Tell me about the Fender Jazzmaster

Pearl Jam and toast

..

ThingFish

http://youtube.com/watch?v=KOuknbvu21Q

http://youtube.com/watch?v=hxfWuneXWhY

Pearl Jam and toast

links didn't work :(

ThingFish

Damn...well, just search on youtube for "Radio Radio" and "Watching the Detectives" by Elvis Costello. Those videos are the reason I'll be building a Jazzmaster copy in the very near future.

ianvomsaal

What do you want to know about the Jazzmaster???
I have two of them.
Cheers . . .

- Ian C.T. vom Saal

Pearl Jam and toast

Anything and everything.

General information, sounds you can get out of them, exactly what those switches do, verstality, tuning stability with the floating tremelo, quality, and is it worth my money.

ianvomsaal

I like my '62 reissue, and I really like my original '65.
The switches are pickup switches for combinations of sounds.
I use the guitars for many styles - tuning stability cab be quirky.
The best thing you can do is go play one - you'll know after about 20 minutes if it'll work for you.
You can talk the guys at Guitar Center down on the price.
I got my reissue for $600 after tax, but I worked out a deal with Fender in CA - half of list ($700), minus 20% ($640), plus tax ($599).
GC's cost is something like $750, so you should be able to weal & deal for around $800-$850.

Here's a link on specs: http://www.fender.com/products/view_specs.php?full_partno=0100800&name=American+Vintage+%26lsquo%3B62+Jazzmaster%26reg%3B
Here's the owners manual in Acrobat: http://www.fender.com/support/manuals/pdfs/instr_owners/FenderGuitarsAndBasses2003.pdf

Actually, here's a link to Fenders own site on the Jazzmaster: http://www.fender.com/products/search.php?partno=0100800857

Also, here's a good site for product reviews (this is the direct link to the '62 reissue jazzmaster reviews):
http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Guitar/product/Fender/%2762%20Reissue%20Jazzmaster/10/1

Cheers . . .

- Ian C.T. vom Saal

Pearl Jam and toast

things that arose reading the reviews:

I've heard problems about the distortion but when I read this my suspicions about these problems subsided: "This isn't a guitar for distortion, unless you want to sound like Mudhoney or Sonic Youth. " :D:D FINE WITH ME !


Ian, what's up with the bridge problem I'm hearing about?


But in all seriousness I need to get my ass to guitar center and play one.

ianvomsaal

Pearl Jam and toast wrote:

Ian, what's up with the bridge problem I'm hearing about?

I really think it has something to do with the single spring under the trem that supports the entire bridge.
I don't like the trem much, so simple for me, I just don't use it (I rarely use the trem, even on my strats).
When I buy a new Fender (I probably buy a new one every 2 or 3 years) I make a point of handing the trem arm back to the sales guy, just so I can see his reaction.

Anyhow, here's a link to see the insides of one (scroll down and take a look at the trem pic and you'll see the single spring mechinism):
http://www.provide.net/~cfh/jazzma58.html

Here's a quote from an entire article about the JazzMaster tremolo - If I haven't answered your question, hopefully this will.

"The floating tremolo was designed by Fender for the Fender Jazzmaster, and first appeared with the release of the Jazzmaster in 1958. A larger, heavier and more complex mechanism than the synchronised tremolo, and promoted over it by Fender as their premium tremolo arm mechanism, it never achieved the same popularity.

The main superficial difference is that, while much of the mechanism of the synchronised tremolo including the springs is accessed by removing a rectangular plate in the back of the guitar body, and is mounted on the guitar body in a routed bay extending behind the pickups, the entire mechanism of the floating tremolo is mounted on a roughly triangular chromed plate in the front of the guitar body, on the opposite side of the bridge to the pickups. The string tension is balanced against a single short hellical spring, in compression rather than tension , mounted on the back of the tremolo mounting plate. The spring is adjustable by turning a screw located towards the centre of this plate.

The ferrule ends of the strings are held on the top of the guitar in a tailpiece plate called the knife plate which emerges from the mechanism, rather than the strings vanishing into the mechanism as with the synchronized tremolo. It is the knife plate that is moved when the tremolo arm is operated. Unlike on the synchronized tremolo , the bridge is not moved directly by the mechanism, but only by the movement of the strings, and is allowed to tilt to accommodate this movement. This is called a floating bridge.

The Fender floating tremolo also features a knob that enables the player to lock and thus disable the tremolo mechanism, allowing quick recovery of tuning in the event of breaking one string, and providing tuning stability with the mechanism locked that was intended to be similar to that of a fixed bridge guitar. In practice, this stability was not generally achieved, leading some players to replace the mechanism with a fixed bridge and tailpiece to produce a high quality "hard-tail" solid body guitar not otherwise available at the time.

