I've gone and done it. J Mascis Jazzmaster

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  • I had one of those Wilkinson style bridges on a Les Paul for a while. I found it to be tonally not as good as the Tuneomatic it was replacing. 

    If I was to go for a roller bridge again I would go for an ABM Müller, or alternatively a traditional Tuneomatic with a pair of domed thumbwheels
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  • Good to see mixed opinions on upgrades, or not !
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  • Just a great guitar regardless of whether it's been modded or not. 

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  • I think best thing to do is play the sh*t out of it, and then decide on the trem/bridge/pickups. I do think I'd like to get a "Jazzmaster" sound as opposed to the P90 sound.
    Maybe some gold volume and tone speed knobs to go with the gold guard....
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  • The more I look at the demos online, I'd nearly keep the stock pickups, though the Mojos I do have sound pretty good.
    Can't wait to get my hands on this!
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  • FunkfingersFunkfingers Frets: 14321
    Good to see mixed opinions on upgrades, or not !
    Out of academic interest, how would a tricked-up Squier J. Mascis compare to a stock MIM Vintera - both in terms of cost and playability? Anybody tried both back to back?
    Be seeing you.
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  • dogloaddogload Frets: 1495
    The more I look at the demos online, I'd nearly keep the stock pickups, though the Mojos I do have sound pretty good.
    Can't wait to get my hands on this!
    I use mine live, and find that the extra 'beef' from the stock neck P90 is ideal for a fatter and/or flutier distorto-noise that can be coaxed into 'Parisian Walkways'-worthy feedback, whilst the bridge Mojo gives more clarity and top than the stock P90 does, which suits my purpose perfectly.
    Experimentation with the pickup heights can get you to a fairly decent replication of the trad Jazzmaster 'middle' position. 

    The JMJM will never sound like a 'proper' JM as the placement of the trem closer to the bridge gives it a different sonic character

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  • impmann said:
    @impmann Very good points. Is there any advantage to upgrading the TOM bridge to another roller type bridge? I might research the staytrem suggestion with the arm though. Do you know what the sizing was?
    One thing I dislike is the rattling bar!
    This is the one I used to use on the CP I had:

    https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/WILKINSON-STYLE-TUNE-O-MATIC-ROLLER-GUITAR-BRIDGE-FOR-GIBSON-EPIPHONE-LP-SG-ETC/193049737817?hash=item2cf2a93a59:m:mUGeGh7zXwAkwNlrcYzu6RA

    Cheap and worked brilliantly. Fitted straight onto the mounts in the body.

    As for the Staytrem size - you need the 10mm option for the original trem or the 3/8 for the US trem
    Been playing it the last day or so but only through a headphone amp. Pickups buzz a good bit when I’m “hands free” but to be expected. Stock bridge and trem seems fine so far even though I ordered the Wilkinson roller bridge. I have a fender trem unit but as of now I don’t know what major difference it could make? Yeah the arm rattled a small bit but stays in place and seems to in much “deeper” to the unit than the fender one where the arm seemed to be higher up.
    the pickup switch may need replacing down the line but ok for now. Neck is superb.
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  • Creed_ClicksCreed_Clicks Frets: 1385
    edited February 2020
    A few months into having it, and I've changed the bridge to a wilkinson roller bridge. It wasn't a case of a straight drop in though. 
    Overall, the neck is pretty nice on these, I'm still not blow away when I pick it up, and think "wow I want to sit here for hours".
    GAS is possibly infecting me again. I'm also thinking of going all in and going high end on the Jazzmaster.
    I have a cheap Dano U1 beside it, and while it feels like a toy sometimes, due to its light weight, I much prefer playing it v the JM..... Gah!!!

    I know I like bolt on neck, trem units, but don't like strats. Might revist Reverends again...
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  • A few months into having it, and I've changed the bridge to a wilkinson roller bridge. It wasn't a case of a straight drop in though. 
    Overall, the neck is pretty nice on these, I'm still not blow away when I pick it up, and think "wow I want to sit here for hours".
    GAS is possibly infecting me again. I'm also thinking of going all in and going high end on the Jazzmaster.
    I have a cheap Dano U1 beside it, and while it feels like a toy sometimes, due to its light weight, I much prefer playing it v the JM..... Gah!!!

