What I Learned After Gigging A JAZZMASTER for a Whole Year | TONE LAB
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- Опубліковано 2 чер 2024
- Chapters:
0:00 Welcome To The Tone Lab!
0:58 How I went down the Jazzmaster rabbit hole
2:31 The Jazzmaster Ergonomics
3:17 The Pickups
4:34 You Need To Use Those Knobs!
5:49 The 1Meg Pots
7:15 What To Expect When Using A Jazzmaster With Distortion
10:20 Why I Think They are Great for Fuzz Pedals
11:37 The Volume Knob Taper
13:01 How I Use the Rhythm Circuit
15:10 The Wiring Mods I did to my main Jazzmaster
19:30 Strengths Of the Jazzmaster Jangle
22:20 What I Think of the Vibrato System
24:39 The Tuning Stability
25:45 Thoughts On The Jazzmaster Bridge Type
27:50 Do Jazzmasters Break Strings?
29:11 Weird Vibration Sounds?
29:52 The High E Break Point
31:12 My String Action, Pickup Heights, and Pickups
32:38 In Conclusion
36:00 Goodbye Everyone!
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![ПОЛНАЯ ИСТОРИЯ ЭКЗОРЦИЗМА [Топ Сикрет]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/qBySr6Bt0B8/mqdefault.jpg)
I'm such a dork that i'm holding my Jazzmaster while watching this.
Haha :)
Thatta boy ...
This is the best explanation of the unique idiosyncrasies of jazzmasters on UA-cam. It’s like a month’s worth of reading the Offsetguitar forum condensed to half an hour. Killer playing and killer demo.
Well said! Fair, honest and practical
Absolutely.. always tempted to pull the trigger on a Jazzmaster. This cleared up many of my concerns. Thank you Jay. 👊
Well there's more to OSG than just offsets, to be fair.
Yeh I’ve got an American professional 2 and I was annoyed that I had to have the tone on 5 to get my sound. Hahah thnx. I love it,and I wanna get a Vintera 50’s Jazz master. I understand the pots a bit better. Thnx
This was quite good. So sick of hearing superficial reviews that tell me nothing I couldn’t figure out from a website. This is very helpful.
As someone who's only guitar has been a Jazzmaster for the past ~15 years, you really nailed my experience with the guitar. That bright switch mod you have is very interesting! Very smart.
Love your videos Jay, but this one is definitely my favorite. This will be my video to send to people if they are considering a Jazzmaster.
Really appreciate it!
Spent the past few months convincing myself I don't need a Jazzmaster. After your video Jay, I am back to square one lol. Cheers for the amazing sounds and playing!
have fun bossing
Get a Squier J Mascis.....you will NOT be disappointed
@@KoaCharvelI’d argue it’s just a guitar shaped like a jazzmaster
Bro. Just get a jazzmaster. Trust.
Fantastic video. Loved it.
I picked up a JazzMaster ‘bout a year ago, and it’s been the most pleasant surprise of my 46 years of playing guitar. I adore it.
I'd love to watch a full episode of JLJ & Puisheen talking Jazzmasters, fuzz and DL4s.
Beautiful and superinformative video, Jay!
ABSOLUTELY!
Damn, THAT I should do!
@@JayLeonardJ like an hour long or more video, just chatting. What styles and songs improve with Jazzmasters, what might be better with something like a Telecaster, etc
Also, talk about the different vibrato systems, strenghts and weaknesses… Mike loves the Vibrola too!
You are both pickup and wiring nuts so that might be interesting too!
I’ve been using jazzmasters for quite some time, just about two years. They are my all time favorite guitar model, I’ve tried telecasters, strats, Les Paul’s, Gibson dots, Grestches, mustangs, jaguars and jazzmasters. The Jazzmaster is my absolute favorite, you can achieve some of the warmest, smoothest tones you’ll ever hear on the neck pickup, whereas the bridge is super jangly and works great for rhythm and surf, whereas the middle is the perfect balance between the two.
Exactly!! Special and underrated the JM
Being a big Sonic Youth fan, when my stepdad bought me what was then my second guitar, he got me one of the mid 90s CIJ (MIJ?) Jazzmasters. Pretty sure the pickups are really more strat sounding in them, but it's always given me the sound I wanted, so I've never screwed w/them. Glad to see you really enjoyed your time w/the guitars, altho I've seen enough of your videos to know you could play a ham sandwich and make it sound good :)
The overwhelming majority of modern Jazzmasters don't have "real" Jazzmaster pickups, they're just Strat pickups in a fat plastic shell. Jazzmaster pickups have short wide coils, which means to get the same number of turns the coil ends up wide. This is where the warmth and unique tone comes from. Strat pickups by comparison have tall narrow coils. I saw something from a hardcore Jazzmaster enthusiast recently who said at various points over the past 20 years there have been no Jazzmasters in production with actual Jazzmaster pickups. But for the guys who want original Jazzmaster tone there are a lot of small pickup makers who do authentic style JM pickups.