The floating tremolo was greatly favoured by some surf music bands, particularly for its ability to produce a pronounced and distinctive vibrato on a sustained chord without disturbing the tuning of the guitar. To fully achieve this benefit, however, a fairly elaborate setup of the guitar was required after every string change.

As well as on the Jazzmaster, the floating tremolo was used on the then top of the line Fender Jaguar guitars, released in 1962, and also on the early Fender Bass VI, released in 1961. Bridges are not interchangeable between these three models, the Jaguar bridge having longer 'legs' to cater for its higher pickups, and the Bass VI saddles being cut for larger diameter strings. There have also been a small number of not very notable imitations by other makers, generally without the locking knob.

Fender discontinued all floating tremolo models in the 1970s, but reintroduced both the Jazzmaster and Jaguar in 1999, and the tremolo-equipped Bass VI in 2006."

Cheers . . .

- Ian C.T. vom Saal

Pearl Jam and toast

I understood all of it except this:

The floating tremolo was greatly favoured by some surf music bands, particularly for its ability to produce a pronounced and distinctive vibrato on a sustained chord without disturbing the tuning of the guitar. To fully achieve this benefit, however, a fairly elaborate setup of the guitar was required after every string change.

ianvomsaal

Pearl Jam and toast wrote:

I understood all of it except this:

The floating tremolo was greatly favoured by some surf music bands, particularly for its ability to produce a pronounced and distinctive vibrato on a sustained chord without disturbing the tuning of the guitar. To fully achieve this benefit, however, a fairly elaborate setup of the guitar was required after every string change.

That's because it takes a while to get the bridge stable after you change the strings.
The way a floyd rose or even some strat trems go all wacky if you break a string or replace the strings.
Just takes a bit to get them stable and even without pulling the other strings all out of tune.
Hence why I rarely use a trem (I usually block my trems).
Cheers . . .

- Ian C.T. vom Saal

Pearl Jam and toast

Thanks for the links and information

Just one more thing..

Since you own two of them, personally, how do you like the Jazzmaster?

ianvomsaal

Pearl Jam and toast wrote:

Thanks for the links and information

Just one more thing..

Since you own two of them, personally, how do you like the Jazzmaster?

I like it a lot - but truthfully I only use it a couple times a month (if that) in the studio.
It just doesn't have the consistency I'm always looking for - sometimes it plays/feels great, other times not so much.
I use it for certain vibe/feeling - I like the pickups for creamier clean and smoother OD sounds (I don't play surf).
Personally, I like my old 1965 Jazzmaster better than the reissue, but that's probably because it's old and worth a lot more
Just like I like my older Strats (1960, 1964, 1965, 1969) better than any of my newer ones.
They just have a different feeling - and you get a sense of history playing them.
But I usually prefer my Les Pauls over the Fenders.
Truthfully, I've been playing an Ibanez AS183 Hollowbody the most lately (you can buy the newer versions of these called AS83 fairly cheap).
I picked mine up at NAMM in 2004 (1 of 5 made for NAMM), and made with retrofitted Gibson hardware (Ibanez stuff is normally metric).
This one also has different pickups, Jumbo stainless steel frets, a custom truss rod cover, and a NAMM sticker inside that says 1 of 5.
I really love it, and it just "screams" better than anything else I've used in a while.
Anyhow, I got off the subject - Cheers . . .

- Ian C.T. vom Saal

Pearl Jam and toast

Much ablidged. *bows*

ThingFish

Now I'm curious about the vibrato...how does it compare to a Bigsby as far as tuning stability?

Pearl Jam and toast

ThingFish wrote:

Now I'm curious about the vibrato...how does it compare to a Bigsby as far as tuning stability?

From what I've read it's extremely stable, wheras the bigsby is.. not.

ianvomsaal

Depends on the Bigsby - there are different kinds of Bigsby Trems - some are better than others.

- Ian C.T. vom Saal

chris01

Not a Jazzmaster but i used to have a Jaguar.

I loved the tone from it but the fretboard was totally fucked so i sold it all. I think im probably going to get another one or something similiar soon.

By the way, if you like Incubus, i think i remember hearing that 'A Crow Left Of The Murder' was pretty much all recorded with a Jazzmaster.

Pearl Jam and toast

chris01 wrote:

Not a Jazzmaster but i used to have a Jaguar.

I loved the tone from it but the fretboard was totally fucked so i sold it all. I think im probably going to get another one or something similiar soon.

By the way, if you like Incubus, i think i remember hearing that 'A Crow Left Of The Murder' was pretty much all recorded with a Jazzmaster.

!

I loveeeeeeee the sounds he gets on that record. It's mesmorizing.

moster78

Pearl Jam and toast wrote:

!

I loveeeeeeee the sounds he gets on that record. It's mesmorizing.

I saw Incubus a few months back and I think he played the whole show using a Jazzmaster, aside from anytime he switched to an acoustic or a bass.