    I know I like bolt on neck, trem units, but don't like strats. Might revist Reverends again...
    You need to stop buying guitars without playing them beforehand. You are obviously looking for "something" and you don't quite know what it is. Go into a big shop and play a bunch of different guitars and see what floats you boat. Based on what you said, you should also check out Duesenberg. Though they are not bolt on, but that's neither here nor there, but they are Fender scale and have a great trem unit.
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  • Creed_ClicksCreed_Clicks Frets: 1385
    edited February 2020
    A few months into having it, and I've changed the bridge to a wilkinson roller bridge. It wasn't a case of a straight drop in though. 
    Overall, the neck is pretty nice on these, I'm still not blow away when I pick it up, and think "wow I want to sit here for hours".
    GAS is possibly infecting me again. I'm also thinking of going all in and going high end on the Jazzmaster.
    I have a cheap Dano U1 beside it, and while it feels like a toy sometimes, due to its light weight, I much prefer playing it v the JM..... Gah!!!

    I know I like bolt on neck, trem units, but don't like strats. Might revist Reverends again...
    You need to stop buying guitars without playing them beforehand. You are obviously looking for "something" and you don't quite know what it is. Go into a big shop and play a bunch of different guitars and see what floats you boat. Based on what you said, you should also check out Duesenberg. Though they are not bolt on, but that's neither here nor there, but they are Fender scale and have a great trem unit.
    Now you said it!! You are 100% correct!! I'd have a job finding a shop with a good selection of Duesenbergs in Ireland, but if it meant a hop over to the UK, then it would be worth it for sure.
    In fact, the Paloma and Caribou are 2 models that always caught my eye. I've lost count of how many guitars I've gone through at this stage....
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  • A few months into having it, and I've changed the bridge to a wilkinson roller bridge. It wasn't a case of a straight drop in though. 
    Overall, the neck is pretty nice on these, I'm still not blow away when I pick it up, and think "wow I want to sit here for hours".
    GAS is possibly infecting me again. I'm also thinking of going all in and going high end on the Jazzmaster.
    I have a cheap Dano U1 beside it, and while it feels like a toy sometimes, due to its light weight, I much prefer playing it v the JM..... Gah!!!

    I know I like bolt on neck, trem units, but don't like strats. Might revist Reverends again...
    You need to stop buying guitars without playing them beforehand. You are obviously looking for "something" and you don't quite know what it is. Go into a big shop and play a bunch of different guitars and see what floats you boat. Based on what you said, you should also check out Duesenberg. Though they are not bolt on, but that's neither here nor there, but they are Fender scale and have a great trem unit.
    Now you said it!! You are 100% correct!! I'd have a job finding a shop with a good selection of Duesenbergs in Ireland, but if it meant a hop over to the UK, then it would be worth it for sure.
    Some Neck in Dublin has them in stock from time to time. There are also a few up on Adverts. I will say of all the Duesenbergs I have played they are very consistent from guitar to guitar. 

    But if you want to try a bunch of them a trip to the UK would be the way to do it, or even a trip to one of the big stores in Germany.

    Also, keep an open mind, if  you go to a big place, play as many guitars as you can, don't dismiss any out of hand, just because you "think" you don't like them - ask to play the best 3 Strats in the shop (in the opinions of the guys working there), if you still don't like Strats after that, fair enough. 
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  • @Seziertisch great advice. This itch started in the early 00s, and still not scratched! I often think I won't pay "that much" for a guitar, but if you add up the money I've spent and lost on buying and selling, it would be more than a high end guitar at this stage...
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  • @Seziertisch great advice. This itch started in the early 00s, and still not scratched! I often think I won't pay "that much" for a guitar, but if you add up the money I've spent and lost on buying and selling, it would be more than a high end guitar at this stage...
    You have had a couple of Jazzmasters, one custom build with the best of parts and one J Mascis and neither of them did it for you. Spending big on a CS Jazzmaster isn’t going to get you so much more than either of those have offered you, so I think you can probably add Jazzmaster to the list of guitars you don’t want.

    But yeah, it adds up
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  • Creed_ClicksCreed_Clicks Frets: 1385
    edited February 2020
    @Seziertisch great advice. This itch started in the early 00s, and still not scratched! I often think I won't pay "that much" for a guitar, but if you add up the money I've spent and lost on buying and selling, it would be more than a high end guitar at this stage...
    You have had a couple of Jazzmasters, one custom build with the best of parts and one J Mascis and neither of them did it for you. Spending big on a CS Jazzmaster isn’t going to get you so much more than either of those have offered you, so I think you can probably add Jazzmaster to the list of guitars you don’t want.