I’ve been a JM guy for years now and it’s by far my favorite live. The way it reacts to fuzz on the neck is incredible, also the rhythm circuit for overdrive is so killer!
I bought a Jazzmaster about 5 years ago and it immediately became my main guitar. Tones out the wazoo and really versatile. I eventually sold my strat and never looked back. My Telecaster is still in the stable, but I always gravitate to the Jazzmaster
As a Jazzmaster player, this video is a great explanation of what I love about it. The super high 1 Meg pots gives the Jazzmaster controls a huge range of usable tones. Other guitars ( Especially Single Coil equipped guitars ) have a super narrow range of usable "Non-Muddy", tones. When I try out Strats and Teles, I have to carefully navigate between 8.5-10 on the tone and volume knobs. With the Jazzmaster's 1 Meg pots, Everywhere from 3-10 is clear and free of muddiness. When you add in the super dark Rhythm circuit, the Jazzmaster can be dialed in to fit any amp, no matter how bright or dark. Also, as someone who actually uses the Jazzmaster to play Jazz, the convivence of dialing in a lead tone for a solo or the head of a tune, and a rhythm tone available at the flick of a switch is SUPER USEFUL! With some nice flats, the Jazzmaster can switch between a gnarly distorted tone, and a warm archtop-like tone with ease.
Yeah. Once I realized all the shades of sounds in that Tone Knob, that whole guitar opened up to me and I truly "got" the whole Jazzmaster thing!
Re: the issue of muddiness when using the 1 Meg volume knob: try installing a treble bleed mod to your volume pot. I’ve done this to all my guitars using 1 Meg pots and I’d say it’s essential. Makes it so the volume pot is usable without turning to mud the moment you back it off 10.
What a great video Jay. Love it!
Wow! What a wonderful rundown and demonstration. Thank you!
I adore Jazzmasters, but, if you wanted to have Jazzmasters times, but also to get those '80's distortion tones, Jamie, at the Creamery makes a number of different Jazzmasters pickup sets and offers a number of different models - well worth a look!!
My main guitar is a Troy Van leeuwen oxblood jazzmaster and they are incredible guitars. Offsets are amazing
I recently played a Jazzmaster for the first time in 30 years of playing. Never tried one until I was at a friends house and to my surprise he busted out his real 59 Jazzmaster and handed it to me. I never play sitting down. Like 1% of my playing time is seated. Never have I ever played a guitar that was comfortable sitting down until I played that Jazzmaster. Not only was it comfortable, but the tone was unbelievable! Now all I can think about is adding one to my arsenal. This video was awesome, let me say that and you’re a monster player. Thank you for this! I’m gonna start the search!
Enjoy the search and thanks for writing!
Loved this episode! Been searching for a Jazzmaster video, and you delivered!
Thanks.
Super informative video, thanks!
Great video! very informative with some nice playing examples 👍
Great insight into JM sound. Excellent descriptive interpretations. I actually learned quite a bit about modding my JM. Subscribed. Thanks
Very informative video. Thanks Jay.
Great show Jay. Love my shell pink Jazzmaster
Thank you for sharing all of this with us. It was wonderful and clever feedback on this instrument underestimated instrument. I learned a lot and you gave me a detailed and useful information that will allowed me to consider getting one when I will become a better player 😊. Best.
Best JM video I've seen on YT! Great playing as well!
Great review and style man
Great job on this !!! I know myself I've had a few jag & jazzmasters ( including 1 i modded into a Jazzblaster of sonic youth fame ) .. its always felt comfortable to play the body style.
I absolutely don't understand why JLJ doesn't is much, much bigger in the sense on subscriber-count. He's is undoubtedly one of the best guitar youtubers in so many ways, isn't he? Thanks JLJ for doing what you do, love ya. :) PS: You custom wiring on the CS is perfect?! PPSS: Such a killer player btw, just amazing; I think you would make a stunning session guitarist, too.
@@Wakeman8791 Could you give us all lessons? How much $$? How do I find your channel??? Do you actively gig???
Great explanation of the nuances of the JM. As usual, great playing..I have the Squire 40th.
Great video! Knew a lot of this as a Jazzmaster owner, but good to your take on things….love faded fiesta red! My fiesta needs to fade more, but we’re getting there 🔥
So great sounding!
