Smartest thing said in this whole video... 15:14 Please don't "treble-up" the rhythm circuit and "treble-down" the lead circuit. That would totally defeat the purpose of this guitar. Set the rhythm circuit so that you have a nice jazz rhythm sound (tone rolled back a bit) and use it as a preset you can jump to. And let the lead circuit be your versatile "cut through the mix" circuit. Don't castrate it with 250/500k pots, then you'll just have another Tele. In that case, play a Tele. People who tape off the rhythm circuit really want a Telecaster and just don't know it. Another great sound possible with Jazzmasters/Jags is to roll the tone all the way down on the rhythm circuit and put on a fuzz. Instant violin.
Never understood "defeat the purpose of the Jazzmaster" arguments - swapping in 500k or 250k pots doesn't fundamentally change the character of the guitar, it just means you can run them at full and be sitting where most people use the stock pots and have a better sweep. It still doesn't sound like a Telecaster. Most of the sounds/players people associate with offsets were modded - Robert Smith's middle pickup and Buzz Stop, Nels Cline has 250k pots, Lee Ranaldo and Thurston Moore have... everything, Tom Verlaine's Jaguar had lipsticks, J. Mascis uses Tune-O-Matics.
@@mvsr990 Yeah, my words sort of jumped out I guess. I should rephrase and say changing the pots defeats one of my favourite elements of a Jazzmaster, which is the ability to occupy odd sonic territory. Not for everyone I guess... I play Tele's and Strats as well, and just see so many people who get a Jazzmaster disappointed when they don't sound like they expect Fenders to sound. I really love the versatility of the circuitry these guitars offer and wish others would learn how it all works before gutting them. The video is "The first 24 minutes" with the guitar and he already wants to cut it and dismiss one of its main features before he even understands it. You can see clearly that they don't fully understand the point of the difference between the circuits beyond the instruction manuals explanation. I also mod the hell out of some of my Jazzmasters and Jaguars, that is part of the fun these guitars, it is just disappointing when people mod them to sound like their siblings. Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo are perfect examples of people who want the sound of other guitars, but like the look of a Jazzmaster (Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Sonic Youth and will probably get crucified for saying that). They love their signature Jazzmasters for the sound of a Tele custom, but with the added 3rd bridge bells they can get with the behind the bridge tones (Also love that about Jazzmasters). Nels has many many many Jazzmasters/Jags stock and modded that he switches up and definitely uses them in all ways imaginable. And Buzzstops.... Don't get me started... I build/repair guitars for a living and know snake oil when I see it. Adjusting the neck to the proper angle eliminates any need for a Buzzstop. They look bad and interfere with tuning/vibrato stability, just to kill a sympathetic buzz that can be fixed by increasing the neck angle (a 5 minute job). Every Jazzmaster/Jag I have ever done a set up on convinced my clients to get rid of it. Jay uses tune-o-matics on his signature models because Mastery couldn't or wouldn't commit to supplying Fender so many bridges for the JM, the TVL and the Elvis Costello models. The 1meg pots on the Jazzmaster and the choke on a Jag aren't fully appreciated until you are playing in the context of a full band or in the studio where standing out without being louder can be difficult. When I play alone I also find the treble a bit much to take, but in a band, especially a large band with a few guitars, you can easily jump out of the mix with these guitars, which is by design. Anyway... like any religion, offset religion isn't for everyone. ;)
Another +1 for the “leave it as is” thought. Let the Jazzmaster be what it’s meant to be, just give it the time to learn its strengths and weaknesses. I’m sure it’ll be worth it.
Enjoyed seeing you both dive in to Leo Fender's most brilliant and misunderstood guitar design! Let me know if there's anything I can do to be of service in helping you navigate this strange and wonderful instrument.
I do have a question: Can a Jazzmaster cover most of the tonal ranges of a Strat? I would imagine it does happen the other way around. I'm asking because I'm in between getting a Warmoth Strat build or a stock Jazzmaster and I play a lot of Hendrix and RHCP, so not sure the Jazzmaster is really fit for that purpose.