    But yeah, it adds up
    Yep, and in the past, offset wise, I have had a HH Jazzmaster, a CIJ Jazzmaster, a Blacktop Jaguar (sounded great, but couldn't get on with the shorter scale), a Reverend Charger 290 and a Jackson Surfcaster in the early 00s.

    I've gone through teles of various configurations, strats, SGs, Midtowns, Epi Casinos, Epi/Ibanez semi hollow bodies, full hollow bodies, Charvel super strats etc .... it's laughable at this stage.

    While the Mascis is good/nice, I am picking up the Danos instead to noodle on, as the necks are great.. (I just think I deserve a "nice" electric guitar...)
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  • @Seziertisch great advice. This itch started in the early 00s, and still not scratched! I often think I won't pay "that much" for a guitar, but if you add up the money I've spent and lost on buying and selling, it would be more than a high end guitar at this stage...
    You have had a couple of Jazzmasters, one custom build with the best of parts and one J Mascis and neither of them did it for you. Spending big on a CS Jazzmaster isn’t going to get you so much more than either of those have offered you, so I think you can probably add Jazzmaster to the list of guitars you don’t want.

    But yeah, it adds up
    Yep, and in the past, offset wise, I have had a HH Jazzmaster, a CIJ Jazzmaster, a Blacktop Jaguar (sounded great, but couldn't get on with the shorter scale), a Reverend Charger 290 and a Jackson Surfcaster in the early 00s.

    I've gone through teles of various configurations, strats, SGs, Midtowns, Epi Casinos, Epi/Ibanez semi hollow bodies, full hollow bodies, Charvel super strats etc .... it's laughable at this stage.

    While the Mascis is good/nice, I am picking up the Danos instead to noodle on, as the necks are great.. (I just think I deserve a "nice" electric guitar...)
    That's a lot of different guitars of different styles.

    A friend of mine (session player turned producer) gave me some great advice. We were talking about another friend who was forever flipping guitars - Strats, Teles, offsets, Gibsons, this guy had flipped them all in search of some elusive thing. My producer friend said that in his opinion the problem was that the other guy needed to focus on his playing - the reason that none of the guitars were doing it for him was that he wasn't able to make them do whatever it was he wanted them to do. He said that he had been in sessions with the flipper where he was grumbling about some short coming of whatever guitar he was using and then somebody else picked up the guitar and all of a sudden it sounded great. 

    I don't know if any of that is applicable to you, you might be an amazing player, though it is potentially something to bear in mind. 

    This producer friend also handed me my ass a couple of times in sessions where he ended up playing parts I had written, just because they sounded better when he played them. After that happened it really got me to focus on my own playing and getting back to basics. I'm not trying to be a dick by suggesting the above, I'm just saying that sometimes, depending on the quality of players you get to interact with on a regular basis, you might not even fully appreciate how much better you could or should be, or what the guitar you own is actually capable of. 

    Though, all that said, flipping and trying stuff can be enjoyable and educational, so don't let me detract from the enjoyment of that.


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  • @Seziertisch point taken. Yep there's always something to learn. I'm not necessarily trying to get the guitar to do something I can't get it to do, it's more down to the feel. e.g. I was recording a few years back and the studio had a Jap Jazzmaster. It was possibly 80s or early 90s. Neck was superb. But any other JM I laid my hands on never felt like it.
    The Gibson Midtown I had felt good, but sonically, cheaper full size semi hollow bodies had a better sound. 
    As you mentioned, a trip to a big guitar shop will go a long way towards helping. It might be time to cut out the flipping this year, and think about it a bit more...
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  • NelsonPNelsonP Frets: 3347
    I'm still very much enjoying my J Mascis.

    The only thing that I don't like about it is how the pickups are very trebly when the volume and tone are both on 10.  There's a sort of shrill upper midrange sound that comes through with any sort of drive on the amp. So if the vol is on 10 I have the tone around 5, or have both vol and tone around 8. To be fair it does have Seymour Duncan Hot Jazzmaster pickups in it. So it might be that.
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  • Jury is still out with me... ;/
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  • Why oh why have I come back to this thread again! :( GAS!!!
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