Fixing what's wrong with the Jazzmaster Ultra (review + upgrades)
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- Опубліковано 10 бер 2024
- NOTE: I HAVE BEEN FACT CHECKED IN THE COMMENTS. The frets are NOT stainless steel, I think they are just nickel silver, which is a bummer. I edited out the erroneous section.
The fender American Ultra Jazzmaster famously has some problems out of the box. In this video, I attempt to solve those issues with Mastery hardware, Novak pickups, and other fixes. No sponsorships. Stock pickup comparison: 6:38 Novak pickup comparison: 13:14
Name dropping Deep Sea Diver was all I needed to hear, a man of taste!
Hell yeah, they rock! Technically J. Dobson plays an Elvis Costello signature, but I believe that's a re-skinned AVRI '62, so I kinda glossed over for run time.
I really enjoyed this video. A great change of pace from the super expert stuff that you normally see on UA-cam. Great work!
Thank you! Certainly nobody would accuse me of being an expert ;) In all seriousness though, I tried to be open about the limits of my knowledge and experience and I'm glad that tone worked for you!
"vintage-correct chastity belt" = gold
Hah, glad these jokes aren't going unnoticed.
The G&L Doheny is the answer to the quagmire that is the Fender Jazzmaster. It just doesn’t come with the fancy compound radius neck or comfort carve, or fancy electronics. Yet, I highly recommend trying a Doheny. The G&L wide bobbin MGD pickups are what make the guitar.
100%
I did tons of research and purchased the Doheny over the Jazzmaster and have never looked back. I'm all G&L now and could not live without my bass contour knob.
Yeah that’s not to say there is a much needed market for Jazzmasters. One of the more common guitars among the younger generation, yet for some reason there is no player series Jazzmaster with traditional electronics.
Different bridge and vibrato tho...
Interesting, I'd never heard of these!
I did almost the exact mods, but I started with a brand new 40th anniversary Squier, so I saved a couple of grand.
A wise man. Would that I had your foresight.
honestly the only only thing the ultra has is that moca burst finish because thatt looks amazing. If they released a squire JM with the same finish, it would be the best jazzmaster on the market.
Really well written video, thanks for sharing your experiences , I was wondering about this too fact subject
Thank you!
This was real informative and thanks for sharing your experience. Sucks that it costs another stack + labor to make it sound like that, but it does indeed sound much better after your mods. Great work, subbed.
Thanks a million for the kind words and sub!
fIdk, For 3k you could easily get a boutique-like Fidelity Guitars or buy a used custom shop Fender...
Yeah, my Fender brand loyalty might not have served me too well on this one.
You could get a Halo custom guitar without a FR bridge for around the same price. Of course it could take anywhere from a year to two years. But still, they’re some of the best guitars.
@@WhoDaF0ok1sThatGuy Halo seems so sketch. I have more faith in Balaguer
@@thesmellycatjazz they’re really not though, they’re good. Check some reviews out if you doubt it
@@WhoDaF0ok1sThatGuy Halo has had such a sordid history idk anyone who would deal with them. There's better semi-custom shops out there.
I enjoyed this video. I owned an Ultra Jazzmaster and got rid, but not for the same reasons you did. I like your presentation style and this will definitely serve as a useful resource for others. Good work.
In general, the Ultra guitars are sick, I own four at the moment.
Hey, thanks a lot! Why'd you sell yours? I'm super curious about the other Ultras, especially the Telle. Gonna be a long while before I can explore that
@@myretrofuture1731 I just didn't like the switching options, I really prefer the traditional circuit. But that's just me. I was planning to mod it to make it more traditional but I had a TVL that filled that need.
I do have a couple of Ultra Teles and a couple of Ultra Strats though. I like them so much I got multiples. Which is insane but those Teles in particular are special. I really hope you get the opportunity to check them out one day. Cannot recommend them highly enough.
Great video man. I really appreciate your honesty and being as unbiased as possible.
Thanks a million! Stick around if you want to see more nitpicking and modifying music tech stuff XD
Great video, I went through this same thing with the American Professional 2 - Hated the pickups, the push/push coil boost thing, and the panorama vibrato needed the spring swapped to work with the 11s and 12s I prefer. I ended up just taking the original pickguard and electronics off as a single unit, getting an aftermarket guard from Avant-Guards and wiring up a traditional JM cirucuit with Novak Historic '58 pickups. I got it used for 1400 but was easily in at around 2300 all said and done. That said, the neck and body were nice. I ended up undoing all the mods and selling it to get a an AVRI 65 about a year later though. I put the Novaks in that and it needs nothing else.
I bet that 2.3k went further than mine did. Many lessons were learned. I have also considered undoing the mods and trying to back out of this money pit.... but in the end I'll probably just go deeper.
