From Leo: I love the Jazz Master pickups. When your signal starts with a glass clear, wide response tone, you can make it into whatever you want. If you start with a hot humbucker that starts to crunch right out of the gate, you can never get clean and crisp.
My 1966 Jazzmaster looks identical. I got it brand new when I was 15 years old. It still plays great. I also have a 65 Reissue Jazzmaster, and it's identical to the 66, except it's mint condition.
Im always learning from Zac. I bought a Nash Telemaster at my local shop and now seeing this video I understand one of the reasons why I love it so much. When its strummed you can hear each string individually. It really sounds great. That being said.....I would have never been interested in this kind of instrument at all. Yet I walked out of the shop with a Shell pink guitar that I just played for over 2 hours. Thanks Zac
You nailed it. The open sound and lack of mid-range offers up a lot of space for effects, especially cavernous reverbs and delays. The lack of sustain from the original bridge also plays into that and is actually usable if you have a light touch. It's the perfect ambient guitar.
I use this more than other guitars because of the RHYTHM CIRCUIT. Surprised you didn't mention it. I like your articulate explanation of how effects pedals work well with Jazzmasters because of their V shaped eq.
I'm interested. How do you make use of the rhythm circuit? I use mine as a darker tone on a lower volume for quiet parts in some songs etc, but I'd love to hear some other ideas.
Cut my teeth on my brother's brand new, 1960 Jazzmaster. Loved that thing. IIRC, that bass string riff on "Oh Pretty Woman" was done on a Jazzmaster. You can fix that "break angle" with 1/2 a business card under the neck up close to the body, to drop the head a bit and put more downward pressure on the bridge. The Jazzmaster is perhaps the best dual pickup sound out there, with the 6120 with DeArmonds a close second, IMHO. This guitar does a killer job on "Ghost Riders In The Sky" ...
Great. I'm 4 in '61 and family buys The Colorful Ventures, Don Wilson, a SB Strat, Bob Bogle, SB Jazzmaster. I loved these. Garage bands were starting. Couple of years later, older brother of my sisters friend had a Jazzmaster. Loved it. man, my first electric was an offset, Audition Jazzalike with gold foils, $12.00 in '73. Now, Sq Jagmaster, sb, ts guard. Used to jam with RF BlueLine tunes with this. Good little offset that was in the window '01 then sat neglected. Wife had the shop fix it up and gave it to me for Christmas, '06 or so. Btw,,,I believe Hank Garland used a Jazzmaster for Elvis' "Little Sister". Yeah, they could rock.
I love the middle position of the lead circuit on Jazzmasters. It's the only guitar I've ever played where I like the sound of more than one pickup being selected.
I grew up with some of my favorite guitarists playing Fenders but never really getting it. I never cared for Fenders at all beyond that til I inherited my grandfather's Squire Strat. Then I started to get a feel for them along with a tone that matched more closely to my dream tone. Fast forward a few years til a couple of weeks ago and I got my J. Mascus Jazzmaster not knowing much about JM's and nothing about J. Mascus. Needless to say, it took less than a minute of holding it and playing it to know I wanted it badly. So much so that the very next day I emptied what I had saved up on the side to buy it. I can't remember the last time I genuinely enjoyed just playing my guitar with no purpose at all other than for the love of it. My Jazzmaster has breathed new life into my as a musician in ways I probably still won't be able to articulate for years to come and I'm ever so grateful for my guitar! Great video. Thanks for sharing!
The Jazzmaster definitely has its place in a player’s collection. I had the opportunity to play a mid 60’s model several years ago in addition to a mid 60’s Jaguar. Between the two I preferred the Jazzmaster with it’s longer scale length and fatter sounding pickups. They are, however thinner, twangier and brighter than one would expect considering its larger pickup size. A lot of people confuse Jazzmaster pickups for P90s but they are a totally different design. I own a Squier J Mascis Jazzmaster and the pickups are hotter and fatter sounding than the vintage type and I really enjoy that guitar. I thought that the Guild you demoed sounded pretty cool too. Much enjoyed the episode!
I picked up a Jazzmaster on a fluke one Saturday afternoon. This guy rolls in to a local guitar store. He had a beat to hell and back fender case. He lays it on the floor and the sales dude says what you got there? The owner says you tell me? He opens up the case and in lays a 1974 JM all original parts. Someone refinished it and hand painted some vine looking work on it. It actually looked very good. Bottom line I ended up buying it. Its know one of the best sounding guitars I own. I never knew much about the JM . well I do know the pickups have some balls cranked up on a old Marshall tube amp. It blew my mind. From the down dirty to delicate vibrato and everything in between. This guitar has been heavily gigged ,Who would have thought!
My favorite is an alder bodied Jazzmaster thinline, double bound with no F-hole. Had it made by Saylor Guitars in Oregon. The body was spec'd with the route for a tele bridge/pickup/string thru. Esquire style and light weight. Custom quartersawn neck with no Birdseye or dancing flame ....... just straight grain. Solid as a rock and sounds great with a Don Mare 10k pickup.
I was very fortunate for Christmas this year to receive a American vintage 1965 reissue thin skin Fire mist silver jazz master. Love the twang of Jazz masters and telecasters. But Jazzmasters really get into that ethereal territory with the tremolo system. Or perhaps more accurately, vibrato. Surf music, desert music, ambient, psychedelia. This guitar has such a unique sonic signature, and is truly haunting and magical. And yes, it’s glassy tone is absolutely perfect for finding different colors through pedal manipulation.
I put together a Jazzmaster body with a Tele neck and bridge, 3 Strat pickups, and a custom pickguard. She's a beaut, and very comfortable to play, seated or standing...couldn't be more pleased...
I've got a Squire J Mascis JM and it's amazing! I flip to the treble pickup and it sounds awesome for country, the middle setting is great for any music and the bass pickup is nice and fat. Super simple. I use it for assisted living gigs at very low volume and the tone really comes through well.
I love everything about what the host and the commenters have said about the jazz master's clean tones, but what really surprised me about mine (classic vibe with Lollar JM pups) was that it was the best sounding guitar that I've found through a cranked Marshall 1974x. A satisfying crunch that sits right in my ideal sonic pocket, AND has very crisp note definition at the same time. Enjoy yours if you have one; they're very versatile.
Awesome sounds from this setup Zac. A JM into a blackface Fender with a healthy dose of spring reverb is def. one of the all time classic tones. Kind of like a hi-fi Strat vibe.
You have opened my eyes to the great sounds the Jazzmaster. I've never owned or wanted one before but you have shown me that, in the studio it can be a versatile tool. I wish you could have spent more time with the Starfire, I would love to have heard more. Keep picking!!
Many years ago back in the 70s I had Jaguar. I forget why I bought it but I used it mostly as a slide guitar but I really hated that guitar. The pickups were very weak and I didn’t like the soft shorter scale length and of course I always had trouble with the bridge and the switching system was glitchy. Probably mid sixties three color sunburst but it didn’t hold a candle to my strat or tele. So for that reason I assumed a Jazzmaster was the same thing just different pickups. So like many of us baby boomers I ignored them. Now over the last few years I’ve seen the light and am an owner of a Squire Classic vib 60s Jazzmaster it nicely rounds out my Fender collection. I’m looking forward to learning all it mysteries.
Bought a new ProAm II Jazzmaster last year and love it. It solved all the problems of the older JM's especially due to the new Panorama tremolo and the bridge. It comes with 9's, and I have gone down to 7s, but like 8s the best. If you like heavier strings such as 11's or 12's, all you need to do is replace the tremolo spring. It also is capable of either the modern JM sound, or at the push of the tone control, you get that brighter vintage sound. Now I am waiting for my "splash" reverb to come in. I will be in surf sound heaven then!
Thanks for this. l always liked Wayne Moss ,first discovered him on the area 615 records but then found out he played sessions with Roy Orbirson.l think you demonstrate what jazz masters really sound like, which sadly so many demos fail to do ,l did have a sixty five l series Jaguar but having always played telecasters l couldn't get use to the scale length. This is a very informative channel keep up the good work.
I’ve been playing math rock/Midwest emo with the JazzMaster and omg I love the sounds. I obviously use my telecaster, but this jazz master is definitely a second favorite of mine.