Fantastic breakdown of the JM! Subbed.
Awesome, thank you!
Man! Great video! The information you packed in is worth some kind of award!! Thanks. Cee
Glad you enjoyed it!
Great rundown, Jay! I’d love to see your take on the Jaguar someday too. I’ve been thinking about a jag or jazzmaster for awhile now. That AV II looks killer with the matching headstock and has some great specs.
Finally !!! Someone who can demo a guitar who can actually play different genres of music, and is not totally dependent upon having high distortion on every note they play. Yeah, I'm old-school and remember when Jazzmasters and Jaguars were THE THING. (Yes, few folks playing Teles, and you couldn't GIVE a Strat away in those days.) In addition, I'm STILL a simple signal chain kind of guy: guitar, cord, amp.....that's it. In my 60 years of playing everything from 3.2% beer joints to being onstage at those mega-football stadium concerts, to orchestra pit jobs, and studio work, I'm still functioning on the K.I.S.S. (keep it simple, stupid) mindset when it comes to my overall guitar "sound". In conclusion, I'd like to see you give full-thrift (does anyone even use that term anymore?) reviews of other guitars out there in the 6 string world, just to see what you might come up with. I'm off now to check out the rest of your video collection. Thanks for posting this. And yes, Along with all my others, I've still got an old standby Jazzmaster in my stable of working tools.
It really means a lot! Really glad you dig the videos and thanks for watching!
Fabulous breakdown!!! ☺😇
Lovely video! Thanks so much. Have a lovely day
One of your best videos Jay!
Thanks a heap for the no BS reviews, tips and tricks.
I'm really glad you enjoyed this video! This was one I was really excited to share :)
What two gorgeous guitars you have there! Been playing for more than 10 years and have never tried one of these 😢
Top quality review and playing.
A brilliant review from someone who loves the JM as much as me! Very interesting talk about volume pots too, actually has been bothering me on my Strat.
This is an excellent and comprehensive assessment man!
Thanks!
Awesome video. Through your playing, I FINALLY understand why it’s called the Tremolo Bar.
You have an excellent, genuine presence on camera that is really refreshing. Great info, presentation and playing.
Really appreciate it! Thanks :)
Awesome review dude and some totally killer playing 💪💪👍🙏
Thanks!
What an incredible video. Thanks for this. I am also on the jazzmaster journey. I really like the rhythm circuit being brighter instead of darker on the custom shop. Don’t bring back the others! You sound amazing on the JM. I actually don’t have a Fender but I have a Bunting Melody Queen. Check them out. Some cool differences on the classic design.
Always great Jay - Thanks !
Thanks!
I have one and finally got around to fixing the trem arm and bridge with after makert products and the tone was over there now it plays flawlessly with a trem that adds a shimmer. It is a clean dream.
Ive been playing a jazzmaster for about 7 years and its my go to and favorite for a lot of stuff.
What a great sound, I want one now!
Brilliant video Jay. Like both guitars and youve answered some questions I had and come up with some great mods. My fave vid of yours do far. D#
Really appreciate it!
Fantastic JM video. Wish this was available when I was JM shopping for the first time years ago.. Love my 60’s Player Series JM. I’ve made a few upgrades over the years:
-Mastery Bridge & Trem System kit.
-installed an anodized brushed aluminum pick guard (like the J Mascis edition) and played it that way for years before ultimately deciding to revert back to the tortoiseshell pick guard.
Fantastic video! I kept my rhythm circuit stick because I like the opportunity to open it all the way up but I too keep my tone around 4 or 5. I did replace the 50k pot in my lead circuit with a 1 Meg so the 2 circuits are matched. But then I roll off the volume of the lead circuit for a clean tone and I can keep the tone higher to get the clarity back that is lost from rolling down the volume.
The tones you were displaying were the reason I fell in love with my Jazzmaster. You are just able to make them that much more musical.
Excellent demo. Well done
Thanks!
Absolutely fantastic video, Jay. I’ve been ‘Jazzmaster-curious’ for quite some time and have watched many, many videos on many, many different versions and iterations. But yours has answered many of the questions I still had about the 1meg pots/ potentially shrillness, the bridge choices etc. Incredibly useful whilst still being entertaining and showcasing your impeccable playing. Thanks!
Really glad it helped! Hope this inspires you to give one a spin sometime :)
I have a Les Paul plywood body Japanese lawsuit. Picked it up for a few hundred in a case
While the bridge pickup had been swapped out with a super distortion style, the neck pickup was one of those fake single coil pickups in a humbucker case with a bent piece of steel to give it two sets of poles off the single ferrite magnet. It was a little noisy until I wax potted it.