I have a Pro 2 Strat. Cant STAND those pickups either! Gotta watch where you say that though!
interesting video, sorry you had so many hassles with your guitar. mine was buzzy and all sorts, but over the 30 yeasr I've had it I've managed to iron them out/ pretend they don't exist :D
quick question. are you adding 7 rocker switches to your new anodised scratchplate? HARDCORE!
Congrats you are the first to honestly review Fender's Albatross that they bring out and dust off for every generation since its introduction. Remember the name and the target audience that failed horribly. You missed that pesky tilting bridge but the majesty system should fix it. I also never understood the 1 meg pot on the dark circuit with the thinnest wound pickups this side of a $79 Chinese special.
Hah! Truth be told I do think the Jazzmaster design is great in general but well... suffice it to say Leo Fender is no longer with the company to enforce and particular vision
Thanks dude, that was a brave undertaking.
Happy to, thanks for watching!
I highly recommend the Fralin hum-cancelling pickups. I have Fralin hum-cancelling P-90s in my BilT Relevator, and I believe they do a Jazzmaster hum-cancelling pickup as well.
Thanks for the recommendation! I already went for some Kinmans, they are legit too
Great video. Crazy that Fender can’t get the bridges right. I bought an American Professional with a rosewood neck, and that came with a mustang bridge that was too wide for the neck. Fixed it with a mastery bridge.
Right? I think Fender has sold more Mastery bridges than anyone XD
100% improvement, THAT is how this guitar should sound, well done
Thank you! I've actually done another crazy round of mods that have really made me fall in love with this guitar, will release that video as soon as I can. New pickguard, new pups, all new electronics with a unique circuit.
My thoughts on these guitars were basically just if you wanted the like root beer mocha burst or whatever it’s called and that’s the part you find most important, or if you just want something to play through pedals with the offset body shape
At some point if you want we can talk setups! I’m a luthier and a pro tech
Yeah, the neck/body/case are really the main draw. I actually didn't like the mocha burst all that much when I saw it in person, and went specifically for the sunburst. I'd love to talk setup with a pro! How low can one reasonably get the action without introducing buzz? I'm currently at like 2 to 2.25 mm and that feels high - but any lower and I start buzzing on a vigorous strum. I also really had to fiddle around to prevent bridge rattle.
@@myretrofuture1731 I’ll have to convert to metric to get you my number for standard setups (I usually can get it fairly low and play heavy handed as well) the bridge rattle would be resolved with a few things. Check out Mike Adams (aka puisheen) for some setup tips with jazzmaster tremelos. What gauge strings are you running? And do you have any shims in the neck? And how much relief in the truss rod?
Love the cut of your jib. Great vid.
Thanks a million!
GREAT REVIEW for a relative newbie to the "forever" guitar illness. Glad it worked out for ya. I have one, and never noticed the 9.5 bridge against the flattened upper frets due to the compound radius. And hell yes, stick with Mike (Puisheen) out here in Seattle. He is probably the best resource on all things JM you'll ever come across. The items your reference, and with the help of internet guys like Mike are the reason I've just started buying 'shells' and doing all the upgrades myself, making $400 into a $2000 in a few quick, predictable upgrades. Basically the 'cookbook' of upgrades you outline here... Cheers.
I gotta say I am definitely considering trying to do the same thing - upgrade and flip. It's so satisfying to work on these things but I can't justify keeping them, hahah.
I'm impressed that a Jazzmaster is the least boring looking thing in the video. You've somehow managed to perfectly personify your living space. Casual observations aside, this video was very interesting.
Thanks! I've definitely tried to get my studio as dedicated as possible to the singular purpose of music workflow, with as few distractions as I can manage.
Thanks for making this informative and insightful video. I think it will be useful to a lot of people. One of my favourite guitars that I bought slightly used is a Squier Classic Vibe Esquire. It was £230 slightly used. It had already had a set up and came with an ashtray bridge cover. It's not a Jazzmaster but it's a guitar that I don't feel the need to upgrade. The pick up sounds fine and the guitar to my mind as simple as it is works brilliantly and is excellent value. I think the more money that a guitar costs often you experience marginal gains. It's possibly harder to create a really good budget guitar? I also bought a Squier Classic Vibe Jazzmaster it has a fuller neck. Which I really like. It's got way more going on than the Esquire but for me the Esquire could be the one to hang on to.
I keep hearing good things about Squier, maybe I shoulda started there. I think you are right about the diminishing returns of extra money spent.
Yeah, I was thinking "Get Kinman's" at the start of this video ... I'm glad you switched to them. Not only are they a quality product, I know Chris personally, and he's a great guy that stands behind his pickups.