Nicholas Caldwell - "Darn it!" Exactly my reaction. The LAST thing I need is another guitar but the sound of that thing! Seems like THE guitar sound that has cut through a million recordings.
I have a 1961 Fender Jazzmaster. It’s the most beautiful thing. With the cleans and the verbs and the ambient and the delays it’s a world of stunningly soft clouds and rain showers. It’s a whole new world. A different planet. A wetter planet. Like Venus.
Duco = cellulose nitrate Lucite = cellulose acetate butyrate Duco has an amber tint that gets darker over time and Lucite (acrylic) lacquer is clear sometimes called “water white” lacquer. Car finishes changed to acrylic to make colors more consistent and color matching repairs easier. Duco exposed to sunlight and elements cracked and changed colors quickly and Lucite was more flexible, non Amber and didn’t get darker the way nitro does. Fender sometimes clear coated lucite with duco and sometimes they didn’t so guitars might have been Lake Placid Blue originally but if clear coated with Duco it would turn green over time and decades later be mistaken for Sherwood green until you take the pickguard off and see the finish that hadn’t been exposed to light. I could go on but I’m a finish geek and not everyone shares my enthusiasm. Great video again!
Honestly, just got a JM and it's my favourite so far. That partly because the lead circuit is very piercing as mentioned in the video. Definitely need to update the pots.
Maybe the pots are deliberately so "trebly" because the tone knob was designed to be used at 5 normally so that you can go both ways with the treble. Just a guess.
Yea I have this same guitar, I always got to roll the tone down a little over halfway because it’s just so aggressively trebly , but that’s why I like it! That’s what the jazzmaster is all about
Thing I love about TPS in addition to British accents and serious guitar knowledge is that the guys just have so much fun. They’re gear nerds that get all excited about tone the way us regular guitar nerds do!
I once changed the pots to 500K, and switched back to 1meg soon after. I felt like my JM lost some mojo. I just back off the Tone knob to about 6 when I use the Bridge pickup, and back to 10 for the neck. Sounds and works great like that.
Might as well hardwire a low-value cap to ground for just the bridge pickup - perhaps even a .0005 uF (500 pF) would be enough? They're cheap enough to just get a few different intervals between that and, say, a .002 uF (2000 pF, 2.0 nF) so that the bridge pickup will always sound to your ear as is does with the Tone rolled to 6. You can still use the Tone for additional treble attenuation, but at least you can then flip between pickups without having to reach for the Tone knob each time. Good luck!
I've had a 64 American reissue for 13 years and it's the only guitar I've never modified. Other than the bridge. Put a Mastery bridge on it for sure. I promise. Seriously the best recording guitar I own. Try it with a JTM 45 and a Vox, and it will take fx and various drives better than anything on earth. I always come back to it. Happy to watch you guys fall in love!
Dan, that closing chordal jam you did at the end was outstanding!!! I would sleep overnight in front of the box office, just to get front row for that tune. There where 2 Jazzmasters in this video, and one of them was wearing glasses!
The Jazzmaster is quite the weapon with the volume on full! Jason Lollar (sorry, never met him, so no horn) says turning the volume down to about 8 with the 1 meg pot is roughly equivalent tone-wise to volume on 10 with a 500K. I rarely leave mine on 10, but it's nice to have that top end if you need it. Love your surf green Jazzmaster!
James Ciccone Proper use of the offsets pickups!!!! The bridges are a miss though... I have an AO 2018 Jaguar and instantly changed the stock bridge to a mastery that I had in my CIJ Jag....
@@bean953 Do you have the Surf Green AO? I have that one and have to admit I put a Staytrem in it. I tried to get the stock bridge to work--honest, I did! Fender did such a great job with that Jag. Trying to stay stock with my Jazzmaster, though. Call me crazy, but I think the stock bridge has a little more harmonic content to it. Yeah, I'm probably just crazy.