The tones out of the neck have been unique and I can’t put my finger on it. Not P90. Not Tele neck, strat neck….not quite. This is getting closer to what tones I’m getting.
Still different enough for me to consider obtaining a Jazzmaster style guitar
My performer jazzmaster (strat trem...heresy I know) has been my daily driver for a couple of years now. Your bright switch knob mod made me think twice about the switches and rollers on top which the performer doesn't have. Awesome playing as always and great demonstration of the sonic breadth.
Nice review and great playing!
Thanks!
This is outstanding, Jay! You explained the differences well and good!
I have the Squier Jazzmaster Vintage Modified. It's currently in a flat wounds 11s.
Same. Love those flat wounds on my JM as well.
Really dig that rhythm circuit mod. I might have to do that with my MIJ 62 reissue.
Super cool video, this totally sold me on the Jazzmaster's capabilities- definitely my next guitar.
Rock on!
Great review Jay!
Glad you enjoyed it
First time viewer and man, I really like your style of presentation. Awesome playing as well.
Awesome, thank you!
Great, long and real explanations, thanks guy
Glad it was helpful!
Love your rhythm playing!
Thank you so much!
Excellent coverage. 👍🏼
Many thanks!
You just sold this one to me. Man, I wish one day I can play that good. Thank you for this great review.
Glad I could help!
Great video and playing, the Fiesta Red and tortoise pick guard JM is killer looking 👌🏻👍🏻🎸
Thanks!
Love your rendition of Don’t Let Me Down! Thank you for this video!
Thanks so much :)
Killer video Jay!
Thanks!
Hi, new subscriber here. Thanks for explaining the difference between the 250K and 1Meg pots so clearly. I've never seen this explained like this before. I own a MIJ Jazzmaster Hybrid II which comes stock with 250K pots and was wondering whether it would be better to upgrade to 1Meg pots for a more authentic Jazzmaster tone, but I'll just go with the stock pots now based on your explanation.
thanks for a really informative and enjoyable video. I have a '64 Jazzmaster sunburst as my main guitar for 15+ years and have been experimenting with a new pickguard and wiring recently: no rhythm circuit, 250k J-taper pots. Removing the rhythm circuit entirely greatly increased the brightness and was probably a bad move. I tried a 1meg tone cap which was really fun with fuzz.
many thanks for this Jay. I've had a Jazz master for about 30 years, but stopped playing it when I got into DJing and electronic production. Got a nice tube amp (Blackstar) a year or so ago and have been just loving getting back into playing this, and your love for it too just added a cherry on the cake. I got my Jazzmaster because Robert Smith played them, so I didn't even really try it out in the shop, I just got it (after the Rickenbacker 330 wasn't right) God vibes all round
Thanks for the deep dive! My hot take on the buzz stop add-on below the bridge that you mention near the end of this vid is that it's really only relevant if you're keeping the original Jazzmaster saddles. It steepens the angle of the strings leading up to the bridge and helps prevent them from slipping off. That said, I swapped out my JM saddles for Mustang saddles AND kept my buzz stop in place anyway simply because I like the aesthetic. What can I say? Some people put stickers on their guitars, I slap on chunks of steampunky metal. I've seen other vids about the buzz stop debatably altering the tone, but I'm not really detecting anything of the sort.
You're such a dynamic unique and incredible player. And a very good guitar reviewer! I'm thinking about it!
Really appreciate it :)
Wow. Great job! I’d like to try one out because I play jazz.
Very very helpful video. I’m a tele player that is really interested in the Jazzmaster guitar and this video gave me all the perspective I needed. Thank you sir.
Really glad to help!
Love that power chord vibrato!
Thanks so much for making such a cool video, like your mods to the RC! One point to add about the bridge - you make an excellent point about the bridge getting ‘stuck’ forward or back - but in my experience, this is not an issue with unshimmed guitars, because the bridge sits low in the body. In the shimmed ones the bridge is really proud - such as the 40th anniversary squire. This setup is far more likely to have issues with the bridge shifting during use, one trick I found works is to intonate to the extreme aft position, then you can always knock it back if it moves…For me, I think unshimmed is the best way for the guitar to work. Great video, loved it!!
Good stuff! Ready to get my '62 re-fretted. 🎸
Favorite guitar of all time, my Classic Player has been my go to for over a decade. I swapped out my rhythm circuit for the Yamaha Revstar transformer boost, threw in a Descendant tailpiece, Mastery Bridge and my favorite mod was the wiring!