My favorite jazzmaster is the Vintera Modified because it comes with the tune-o-matic bridge. The vibrato assembly is a little closer to the bridge, but other than those 2 things it’s pretty much what you’d expect from a jazzmaster. Unfortunately they got rid of the TOM bridge on the new Vintera 2’s. The only mod I really want to do is swap the neck because I hate having to remove the neck to adjust the truss rod.
I never tried the Vintera modified during this journey, but I probably should have. Thanks for the suggestion. The inaccessible truss rod sound rough for a guitar setup newbie like me
@@myretrofuture1731 oh yeah and I can’t wait for your video on the anodized gold pickguard
@@martianmurray Thanks! I actually chose black but that one should be coming out later today if I don't get distracted.
Sounds a lot better now
Thanks! I've now done even more mods in another video, haha. Now I think it looks and sounds even better still.
Great video and why do I get the feeling this is what people mean by have your guitar "set up"... Which my Jackson JS22 out of the box just doesn't need... Yes it uses cheap hardwear but the QC and polsihh is perfect and I love the feel, look and uyes sound of the smol beast. So yeah I wonder how Jackson who is owned by Fender has much better polish?
Glad you're happy with your axe! Generally the term "set-up" refers to things like neck relief, bridge height and radius, intonation, etc. Things that affect how the guitar plays, but not the electronics.
Did you change the potentiometers on the ultra, when you popped in the novak pickups?
I did not, just stuck with the 250ks, so they might be a little brighter in most guitars
Just wanted to mention that a fully shielded pickup cavity can have a negative impact on tone depending on the pickup type, the guitar's wiring scheme, and the signal path you play with to the amp. I have not experienced this myself, but I've read about it. The shielding adds capacitance to the signal of your pickups. It's also worth considering that virtually no vintage guitars had such shielding, and yet all the best music you've ever heard was recorded with them. Is it really worth it? I don't think so.
My hot take is this - the extra capacitance is on the ground plane rather than in the signal path, so I think the impact on tone would be minimal. Any extra capacitance in the circuit would, at worst, result in high frequency roll-off, and I (and many other players) tend to roll the highs off any way. See Hendrix and his extra long swirly cables introducing extra capacitance on purpose to tame the highs. The tradeoff here is utility. With a shielded cavity I can sit directly in front of my computer when recording, which makes it drastically easier to track by myself, meaning I do more actual music on my guitar. If the tradeoff is maintaining some high end, it's a no brainer - give me the shielding. Also, you can increase the high frequency response by increasing the pot values for volume and tone - so many ways around the disadvantages. I see no reason not to shield.
@@myretrofuture1731 I was thinking more about this, and remembered something. Idk about the ultra series, but my American pro strat came with that black shielding paint, and a ground wire connecting the pickup cavity to the shared ground with the hardware, and pickups. If the ultra has that, it's kind of extra-overkill to add the copper tape. I actually replaced my pickups, and forgot to replace the ground wire to the shielding paint. I haven't noticed much of a difference in noise. Single coils are just noisy. It's part of the sound just like a white noise generator is on a minimoog, or any number of synths.
I really appreciate the based attitude and general openness.
Man... for that price those truly were some inexcusable quality issues. Hope you enjoy your guitar now that you put all that time and money into it!
Even though I took the long way and paid too much, I absolutely love this guitar.
Jazzmaster....one of those guitars I always wanted until I played dozens of them. Never the sound I wanted. I have a 68 Mustang that sounds absolutely epic, which surpsied me, since it is so close to the JM. Glad you learned something from this journey.
I'm in the sunk cost zone with JM now, but I would love to get to know a Mustang or Jag, esp for the smaller scale length
I've owned 5 Fender JM's and they were all too heavy for me. And had varying levels of quality. I have ended up with 2 custom made variants that im very happy with. One is a pine body that's just at 7 lbs. Also, I think Novo is a good way to go for quality and lighter weight. Tthey don't use JM pickups, which is fine with me. Excellent discussion here!
If I ever do build another guitar, I think I might go with a non-Fender offset variant as well. Thanks for weighing in!
Was it uninsulated? Or did they use shielded cable? Fender have done the latter in the past. You can tell of there is a run to ground.
No insulation, and the cable was not a shielded co-axial. Just two wires plugged into a little servo connector thing going to the output.
@@myretrofuture1731 yeah for that money I'd expect shielding. It aint expensive, is it. I've done it myself for a few quid and 20 minutes work.
Great video, Fender is an iconic brand and definitely should be held to a higher standard. More often than not you’re getting less guitar for the money due to the name on the headstock. The fact that the bridge was not a match to the neck on this guitar is a definite tell Fender isn’t even trying. I tend to stay away from brands like Gibson and Fender as there is way more value to be had from other brands. Appreciate the honest and frank review, it’s important people know the truth and the costs involved with fixing and modifying these less than stellar instruments. Thanks for an awesome video!