My main instrument is a jazzmaster with gretch/tv jones pickups on one of those ionized guards. I love it so much, jazzmasters are really great for a lot of stuff. But that guild with the firebird neck pickup is sooooooo sweet
IMO the best way to increase break angle over a Jazzmaster’s bridge saddles is to put a shim in the neck pocket. My Jazzer, a ‘66, came with a factory-installed small phenolic shim that worked fine, but I replaced it with a tapered wooden one from Stew-Mac. The shim lets you raise the bridge height, eliminating the “strings popping out of the saddles” thing. Improves sustain too. I personally don’t care for tone of the Mastery bridge…but that’s a taste thing and YMMV.
I have the vintage bridge on mine, no shims with .10s and I've not had a string pop out yet. I did ditch the clunky Fender vibrato for a Mastery however. Total butter.
I just bought a Jazzmaster cousin this week - 78 Musicmaster popped up on FB Marketplace, right down the road from me (which is unusual in the rural parts in which I live....a ways west of Atlanta. Nothing ever comes up locally). 70s Fenders get lots of crap but I’m drawn to ‘78 (birth Year). Musicmaster is in incredible shape. Was a good deal and sounds awesome! It doesn’t hurt that I am playing through an amp I bought from the same guy the next day....I couldn’t resist...66 Pro Reverb. It looks brand-freakin-new! Still has the sticker from the former Jeweler/Guitar shop it came from in Anniston AL. I wasn’t looking for either, but that 66 is the BEST amp I’ve ever heard!
I’m a Telecaster guy, but I’ve always been intrigued with the Jazzmaster. Despite it’s quirkiness, seems to be a very versatile guitar. Great pedal steel licks, btw!
My Jazzmaster has been with me the longest of any guitar. Beat to hell and back and always sounds great, won't go out of tune even with hard term abuse, and works with any amp/pedal combo.
I've played a '64 Jazzmaster exlusively for 15 years. I play cali country / grateful dead lead guitar with a heavy pick. I lock the trem and add a buzz-stop and it's an absolute workhorse for bar gigs. It's got great twang and tons of upper-midrange cut. the middle position is absolute rock monster while the neck is strat+LP junior clean heaven with thick low end. Jazzmaster pickup sets are hum-cancelling (RWRP) so even though it's a noisy guitar compared to a tele, that middle position is really pro. I will say that because of the 'wider' lower midrange of Jazzmaster that I prefer them through a Blackface Bassman with the more beefy preamp, rather than a Bandmaster/deluxe AB763 that has the scooped blackface sound.
Hey Zac, I really enjoyed seeing the Guild guitar. My buddy had one of those in the early 70s, played it through a Fender Vibrolux amp. Brought back a lot of good memories. When you were talking about the older 335s I remembered seeing a Gibson in the early 70s that looked just like a 335 but it only had one F hole on the left side. I have researched those guitars on occasion and can't find anything about them or what model they actually were. You wouldn't happen to know anything about them would you. Thinking back I should have bought it. I'm sure they are a rare dog now. I bought a 1974 Tele Deluxe instead. They were the same price, $425.
Great vid. Your viewers should know that if they can't afford a Mastery bridge, a Mustang bridge is a direct replacement and solve the strings popping out issue if not the sustain one
Yup. I find the mastery bridge to be a bit too bright sounding and the vibrato doesn’t work the same way. I like the stock bridge or a mustang bridge much better, plus they are a lot cheaper
You don't even need to do that. With a proper setup, the stock bridge will work just fine with roundwound .010s. I wail on mine like Pete Townshend, the strings stay put.
Due to the influence of The Ventures and The Beach Boys, we "boomers" associated Jazzmasters with "surf music." When The Beatles hit and then Hendrix, we did not want to be tagged with what you have shown to be a wonderful instrument. The Jazzmaster skipped a generation and found its place with Punk, New Wave, and avant-garde guitarists. Pedal steel licks sound less mechanical (cf. B-Bender) and more "modulation"-like with the application of the Jazzmaster vibrato bar. Interestingly lefty Otis Rush sometimes used both Jazzmasters and Guild Starfires, which was was unusual for blues players. Could we have your thoughts a vintage Jaguar; particularly about its "short" scale?
Lol, I'm glad you figured out "why a Jazzmaster," because I sure couldn't. I was in a band for a year and a half with a JM player and I didn't hear or feel the appeal when I fiddled with it myself - too long a scale for my medium-sized hands, too ringy/gulpy a sound, not enough sustain. And one time when I cleaned the neck for him, the new strings immediately started playing whack-a-mole buzz. I will say that my bandmate got a great lead sound out of it with pedals and a Hot Rod Deluxe.
Even though the Jazzmaster has a better pickup selector as compared to a Jaguar, I like the tone of a Jaguar more, think it has to do with the pickups. My first Fender guitar was a 1966 Sunburst Jazzmaster that was left to me when I was 17 after my uncle died in 1977. I have a friend that got a used candy apple red 1964 Jaguar as a birthday present that same year. I remember that I liked the tone of his Jaguar over my Jazzmaster. I later traded in the Jazzmaster when I bought a new 1979 black Strat with a maple fretboard and white pickguard. My friend that had the Jaguar fell in love with my Strat and kept offering to trade his Jaguar for the Strat. When we played together I would wind up playing the Jaguar and he the Strat, because I really liked the tone and playability of the Jaguar over the Strat. Though I liked the look of the Strat over the Jaguar, I really loved the tone of the Jaguar more and wound up trading with him after he offered $300 and the Jaguar. In 1989 the Jaguar was stolen when my house was broken into while away on vacation and was never recovered. My friend still has the Strat. I now have a 1998 purple stained Vigier Excalibur Custom that I bought used about 10 years ago, and is the best guitar I've ever heard or played, bar none, and will never willingly part with it.
Dating myself, I know, but one of the first times I heard a Jazzmaster was Bob Bogle's lead on the Ventures' "Walk Don't Run". Also from that era there was (and still is) George Tomsco of the Fireballs who used a JM on most of their instrumental hits. Have been a dyed in the wool JM fan forever -- great video and playing!!
I was first a Les Paul guy. I bought a new 79. Then I got into Strats ( EC, SRV, and Dick Dale) I have 2. Then thanks to Marty Stewart and Kenny Vaughn I went for a awesome Telecaster. Dam it! Now I need to check Jazz Masters and Star Fires. 🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸
I got my first Jazzmaster in “65… was a ventures nut even got a Moserite ventures model. Loved the Jazzmaster… don’t forget the little switches on the upper bout. Ha had the Starfire 5 as well. Even then a gear junkie… as always great show
Thanks for the Mastery bridge insight. I took a Vintage Modified Squire to a local guitar fix-it person to do routing and install a tremolo. Terrible, misaligned job. Plan to do a parts 'rebuild,' using new body and neck and original stacked controls... And a Mastery bridge. .
Second time watching this after spending a lot of time with my lefty WILCO black JM clone set up by @puisheen (offset daddy) - Great video. I have to say that it's an absolute joy to use all the types of fuzz with JMs. from Fuzzrite to 90s Pickles and 2000s fuzz factories, the JM loves them all through a fender amp on the edge of beak up. IF I think the client might want a little freak out at the end of the recording session, I am sure to bring the Jazzmaster along just in case. Last two times it blew minds. Thanks for the pedal steel riffs with wiggle! I'm back to practicing those!! Also try a clean performance of 1960 Era Johnny Cash hits... into a brown panel fender. lightbulbs illuminate.
Great tip on the Starfire. Guild’s ‘60s humbuckers are lovely sounding pickups and the guitars are very well made. (Their ‘70s HBs sound great too but different.)
Great video Zac! I was a strat player for years until I played a Jazzmaster. It's been my main guitar for over twenty-five years. Very versatile. Now it feels odd to play a strat or essentially anything else.
I think Woody has done more for the Jazzmaster and Jaguar in the last fifteen years. Even if you don't get a Mastery set up, there's Staytrem in the UK, and Fender is doing Mustang-style bridges. (I was one of the first to buy a Mastery and put it on my ECJM, named "Nelvis," after Nels and Elvis).
