said:

Gagaryn said:

duotone said:

meltedbuzzbox said:

I really can't recommend mojo pickups enough for replacement jazzmaster pickups. They are honestly in a different league to fenders offerings. 
I've owned a lot of jazzmasters. Every single one has been improved with a set of mojos

https://www.mojopickups.co.uk/product-category/pickups/jazzmaster/

Which ones out of interest?

I like the overwound bridge set. Don't be worried that the bridge is mega hot - it is not, from I find that this set has the best balance.

If you want something a bit different the wide range JM style are also excellent. 

Definitely the overwound bridge option. I also strongly recommend A3 magnets instead of A5.

Why do you prefer Alnico A3 to A5 please? Genuinely interested.
On his website it states they are A5, do you have to request A3 especially if you want those?

meltedbuzzbox

Yes you have to request them.
They smooth out the top end. It removes the hard clacky sound you get from alnico 5s

You are welcome to try mine if you are near Northamptonshire

wesker123

Interesting. Sadly not but thanks for the offer.

duotone

What are your thoughts on the G&L offset/JM style guitars?

http://glguitars.com/product/doheny/

http://glguitars.com/product/doheny-2/

stickyfiddle

I have A5s in my JM but have never (knowingly) tried an A3 pickup I didn’t like

Grocer_Jack

duotone said:

What are your thoughts on the G&L offset/JM style guitars?

http://glguitars.com/product/doheny/

http://glguitars.com/product/doheny-2/

You want a Jazzmaster! 

duotone

Grocer_Jack said:

duotone said:

What are your thoughts on the G&L offset/JM style guitars?

http://glguitars.com/product/doheny/

http://glguitars.com/product/doheny-2/

You want a Jazzmaster! 

I think your right. Message received loud and clear!

Anacharsis

I really love my Squier VM Jazzmaster. I replaced the tuners, put in a Warmoth Modified Mustang bridge (with adjustable saddles), and then Fender Pure Vintage '65 pickups. For dirt cheap, it plays and sounds fantastic.

duotone

@Anacharsis ;


 Think the Squier VM’s look really good.  How much do you roughly reckon you have spent on the upgrades?

DrCornelius

I picked up the Squier deluxe JM a few weeks back from PMT in Brizzle as a bit of an impulse purchase. It plays nicely , is well put together but the pickups certainly don't give you traditional JM tones - they are to my ears slightly less spikey P90s.

Its my own fault I didn't expect it to nail the hollow snappy loveliness of a proper JM but being an impulsive bugger I bought it anyway and hoped for the best :-)

stonevibe

I think the Squire Mascis I owned was decent, but if you want a more traditional sound the TVL is closer to traditional Jazzmaster, just with a Mustang style bridge and an easier to access switch on the Rhythm section. Though the TVL has smaller more vintage correct frets than both the Mascis models.

I kept my TVL (and my original purple Mascis) but sold my Squier Mascis, as it was a little too close to what I already owned.

Otherwise, great guitar on a limited budget, but if you can stump up more get a TVL.

duotone

Cheers @stonevibe ;

I still haven’t tried any models out yet, but will eventually get around to it.  The Troy Van Leeuwen model does look really good, witch hat knobs, painted headstock.  Although I think that I prefer the fret dots to the block inlays.

stimpsonslostson

This place is a bad influence. 
This happened today:
https://i.imgur.com/unO4VK2.jpg

I'm VERY impressed with it. The neck in particular is superb- reminds me of the Trohman Tele I once had. 
Pickups are quite P90ish & sound great. 

DrCornelius

Not wanting to bring the thread down but I'm selling a 4 week old non trem version of the above in the classifieds. 

Just thought I'd mention it in case anyone has fallen in love with @stimpsonslostson 's one. (They do look quite Christmassy too so you may get away with saying its a large decoration for the top of the tree....)