I totally agree. And thanks for the positive feedback!
I think everything he did is very important, psychologically for a guitar player. You have to suck for so long when starting out sometimes you need assurance that the "suckage" is you and not the instrument. Now he has no one to blame but himself if he doesn't like what he hears. It's good motivation to practice.
Honestly the "knowing it's me" factor is indeed a pretty good motivator
Super useful upload for anyone wanting to tweak their forever guitar. Subbed, subbed and trice subbed.
Thank you so much! I have some cool follow-up projects in the can - just need to edit. Hopefully you will not be disappointed.
I’ve got a squier jag with a mastery bridge, new pickups, and a new nut. It is probably my favorite guitar.
Crazy how big of a difference that stuff makes!
good video man!
Thanks a million!
Excellent review, 1 meg pots are best, I think 5 inches of string in back of bridge is major cause of tuning instability. I love these things anyway.
Offset guitars are truly the flighty manic pixie of the guitar world, but I too, love them anyway.
fantastic quality video
Thank you, much appreciated!
The only reason you'd wanna go for a JM(from fender) as a forever guitar is to have fender on the headstock. There are so many boutique guitar builders... I think the first one that pops into my mind in regards to offsets is Novo... Which, if buy new is a bit more expensive than the jm with the mods.....but everyone raves about them and if you just have 1 guitar then it kinda justifies going all out. Idk what extensive research lead to buying a guitar that you had to sink in another 50% of the sticker price, just to get it rolling (no offense, I'm actually curious).
Totally valid question. The only really honest answer I can give is: mis-placed brand loyalty. Which I think this project cured me of.
I LOVE my Tele Ultra, but my Jazzmaster is an upgraded J Mascis Squier.
I got mine before the price hike, tho, back when the Silver Sky was also $1900.
I keep hearing good things about those J Masics squires
That was interesting, good tips I was going to just change the pickups on my Ultra but you gave me more ideas lol. Get some sunlight brother. When details seem to matter so much it hurts, remember Bill Murray shouting hysterically: "It just. doesn't, matter! It just. doesn't. matter!"
I've heard about grass - never touched it. If you are thinking about new pups, I actually changed mine again - new pickup review coming as soon as I'm back in town.
Love the video! Great to see an honest review of an expensive instrument from someone with the bravery to demand his money’s worth.
There was just one detail that had me absolutely screaming at my screen though 😅😂 Using 250k pots instead of 1 meg makes a HUUUUUGE difference and is almost certainly the reason you find the stock pickups so “bloodless.” If you swap the pots for the vintage-correct value, you’ll increase the resistance to ground which (particularly in the case of the tone pot) will MASSIVELY increase the clarity and brightness of the stock pickups. Inexcusable that fender used the wrong value for the ultra but I would highly recommend swapping the pots and using the stock pickups before trying a different set of noiseless pickups
Thanks! Glad you agree with the "demanding money's worth" thing. I think they went with the low pot values because the stock pickups are insanely bright to begin with, and they were trying to compensate. Personally, I think the pups were part of the reason these guitars don't sell.
How did you decide on a jazzmaster for your guitar ?
Mostly I though the behind-the-bridge tricks were cool, I really liked the vibrato system being so heavily integrated into the design, and players I like were getting rad sounds out of them. And I think they look cool, heh.
did you have to shim your neck with the mastery bridge?
There is enough pitch back already that there was no need for a shim. IF anything, I might consider reverse shimming to get the bridge sitting lower and maybe bring out some of the resonances when strumming behind the bridge. That'll have to wait though. For now it works and I don't wanna mess with it too much,
I’ve been wanting to do almost the exact same mods with my classic vibe JM. I honestly think a Squier classic vibe is the perfect platform for modding for even CHEAPER than the $1k you put into the Ultra.
Yeah, I hope people watch this and think "huh, I could essentially make the same guitar for half the price"
All I did was replace the trem arm with a Staytrem one because pop-in arms are just better on these bridges and the saddles with some Graphtech (I think?) Mustang saddles with adjustable height. Although an original Jazzmaster/Jaguar bridge works in this scenario.
Mastery is still a bad idea for the Ultra because I don't think they go flat enough for the radius of the neck, hence individually adjustable saddles are a better idea, also a lot cheaper and no need to replace the entire vibrato system just for a smoother feel with the arm. Might explain why you're struggling to get the setup you want.
Might change the pickups at some point because I'd like something hotter and a tad brighter. Although I was surprised by Rhett Shull's recent video where it didn't seem darker than anything else he used, weirdly.