Dang it, I don't want to buy a another guitar but I have always been intrigued by a Jazzmaster. And I love the in between sounds on Strats and Tele's. My Tele's are Jangley in the Middle.
Pardon me if you've heard this before, but the best guitar sound ever recorded was Bob Bogle's Jazzmaster on the 1960 Ventures' hit Walk Don't Run. That was the best recorded guitar sound ever. Ever.
Totally agree! When I was a kid and wanted to buy a guitar, I remember being so let down by the lack of information regarding clean tones. Everyone wanted hard rock and metal tones, and I wanted to sound like Duane Eddy and Bob Bogle (names I didn’t even know at the time, but sounds that shaped my love of music forever). It seems more people are coming around to the clean sounds and Jazzmasters can be found in most guitar shops these days. I love to see it!
*disclaimer* I mentioned Duane Eddy, but I’d like to make it clear he never played a Jazzmaster, just influenced my love of twang and Hi-Fi guitar sounds. I have a Danelectro 6-string bass for Duane’s sound!
Great stuff, as always! I wonder if you have come across Danny Adler in your travels. He's a US-born guitarist and band leader who has consistently played Jazzmasters (and mostly though Vox amps). He moved to the UK in the 70s and made some great bluesy, funk music with his band Roogalator ("Cincinnati Fatback", the 1977 version, perhaps being their finest) and then, in the 80s, with Rocket 88 and finally the Deluxe Blues Band ("Calling in the flag" from the band's session with Mike Vernon, has a great solo) . Today I believe he's back in the US and still plays and records. He's actually credited with turning Elvis Costello onto Jazzmasters, big glasses and sharp suits etc - maybe an urban legend but Roogalator were big in London in the 70s and very influential, so who knows? Another reminiscence - I have fond memories from the 80s of watching Buddy Guy go totally transcendent while playing a Starfire (not sure which model). There are also some great clips of him playing one in the 1970 documentary "Chicago Blues" by Harley Cokliss ("First Time I met the Blues" from this film is pretty powerful and can be found on UA-cam).
You have a very pleasant relaxing style of demonstrating and explaining what you are showing in your videos Zac. I'm hoping the Pro 2 version is as nice sounding.
My first good electric guitar was a Fender Jazzmaster, quite a step up, from my Harmony H39 Hollywood. I don't quite remember the year, it was probably somewhere around 1960. It was a three color sunburst with faux tortoise shell pickguard. Later I refinished it in white, because the band manager wanted the bass player and I to have matching white instruments. I wish I still had that guitar. I sold it to a friend to amass the money for a Telecaster Deluxe, which I don't have anymore, either. :-P
That little excerpt toward the end @ 12:00 had the near-identical tone of Hendrix' Axis Bold as Love album. I don't hear other strats duplicate it so closely. A lovely sound, Zac. My favorite of all.
I just bought one and love it. I bought the blue one. I’m just an not a big fan of the dang trem bar. It’s the type that just pushes in and it falls out just as easily as pushes in lol. I wish it had a tightening screw. I do like the pups. Kinda going back and forth on which settings to use .😳😳Cheers Mate.
Zac, you got some really nice tones today and that's revealing. I'm going to listen to this video several times this morning because it's a really good video. Thanks for sharing with everyone. I love my MIM Fender Jazzmaster for it's tone and playability. She's comfortable to play sitting down because of her body shape. I don't care for the excessive movement required to use the tremolo arm as I feel the Stratocaster's is better. I understand Leo was attempting to make the tremolo more subtle - I get it. Mine is 8.8 lbs. making it my heaviest electric guitar and that does spoil the fun somewhat for me because I have neck and spine injuries and I am 70 years old. I still play her though so that is a testimony that I like her. Playing her sitting down and without a strap works for me, except I like to be on my feet and be able to walk around as I play. That's when even my soft cloth 3 inch wide strap digs in and when my shoulder and back start to hurt. The controls sure are unique among all my guitars. They aroused my curiosity and that's why I purchased my Jazzmaster. Even though they are different they still work. However out of all my guitars I preferer the controls on a telecaster, simple and right to the point, giving me more immediate control over my tone. While playing my Tele it's not hard at all to find a tone for me to like no matter what my mood. I consider that one of her strong points! My Jazzmaster is not as intuitive so I end up fiddling around a little more, sometimes I can't find the tone to match my mood but usually and for the most part I can. She has that special and separate rhythm channel as a back up for when I am having trouble finding my tone. What happens is after I play for a while using the rhythm controls I find when I go back to the standard 3-way switch of the lead section I am able to find the tone I need. I guess I bounce back and forth between the two until I am satisfied. Again, my tele is so much more straight forward and so much easier to dial in what I'm feeling. My favorite electric guitar is the Telecaster. Smaller and lighter, no tremolo and s thinner neck all make it by far my favorite. Mine is 7.9 lbs. and for me that is too heavy to play upon every day for multiple sessions so I just ordered a "Demo" G&L ASAT Bluesboy Natural Semi Hollow body with two internal chambers that brings down the weight to only 6 lbs. My only concern is about neck dive. With such a light weight body will the neck have a tendency to dive? I shall find out soon enough. Neck dive is something I can't abide. Sadly, even my most expensive guitar, a 6.4 lb. 2017 Gibson Standard HP Heritage Cherry has such strong neck dive that I have to use my fingering hand to hold up the neck as I play thus ruining the experience. I can't stand that Gibson! I never play her. I only play her when I have forgotten about her diving tendencies, then as soon as I play upon her she starts in on swooning and diving like she was made for that one reason only! I need to remove the heavy robo-tuner and install light weight Gibson tuners, hopefully that will help. My Epiphone SG 400 Pro is the same way but the neck dive is not as awfully severe, perhaps because she has Grover tuners, but neck dive is present. I hate guitars with neck dive as I feel that my fingering hand should be free to move around and up and down the neck as I play and neck dive changes and limits that very much. I'll be keeping my Jazzmaster even though it's my heaviest guitar because she plays well. Honestly sometimes I think about turning her into a hard tail by removing the tremolo arm and blocking off the movement of the rest of the tremolo system. Time will tell on that mod. -Peter age 70
@@AskZac All of Leo's guitars were designed correctly and I know of not even a single Fender with neck dive. But then again I have not played all his different models. I really hope my new G&L Bluesboy has no neck dive, because I need a light weight instrument.
They are very tele esk - I have 6 teles and 2 Jazzmasters - I think about 3 Strats - but the Jazzmaster is in a class all it’s own - look at who played them on country tunes in the 60’s-no binding-btw, I like 50’s tele knobs on my jazzmasters - puts me in the vibe-as always , great vid Zac- ps- I also have a 72’ les Paul custom with real PAF’s just to put all this in perspective
I’ve had a soft spot for Jazzmasters since I started playing in the early ‘60s. The Walk Don’t Run (Ventures) sound is a Jazzmaster with flatwound strings. I’ve never owned one-I just never found the right one! One day, maybe...and that Guild Starfire V is cool too. In 1976 I got a Guild X-500, their equivalent to a Gibson L-5CES-blonde, gold hardware, just a gorgeous thing. I had it on the road with me until Frontier Airlines did a number on it. Don’t take a nice archtop on the road, kids!
That Chicken pickin souded really good Zac.I've always been intrigued by the Jazzmaster and you're getting some great sounds out of it.Thanks for the in depth look .The Jazzmaster has a David Lynch quality and New West Artists like Oliver Peck and Nikki Lane use them and they look and sound stellar .
Oh, and phooey on that Mastery bridge. There were three different threads on the original saddles, for the thick strings, the thin ones, and the middle ones. Just replace the fine-threaded ones. Get medium thread for the first three strings and heavy for the rest.
I bought a brand new ‘65 Jazzmaster from a funky music shop in 1978; maybe it was the era I was playing in or the innumerable amps I played it through but it never sounded good to me; on the other hand (no pun intended) it had the very best whammy bar ever…I put some sort of groovy 1980s Strat-style pickup in the center and a 5 way toggle but only ever used the new pickup; I think those big white pickups are ugly too…all a moot point now as it was stolen out of my car in the early ‘90s
Hank Garland used a Jazzmaster for his great lead guitar part on Elvis Presley's "Little Sister" from 1961. A very versatile guitar with an expressive vibrato. Fantastic video, Mr. Childs. I've been following your Channel since its inception and have thoroughly enjoyed every single video. Informative and delivered with class and great guitar playing. Thank you so much!