I have the sunburst AO Jaguar. I tried for about 3 weeks with 11s to make the stock bridge work but I got some buzz and strings popping out of place so back to mastery and a proper setup . We have in Porto a guitar luthier with a good track record on offsets since he takes care of Lee Ranaldo’s guitars when he is touring in this side of the pond. The only other work I had on the guitar besides the bridge swap was copper shielding the body cavities, everything else will stay stock. If I could I would have a StayTrem tremolo arm because fender’s is not very good in staying in place it tends to swing to a low position.I will get the guitar this week.
That is the ultimate sweet spot! Maybe at 8.5 for me, and the beauty is.. you have an extra 1.5 boost still! I have a vid on my channel of a little jam I did with my '62 AVRI, comparing Space Echo vs El Capistan if you want to check it out :)
You see why a lot of Indie bands use them and shoegaze bands and whatnot. People call them Hipster guitars and dismiss them but really, it's not just about image, these kind of bands use them for the reasons you hear in this video, they're just perfect for that kind of thing.
1. Love how you waited to play it for an honest reaction to the guitar! 2. Thanks for continuing to introduce me to new gear. 3. Great to see you pull out pedals that aren’t the new designs from time to time. IE-BB Preamp
I play a Jazzmaster from the Classic Player series released a few years ago in a band context with brass. Setting up my basic sound with volume around 5 and tone on 6-7 for my usual lead guitar work through the regular circuit gives me a great audible frequency window vs. all the other stuff going on in the band. Setting the "unusable" rhytm circuit at full volume against that serves as a great lead/solo tone. So no pedal kicking involved, just a flick of a switch. Love it!
I've owned an American '62 reissue JM since 2008 and it's still my favorite thing to play. But they don't play nice with just any kind of amp or pedal, you gotta find the right pairings for them. It was often too bright or thin sounding through the gear I was using back then and I was never 100% satisfied with the sound until I picked up a 65 twin reissue loaded with NOS tubes. My rig slowly evolved as I got more and more into warm, fuzzy, doomy tones, and although this wouldn't be my go-to guitar for doom or stoner rock, it sounds amazing when plugged into that kind of rig for more straightforward indie rock / dream pop / shoegaze vibes. After finding the right pairings for it, if it still ever gets too harsh on the top end, just roll the tone knob back a couple notches and it smooths right out. No need to change the pots.
Higher frequencies also provokes drip from a spring reverb more easily. So makes a lot of sense why especially the Jazzmaster is the prefered choice for most (I think) to use for surf.
#Jazzmaster I’m not sure why so many people get confused by the separate rhythm circuit and don’t know what to do with it. I find it has a nice thick woody tone that works great with fuzz pedals for rhythm sounds and I use it in a number of ways: to have a contrasting rhythm in the lead sound with the lead circuit being brighter, to reduce the volume on one channel when using a fuzzface type pedal so you can have a quick transition between breakup and full on crunch, or to have a quick mute or toggle/ gate effect. Also contrasting tone control setting between circuits gives you woolly vs. crisp. It gives you a wider pallete and a few useful live options. Just wish it was a big toggle switch as it’s a bit hard to grab quickly.
So excited!!!!!! The guitar to rule them all! Im gonna download this so I can forever see how excited Dan is! He will be taking it home or buying one for himself!
If I’m not mistaken, the 1 Meg pots were chosen when flatwound strings were standard. They’re supposed to be much darker strings, which is why the 1 Meg pots were chosen to brighten them up. Once you put modern roundwound strings on, the 1 Meg pots become far too shrill.
Gonna throw in an unpopular opinion with my vote for the stock bridge! Mastery and Staytrem both sound fantastic, but the original bridge has individual adjustable saddles, which if set up correctly keeps it in the Strat family in terms of response and attack, which is where I like it personally. I’ve had a Staytrem on my Jags and Jazzers, and while it can fix stability issues, you aren’t able to tweak the action string to string with the fixed radius bridge. I also find the response to lose a little snap with a Mustang style bridge. Not a bad thing, just different. I’ve also had Mastery bridges on my offsets, and while they are fantastic bridges that increase or “improve” the fullness and resonance from the guitar, for me they take some of the “Fender” out of the sound of the guitars. Again, not saying this is a bad thing at all, it’s just different. The bridge is no longer rocking, and really changes the feel and response of the original design of the floating trem arm. Regardless, it’s awesome to see an offset on the show and look forward to seeing its journey in your capable hands!