If you wanted to get closer to a AVRI, you didn't need to spend as much as you did, a set of the pickups used in those are available for literally what one Novak pickups costs you. The AVRI doesn't use Mastery bridges or vibratos, it's pretty much the same parts as the Ultra, definitely the vibrato and anything that is different is mostly easily replaceable. So you spent more money to get a 'better' guitar than an AVRI and if you feel you benefitted with that hardware & pickups, you'd have had to do the same with an AVRI as well, so you're looking at $4k.
If a guitar arrives with an overly dry neck, there's a good chance it's been sat in a warehouse for a while. If you got a deal on it from a retailer, they just want to clear out old stock. Old stock left in warehouses can also create other issues, so you can't really call that issues with Fender's QC.
And can someone finally point out the individual rollers work regardless of what position you've selected! You can select the bridge or neck and flick the switch up and it'll be a second volume for that pickup. Only downside with the OOP setup is you don't get this option in the middle position. Whilst I don't like the OOP option and need to look at modifying the guitar to remove it, I get more practical use out of this setup than I do the traditional rhythm circuit, same with the S1 switch.
You are right about a ton of stuff in this comment, not sure where to start. The Mastery bridge is totally able to have a flat enough radius for this application (it can go totally flat, even concave if you are nasty), but I have found it can barely intone the low E, with how compressed the springs get. It does work though. You are right that the phase switch can be used as an individual volume pre-set for each pickup (outside middle position) but this does leave the bridge pickup with it's positive and negative terminals swapped, which is generally thought to create more noise and less favorable tone (though I did not experiment a ton before further modding occurred. More on that soon). You are right that I could have matched the AVRI for less, but my hope was to overshoot it if possible. I think maybe I succeeded, but I'm still forced to admit that a lot of my decisions were sub-optimal due to lack of experience.
@@myretrofuture1731 Swapping the phase of an individual pickup won't affect the tone in anyway. Definitely won't add noise. If it did anything, then Null Tests wouldn't be possible.
I'd read the Mastery won't go beyond 16". If it can go flat then people are misinforming others online. Just there are cheaper solutions for the radius mistake. Nothing wrong with Mastery, just it's recommended a little too quickly a lot of the time.
If the aim was to create an awesome Jazzmaster for around the price or less than an AVRI, then you succeeded there.
My recent encounters with new Fenders hasn’t been good. I recently played a bunch of expensive Jazz basses [six or seven] and all had issues including duff electrics, misaligned bridges, the need for neck shims [yup, really!] and extensive buffing marks in the finish. None were less than £2k - none were worth half that.
Meanwhile, over at Gibson, an entry level guitar now starts at well north of £1k… and, again, I played three new Les Paul Studios that were all dreadful. It’s like being back in the 1970s - the decade of poor quality control.
Yep, these brands are riding on loyalty and I think a lot of people are re-thinking that loyalty, including me
Noiseless pickups simply don't really work clean unless you want a sort of HiFi-DI sound. The attack and top is dead. They are arguably better at drive (less hash in the attack)... which is why they are tolerated.
I'm in the midst of trying out some Kinman noiseless pups, and will be posting my results soon! So far I find them pretty promising.
@@myretrofuture1731 I had the Traditional set and a Woodstock, the Area 67 and 58, and VV Blues. All good at drive and distortion. All awful at clean.
Congested mids and humbuckery, synthetic top end. They are better as you set them away from the string. All sold.
@@myretrofuture1731 Oh. Let me give you a tip if you don't know: Illitch. The noisecancelling system. Also, Musicman silent circuit. These are both designed to have as close to zero impact on the intrinsic performance of the single coil as possible.
Hi, thanks for your work. I bought a Jazzmaster Ultra but I'm pretty sure you're mistaken about the frets. The new Ultra Luxe have stainless steel but the Ultras are regular steel. I took the serial number from an Ultra Lux Strat and it lists as Fret Size-Medium Jumbo Stainless Steel while my Ultra is Fret Size-Medium Jumbo. Please correct me if I'm wrong. Puisheen reviewed the Jazzmaster Professional II on ua-cam.com/video/tP5be5nM4nE/v-deo.html and he measured a huge tone dive bomb on the Panorama vibrato. I was thinking about replacing mine with the Panorama. Did you consider the Panorama as an option?
Wow, crap I think you are correct about the frets. I was sure I saw stainless in the spec sheet but after double checking, I don't see it. And the Ultra declines in value yet again >.