I have a heavily modded Fender Classic Player Jazzmaster. I got it used with Joe Barden pickups installed, and I put a Bigsby, Hipshot Locking Tuners, and a Graphtec Resomax Bridge on it. I play in a Psycobilly Band, and used it on two songs during our last recording, and it sounds great. Unfortunately now my band is addicted to me using guitars with tremolos - Strats, Gretsches, and the Jazzmaster, that my Teles are being neglected. I might have to put a Bigsby on my Partscaster Tele.
Anyone know how the fret size varied from late 50’s to mid 60’s ? vintage tall, narrow etc.. The Fender Customshop JM’s use “tall narrow” (6105) for its ‘59, 62 and 65 and sometimes “vintage tall” for their ‘65’s. Are these the same thing and are these fret specs historically accurate ?
There's a clipping from a Melody Maker "Any Questions" that can be found with a quick search about the gear used on Marquee Moon. No source is mentioned, so take it with a grain of salt, but according to that not a lot of Jazzmaster.
@@sethhoward1095 yeah I’ve read it but I’ve also read lots of Tom verlaine interviews where he says his solos were almost always his jazzmaster on the bridge pickup. Of course we shouldn’t forget Richard Lloyd who mainly played a telecaster at the time The pictures taken at the time around Marquee Moon also show Verlaine with either a Jazzmaster or a Jaguar with Danelectro pickups , i really don’t know about this melody maker article.. it kind of appear only quite recently Anyways .. it’s a brilliant album and people should listen to it religiously 😀
@@jeanemmanuelkrieger6001 One of my favorite albums for sure. Yes, lipstick pickups have always been a big ingredient in Verlaine's sound. The Dano early on, Jag/JM with lipsticks, and the parts Strat with a JM neck and three lipstick pickups. Largely what inspired me to put together my own lipstick JM. The two times I saw Television live in the early 2000s he just played a (presumably rented) Strat. Lloyd did too. They both sounded exactly like themselves.
People forget the resurgence of Jags and Jazzmasters came from the indie rock scene of the late 80s and early 90s. Bands like Sonic Youth, dinosaur Jr and others used offset guitars because they were the cheapest instruments to buy second hand because no one wanted them. They also removed all the silly stock circuits and usually just blasted out straight from pickups to the jack with out even a volume or tone control. If you look at all the famous users, none of them use them stock as they came. These guitars are all about the looks.
As a teenager I became Jazzmaster curious after reading about all the great songs Wayne Moss played on. In my mid thirties Chris Stapleton became the biggest star in the world and made it ok to buy a one! And yes, the mastery bridge makes all the difference in the world!
I think P90's in a Jazzmaster with 500k pots work great! Some of the harshness goes with those pickups and lots of beefiness is added, keeping also part of the enharmonics that the bridge design provide.
I have an Ultra JM that feels amazing with the compound radius neck. It also features phase switches in the upper bout (with individual volumes). The only thing I didn't care for was the noiseless pickup set. I changed them out for '65s and I think it's a forever guitar. OH yeah, my avatar.
I've actually never played a Jazzmaster but they do definitely have a unique sound that seems to be all their own. Thanks for showing us this beauty and playing some tasty licks too. You got some nice friends if they're letting you play with toys like this haha. Rock on!
Jazzmaster with vintage style pickups can cover some Strat and Tele territory. Some bearded country guy plays one live a lot. But Raul Malo in the Mavericks does great stuff with one. Eddie Perez and Raul will play a Jaguar sometimes too.
My first good guitar rig was a 63 Jazzmaster and a blackface Super Reverb with 4 JB Lansing10” speakers. I played it for a couple of years before it was stolen from our practice house. The ultimate in clean and spring reverb for days. No telling what it would be worth today.
Enjoyed seeing you play some different guitars. That Guild is cool. Not a fan of Jazzmasters myself, but this episode is very helpful in helping explain it. I get it more too, now.
I just built one very similar via Guitar Mill parts. Mastery bridge and Descendant trem. Dawgtown custom pickups (fantastic!). It plays as good or better as the custom shops down the street.
So...what about the 3 black switches? above the neck pick up? Do they effect the tone as well? Lovely sounding guitar. You'll see them in a lot of 60's videos, I assume it's The Ventures influence.
I was watching an old Ed Sullivan show yesterday after watching this Ask Zac and fourteen year old Hank Williams Junior was backed up by a guy playing a Jazzmaster.
Great focus on the sound of the Jazzmaster my friend. It is the only guitar I need and allows me to create many moods and feelings with minimal effects. I play a '62 AVRI if you want to hear some sounds of that on my channel.
When I think of the jazz I immediately think of ...yea the detective tone....luther perkins and the beach boys. I had a chance to buy an early sixties model once. This video would've helped . Very good information. But in final analysis I'm glad I bought my tele
Low output pickups = tone and control of tone. It's easier to paint a white wall than a dark-coloured one. The shallow break angle and string length behind the bridge permits greater harmonic content. JM's both-pickups sound is classic and was Hendrix's favourite. I love the trem as well (almost as good as a Bigsby) and, of course, you can lock it if you want to, but must re-tune when you do. I always found that recording with a Jazzmaster was easier for the engineer and when mixing as those pesky lower-mids that always need to be shelved/attenuated are already gone. Aren't those Starfire's great? Easily as good as a 335. (PS.- keep it a secret or the prices will soar) As always, great job Zack.
From Leo: I love the Jazz Master pickups. When your signal starts with a glass clear, wide response tone, you can make it into whatever you want. If you start with a hot humbucker that starts to crunch right out of the gate, you can never get clean and crisp.
Great quote. You can even get sort of Gretsch tones from vintage JM pickups.
Who is “LEO”?
@@BeesWaxMinder di caprio
@@noel2x you mean the Actor?!
@@BeesWaxMinder law enforcement officer
My 1966 Jazzmaster looks identical. I got it brand new when I was 15 years old. It still plays great. I also have a 65 Reissue Jazzmaster, and it's identical to the 66, except it's mint condition.
My favorite guitar ever. There's nothing like the sound of a good Jazzmaster through a loud Fender amp.
Im always learning from Zac.
I bought a Nash Telemaster at my local shop and now seeing this video I understand one of the reasons why I love it so much.
When its strummed you can hear each string individually. It really sounds great.
That being said.....I would have never been interested in this kind of instrument at all. Yet I walked out of the shop with a Shell pink guitar that I just played for over 2 hours.
Thanks Zac
You nailed it. The open sound and lack of mid-range offers up a lot of space for effects, especially cavernous reverbs and delays. The lack of sustain from the original bridge also plays into that and is actually usable if you have a light touch. It's the perfect ambient guitar.
The lack of sustain gives a more percussive quality
Ok, I had to get Ann to help me ID’ing the Crowded House changes. We’re impressed!
Glad you have Ann around.
Thank , I was trying so hard to name that song
I use this more than other guitars because of the RHYTHM CIRCUIT. Surprised you didn't mention it. I like your articulate explanation of how effects pedals work well with Jazzmasters because of their V shaped eq.
I'm interested. How do you make use of the rhythm circuit?
I use mine as a darker tone on a lower volume for quiet parts in some songs etc, but I'd love to hear some other ideas.
I can't see that circuit on his guitar ..
Cut my teeth on my brother's brand new, 1960 Jazzmaster. Loved that thing. IIRC, that bass string riff on "Oh Pretty Woman" was done on a Jazzmaster. You can fix that "break angle" with 1/2 a business card under the neck up close to the body, to drop the head a bit and put more downward pressure on the bridge. The Jazzmaster is perhaps the best dual pickup sound out there, with the 6120 with DeArmonds a close second, IMHO. This guitar does a killer job on "Ghost Riders In The Sky" ...
Great. I'm 4 in '61 and family buys The Colorful Ventures, Don Wilson, a SB Strat, Bob Bogle, SB Jazzmaster. I loved these.
