r/Jazzmaster

Finally took the plunge and was able to get a pretty clean and lightweight CME Pacific Peach JM a little while ago. I always thought this colorway stood out as the best they’d done and always wanted to see it done up with a proper gold pickguard/wiring. Turned out pretty amazing so far, next stage mod is getting noiseless pickups and adding the rhythm circuit. Makes me think that newer purple one could look good done up the same way. Anyway, thanks!

Hi guys, I am looking to buy my first jazzmaster and I found this custom which I really like and for a pretty reasonable price however I would really like it to have a jazzmaster tremolo system how hard/tedious would be to convert this to a JM trem? Thank you

I grabbed an old guitar of mine today but I always hated the weird sound the strings made, some sort of fretbuzz? Can someone help me what the cause might be? And is there a fix? I'm sorry if this is a stupid question but I googled it but could not find the same problem....

Thanks!

After a whole year of having this body, listing it on reverb, taking it off and then actually going through with building it. It’s complete! American Professional II body with all fender electronics, righty bender Japan tremolo, AmProII bridge, pure vintage pickups, and my maple strat neck from my first guitar. The pots also turn righty for a better sweep.

Just finished up this partsmaster build. Kind of want to age the witch hat knob’s and the trem button to match the cream of the pickup covers and selector switch, but she’s complete :)

She’s rockin the following:

Fender performer body
Schaller roller bridge
Panorama tremolo
1mg pots
Mighty mite Strat neck
Kluson deluxe locking tuners
Rhythm circuit is wired so I have 2 volume controls for each pickup.

I'm interested in this guitar, but these few pics give me pause. Looks fine to me but I'm not sure why he's showing off the fretboard or frets unless there are some issues and wear/tear. Just wanted to make sure there's no damage. Seller wants $1,100. Comes with hard shell case.

EDIT: Forgot to mention listed as a Fender American Professional JM 2017-19.

Also I use Tech 21 pedal, Boss Super Overdrive, RAT, EARTHQUAKER DEVICES Plumes, EARTHQUAKER DEVICES Avalanche, EHX Super Pulsar, Eventide Space and Vox AC10

I've owned this guitar for about a month and have been taking notes the whole time. A bunch of video reviews dropped quickly after release and while I watched some of them, nothing here was influenced by those. This is all my own experience.

I own several Jazzmasters — modern to vintage and everything in between. I am a bit obsessed.

When this leaked on r/offset I practically threw my phone at my wife for her to look at them. She said "another Jazzmaster, do you need another one?" I replied with "Sonic Blue, Candy Apple Red... I need two" She was not moved. I ordered it the day it was released.

‐---------‐--------------------------------

Why I Bought It

I have the Vintera II. Good guitar, but I ended up doing all the mods myself — wiring harness,bone nut, cavity shielding, Curtis Novak pickups, Mastery bridge. The III comes with all of the good guts already done from the factory plus a bone nut. The matching painted headstock with the period correct transition logo sitting on top of the finish sealed it. And yes, the word "floating" is italicized on the waterslide. Nobody else cares. I cared. I wish it were nitro and would gladly pay extra and will if they release a road worn.

‐---------‐--------------------------------

Out of the Box

Not great. Bridge fully decked against the pickguard. Collet loose and sunk into the tremolo cavity...I had to pull the whole tremolo off just to reseat it with a drop of Loctite. Fretboard bone dry. Truss rod needed adjustment. Frets needed work, a few had slight lifting, fret ends needed cleaning up. One thimble literally fell out when I flipped the guitar over. Cavity shielding not functional and needs to be completely redone.

I do this for a living. I can handle all of this. But if this was your first Jazzmaster you'd either think this is normal or you'd be looking at a $150-$250 shop bill on top of a near $1,400. That's not okay.

‐---------‐--------------------------------

Quality Control

Not just my guitar. The Candy Apple Red at my local store had enough finish issues that they pulled it off the wall and offered me a discount on it. Also worth noting — Fender describes the Vintera III neck as being thicker than the Vintera II but mine feels almost identical to the II. The store guitar was much chunkier. Make of that what you will.

I contacted Fender, they pointed me to ZZounds. ZZounds offered a full refund or exchange immediately, no questions. I kept it because I actually like the neck on mine and didn’t want to chance on getting a different neck shape.

ZZounds is great! They have fast shipping, easy financing, and they actually take care of you when you need them.

‐---------‐--------------------------------

The Good

Once I added a 0.5 shim, swapped the bridge, and did a proper setup it plays really well. Around 7 pounds, beautiful finish, well cut bone nut, fret dots that look like real clay. Stock pickups sound good — better than the Pure Vintage '65s in my opinion, though that's subjective. Tremolo is surprisingly close to an American Vintage unit once set up properly. No need to replace it. Tuners are single line Kluson style, look great and loosened up fine after some use. If you want to upgrade, Gotoh SD91 locking tuners are a direct drop in and match the vintage look perfectly.

‐---------‐--------------------------------

The Bad

After a bit I decided to swap the stock pickups for Sunday Handwound Woodieswith the ++ bridge.

During the swap found a broken ground wire from the thimble and discovered the wires were all wrapped and soldered around the lugs and globs of solder on the pots making clean desoldering a real pain. Two separate issues but both things that shouldn't be there on a new guitar. Also worth noting — period correct tuners for this era would be double line Klusons, not single line. Minor miss but worth knowing.

‐---------‐--------------------------------

Pros

Matching painted headstock with transition logo

Gavitt cloth wiring harness

Full Switchcraft hardware

CTS pots

Stock pickups sound good

Well cut bone nut

Tremolo rivals an American Vintage tremolo

Beautiful finish, solid construction

Light at around 7 pounds

Great mod platform

ZZounds customer service is excellent

‐---------‐--------------------------------

Cons

Serious out of box setup issues

Cavity shielding not functional — needs to be completely redone

Broken ground wire from thimble

Wiring soldered in a way that makes pickup swaps difficult

Fretboard extremely dry

Thimble fell out

Single line tuners instead of period correct double line

Gig bag only at nearly $1,400

Neck profile inconsistency between units

Broader QC concerns across the line

‐---------‐--------------------------------

Score

Out of the box: 7.5/10

Properly set up: 9.0/10

So, after 25 years of playing, I decided to get my first offset.
I got a new Squier cv Jazzmaster a few weeks ago.
I loved it so much after a week that a bought a fender MIJ hybrid ii Ltd edition noir.
Good lord.
I think it may murder and eat my other guitars though.
Is this a sexy guitar, or what??!!