J. Mascis signature jazzmaster

stereopathetic_banjo · Post by **stereopathetic_banjo** » Mon Aug 06, 2007 12:15 pm

I know i'm kinda jumping the gun on this, as it was only released last month, but I have one on the way (tommorow) and was wondering if anyone has tried one out. This will be the first guitar i've bought without playing, so it makes me a bit nervous, but I have a feeling it will be a nice guitar. I fully expect to replace the pickups, but everything else seems ready to go-whoooo i'm excited!

-Travis

mjau · Post by **mjau** » Mon Aug 06, 2007 12:18 pm

Oh my God, it is a thing of beauty.

stereopathetic_banjo · Post by **stereopathetic_banjo** » Mon Aug 06, 2007 12:50 pm

Amen, brother. I will be coming down before you skip town, and I will bring that guitar. Fo'sho.

mjau · Post by **mjau** » Mon Aug 06, 2007 1:00 pm

Hell yes. What're the pickups in there - same as the other jazzmaster reissues?

dain ryan · Post by **dain ryan** » Mon Aug 06, 2007 8:06 pm

i really WANT to love this thing despite the lovely color contrasts... its just so SPARKLY...

have you guys seen the shoes yet?

http://www.nicekicks.com/942/nike/nike- ... ed-photos/

is he going endorsement crazy right now or what?

kayagum · Post by **kayagum** » Mon Aug 06, 2007 8:32 pm

In case you're wondering what the fuss is about....

http://www.fender.com/products//search. ... 0255800550

tdbajus · Post by **tdbajus** » Thu Aug 23, 2007 3:53 pm

I was psyched when I heard about this, but when I saw the spec, I almost wept...

Polyester finish over basswood?

I know there are people that really love the sound of basswood, but I have never been one of them. Plus, the polyester finish Fender uses on their cheaper guitars just murders the resonance of their bodies. To my taste, it was like they picked the worst sounding wood they could find, and slapped the most tone-killing finish on top of it.

The purple flake finish is totally bad ass looking though. Not sure I dig the old school aluminum pickguard, though jmasters are like frickin' radio antennas, so the more shielding, the better.

MIJ pickups? Come on! Not that they all sound bad, but they are so wildly uneven. CIJ stuff tends to be very nice, actually.

And the final insult- the tune-o-matic in the bridge. There are a bunch of mods that can be done that make the JM fairly stable (vibrato arms make you go out of tune, no matter what), keep the strings from popping out of the saddles.

I could write something more in depth, if anyone cared, but the short form is this:

Shim the neck to increase the backwards tilt. This puts more tension on the strings, keeping them in the saddle.

Think about installing a buzz stop by Whizzo. Sort of like the front roller arm on a bigsby, forces a sharper downward angle on the strings behind the bridge, also increases the string tension slightly. You don't need one of them if you shim the neck properly, but I love them. I can't play behind the bridge like Lee Renaldo, but then he sort of has that covered, doesn't he

Get a mustang bridge reissue, or one of those stew-mac mustang bridges with the height adjustment screws. Make sure before you tune the guitar that the floatring bridge is ACTUALLY FLOATING- people put tape around the posts to make them stationary, and all this has done for me is give me the same problems I have with keeping my bigsby in addition to the JM problems.

and most importantly, IMHO, is, if necessary, replace the spring in the vibrato unit, and set the angle of the trem post to be as close to perpendicular to the faceplate of the unit. It's cool when you have the unit set to do strat type divebombing, but it always made my JMs go way out of tune. Plus, it's cool to bend UP as well as down, IMHO.

I guess that wasn't so short, but doing these mods to my jazzmasters, jaguar, and Bass VI reissues has made them just as stable as a strat with a vintage-style vibrato arm. Which is still not great, but good enough for me.

BTW- if the hum gets you down, Curtis Novak makes a whole line of drop in JM replacement pickups. He is the nicest guy in the world, and his pickup with a PAF bobbin and jazzmaster magnetic pole pieces (as opposed to the usual PAF constuction of bobbin, steel poles, and a bar magnet) sounds quite like a cross between a tele deluxe and an SG.

Which is to say it makes your bridge PU sound awesome.

He has about 10 really cool seeming designs that I'm looking forward to tryiong out- in fact, I was combing through the gear section looking for a CIJ JM to experiment with.

Electro-Voice 664 · Post by **Electro-Voice 664** » Thu Aug 23, 2007 4:30 pm

Have fun with the new guitar!
Those shoes are funny.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73drAdc57SM

calaverasgrandes · Post by **calaverasgrandes** » Thu Aug 23, 2007 11:11 pm

I mean unless you are totally gay for Dinosaur jr, wouldnt you be better off getting a Musicman? They do weird colors better'n anyone. And I never heard anyone complain about stability on those.
But hey whadda I know I just play bass. Over here. In the corner, On a stool.

centurymantra · Post by **centurymantra** » Fri Aug 24, 2007 7:45 am

dain ryan wrote: have you guys seen the shoes yet?

http://www.nicekicks.com/942/nike/nike- ... ed-photos/

is he going endorsement crazy right now or what?

You know...I practically assumed this was a joke and scoured that article for assurance that it was. I mean, this could headline The Onion, but it looks real. That is awesome beyond words - in ways both bad and good.

I wonder if Lou envisioned this back in the day - while scrapping together Sentridoh cassette releases. I want my Sentridoh IPod case, like pronto!!

DGoody · Post by **DGoody** » Fri Aug 24, 2007 8:59 am

Curtis Novak pickups are essential...... they're in all my jags and jazzmasters, except for the old one....

personally, me thinks this guitar is lame. But, I;ve never been a Mascis fan.....

mjau · Post by **mjau** » Fri Aug 24, 2007 9:16 am

DGoody wrote:personally, me thinks this guitar is lame. But, I;ve never been a Mascis fan.....

I think ultimately this is what it boils down to - I'm totally into this guitar because I'm a huge Mascis fan. It's the same reason why I'll rock my David Ortiz t-shirt: unadulterated idol worship.

inverseroom · Post by **inverseroom** » Fri Aug 24, 2007 1:17 pm

I think that guitar is freaking awesome. It needs a matching drum kit.

tommy · Post by **tommy** » Fri Aug 24, 2007 2:31 pm

Just my opinion but, I suggest not doing any mods to it until you play it alot first to get the feel of it. Not all jazzmasters are created equal just like not all strats, teles and les pauls are. I have a 64 jazz completely stock that never goes out of tune even after some serious wanging and it sounds amazing. Ive played various other jazzmasters and they all sound and feel completely different. All guitars (even the same model guitars) have their own unique idiosycracies that you should familiarize yourself with first before you start routing out holes in it to change it.

calaverasgrandes · Post by **calaverasgrandes** » Fri Aug 24, 2007 5:06 pm

I totally agree about gits each having their own voice.
I have an Ovation Magnum I (solidbody bass) which has this perfect growl. Never heard another Ovation which comes close. Nor one that plays as well. Shame because 20 years of thrashing this bass have it on its last legs.

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