Garage bands were starting. Couple of years later, older brother of my sisters friend had a Jazzmaster. Loved it.
man, my first electric was an offset, Audition Jazzalike with gold foils, $12.00 in '73.
Now, Sq Jagmaster, sb, ts guard. Used to jam with RF BlueLine tunes with this. Good little offset that was in the window '01 then sat neglected. Wife had the shop fix it up and gave it to me for Christmas, '06 or so.
Btw,,,I believe Hank Garland used a Jazzmaster for Elvis' "Little Sister".
Yeah, they could rock.
I had been a strat player for a long time , but recently got a vintera jazzmaster and its teaching me so many new things.
I love the middle position of the lead circuit on Jazzmasters. It's the only guitar I've ever played where I like the sound of more than one pickup being selected.
I grew up with some of my favorite guitarists playing Fenders but never really getting it. I never cared for Fenders at all beyond that til I inherited my grandfather's Squire Strat. Then I started to get a feel for them along with a tone that matched more closely to my dream tone. Fast forward a few years til a couple of weeks ago and I got my J. Mascus Jazzmaster not knowing much about JM's and nothing about J. Mascus. Needless to say, it took less than a minute of holding it and playing it to know I wanted it badly. So much so that the very next day I emptied what I had saved up on the side to buy it. I can't remember the last time I genuinely enjoyed just playing my guitar with no purpose at all other than for the love of it. My Jazzmaster has breathed new life into my as a musician in ways I probably still won't be able to articulate for years to come and I'm ever so grateful for my guitar! Great video. Thanks for sharing!
The Jazzmaster definitely has its place in a player’s collection. I had the opportunity to play a mid 60’s model several years ago in addition to a mid 60’s Jaguar. Between the two I preferred the Jazzmaster with it’s longer scale length and fatter sounding pickups. They are, however thinner, twangier and brighter than one would expect considering its larger pickup size. A lot of people confuse Jazzmaster pickups for P90s but they are a totally different design.
I own a Squier J Mascis Jazzmaster and the pickups are hotter and fatter sounding than the vintage type and I really enjoy that guitar. I thought that the Guild you demoed sounded pretty cool too. Much enjoyed the episode!
I love the tones Chris Stapleton gets out of his Jazzmasters through his brown face Princeton. Some beautiful piano like sounds
Your show is so relaxing. I go back and watch episodes over to de-stress. Thanks.
I picked up a Jazzmaster on a fluke one Saturday afternoon. This guy rolls in to a local guitar store. He had a beat to hell and back fender case. He lays it on the floor and the sales dude says what you got there? The owner says you tell me? He opens up the case and in lays a 1974 JM all original parts. Someone refinished it and hand painted some vine looking work on it. It actually looked very good. Bottom line I ended up buying it. Its know one of the best sounding guitars I own. I never knew much about the JM . well I do know the pickups have some balls cranked up on a old Marshall tube amp. It blew my mind. From the down dirty to delicate vibrato and everything in between. This guitar has been heavily gigged ,Who would have thought!
My favorite is an alder bodied Jazzmaster thinline, double bound with no F-hole. Had it made by Saylor Guitars in Oregon. The body was spec'd with the route for a tele bridge/pickup/string thru. Esquire style and light weight. Custom quartersawn neck with no Birdseye or dancing flame ....... just straight grain. Solid as a rock and sounds great with a Don Mare 10k pickup.
I was very fortunate for Christmas this year to receive a American vintage 1965 reissue thin skin Fire mist silver jazz master. Love the twang of Jazz masters and telecasters. But Jazzmasters really get into that ethereal territory with the tremolo system. Or perhaps more accurately, vibrato. Surf music, desert music, ambient, psychedelia. This guitar has such a unique sonic signature, and is truly haunting and magical. And yes, it’s glassy tone is absolutely perfect for finding different colors through pedal manipulation.
I put together a Jazzmaster body with a Tele neck and bridge, 3 Strat pickups, and a custom pickguard. She's a beaut, and very comfortable to play, seated or standing...couldn't be more pleased...
I've got a Squire J Mascis JM and it's amazing! I flip to the treble pickup and it sounds awesome for country, the middle setting is great for any music and the bass pickup is nice and fat. Super simple. I use it for assisted living gigs at very low volume and the tone really comes through well.
I love everything about what the host and the commenters have said about the jazz master's clean tones, but what really surprised me about mine (classic vibe with Lollar JM pups) was that it was the best sounding guitar that I've found through a cranked Marshall 1974x. A satisfying crunch that sits right in my ideal sonic pocket, AND has very crisp note definition at the same time. Enjoy yours if you have one; they're very versatile.
Awesome sounds from this setup Zac. A JM into a blackface Fender with a healthy dose of spring reverb is def. one of the all time classic tones. Kind of like a hi-fi Strat vibe.
You have opened my eyes to the great sounds the Jazzmaster. I've never owned or wanted one before but you have shown me that, in the studio it can be a versatile tool. I wish you could have spent more time with the Starfire, I would love to have heard more. Keep picking!!
Many years ago back in the 70s I had Jaguar. I forget why I bought it but I used it mostly as a slide guitar but I really hated that guitar. The pickups were very weak and I didn’t like the soft shorter scale length and of course I always had trouble with the bridge and the switching system was glitchy. Probably mid sixties three color sunburst but it didn’t hold a candle to my strat or tele. So for that reason I assumed a Jazzmaster was the same thing just different pickups. So like many of us baby boomers I ignored them. Now over the last few years I’ve seen the light and am an owner of a Squire Classic vib 60s Jazzmaster it nicely rounds out my Fender collection. I’m looking forward to learning all it mysteries.
Bought a new ProAm II Jazzmaster last year and love it. It solved all the problems of the older JM's especially due to the new Panorama tremolo and the bridge. It comes with 9's, and I have gone down to 7s, but like 8s the best. If you like heavier strings such as 11's or 12's, all you need to do is replace the tremolo spring. It also is capable of either the modern JM sound, or at the push of the tone control, you get that brighter vintage sound. Now I am waiting for my "splash" reverb to come in. I will be in surf sound heaven then!
Thanks for this. l always liked Wayne Moss ,first discovered him on the area 615 records but then found out he played sessions with Roy Orbirson.l think you demonstrate what jazz masters really sound like, which sadly so many demos fail to do ,l did have a sixty five l series Jaguar but having always played telecasters l couldn't get use to the scale length. This is a very informative channel keep up the good work.
I’ve been playing math rock/Midwest emo with the JazzMaster and omg I love the sounds. I obviously use my telecaster, but this jazz master is definitely a second favorite of mine.
I had a Troy Van Leeuwen JM I had to sell during lockdown and now I’m jonesin’ for another after watching this video. Beautiful guitar.
My main instrument is a jazzmaster with gretch/tv jones pickups on one of those ionized guards. I love it so much, jazzmasters are really great for a lot of stuff. But that guild with the firebird neck pickup is sooooooo sweet
Ugly duckling ❓
The offset contour body was one of Leo’s proudest accomplishments. It’s no mistake or accident that it was used for the Electric XII.
IMO the best way to increase break angle over a Jazzmaster’s bridge saddles is to put a shim in the neck pocket. My Jazzer, a ‘66, came with a factory-installed small phenolic shim that worked fine, but I replaced it with a tapered wooden one from Stew-Mac. The shim lets you raise the bridge height, eliminating the “strings popping out of the saddles” thing. Improves sustain too.
I personally don’t care for tone of the Mastery bridge…but that’s a taste thing and YMMV.
I have the vintage bridge on mine, no shims with .10s and I've not had a string pop out yet. I did ditch the clunky Fender vibrato for a Mastery however. Total butter.
I just bought a Jazzmaster cousin this week - 78 Musicmaster popped up on FB Marketplace, right down the road from me (which is unusual in the rural parts in which I live....a ways west of Atlanta. Nothing ever comes up locally). 70s Fenders get lots of crap but I’m drawn to ‘78 (birth Year). Musicmaster is in incredible shape. Was a good deal and sounds awesome! It doesn’t hurt that I am playing through an amp I bought from the same guy the next day....I couldn’t resist...66 Pro Reverb. It looks brand-freakin-new! Still has the sticker from the former Jeweler/Guitar shop it came from in Anniston AL. I wasn’t looking for either, but that 66 is the BEST amp I’ve ever heard!
