What Jazzmaster?

domrush

I've benn thinking about buying a jazzmaster but what's the best one to get?
I was thinking of buying a classic player and replacing the bridge with a callaham abr and the pcikups with Novaks but it'll turn out pretty expensive.
Any cheaper way of doing this i.e do they make cheaper jazzmasters than the classic player?

Also does anyone know what the jazzmaster neck profile is like? Skinny or thick?

Mataguri

domrush wrote: »

I've benn thinking about buying a jazzmaster but what's the best one to get?
I was thinking of buying a classic player and replacing the bridge with a callaham abr and the pcikups with Novaks but it'll turn out pretty expensive.
Any cheaper way of doing this i.e do they make cheaper jazzmasters than the classic player?

Also does anyone know what the jazzmaster neck profile is like? Skinny or thick?

I was messing around with one in a shop, I would describe the neck as being of medium thickness with a C-shape profile.

If you are going to be replacing so much of the hardware I would try and save a few quid by getting the neck and body separately. For bodies I would recommend Warmoth, top quality stuff at decent prices. This gorgeous body is currently going for €216:



You can get a neck off Warmoth for roughly the same price which will be as good as any production line Fender out there, plus you get to choose whatever profile you prefer. However if you need the Fender logo on the headstock theres a few Classic player Jazzmaster necks on Ebay for around €260 ish.

rcaz

domrush wrote: »

I've benn thinking about buying a jazzmaster but what's the best one to get?
I was thinking of buying a classic player and replacing the bridge with a callaham abr and the pcikups with Novaks but it'll turn out pretty expensive.
Any cheaper way of doing this i.e do they make cheaper jazzmasters than the classic player?

Also does anyone know what the jazzmaster neck profile is like? Skinny or thick?

The Classic Player Jazzmaster is a little different to a regular JM. The vibrato unit is moved a little closer to the bridge to increase the break angle over the bridge (and therefore the downward force on the bridge), which takes away from the 'authenticity' of it, and behind-the-bridge stuff won't sound the same. The extra force on the bridge isn't needed anyway, once the guitar is set up properly. The CPJM also has an adjusto-matic bridge, another mod that isn't authentic and isn't necessary if you set it up properly.

I have a CIJ Jazzmaster which I bought of Ishibashi. I don't know if Ishibashi ship Fender Japan gear outside Japan anymore (I seem to remember reading something saying they wouldn't). XMusic are listing the dot-inlayed sunburst CIJ JM at €899, I got my block-and-binding neck sunburst JM for around €630 including shipping. I'm getting some Seymour Duncan SJM-1 pickups this month (XMusic said it'd be around mid-May....), and I'll have to replace the vibrato 'cause someone had a go of it a while ago and broke it... :mad:

I can only measure my JM's neck against my Mexican Tele and my Squier '51 (which I think has a Tele neck), and it's fatter and rounder than both. I don't know how to describe it.

Mataguri wrote: »

If you are going to be replacing so much of the hardware I would try and save a few quid by getting the neck and body separately.

A bridge swap and pickup change is hardly that much. Considering the Jazzmaster has two circuits in it, and a relatively complicated vibrato, it's a very small job. If you wanted to build up your own JM with decent parts I don't think you'd be saving that much money.

domrush

I like the warmoth idea but I'd imagine the jazzmaster circuit is pretty difficult to set up?

rcaz

domrush wrote: »

I like the warmoth idea but I'd imagine the jazzmaster circuit is pretty difficult to set up?

No more difficult than any other guitar, it'd just take longer. It's the circuit for a single-pickup guitar with tone and volume pots, and a Telecaster wiring setup, with a switch to go between them. When the upper switch is down, you've got a Telecaster wiring using the bottom switch and two pots, when the upper switch is up, you've got a neck pickup-only wiring with the two roller pots.

rcaz

Forgot to mention, if you want to learn more about the Fender offsets, have a look around www.offsetguitars.com, I'm pretty sure it's the largest collection of information about offsets on the internet

domrush

thats very helpful El Pr0n thanks
Any coulour suggestions?
I'm thinking either the colour posted by mataguri or lake placid blue or sunburst .
Any opinions?

rcaz

domrush wrote: »

thats very helpful El Pr0n thanks
Any coulour suggestions?
I'm thinking either the colour posted by mataguri or lake placid blue or sunburst .
Any opinions?

If you're gonna get sunburst, try have a look at the exact guitar you're buying, sunburst can vary a good bit. I think a Jazzmaster with a really nice burst and a really nice tort guard is just the nicest guitar, but unfortunately I have a passable burst and some alright-ish tort. If you can live without a sunburst JM (I only had eyes for burst when I bought mine :rolleyes:), and you want to buy online, your satisfaction is probably safer with a solid colour. And then it's personal taste! Mataguri's post is gorgeous (is that a seafoam green?) I've always been partial to sonic or daphne blue, and if you can pull it off, I think shell pink looks great in the right place

tokaitelejohn

Hard to go wrong with the Warmoth option as Mataguri has said. Their stuff is top drawer. You can always get a Fender waterslide transfer for the headstock if you want to. I would also go for Seymour Duncan vintage repro pickups - they are also excellent. But, all in all, it'll cost you a lot more going down this route than just by buying a CIJ Jazzmaster. The Classic player is just not the same.

Mataguri wrote: »

I was messing around with one in a shop, I would describe the neck as being of medium thickness with a C-shape profile.

If you are going to be replacing so much of the hardware I would try and save a few quid by getting the neck and body separately. For bodies I would recommend Warmoth, top quality stuff at decent prices. This gorgeous body is currently going for €216:

You can get a neck off Warmoth for roughly the same price which will be as good as any production line Fender out there, plus you get to choose whatever profile you prefer. However if you need the Fender logo on the headstock theres a few Classic player Jazzmaster necks on Ebay for around €260 ish.