Jazzmaster tone

Jetfire

lol, do you mean Bulldog?

dogload

No. Bullocks. He's an American pickup maker. I got a very good price on some custom-winds off Ebay! Gets good feedback on the OSG

meltedbuzzbox

I like the gold guard personally on the mascis. 

From memory the satin neck was alright as well. 

I really didnt like the pickups though and I know the rest of the electrics can be hit or miss in terms of reliability

Pyroman

  In the Squier line, the Vintage Modified JM is a hell of a bargain.  Much more Jazzmaster-y sounding than the JMJM, from what I recall.  The one I tried had a different bridge than the Fender JM's, and It seemed a lot more string and player friendly.  It was used, though- so I cannot say for certain that it was the stock one.

  The pickups were Duncan Designed, and sounded fantastic.  Other than that, everything else was just like the Fender 60's JM Lacquer I just bought.  I don't remember noticing the frets, so they were probably the regular ones I'm used to from my other Fenders and Squiers.  (ie not something totally different)

It played well and sounded great- very distinctive, and not like any other guitar I have or have played- except for my new Jazzmaster.  Definitely had "The Jazzmaster sound"- all that chime and percussiveness from the middle position, for example.  I saw surprised at what a great guitar it was, considering the low cost.  It was gone before I could get back there with the cash to buy it...

  If you're after a Jazzmaster on the cheap, this is a good one to look out for.  ( it kicked MY JM GAS into serious overdrive!)

meltedbuzzbox

VM Jazzmaster has hotter pickups than standard (they arent bad though)

Has a 9.5" Radius and thicker frets.

QC can be questionable and I am sure @Impmann will be along to point out the inability to bend strings on them properly past the 12th/15th fret

They do have a stock bridge and if I remember rightly a non locking trem (that feels like ti has been made from tin lids and coat hangers)

It's one of those that is "good for the money", I am sure they can be sorted out for a price but then they start ti stray into mij territory and a mij trounces its squier counter part 

dogload

Yeah- I tried several of the VM JMs when they came out and ended up getting a Jaguar instead! There wasn't any of the ones I tried that actually felt half-decent, let alone 'good for the money'.

Perhaps they have upped their game since then.

Pyroman

  Honestly, the radius and frets don't bother me in the least- I have a variety of guitars and am not "married" to any specific shape/size.   The issue of "vintage correctness" never even enters the equation.  I mean, it's a Squier, right- the collectors and investors aren't interested.  ( and thank heavens for that)

  The hotter pickups, I don't know- I played these guitars more than a month apart, and only own the Fender.  All I know is that the VM was giving me sounds I had never gotten before- at least not without a bunch of tweaking and some pedal help!  I was inspired.  The "real deal" Fender I own now is also in a class of it's own, tone-wise.  I'd have to play them side by side to be able to articulate any differences.  I'm sure they're there, different pickups after all, but both sound Jazzmaster-y.

  As I said, the bridge could very well have been a "mod" -it was a used one, and I was not at all familiar with what was supposed to come on it.  I'm thinking it may very well have had a ToM style bridge- I remember talking about it with the sales guy.   I did not look the specs up, either.  Whatever it was, it was VERY different from the one on my new Fender, which is vintage style.

I also have no idea how new it was.  GC just gives you a price and limited warranty info on most used guitars- at least those that aren't obviously collector type.

  But hey- this is just one players opinion on a great sounding guitar that played well.  I thought I'd point it out as a lower cost option for those not wishing to pay a grand or more for a Fender JM.

EdGrip

I have enjoyed this thread. Especially the badger gif. Well done, all!
The "wrong" Fender Jazzmaster pickups are essentially strat pickups in JM clothing, so they're not going to have the JM sound. High-quality hand-made proper JM pickups are abundant these days, thankfully, so it's not a problem if the guitar you like happens to have the wrong pickups.

A Jaguar is, obviously, basically the same guitar as a Jazzmaster, especially mechanically.

meltedbuzzbox

EdGrip said:

A Jaguar is, obviously, basically the same guitar as a Jazzmaster, especially mechanically.

no. Just no. 

EdGrip

So it differs mechanically from a Jazzmaster?

meltedbuzzbox

they are not the same guitar. 

If I was working on that basis a les paul with a bigsby is the same as a telecaster with a bigsby

Mechanically in terms of the vibrato yes, but the scale length will change the tension which changes the sound then you have the way it is wired and the different pickups etc...