I’m a Telecaster guy, but I’ve always been intrigued with the Jazzmaster. Despite it’s quirkiness, seems to be a very versatile guitar. Great pedal steel licks, btw!
Sounds even better with flats :)
My Jazzmaster has been with me the longest of any guitar. Beat to hell and back and always sounds great, won't go out of tune even with hard term abuse, and works with any amp/pedal combo.
I've played a '64 Jazzmaster exlusively for 15 years. I play cali country / grateful dead lead guitar with a heavy pick. I lock the trem and add a buzz-stop and it's an absolute workhorse for bar gigs. It's got great twang and tons of upper-midrange cut. the middle position is absolute rock monster while the neck is strat+LP junior clean heaven with thick low end. Jazzmaster pickup sets are hum-cancelling (RWRP) so even though it's a noisy guitar compared to a tele, that middle position is really pro. I will say that because of the 'wider' lower midrange of Jazzmaster that I prefer them through a Blackface Bassman with the more beefy preamp, rather than a Bandmaster/deluxe AB763 that has the scooped blackface sound.
Hey Zac, I really enjoyed seeing the Guild guitar. My buddy had one of those in the early 70s, played it through a Fender Vibrolux amp. Brought back a lot of good memories. When you were talking about the older 335s I remembered seeing a Gibson in the early 70s that looked just like a 335 but it only had one F hole on the left side. I have researched those guitars on occasion and can't find anything about them or what model they actually were. You wouldn't happen to know anything about them would you. Thinking back I should have bought it. I'm sure they are a rare dog now. I bought a 1974 Tele Deluxe instead. They were the same price, $425.
Great vid. Your viewers should know that if they can't afford a Mastery bridge, a Mustang bridge is a direct replacement and solve the strings popping out issue if not the sustain one
Thank you, Michael!
Yup. I find the mastery bridge to be a bit too bright sounding and the vibrato doesn’t work the same way. I like the stock bridge or a mustang bridge much better, plus they are a lot cheaper
You don't even need to do that. With a proper setup, the stock bridge will work just fine with roundwound .010s. I wail on mine like Pete Townshend, the strings stay put.
@@randocalrissian4520 💯
Due to the influence of The Ventures and The Beach Boys, we "boomers" associated Jazzmasters with "surf music." When The Beatles hit and then Hendrix, we did not want to be tagged with what you have shown to be a wonderful instrument. The Jazzmaster skipped a generation and found its place with Punk, New Wave, and avant-garde guitarists. Pedal steel licks sound less mechanical (cf. B-Bender) and more "modulation"-like with the application of the Jazzmaster vibrato bar. Interestingly lefty Otis Rush sometimes used both Jazzmasters and Guild Starfires, which was was unusual for blues players. Could we have your thoughts a vintage Jaguar; particularly about its "short" scale?
I need to find a friend that has a Jag to borrow.
Lol, I'm glad you figured out "why a Jazzmaster," because I sure couldn't. I was in a band for a year and a half with a JM player and I didn't hear or feel the appeal when I fiddled with it myself - too long a scale for my medium-sized hands, too ringy/gulpy a sound, not enough sustain. And one time when I cleaned the neck for him, the new strings immediately started playing whack-a-mole buzz. I will say that my bandmate got a great lead sound out of it with pedals and a Hot Rod Deluxe.
Even though the Jazzmaster has a better pickup selector as compared to a Jaguar, I like the tone of a Jaguar more, think it has to do with the pickups. My first Fender guitar was a 1966 Sunburst Jazzmaster that was left to me when I was 17 after my uncle died in 1977. I have a friend that got a used candy apple red 1964 Jaguar as a birthday present that same year. I remember that I liked the tone of his Jaguar over my Jazzmaster. I later traded in the Jazzmaster when I bought a new 1979 black Strat with a maple fretboard and white pickguard. My friend that had the Jaguar fell in love with my Strat and kept offering to trade his Jaguar for the Strat. When we played together I would wind up playing the Jaguar and he the Strat, because I really liked the tone and playability of the Jaguar over the Strat. Though I liked the look of the Strat over the Jaguar, I really loved the tone of the Jaguar more and wound up trading with him after he offered $300 and the Jaguar. In 1989 the Jaguar was stolen when my house was broken into while away on vacation and was never recovered. My friend still has the Strat. I now have a 1998 purple stained Vigier Excalibur Custom that I bought used about 10 years ago, and is the best guitar I've ever heard or played, bar none, and will never willingly part with it.
I have a 61’ in blonde. Beautiful sounding pedal steel licks man. The tremolo system is like butter on a jazzmaster. Just sweetens a players style.
Dating myself, I know, but one of the first times I heard a Jazzmaster was Bob Bogle's lead on the Ventures' "Walk Don't Run". Also from that era there was (and still is) George Tomsco of the Fireballs who used a JM on most of their instrumental hits.
Have been a dyed in the wool JM fan forever -- great video and playing!!
Anybody ever see a G&L Doheny? (Doheny is a beach in SoCal)
I hear they're kickin' out in Doheny too..
My main guitar is a Doheny! Most versatile guitar I've ever owned.
I was first a Les Paul guy. I bought a new 79.
Then I got into Strats ( EC, SRV, and Dick Dale)
I have 2.
Then thanks to Marty Stewart and Kenny Vaughn I went for a awesome Telecaster.
Dam it! Now I need to check Jazz Masters and Star Fires. 🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸
I got my first Jazzmaster in “65… was a ventures nut even got a Moserite ventures model. Loved the Jazzmaster… don’t forget the little switches on the upper bout. Ha had the Starfire 5 as well. Even then a gear junkie… as always great show
Thanks for the Mastery bridge insight. I took a Vintage Modified Squire to a local guitar fix-it person to do routing and install a tremolo. Terrible, misaligned job. Plan to do a parts 'rebuild,' using new body and neck and original stacked controls... And a Mastery bridge. .
Second time watching this after spending a lot of time with my lefty WILCO black JM clone set up by @puisheen (offset daddy) - Great video. I have to say that it's an absolute joy to use all the types of fuzz with JMs. from Fuzzrite to 90s Pickles and 2000s fuzz factories, the JM loves them all through a fender amp on the edge of beak up. IF I think the client might want a little freak out at the end of the recording session, I am sure to bring the Jazzmaster along just in case. Last two times it blew minds. Thanks for the pedal steel riffs with wiggle! I'm back to practicing those!! Also try a clean performance of 1960 Era Johnny Cash hits... into a brown panel fender. lightbulbs illuminate.
Great tip on the Starfire. Guild’s ‘60s humbuckers are lovely sounding pickups and the guitars are very well made. (Their ‘70s HBs sound great too but different.)
Thanks for the info!
The Mastery bridge makes a huge difference in playability and sustain. It was the first mod I made.
Changed my AO 60's JM to a wonderful, stable beast.
100% - takes it half way to a tele feel + snap
Another both pickups “bonus” - noiseless as they cancel each other out. I just put together a Jazzmaster and it is so comfortable! Love it!
Please someone what is the lick at 9:50~ so familiar.
Great video Zac! I was a strat player for years until I played a Jazzmaster. It's been my main guitar for over twenty-five years. Very versatile. Now it feels odd to play a strat or essentially anything else.
Really enjoying the little lessons Zac. Thanks
Glad to hear it!
I think Woody has done more for the Jazzmaster and Jaguar in the last fifteen years. Even if you don't get a Mastery set up, there's Staytrem in the UK, and Fender is doing Mustang-style bridges. (I was one of the first to buy a Mastery and put it on my ECJM, named "Nelvis," after Nels and Elvis).
And if it was good enough for Luther Perkins...
ua-cam.com/video/zfN_KiAm_cI/v-deo.html
Dang it, I don't want to buy a another guitar but I have always been intrigued by a Jazzmaster. And I love the in between sounds on Strats and Tele's. My Tele's are Jangley in the Middle.
