Jazzmaster now your go-to guitar?

lovestrat74

If the Jazzmaster is now your #1 guitar, what guitar was your go-to before?

I have never owned a jazzmaster so I am intrigued to know what was your go-to before your JM.

I mainly play T-style guitars and I see the JM as an in-between, between a Tele and Strat. Is that a fair assumption?

Tell me why I need/should own a JM...

earwighoney

lovestrat74 said:

If the Jazzmaster is now your #1 guitar, what guitar was your go-to before?

I have never owned a jazzmaster so I am intrigued to know what was your go-to before your JM.

I mainly play T-style guitars and I see the JM as an in-between, between a Tele and Strat. Is that a fair assumption?

Tell me why I need/should own a JM...

I'm not sure if my memory serves me right, but did you ever put in JM pickups into a Tele Deluxe body?  If so, how did it work out?  I love JM pickups but find the shape of their instruments to be a little too much for a short man like myself.

lovestrat74

earwighoney said:

lovestrat74 said:

If the Jazzmaster is now your #1 guitar, what guitar was your go-to before?

I have never owned a jazzmaster so I am intrigued to know what was your go-to before your JM.

I mainly play T-style guitars and I see the JM as an in-between, between a Tele and Strat. Is that a fair assumption?

Tell me why I need/should own a JM...

I'm not sure if my memory serves me right, but did you ever put in JM pickups into a Tele Deluxe body?  If so, how did it work out?  I love JM pickups but find the shape of their instruments to be a little too much for a short man like myself.

Still on my to-do list, but I am definitely going to do it. I was just playing that Tele and that is what triggered this thread!

mikenetic

Maybe I can give some insight. I've owned a fair few guitars, but I've currently settled on a Fender Baja Tele, a Yamaha Revstar RS820CR and a pair of Fender American Pro II Jazzmasters. I can't help with the Strat part of the question. I've never owned one, I just don't like them much (heresy, I realise).

I love the Tele for its simplicity and immediacy, even though the Baja has a bit more going on than a 'standard' Tele. The Revstar is a wonderfully solid humbucking rock n roll guitar.

The Jazzmaster... well, it's a bit of a shape shifter - incredibly versatile out of the box, sounds lovely with a flexibility of tone that makes me feel more expressive when I play. It helps that the Pro 2 has a very nice bridge and tremelo for tuning stability, a coil tap on the bridge pickup, and a separate circuit that puts both pickups into series with its own tone and volume control. The bridge pickup on the Pro 2 is more punchy than a regular JM pickup. When you tap the coil it sounds more like a vintage JM.

I've also owned a Squier CV Jazzmaster - these can be made to play really well with a bit of work. My experience of a used one is here https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/230539/zero-to-hero-squier-classic-vibe-jazzmaster

So long as you buy one with the rhythm circuit controls you have an instrument that's got a lot of tones to work with, and the potential to use that secondary circuit in a variety of ways - there are quite a few wiring modifications you can do.

Plus, they look amazing. 

Funkfingers

lovestrat74 said:

If the Jazzmaster is now your #1 guitar …

It isn't. I love my modified AV65 but I regard it as a variation or alternative to the usual ST, TE, LP and PRS suspects.

Probably due to the order in which I acquired them, I kinda treat my JM like a full size Jaguar. (This is a gross oversimplification!) Despite outward similarities, the two designs are very different in sound and the way that they play.

lovestrat74 said:

I see the JM as an in-between, between a Tele and Strat. Is that a fair assumption?

IMO, it is not. The Jazzmaster is tangential to the Tele and Strat. I do not regard it as a replacement for either. In true Fretboard style, one should have examples of all three.

lovestrat74 said:

Tell me why I need/should own a JM.

Nobody needs to own a Jazzmaster, not exactly NEEDS. OTOH, they are enormous fun.

Tone-wise, there are two main flavours. Bright/strummy Sixties style or darker/louder Fifties style. Just to confuse matters, my JM combines Sixties cosmetics and Fifties pickups.

jellybelly

Used to be a Fat Strat, but that got stolen and I never found as good a replacement. So I defaulted to the Jazzmaster mainly due to a) looks b) comfort both sat down and on the strap and c) super flexible pickups. It just works really nicely for rhythm styles and really anything that isn't humbucker-centric classic rock or metal. Feels like home now. 

distressed

lovestrat74 said:

I mainly play T-style guitars and I see the JM as an in-between, between a Tele and Strat. Is that a fair assumption?

Tell me why I need/should own a JM...

It's not between Tele and Strat, therefore no need for you to own a JM.

ArchtopDave

I've only owned one Jazzmaster, but I've had it a few years now and mostly use it.

It is however a Jazzmaster Ultra, which is a bit different from more standard Jazzmasters. Previously, I'd used Les Pauls a lot, and a Guitar that was made to my spec, which is largely based on a '72 Thinline Tele (including CuNiFe Wide Range pickups).

lovestrat74

My tele-strat comparison is purely visual and one based on never owning a JM.