Wesley,
This was an excellent video. A little over two years ago I too bought the Ultra Jazzmaster. Mine is the Sienna Burst because I love seeing the wood grain. I don’t like painted instruments. The only thing I changed on mine is the trem to a Mastery. And it immediately changed the vibrancy of the guitar. My S1 was changed/replaced because it seemed like someone from the shop where I purchased it may have swapped it or tampered with it. Fender sent me a brand new one because of my warranty. I went to another tech to have sorted. I don’t have any issues with my pick ups. I think they sound fine. My fretboard is maple so it wasn’t thirsty. The only anomaly that developed was it had fret spout last year for some reason. Do me a favor go to the youtube channel Truetone Lounge and look up Kenny Vaughn. He plays one stock.
Woah, I had no idea that color existed, that's dope. Checking out Kenny Vaugh now
So basically might as well get a Squier and upgrade everything or just do a parts caster
Honestly, that's kinda the same conclusion I came to as well. This was not as budget conscious as I would have liked.
@@myretrofuture1731 I really want a jazzmaster but dont want to sink money into one (like you have :D ) so I watch these videos and dream. But the option paralisis hits :D It seems to me like if you like the 2 colours the vintera 2 offers those are good starting points, or maybe a fender japan one. I did the calculations and a fully specced jazzmaster partscaster in the UK could be around £1500 ( descendent vibrato and bridge, Fender am pro 2 neck, fender lovking tuners, handwound pickups, wiring loom, body and such)
@@myretrofuture1731 So sorry for you... I had same problems with a 2500€ gibson es335 i had to sell it it was unplayable..
The squier jazzmaster and the harley benton jazzmaster have the same pickups now and sound exacly the same... but the harley benton ja-60CC cost 170 €.. Honestly check some test of the hb ja-60CC it's insane...
I play guitar since 1990 i have a 4000€ Gretsch 6120 Chet Atkins and a 170€ Harley Benton ja-60CC AND BOTH ARE INSANE !
Seriously the harley benton with a small mod "a les trem II (vibrato)" sound almost like a jazzmaster and you can still upgrade it if you want.. (maybe i will put 1meg or 500k pots instead of the 250k already inside)
I have ZERO problems on it, no ground problem, no tuning problems..nothing... and playing it make me smile like the gretsch...
Just sell this one it seems to have a really big problem.. and get a Harley Benton Jazzmaster + A car with the rest of the cash xD
You should try out an Oswald!
Never heard of them - will check it out!
Sheesh, the point about the blatant 'design' (They probably just didn't even think about it and slapped it on because it's such a common mod.) failure on the stock bridge is quite shocking.
Yeah. I would love to have been a fly on the wall for that decision.
If you were going to use one as a mod platform, you could have saved money going for a Japanese one. Build quality will be excellent on the woodwork and it'd be maybe half the cost, then change the pickups and wiring. I bet the rhythm circuit wouldn't have had a stuck roller on a Japanese made one. Pretty amazing how bad the build quality on an American made instrument, considering you could pay less for more.
Talking of pickups, I'm glad you went for some kind of noiseless ones - I'd recommend Kinman Fatmasters, they sound great and rein in the treble, add some bass, very smooth and well-rounded and versatile.
"Vintage correct", in my opinion, is not for most players. It's not the late 50s/early 60s any more, there have been advances in electric guitar tech that make them better especially for players who play with more gain regularly. Having said that, I wish modern Fender had more options for fitting vintage radius necks to whatever guitars because I personally find 7.25" the most comfortable. Any Fender that has a 9.5" or higher radius neck already has a concession to more modern standards anyway.
I was agonizing over the fatmasters but ended up going with the Surfmaster DV. Review coming as soon as energy and time permit!
- The trem arm is a pop-in, not a screw in. I've had multiple AVRIs with the same squeaking issue. No reason to automatically jump to a Mastery, if the loose arm bothers you (which is a problem on most pop-in JM trems), a StayTrem collet for ~$80 fixes it.
- Bridge radius, yeah that's dumb (although plenty of people have mismatched radiuses, like the Thurston Moore/Lee Ranaldo signatures and the J Mascis, for example, personal taste...), but you can get a ~$50 replacement Mustang style bridge with adjustable radius from Warmoth. Again, no reason to jump right to the Mastery.
- Body shielding: all the American series besides the AVRI IIs have conductive paint under the body paint color inside the cavity.
- StewMac is stupid expensive for luthier tools. Way overspent on all that as well.
I'm saying all this so others don't think they need to spend $1000 to bring theirs "up to snuff." The rest (roller knob, tooling/glue marks etc, I'll definitely agree with you on but that can vary from guitar to guitar) is annoying but probably not on every guitar. I do think they're overpriced and I wish they'd do something besides noiseless pickups in these because almost no one seems to actually like them.
Thanks for your comment! I can say with total certainty, the arm on the Ultra is screw in - I got it right here with threads and all. Your comment lets me know I should have collected more footage though. For whatever reason it is a different assembly than the AVRI.
Your comment on the bridge is totally legit - I could have gotten away cheaper, but I wanted to get the end-all be-all. Definitely not strictly necessary.