Jorma, from Jefferson Airplane was using one of those Guilds when I saw them.
Pardon me if you've heard this before, but the best guitar sound ever recorded was Bob Bogle's Jazzmaster on the 1960 Ventures' hit Walk Don't Run. That was the best recorded guitar sound ever. Ever.
That is a great track and great tone!
I love how you can hear the Strat and P bass come in, then the jazzmaster just lays right on top clear as a bell
For me it was Luther Perkins playing Bonanza
Totally agree! When I was a kid and wanted to buy a guitar, I remember being so let down by the lack of information regarding clean tones. Everyone wanted hard rock and metal tones, and I wanted to sound like Duane Eddy and Bob Bogle (names I didn’t even know at the time, but sounds that shaped my love of music forever). It seems more people are coming around to the clean sounds and Jazzmasters can be found in most guitar shops these days. I love to see it!
*disclaimer* I mentioned Duane Eddy, but I’d like to make it clear he never played a Jazzmaster, just influenced my love of twang and Hi-Fi guitar sounds. I have a Danelectro 6-string bass for Duane’s sound!
Great stuff, as always!
I wonder if you have come across Danny Adler in your travels. He's a US-born guitarist and band leader who has consistently played Jazzmasters (and mostly though Vox amps). He moved to the UK in the 70s and made some great bluesy, funk music with his band Roogalator ("Cincinnati Fatback", the 1977 version, perhaps being their finest) and then, in the 80s, with Rocket 88 and finally the Deluxe Blues Band ("Calling in the flag" from the band's session with Mike Vernon, has a great solo) . Today I believe he's back in the US and still plays and records. He's actually credited with turning Elvis Costello onto Jazzmasters, big glasses and sharp suits etc - maybe an urban legend but Roogalator were big in London in the 70s and very influential, so who knows?
Another reminiscence - I have fond memories from the 80s of watching Buddy Guy go totally transcendent while playing a Starfire (not sure which model). There are also some great clips of him playing one in the 1970 documentary "Chicago Blues" by Harley Cokliss ("First Time I met the Blues" from this film is pretty powerful and can be found on UA-cam).
I have seen clips of Buddy with the Guild. Killer
You have a very pleasant relaxing style of demonstrating and explaining what you are showing in your videos Zac. I'm hoping the Pro 2 version is as nice sounding.
My first good electric guitar was a Fender Jazzmaster, quite a step up, from my Harmony H39 Hollywood. I don't quite remember the year, it was probably somewhere around 1960. It was a three color sunburst with faux tortoise shell pickguard. Later I refinished it in white, because the band manager wanted the bass player and I to have matching white instruments. I wish I still had that guitar. I sold it to a friend to amass the money for a Telecaster Deluxe, which I don't have anymore, either. :-P
That little excerpt toward the end @ 12:00 had the near-identical tone of Hendrix' Axis Bold as Love album. I don't hear other strats duplicate it so closely. A lovely sound, Zac. My favorite of all.
Love the look and sound of that Jazzmaster, and the Guild Starfire was nice too! I really enjoyed the story and hearing you play them, Zac.
Thanks so much!
I just bought one and love it. I bought the blue one. I’m just an not a big fan of the dang trem bar. It’s the type that just pushes in and it falls out just as easily as pushes in lol. I wish it had a tightening screw. I do like the pups. Kinda going back and forth on which settings to use .😳😳Cheers Mate.
Zac, you got some really nice tones today and that's revealing. I'm going to listen to this video several times this morning because it's a really good video. Thanks for sharing with everyone.
I love my MIM Fender Jazzmaster for it's tone and playability. She's comfortable to play sitting down because of her body shape. I don't care for the excessive movement required to use the tremolo arm as I feel the Stratocaster's is better. I understand Leo was attempting to make the tremolo more subtle - I get it. Mine is 8.8 lbs. making it my heaviest electric guitar and that does spoil the fun somewhat for me because I have neck and spine injuries and I am 70 years old. I still play her though so that is a testimony that I like her. Playing her sitting down and without a strap works for me, except I like to be on my feet and be able to walk around as I play. That's when even my soft cloth 3 inch wide strap digs in and when my shoulder and back start to hurt. The controls sure are unique among all my guitars. They aroused my curiosity and that's why I purchased my Jazzmaster. Even though they are different they still work. However out of all my guitars I preferer the controls on a telecaster, simple and right to the point, giving me more immediate control over my tone. While playing my Tele it's not hard at all to find a tone for me to like no matter what my mood. I consider that one of her strong points! My Jazzmaster is not as intuitive so I end up fiddling around a little more, sometimes I can't find the tone to match my mood but usually and for the most part I can. She has that special and separate rhythm channel as a back up for when I am having trouble finding my tone. What happens is after I play for a while using the rhythm controls I find when I go back to the standard 3-way switch of the lead section I am able to find the tone I need. I guess I bounce back and forth between the two until I am satisfied. Again, my tele is so much more straight forward and so much easier to dial in what I'm feeling.
My favorite electric guitar is the Telecaster. Smaller and lighter, no tremolo and s thinner neck all make it by far my favorite. Mine is 7.9 lbs. and for me that is too heavy to play upon every day for multiple sessions so I just ordered a "Demo" G&L ASAT Bluesboy Natural Semi Hollow body with two internal chambers that brings down the weight to only 6 lbs. My only concern is about neck dive. With such a light weight body will the neck have a tendency to dive? I shall find out soon enough. Neck dive is something I can't abide. Sadly, even my most expensive guitar, a 6.4 lb. 2017 Gibson Standard HP Heritage Cherry has such strong neck dive that I have to use my fingering hand to hold up the neck as I play thus ruining the experience. I can't stand that Gibson! I never play her. I only play her when I have forgotten about her diving tendencies, then as soon as I play upon her she starts in on swooning and diving like she was made for that one reason only! I need to remove the heavy robo-tuner and install light weight Gibson tuners, hopefully that will help. My Epiphone SG 400 Pro is the same way but the neck dive is not as awfully severe, perhaps because she has Grover tuners, but neck dive is present. I hate guitars with neck dive as I feel that my fingering hand should be free to move around and up and down the neck as I play and neck dive changes and limits that very much.
I'll be keeping my Jazzmaster even though it's my heaviest guitar because she plays well. Honestly sometimes I think about turning her into a hard tail by removing the tremolo arm and blocking off the movement of the rest of the tremolo system. Time will tell on that mod. -Peter age 70
Neck dive can happen on a really light guitar, especially if you have heavy tuners on the headstock. Like Schallers.
@@AskZac All of Leo's guitars were designed correctly and I know of not even a single Fender with neck dive. But then again I have not played all his different models. I really hope my new G&L Bluesboy has no neck dive, because I need a light weight instrument.
So it's been 3 hours and I have had this video on loop the entire time. I was mostly paying attention too.
@@PeterDad60 3 hours? That's awesome!
@@AskZac I have come back to listen again! Oh and the G&L Bluesboy has very little neck dive so that's a nice turn of events for me.
They are very tele esk - I have 6 teles and 2 Jazzmasters - I think about 3 Strats - but the Jazzmaster is in a class all it’s own - look at who played them on country tunes in the 60’s-no binding-btw, I like 50’s tele knobs on my jazzmasters - puts me in the vibe-as always , great vid Zac- ps- I also have a 72’ les Paul custom with real PAF’s just to put all this in perspective
the thing is they LOOK so cool. Really like that neck pickup-just sounds bigger and fatter than a tele.
I’ve had a soft spot for Jazzmasters since I started playing in the early ‘60s. The Walk Don’t Run (Ventures) sound is a Jazzmaster with flatwound strings. I’ve never owned one-I just never found the right one! One day, maybe...and that Guild Starfire V is cool too. In 1976 I got a Guild X-500, their equivalent to a Gibson L-5CES-blonde, gold hardware, just a gorgeous thing. I had it on the road with me until Frontier Airlines did a number on it. Don’t take a nice archtop on the road, kids!
That Chicken pickin souded really good Zac.I've always been intrigued by the Jazzmaster and you're getting some great sounds out of it.Thanks for the in depth look .The Jazzmaster has a David Lynch quality and New West Artists like Oliver Peck and Nikki Lane use them and they look and sound stellar .
