Fender Jazzmaster

[antipodean]

Thanks for the correction Tom! My Fender colour knowledge is a bit patchy.

[egosheep]

Thanks for the correction Tom! My Fender colour knowledge is a bit patchy.

No problem! OTM is very much like a Lake Placid Blue with a yellowed clearcoat. It's one of my favorite Fender colors, and it's not too far off from the Turquoise Blue that Ric used on some 50's Combos.

[Chrome Aardvark]

As far as bridges, the most common Jazzmaster modification is to replace the stock bridge with a Mustang bridge. However, all the big name serious Jazzmaster/Jaguar players of the world have switched to the high quality Mastery Bridge.

Thanks for the info. I'll be ordering one soon for my MIJ Jazzmaster.

[sloop_john_b]

I just today ordered a Mastery Bridge for my '65 Jag. I am beyond pumped!

On a side note, wow, I am a geek.

[egosheep]

I just today ordered a Mastery Bridge for my '65 Jag. I am beyond pumped!

On a side note, wow, I am a geek.

Cool! Let us know how it works out!

I also saw a jazzmaster not too long ago that had 3 piece brass tele saddles inside the standard JM bridge housing. Mastery-lite.

[sloop_john_b]

I also saw a jazzmaster not too long ago that had 3 piece brass tele saddles inside the standard JM bridge housing. Mastery-lite.

COOL! Pic?

[egosheep]

It was a tele-master build I think:

[antipodean]

Jake et al,

If you still have a burning desire for a JM, there is this nice MIJ CAR '66 JM in Tokyo.... should come in under USD900 shipped to the USA.

The seller, Guitar Shelter, is very easy to deal with.

[sloop_john_b]

My Mastery bridge came today, in exactly two weeks, as quoted. The high price of these bridges, despite being high quality, often comes into question. Well, for starters...

It comes to you in a custom metal cannister:

Followed by a custom printed pouch:

Impressive, but I have to say I would have much preferred it wrapped in lots of bubble wrap and cost a few bucks less.

As for tone and all? I'll let you know in a few days - my Jag is currently at the shop having the bridge pickup swapped out for a hotter one. No way was I going to go into THAT birds nest myself.

[Chrome Aardvark]

My MIJ Jazzmaster arrived home on Thursday sporting two new Seymour Duncan Antiquity II pickups. Beautiful tone and sustain, no microphonic squeal, no mobile signal being picked up and sent into the amp. Goodbye cheap, horrible Japanese pickups forever!

Still waiting for my Mastery bridge...

[Chrome Aardvark]

I've had the Mastery bridge for a week now. It's relatively easy to set up, though getting the intonation right took some time to work out. The guitar seems to resonate a lot more now, even when strumming unplugged. A welcoming side effect of this is that it sustains beautifully when played clean or with distrortion. It is also a lot brighter sounding, which took a little getting used to. From my perspective they are a good investment in spite of the price.

[sys700]

I own a 1959 Jazzmaster, with original bridge (no mastery for me - the original from the 50's when set up properly does not buzz and has the right-sized slots for the different string sizing), gold pickguard, and slab neck. This is by far my favorite guitar I own, it's so versatile. It's been refinished so I got a great deal on it - I paid $3500 for it and would buy it again in a heartbeat. PS: I've played a reissue of the same guitar - and it felt like a plastic lightweight toy in comparison - horrible action and the neck details were noticeable, especially on the rounded edge. Leo Fender was a genius!

[egosheep]

I own a 1959 Jazzmaster, with original bridge (no mastery for me - the original from the 50's when set up properly does not buzz and has the right-sized slots for the different string sizing), gold pickguard, and slab neck. This is by far my favorite guitar I own, it's so versatile. It's been refinished so I got a great deal on it - I paid $3500 for it and would buy it again in a heartbeat. PS: I've played a reissue of the same guitar - and it felt like a plastic lightweight toy in comparison - horrible action and the neck details were noticeable, especially on the rounded edge. Leo Fender was a genius!

You're a lucky man!

[jingle_jangle]

I own a 1959 Jazzmaster, with original bridge (no mastery for me - the original from the 50's when set up properly does not buzz and has the right-sized slots for the different string sizing), gold pickguard, and slab neck. This is by far my favorite guitar I own, it's so versatile. It's been refinished so I got a great deal on it - I paid $3500 for it and would buy it again in a heartbeat. PS: I've played a reissue of the same guitar - and it felt like a plastic lightweight toy in comparison - horrible action and the neck details were noticeable, especially on the rounded edge. Leo Fender was a genius!

Rod, if it had the original bridge, untouched, the barrels would be made of threaded rod, and the slots carrying the strings would not be deepened. Owners often deepen those slots with a triangular file to keep the strings in their place.

Also, I'd venture to say that the reissue you played was a MIJ or CIJ (Japan). AVRI reissues are quite up to the originals in weight and sound, and build quality is actually better than the originals in most cases.

[Chrome Aardvark]

I have to agree with Rod (if I didn't it would be weird ) about JM's being versatile, but I still prefer my Ricky 365.

One positive thing I can say about the MIJ '62 Reissue JM is that it has that it has one of the best Fender necks I've ever played. The hardware may not be up to snuff, but that's easily rectified.

I haven't noticed much difference in weight of mine compared to a 60's JM - I've also heard that these early MIJ bodies were leftovers shipped over from the USA, so that might be the reason for the similar weight on these ones. T

he problem I found with the bridge was that it tended to deaden the sound of the guitar. Also... every time my girlfriend's son pops over and plays his (n)ew metal on the guitar, strings were popping out of the bridge all over the place.

The way I look at Fenders is that they are like kit guitars, with their bolt on necks and interchangable parts. I see Gibsons and Rics as something else entirely.