Body shielding: There is no conductive paint in the ultra - I confirmed this with a multi meter (and just visually, it was clearly the same paint as the rest of the body). I think they tried to cut that corner because of the noiseless pups. Again, I probably should have shot more b-roll to demonstrate.
Re: the tools: you are right. In retrospect, I could have gotten away for much less. I didn't even use that straight edge. The mat and neck rest were nice though.
Overall, you are definitely right that you could get 90% of the benefit for significantly less cost. I'm new to the hobby and went a little overboard perhaps. I appreciate the feedback.
My JM’s with a pop in arm are not loose like in this video, and my JM with a screw in arm is loose and noisy. Honestly I don’t think Fender even knows all the specs because some listings say it has a rhythm circuit, others call it an OofP switch, and some don’t even mention it.
@@myretrofuture1731 Nah its all good. I've been a jazzmaster fan for a couple decades and know all the tricks in and out. Wild that the body doesn't even have conductive paint though. I bought one off stratosphere that did, it was just under the body paint (and annoyed that they did that I copper shielded anyways).
That's all kind of ... shocking. I've owned 3 - a 1966 all-original, a late-70s beater, and a new TVL JM. All gone for various reasons, but one might be relevant: the Troy Van Leeuwen was dull. Lifeless. Also: don't use cobalt strings on nickel frets. They gouge badly and remarkably quickly.
Next trick: trying a 2021 AmPro II, the only one I've heard on compare and contrast clips which has the rich "tonal snap" of the neck and mid position settings. It's this sound that I loved from my 1966, and haven't heard much since. We'll see.
Good to know about the cobalt strings. Surprised to hear that about the TVL, others recommended it. Guess I'm glad I didn't go that route.
The OCD is strong in this one
Oh nah the rest of my house is a disaster. But don't worry, I'm doing another round of upgrades >.
Before COVID I went in GC and played through about 15 ultras before buying one back in 2019. During COVID, I bought a telecaster site unseen…NEVER AGAIN!….the neck needed a complete overhaul, loose wiring…dented case…at the time I just took it with the flaws….years later, it’s fixed and is good…but I will always remover this purchase as one of the worst items I spent good $$$ on.
Yeah, looking back I wish I had just figured out a ride to the nearest GC and done the same thing. My example could have been a lot worse though.
nothing like throwing 2k on a good instrument and playing it like shit knowing a grateful kid will grab it in 50 years and become a music legend with it... Im building some kind of chambered body with some of the jazzmaster's hardware (1 pickup paired with a humbucker), the trem, but the bridge is a roller saddles and the radius wont be compound radius
Fender keeps re-inventing the same wheel but with worse quality control.
Hah! That's a much more succinct way of boiling it down.
We have the same level of critique when it comes to spending big bucks. A lot of people I run into just kind of live with BS once they cross a certain dollar amount.
I'm an absolute penny pincher in most areas of life so I was definitely trying to hold mofos accountable for the inflated price on this one.
Seems to me you got ripped off ! You could have bought a $350 Squier classic vibe and had a WAY better guitar by just replacing the trem system and maybe even the neck (if the name on it matters to you )with an actual fender jazzmaster neck and saved a lot of money . Ive had a lot of jazzmasters and the new Squier classic vibes are pretty impressive.
I mean, I hate to admit it but you're not wrong. It is a known phenomenon that spending lots of money on something makes you believe it is of high quality (regardless of actual quality), and I may have succumbed a bit here.
@@myretrofuture1731 I definitely have SEVERAL times . lol
Wow a guitar of that price have serious faults like that. WTF.
My whole 20 minute thesis in one sentence
@@myretrofuture1731 But hey you learned a lot about Jazzmasters. And as long it plays nice, I think that's all that matters in the end. We are all guitar players here, that's what we do. You just have to spend less in useless stuff (like eating outside) and you'll recover in no time.
Honestly if I encountered all those issues you did when spending that kind of money I would have returned it. Literally can't find anything wrong with my $350 squier j mascis jm.
I almost did return it. I certainly wouldn't do the same thing over again.
...but the neck and modern scalloped body are great. For $2k+
This is the dunk I deserve
Partscasters are where it's at.
Yeah, my hope was to never need to make another guitar, but if I do, it's gonna be a partscaster for sure.
The problem with modern fender JMs is that they claim to be vintage spec but are not - nor have they really "fixed" the sticking points for people who doesn't like JMs (the bridge, for one). You end up having these products that are very neither-nor (the american pro / the ultra) and even people who are in the market for a JM will be hard pressed to purchase a new guitar after some research.
I agree, they course corrected on the wrong stuff.