I have an Original ‘64 that’s been my main guitar since I was about 15 years old. I love it.
You got it, and you helped me get it! great video! 👏👏👏👏
Oh, and phooey on that Mastery bridge. There were three different threads on the original saddles, for the thick strings, the thin ones, and the middle ones. Just replace the fine-threaded ones. Get medium thread for the first three strings and heavy for the rest.
I bought a brand new ‘65 Jazzmaster from a funky music shop in 1978; maybe it was the era I was playing in or the innumerable amps I played it through but it never sounded good to me; on the other hand (no pun intended) it had the very best whammy bar ever…I put some sort of groovy 1980s Strat-style pickup in the center and a 5 way toggle but only ever used the new pickup; I think those big white pickups are ugly too…all a moot point now as it was stolen out of my car in the early ‘90s
That thing sounds really good. Clear and open. Love my jazz master, but my Tele still reigns supreme.
Hank Garland used a Jazzmaster for his great lead guitar part on Elvis Presley's "Little Sister" from 1961. A very versatile guitar with an expressive vibrato. Fantastic video, Mr. Childs. I've been following your Channel since its inception and have thoroughly enjoyed every single video. Informative and delivered with class and great guitar playing. Thank you so much!
THANK YOU!
I was just about to type that! He borrowed the guitar from Harold Bradley.
I have a heavily modded Fender Classic Player Jazzmaster. I got it used with Joe Barden pickups installed, and I put a Bigsby, Hipshot Locking Tuners, and a Graphtec Resomax Bridge on it. I play in a Psycobilly Band, and used it on two songs during our last recording, and it sounds great. Unfortunately now my band is addicted to me using guitars with tremolos - Strats, Gretsches, and the Jazzmaster, that my Teles are being neglected. I might have to put a Bigsby on my Partscaster Tele.
Anyone know how the fret size varied from late 50’s to mid 60’s ? vintage tall, narrow etc..
The Fender Customshop JM’s use “tall narrow” (6105) for its ‘59, 62 and 65 and sometimes “vintage tall” for their ‘65’s. Are these the same thing and are these fret specs historically accurate ?
frets were pretty small except for some of them in 1966
@@AskZac thanks- is there a difference between “tall narrow” & “ vintage tall” ?
Maybe that’s a question for Fender..
Lot's of classic surf tunes on JMs are middle position.
If someone need to know how a jazzmaster sounds like , they need to check out Television “Marquee Moon”album from start to finish 😄
TRUTH
There's a clipping from a Melody Maker "Any Questions" that can be found with a quick search about the gear used on Marquee Moon. No source is mentioned, so take it with a grain of salt, but according to that not a lot of Jazzmaster.
@@sethhoward1095 yeah I’ve read it but I’ve also read lots of Tom verlaine interviews where he says his solos were almost always his jazzmaster on the bridge pickup. Of course we shouldn’t forget Richard Lloyd who mainly played a telecaster at the time
The pictures taken at the time around Marquee Moon also show Verlaine with either a Jazzmaster or a Jaguar with Danelectro pickups , i really don’t know about this melody maker article.. it kind of appear only quite recently
Anyways .. it’s a brilliant album and people should listen to it religiously 😀
@@jeanemmanuelkrieger6001 One of my favorite albums for sure. Yes, lipstick pickups have always been a big ingredient in Verlaine's sound. The Dano early on, Jag/JM with lipsticks, and the parts Strat with a JM neck and three lipstick pickups. Largely what inspired me to put together my own lipstick JM. The two times I saw Television live in the early 2000s he just played a (presumably rented) Strat. Lloyd did too. They both sounded exactly like themselves.
The best
People forget the resurgence of Jags and Jazzmasters came from the indie rock scene of the late 80s and early 90s. Bands like Sonic Youth, dinosaur Jr and others used offset guitars because they were the cheapest instruments to buy second hand because no one wanted them. They also removed all the silly stock circuits and usually just blasted out straight from pickups to the jack with out even a volume or tone control. If you look at all the famous users, none of them use them stock as they came. These guitars are all about the looks.
As a teenager I became Jazzmaster curious after reading about all the great songs Wayne Moss played on. In my mid thirties Chris Stapleton became the biggest star in the world and made it ok to buy a one! And yes, the mastery bridge makes all the difference in the world!
When you switched to both pickups, it sounded like the top of Don’t Dream, It’s Over. 💜
It is, I think
Well, he played the intro so it better.
Spot on
Excellent sum up of a jazzmaster!! Love the tuners
The bridge and trem was changed for the Ultra model. Works perfect. Stays in tune like a rock.
I think P90's in a Jazzmaster with 500k pots work great! Some of the harshness goes with those pickups and lots of beefiness is added, keeping also part of the enharmonics that the bridge design provide.
Most Jazzmasters don't have P90's though. They have Jazzmaster pickups, which are a totally different thing
I have an Ultra JM that feels amazing with the compound radius neck. It also features phase switches in the upper bout (with individual volumes). The only thing I didn't care for was the noiseless pickup set. I changed them out for '65s and I think it's a forever guitar. OH yeah, my avatar.
Yes! To me, the switches on the upper bout are by far the most mysterious and potentially confounding thing about the Jazzmaster.
I've actually never played a Jazzmaster but they do definitely have a unique sound that seems to be all their own. Thanks for showing us this beauty and playing some tasty licks too.
You got some nice friends if they're letting you play with toys like this haha. Rock on!
Jazzmaster with vintage style pickups can cover some Strat and Tele territory. Some bearded country guy plays one live a lot. But Raul Malo in the Mavericks does great stuff with one. Eddie Perez and Raul will play a Jaguar sometimes too.
You should try out a thinline tele with jazz masters on it! , seems to be popular at the moment. I think Squier have even issued a line of them.
My first good guitar rig was a 63 Jazzmaster and a blackface Super Reverb with 4 JB Lansing10” speakers. I played it for a couple of years before it was stolen from our practice house. The ultimate in clean and spring reverb for days. No telling what it would be worth today.
Wow
Enjoyed seeing you play some different guitars. That Guild is cool. Not a fan of Jazzmasters myself, but this episode is very helpful in helping explain it. I get it more too, now.
Thank you Zac Your steel sounds REAL.
Thanks for your brilliant explanation 👏 👍 Fabulous and informative video. 👍
I just built one very similar via Guitar Mill parts. Mastery bridge and Descendant trem. Dawgtown custom pickups (fantastic!). It plays as good or better as the custom shops down the street.
Very cool!
So...what about the 3 black switches? above the neck pick up? Do they effect the tone as well? Lovely sounding guitar. You'll see them in a lot of 60's videos, I assume it's The Ventures influence.
It is a rhythm switch. Automatically takes it to the neck pickup, and then whatever preset tone and volume you want.
Zac plays Jaguar - would be so cool to see that!
did this man just said "i dont like 2 and 4th positions on strat I normally just use 1 3 and 5". Umm sir, are you okay?
I was watching an old Ed Sullivan show yesterday after watching this Ask Zac and fourteen year old Hank Williams Junior was backed up by a guy playing a Jazzmaster.
Great focus on the sound of the Jazzmaster my friend. It is the only guitar I need and allows me to create many moods and feelings with minimal effects. I play a '62 AVRI if you want to hear some sounds of that on my channel.
When I think of the jazz I immediately think of ...yea the detective tone....luther perkins and the beach boys.
I had a chance to buy an early sixties model once. This video would've helped . Very good information.
But in final analysis I'm glad I
bought my tele
Low output pickups = tone and control of tone. It's easier to paint a white wall than a dark-coloured one.
The shallow break angle and string length behind the bridge permits greater harmonic content.
JM's both-pickups sound is classic and was Hendrix's favourite. I love the trem as well (almost as good as a Bigsby) and, of course, you can lock it if you want to, but must re-tune when you do.
I always found that recording with a Jazzmaster was easier for the engineer and when mixing as those pesky lower-mids that always need to be shelved/attenuated are already gone.
Aren't those Starfire's great? Easily as good as a 335. (PS.- keep it a secret or the prices will soar)
As always, great job Zack.