I have Gemini Tone Ranger (wide range CuNiFe pups) that I’ve wired with push/pulls and partial frequency dependent coil splits. In the down mode the neck pickup has all of the neck side coil and about 40% of the bridge side coil to simulate the sound of the Antiquity 2 that used to be in there. The bridge pickup in down mode has full neck side coil and the bridge side coil only passes frequencies below 160hz so it almost sounds like a P90. In the up mode of the push/pull they’re full coils on both pups so they just sound like wide ranges.
I can get traditional Jazzmaster tones, pseudo-Strat tones, big 70’s Tele Deluxe tones, only downside is that I rarely pick up my other guitars on gigs!
You give awesome guitar reviews because you demonstrate a bunch of different tones and styles with each guitar. So many guitar reviews on UA-cam just demonstrate like 2 styles, and if those aren’t the ones that someone watching the review wants, the content isn’t useful. With all the diversity in your reviews , I can envision how I might set up everything to get what I want.
Thanks so much. I think you have the best electric guitar reviews on UA-cam. You are going to save me a ton of trial and error as I shop around for my next guitar.
It really means a lot. Thanks for watching!
Great video. My jazz master has strings "break" too; I think it's the shallow break angle causing the string to slip the winding at the ball end. I'm going to start adding solder; good idea.
Fantastic guitar playing!!!
Thanks!
Man this was an A+ education on JM’s. If I’m not mistaken, faded fiesta red is basically Fender’s “Tahitian Coral”. Great job explaining the pots. The 1M pots were slightly scaring me off
Awesome video! I use the tone and volume controls a lot. I also use the rhythm circuit, which I think is highly underrated.
Not a JM without it IMHO!
@@Anjohl I agree 100%
Wow love the tones out of that guitar!
Really appreciate it!
Great video, really enjoyed that. I think one of the reasons you get on with the 250k pots is that your amp/pedals setup will be tuned for your other guitars with 250k pots. This makes the 1meg pots sound far brighter. You can go the other way and setup your amp and pedals to sound best with 1meg pots but then your other guitars will sound very dark in comparison.
Just one of those things 😄
23:44 as someone who comes from a background of playing floyd rose equipped guitars this is an amazing thing i love it
Nice playing, as always! I’m glad you explained that the tone knobs are designed to give an extremely wide range of tones. So turning down the tone knob is frequently a good idea. Same for Fender Jaguars, as well.
For me, I like to roll off the 1megs. I feel like I would feel the same about Jaguars, but that would need a little more exploring on my end :)
I love this guy’s personality
Fantastic video! Great playing and truly precious information. I really loved that fuzz tone, which pedal were you using? Thanks!
Very nice job - thanks.
Hey thanks for the skillful demonstration and great descriptions. I've been window shopping an offset Fender for a little bit now and really want to take the plunge.
Rock on!
I got a road worn Jazzmaster used at the beginning of the year. I love it. The vintage spec fretwire and 7.25 radius are so comfortable, and I'm happy to also report very few tuning issues even with the MIM vibrato. I did flip the screws because of string breakage, but that was only one string. Only problem is the bridge, which rattles, but everyone knows to replace it or loctite it and I don't play out so it's not a big deal for me.
I have an AM Pro II body and neck I'll be building up with different pickups and wiring. Why just have one JM?!
Outstanding! I flip flop between a R7 Les Paul and an Am. Vintage II ‘66 Jazzmaster. I love the contrast and appreciate them both.
Great guitars! They must complement each other perfectly!
Thank you this is awesome. And you’re such a great player.
Thank you kindly :)
Jay what a wonderfully comprehensive review of this underrated and misunderstood guitar. I might add a couple opinions. Mine is a 2005 61 reissue with 7.25 radius. The refinements I incorporated where Staytrem bridge from the UK that retains the subtle rocking but very stable, a .25 mm neck shim from StewMac that increased the brake angle a touch, and filed a slight fall away on the highest frets that gave the forgiveness for big bends on the high E.
Jason Lollar suggested using the volume dialed down to 8 or 9 to curb the top end a touch vs changing pot value. Lastly I can’t believe you didn’t speak of the middle position. Magic for me and why I kept the 1meg pots.
Thanks for a fun vid!
Haha, good point! I think it goes without saying that the Middle position is absolute fire... I'm on that position about 50% of the time :)
That's very useful Jay! Thanks for making this video. The Jazzmaster is a guitar that's quite appealing to me but I've never owned one and I'm curious about it.
My pleasure! I was in the same boat as you for years :)
I did an opposite mod on my rhythm circuit- so it goes straight to the bridge pickup with a darker sound, which is killer with distortion and leads. Can get full jangly or slightly darker with a flip of a switch
Cool mod!!!