Squier J Mascis Jazzmaster

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NelsonPNelsonP Frets: 3347
Intrigued by these.

Lots of good reviews on the internet. Some say great guitar for the money, others say great guitar full stop and 'as good as guitars 3 times the price'.

Can anyone with hands on experience of them shed any light?
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Comments

  • darthed1981darthed1981 Frets: 11670
    I've played the Macsis and bought a very similar Vintage Modified.

    Both very well put together, if I recall the Macsis has a better bridge, I had to swap the one in mine for a staytrem.

    My VM is very nice to play, and to me the pickups sound really good.
    We have to be so very careful, what we believe in...
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  • gusman2xgusman2x Frets: 919
    Fantastic guitar. I wouldn't part with mine. Pretty hot sounding, fantastic neck, overall fit and function great. Only criticism would be the fender version of the TOM bridge. It's not entirely conducive with trem abuse, and if you want to do a lot of wobbling, it'd be worthwhile doing the extremely easy roller bridge upgrade.
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  • stickyfiddlestickyfiddle Frets: 26748
    gusman2x said:
    Fantastic guitar. I wouldn't part with mine. Pretty hot sounding, fantastic neck, overall fit and function great. Only criticism would be the fender version of the TOM bridge. It's not entirely conducive with trem abuse, and if you want to do a lot of wobbling, it'd be worthwhile doing the extremely easy Staytrem upgrade.
    FTFY...

    Anyway, they;re really good guitars, not "proper" Jazzmasters, but 90% there, look the part and are excellent in their own right. 

    But I would make the argument that those saying they're better than guitars 3x the price have never played any really great 1k+ guitars. They're good, but nothing is that good. 
    The Assumptions - UAE party band for all your rock & soul desires
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  • impmannimpmann Frets: 12641
    gusman2x said:
    Fantastic guitar. I wouldn't part with mine. Pretty hot sounding, fantastic neck, overall fit and function great. Only criticism would be the fender version of the TOM bridge. It's not entirely conducive with trem abuse, and if you want to do a lot of wobbling, it'd be worthwhile doing the extremely easy Staytrem upgrade.
    FTFY...

    Anyway, they;re really good guitars, not "proper" Jazzmasters, but 90% there, look the part and are excellent in their own right. 

    But I would make the argument that those saying they're better than guitars 3x the price have never played any really great 1k+ guitars. They're good, but nothing is that good. 
    Actually, the roller bridge works better on the guitars with the trem closer to the bridge than the Staytrem - such as the Classic Player and the J Mascis. I tried pretty much every bridge available and the roller was superb on the CP,
    Never Ever Bloody Anything Ever.

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  • CleckoClecko Frets: 295
    I have one and it's great, but you can absolutely tell that it's built to a price point, and there's no getting around the fact that the price point in question is not three times the street price that it goes for. It's noticeably inferior to my Fender Classic Player 60s Strat, for example. 

    With that said, it has real character, is really well out together and is bags of fun.
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  • mikeyrob73mikeyrob73 Frets: 4663
    i have one and love it, Stonking guitars 
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  • I had a Deluxe. It was great, probably the best sub £300 guitar I've played. 
    I prefer the red deluxe to the white Mascis. 
    The pickups are more P90 than JM, but that's not a bad thing to me. 
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  • Calum13Calum13 Frets: 37
    The mascis has a TOM bridge and not the usual vintage style one. It doesn’t have the usual jazzmaster pickups. They’re P90s under the covers. I’ve heard people saying they replace them with SD antiquitys but I think they sound fine. 
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  • riverciderrivercider Frets: 461
    I had one and loved the neck.  I think Mascis based it on a Rory Gallagher strat sig model he'd once played iirc
    I put a Staytrem on mine, still get to play it occasionally as my mate bought it, the neck was best thing about it in my opinion.
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  • dogloaddogload Frets: 1495
    I've played the Macsis and bought a very similar Vintage Modified.

    Both very well put together, if I recall the Macsis has a better bridge, I had to swap the one in mine for a staytrem.

    My VM is very nice to play, and to me the pickups sound really good.
    The Squier VM and Mascis Jazzmasters are like chalk and cheese. Well maybe like cheddar and Cheshire at least. 

    They look similar but they aren't. The Mascis is much better than a VM 'out of the box' (every VM I've tried in shops has had issues). As has been said, the bridges are different from the go, and the trem is further forward on the Mascis which goives the guitar a different, less 'floppy' playing experience as string tension is different. Also the behind-the-bridge harmonics a re different so it sounds slightly different from a regular JM.
    Also the neck... the VMs is much slimmer of course.

    Replacement bridges for the Mascis are IMHO a must, and both of mine have been replaced with roller units (no strings snagging in pointy saddles).
    I'm not keen on the hot bridge P90 so have replaced the bridge pickups on mine with Mojos, which in conjunction with the original P90 at the neck gives a very useful set of sounds.
    Over time I've uograded electrics and one has a 'proper' fender trem with the lock... don't know why other than it looks better and feels a bit more responsive (but that may be my imagination!).

    I find the Mascis is the perfect guitar for using with our band, as it is just so playable and versatile.


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  • NelsonPNelsonP Frets: 3347
    edited June 2019
    Bumping this for any more feedback....
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  • BasherBasher Frets: 1198
    ... it's a cool colour. Don't ever underestimate the tonal benefts of that.
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  • dogloaddogload Frets: 1495
    Basher said:
    ... it's a cool colour. Don't ever underestimate the tonal benefts of that.
    Yeah, once you ditch the hideous gold scratchplate!
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  • Gerz6558Gerz6558 Frets: 761
    edited June 2019
    I had a squier deluxe jazzmaster (Mascis in disguise). I too think it's the best sub £300 guitar I've had. I liked the neck so much I sold the body and used the neck on a jazzmaster build. 

    I don't know what their future is. There's a suggestion all of the MIC classic vibes are being phased out, and the newly branded (inferior?) Indonesian classic vibes are to take over...living off the name so to speak. These Mascis models are made in the same factory as the MIC classic vibes I think, so if these shift over to somewhere else I guess the quality could dip.

    Taken from offset guitars forum:

    The new Jay Mascis Jazzmasters are now made in Taiwan ... 
    The 50s and 60s classic vibe must follow too, I think ...
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  • KittyfriskKittyfrisk Frets: 18376
    If its good enough for this lad, its probably good enough for any of us?
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auaNmXyO6ZU&feature=youtu.be
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  • NelsonPNelsonP Frets: 3347
    Well, i've caved in and bought one. It's got some great upgrades - Seymour Duncan's, switchcraft and CTS electrics, Fender trem, Gotoh locking tuners.

    Will report back once I've received it.
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  • NelsonPNelsonP Frets: 3347
    So, , having spent a tiny bit more time with it, there's obviously a great guitar in there. I'm having trouble with the 11 gauge strings that are on it and high action.

    The bridge is decked but the action is still too high so the neck needs shimming. I'll go down a gauge to 10s too.

    Then I'm pretty sure it will be fantastic.
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  • NelsonPNelsonP Frets: 3347
    edited August 2019

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  • NelsonPNelsonP Frets: 3347

    Just reviving this thread to ask whether anyone can recommend a drop in roller bridge for the Squier J Mascis?

    @impmann ;
    @gusman2x ;
    @dogload ;

    Any tips?




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  • https://m.thomann.de/ie/abm_rollerbridge_2400n_ro_nickel.htm

    This would be the roller bridge I would go for. It also includes 4mm to M5 conversion posts so it will fit the Nashville style thimbles on your J Mascis. 

    My experience with cheaper roller bridges is that they can be massively tone sucking
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