That's why I got the 40th anniversary squire Jazzmaster. Still shits all over yours for 3rd I'd the price
This is not meant as a criticism but a comment on human nature. I have been fifty years as a luthier. In my experience really good players don't understand much about instrument details and don't bother altering stuff. Less able players tend to meddle with instruments much more.
I think it's fair to say that there is a bit of a psychological trap in worrying over gear, because it feels like you can become a better musician through a singular effort rather than through sustained daily effort. I do think that most really good musicians have at least some understanding of how to care for their equipment, and I also think there is art in building/repairing/modifying instruments. But it is all too easy to lose sight of the end goal.
Sounds like you got very expensive POS!
If it was me and I bought this guitar if it had that many issues I’d keep it but I’d message the seller and ask for quite a big refund
I cut it for run time but I did in-fact have some interactions with Fender customer service. Suffice it to say - they were not helpful.
@@myretrofuture1731 that’s disappointing to hear, if you are spending that much on a guitar you expect next to no problems so the fact it had that many
Ha....this guy thinking hes just going to get a "forever" guitar. Looking for 24.75 scale length? Now you need a Gibson, more vibrato? Now you need a floyd rose, no strat? Time for a stratocaster, no tele? Time for a telecaster, no semi hollow? Time for a 335 style...I could go on but knowing you just dropped an additional $1k on a 2300 guitar (something I would totally do btw haha) you're in for a long but fun time. You got most of the tools now, might as well get more to mod :)
In my heart I already know you're right but I'm going to maintain the charade a bit longer.
You need more light.
If this is a legit videography critique, I'll try cranking the lights up. Still learning about this. If you mean I physically need to go see sunshine... you are not wrong.
I have an Ultra--love it for the ergonomics/playability. Mine had a few issues and I put some money into it. Mine actually came with one noiseless and one random Jazzmaster pickup (I have a warranty claim). Had to put shielding in the cavity. Didn't notice the bridge issue at all, and my trem works fine. I put in some Travis Bean-style pickups from Madlove (I have a Parallel Universe II Jazz Strat with the 65' vintage pickups, which are great, didn't need two guitars with that). I'll consider having a closer look at the bridge--I run Mastery stuff on a few guitars so that's always an option.
Fair to say buying a USA-made guitar from a big name probably isn’t worth it anymore. Greed and complacency. They just don’t respect their customers anymore.
Lol you definitely don't have to put a g bar into this guitar. Guy is on fent for that
Yeah no, I goofed up. Shoulda gone Warmoth. Gonna goof up even more over the next week or so.
@@myretrofuture1731 you should just buy those child guitars that you can't even tune
Yeah, time to sell everything and go Daniel Johnston mode.
@@myretrofuture1731 nah but real talk, you're right about the radius not matching, but it doesn't effect playability. And the trem is golden. No need to change it. You mentioned slop. Did you put the spring in the screw hole?
It's weird seeing you without your hat, big fan, *I watch Timcast a lot* .
It can be hard to detect irony online, so I just wanna be on record noting that I am not Tim Poole.
@@myretrofuture1731 oh shit sorry
Any guitar named ‘Ultra’ shouldn’t need fixing or upgrading with anything. Fender are a disgrace.
Yeah, some of these decisions feel like they were trying to make a JM that would entice people who don't like Jazzmasters, which is never the right approach.
Douchy=shower like! 🚿
Ironic, considering I really took a bath on this one.
I think its disgraceful for a company to ship a high cost piece in such a poor condition
The bridge not being radiused properly sucks
You be better of with an indonesuan 500 dollar job methinks
You must buy more guitars
My plan was to trick out one guitar to rule them all instead of becoming a guitar collector. But now that the bug has bit me, we will see how long that resolution lasts >.
You were so much better off building your own guitar with this amount of nitpicking
If I could do it all again I totally would go full partscaster.
Fender couldn’t make a decent Jazzmaster to save their lives. The AVRI’s are not any better. Boutique or Custom Shop are the only way to go for Jazzmasters.
Buy a yamaha and save!
Probably not a bad call
I hate jazzmaster and mustangs, always have, always will
I had my problems with this one but yo, once you get ahold of that big ole wiggle whammy bar, something will awaken inside you.
those new piickups break up nicely. alot better than the stock ones, they sounded very anaemic
Agreed! The Novaks are really sick and characterful.
I'm sorry but that clean tone out of the box was fucking sick , i get that maybe it's not got as much character as a vintage model but it still sounds beautiful and not as shit as a mex jm
they def are a vibe
Totally valid! It's a matter of taste. Just to avoid confusion, the footage at the very start of the video is the new pups, not the stock ones. But yeah, there is much to be said for hum cancelling, and the stock pups are definitely bright and articulate, if not super "girthy"
I'll stick with Squire.
Respect