2 pickups, 1 tone, 1 vol and a 3-way switch like a Tele. Body contours and a trem system like a Strat.

SPECTRUM001

I have had mine for around eighteen months now, and it just gets better and better.

In answer to your question, it has taken over from my Mustang as my number one. Still love the Mustang, but at the minute the JM is offering a wider sound that is a little more versatile. 

When I dial back the tone on the bridge pickup and add some gain, it has (to me) a decent Teleish growl, certainly enough for some assertive chords. And the middle and neck settings are vibrant and percussive.

I echo above that it is more directed at rhythm and texture, than eg rock lead (handy, as I cannot do that stuff anyways).

All that said, when I just want to grab and play for five mins, my Mustang gets the time - smaller and convenient. The JM is quite a lot of guitar…

distressed

It's a guitar on its own, covers many purposes, but it has a character which many don't like (assuming it's standard JM configuration with 1 Meg pots and all). You should try one yourself and decide (and by that I don't mean JM shaped guitars like G&L and stuff).

UnclePsychosis

I'm gonna answer the question the other way.

I always wanted a jazzmaster. They're cool as fuck and sound great. Then I played a few, and hated every one. Just didn't suit me at all. 

My #1 guitar now, and the one that ended my GAS, really, is a PRS Starla. Its like an anti-PRS and its absolutely perfect for me.

So if small bodied single cuts with humbuckers and bigsbys float your boat then jazzmasters might not be your thing. 

JJ72

As is the case with @mikinetic. I've got a squier cv60s that I've heavily modified( staytrem bridge and  trem arm, Q pickups. Klusons, strat neck, james home of tone harness) .
This has now become my no 1 after setting it up and can cover anything I want to play. Love both the lead and rhythm circuits, really really versatile
The key for me was late 50s style darker pickups, not the janglier 60s style .
I've always gravitated towards teles but these are left unplayed atm.

JamesSGBrown

It all depends what you're doing (captain obvious here). In the studio, it's Teles and Les Pauls primarily. But live, I find offsets deal with alternate tunings far better, and are far more fun (having the absolute best tremolo system ever). I primarily play Jags, but do find the more compressed sound of my JM to be a bit more palatable when I'm playing songs that I used a Tele/LP for in the studio. So right now it's my main gigging guitar (with WRHBs in, for a bit more girth). If I had to have only one though, it's a Jag all the way. Very misunderstood guitars.

AntonHunter

The Squier J Mascis JM has become my main guitar, currently. Over the previous 20 ish years I mostly played a Mexican Nashville Tele or a JV series Strat. I still have, and love, both of them, but if they all got stolen, I'd probably replace the JM first. I got it for noisy Nels Cline / Sonic Youth etc improv stuff, but have been really impressed by the versatility of it (reggae hip-hop this evening!), and I've not changed the pickups or hardware like I intended to either...

Kuras

A Jazzmaster is now my number one Fender.

For years it was various Strats (a Fender American standard, a Bravewood and finally a Smitty). A friend of mine was selling this 67 players grade JM which I could snap up due to selling other bits of gear.

Whilst that tone is not a million miles from a Strat or Tele, it has its own thing going on. To me, it sounds more like a blank canvas because it's not been on so many hit records (and dodgy 80s tunes in the case of a Strat). I prefer the vibrato to a Strats as I don't do any dive-bombs and gentle shimmers with a bucket load of reverb is killer with a JM.
 
Playing wise I have found JMs restrictive, which can be frustrating or a creative asset. I definitely play to the guitar, with it's limited sustain, trebly bridge pickup and slight choking when bending on the top E above the 15th fret. It doesn't feel right playing blues on it, which is a great thing since my go to is cliche blues rock licks!

lovestrat74

Kuras said:

A Jazzmaster is now my number one Fender.

 It doesn't feel right playing blues on it, which is a great thing since my go to is cliche blues rock licks!

Sounds like me! I think I need a JM even more now

Panama_Jack666

I got a Jazzmaster fairly recently (mainly being a Tele player before). It makes me play completely differently. 

I didn't know what to expect. Sound wise it's definitely it's own thing. Much comfier than a Tele. Jazzmasters sound great for anything with open strings. Really great for Americana type stuff I think. 

My preconception was they were just for jangly indie stuff but that's not the case at all. It completely changed my opinion on them after owning one. I would recommend trying one with a mastery bridge and see if it does anything for you!

Listen to me playing the Better Call Saul theme incorrectly on one here:

lovestrat74

Ah! Lil Barrie!  

JJ72

Talking of Mr.Cadogan, this is one of my go to runs on my jazzmaster...

JJ72

This is also a great watch for any prospective Jazzmaster purchaser