Jazzmaster, Jaguar, Mustang owners - where are you?

[tremoloman]

Am I the only one who loves Jazzmasters and Mustangs?

 

[Robert]

I've never played one, but would love to if I could only find one in a music store.

 

[tremoloman]

I know what you mean Robert... I bought moth my Jazzmasters unseen. Lucky for me, they both turned out to be sweethearts!

For surf and clean playing, there isn't a guitar I like more than the Jazzmaster. Suprisingly, you can do rock & blues on them. Even Johnny Cash used one in many of his earlier albums.

Find a used Japanese model, upgrade the pickups to US models, and away you go!

 

[Iago]

Hi Tremoloman,

I've got some interest on Mustangs, because of the short neck, and because Johnny Winter played one for a while...I really would like to try one. I read somewhere that John Mclaughlin played one too, on the albums with Miles Davis, is that true?

Never played a Jazzmaster or a Jaguar... I never really cared about them too much..How do the Jazzmaster sounds? Can you tell the difference from a strat in a "blind test"?

 

[tremoloman]

Never heard a Jazzmaster? My God!

Here's some sound clips:
http://fender.com/products/sounds/guitars/0100800.mp3
http://fender.com/products/sounds/guitars/0100900.mp3

If you've ever listened to anything from The Cure, you've no doubt heard a Jazzmaster. Also, anything surf related are often played on JMs and Jags. Songs from the Ventures, The Cure, Sonic Youth, and a host of others feature these guitars.

Give one a try!

I use mine with the Hendrix pedal on a number of songs...

 

[Iago]

Sure I heard them, but I don't know if I could tell the difference from a strat... I dig Television a lot...one of my favorite bands ever..Tom Verlaine always used one (though he's using strats now). The guitarrist and vocalist of a brazilian band called "Los Hermanos", uses an original 62 jazzmaster 100% of the time, but I still can't hear much difference from a strat.

 

[Iago]

and thanks for the sound files, but I can't hear them now..I forgot my headphones at home heehhe

 

[SuperSwede]

I have never played the Jazzmaster myself, but the Jaguar is one sweet guitar!

 

[tremoloman]

They have a different sound that a Strat... trust me! I own 4 Strats, yet this guitar has the best acoustics of all of them combined. I also love the rhythm/lead circuit. The offset body is so comfortable to play either sitting down or standing up.

I'm going to build a custom Jazzmaster/Stratocaster hybrid in 2006. Strats are great, but the JM body is so damn comfortable to me.

If you ever try playing either a Jag or JM, you will hear a difference the second you strum a chord. The best way to describe a Jazzmaster's tone is this: you can get really deep bass while having glass-like tones on the high strings. They rock!

 

[SuperSwede]

Trem, so the jazzmaster is "better" than the jaguar in your opinion? I have as I said only played the jag, and that guitar sounds really great. So what is the tonal "differences" between the jag and the jazzmaster?
I think that the Jag looks nicer however

 

[Iago]

Hey Tremolo, how does the lead/rhythm control works?

 

[tremoloman]

Well.. the Jazzmaster is 25.5" in scale while the Jaguar is 24". I'm not a fan of short scale guitars since they seem to always go out of tune on me.

As for the lead/rhythm circuit, what the system does is give you two volume & tone controls. In "Lead" position, the pickups switch works as usual in conjunction with the large volume & tone knob. In "Rhythm" mode (which you choose by sliding the black switch on the top), it turns on both pickups and gives a much bassier sound, removing a lot of the treble. The rhythm mode has seperate volume and tone knobs. (they are the controls on the top of the guitar).

Playing live is so much easier having 2 sets of volume & tones for switching between solos and rhythm strumming. It's the only electric I've played that does a decernt job of sounding good when played like an acoustic guitar.