Leo’s original design for the JM bridge was to allow it to rock a little to give the vibrato some additional magic. I feel that’s lost when you switch to a bridge that doesn’t rock at all. Trick I found was to use 10-11’s on my JM and make sure the neck pitchback angle was correct with maple shims.
I adore my Squire J Mascis JM! The pickup tone is astonishingly amazing. Just flip the switch and bam! Country, flip it again and bam! Blues, Once more and BAM! rock.
Your guitar do what you need, but changing the pots may defeat some of the purpose. They cut me in half but they are a tool and have a place. Neck PU + fuzz = amazing.
I have the same jazzmaster but the newer version with pay Ferro fretboard. Absolutely amazing! I swapped out the bridge for a mustang bridge and the tuners for vintage looking locking tuners. It’s my #1 for sure
The minute I plugged in my Jazzmaster build, I thought “why on earth have I never owned one of these before??!” They’re the perfect guitar for me - nuanced, explosive, perfectly expressive, AND nothing else quite nails that surf sound like the Jazzmaster.
They don't though. Too many issues with the bridge sinking, strings falling off the saddles, the need to shim the neck, carefully adjusting tension on the spring, you name it. Offsets ARE more popular for sure.
@Fruit Bat no shit Sherlock. But offsets require way more work than other guitars, they don't work well with light gauge strings etc. They are a flawed design.
@@AndreaAustoni You are right. However, I have always played with 9's (not on Jazzmasters as this AmPro II is the first Fender JM I have ever owned or even played) and I recently switched to 8's which I love and the vibrato works very well with the 8's also. . I am sure you know you can get a heavier spring for the vibrato system for about $15.00? This guitar should come with the extra spring for those who like the heavier guages....I know the vintage Jazzmaster's were played with the heavier gauge, so many player are used to them.
Hey boys, Congratulations on the Jazzmaster! I’ve built myself 2 lefty Jazzmasters, and love them! Couple of potential tips, the Mastery bridge is AMAZING for functionality and keeping the strings seated properly! Although there is Staytrem, that I believe is made in the UK... and has a phenomenal reputation- also a bit cheaper. Another idea... the rhythm circuit is great for use with a fuzz (especially germanium), just set up a clean tone on the rhythm circuit- and now the normal circuit is an explosion into immediate fuzz madness at the flip of a switch!!!! Just some thoughts for you boys... enjoy your foray into offset magnificence!!!!!!!
Change the pots to 500k and put a Staytrem Bridge on it and call it a day. Well, i don't even mind the stock pots, but for these kind of videos 500k would be better. The Staytrem bridge is just as good as the Mastery, plus it's much cheaper and easier to get in the UK. Also, i always think Jazzmasters are better with the volume rolled back a tiny bit. It tames the highs a bit and still sounds great.
There is so much to love about this episode, but -- the differentiation between Sea Foam and Surf greens was life changing for me. I have been burnt out on Sea Foam type greens due to years in submarine service and it's predominant use in the nuclear engineering department environment, but Surf green and classic American cars is something I can get behind. Thank you for changing my perspective.
I'm so excited for this. I have a jazzy and to be honest its such a unique sound that i cant wait until you both dive deep with drives since it reacts so differently.
First thing I do to all my offsets is stick a staytrem bridge on - defo worth thinking about, save messing about with all the grub screws! best £60 you'll ever spend
This was my first ever Jazzmaster that served as my main guitar for many years and it's one of those guitars I miss terribly after selling. To this day I still chase that neck/middle position sound that this guitar had.
Guys, have you considered doing a show about more punky tones? Things like Bad Religion, the Clash - single coil/P90 loaded guitars into JTMs - you know a few thrashy open chords and a bit of palm muting. Love that Collings by the way.
I love the 1 meg pots in jazzmasters. It give you a wonderfully useable range in the tone knob. Granted I am admittedly on the neck pickup most of the time on my guitars.
Most beautiful Guitar Design in my humble opinion. Such a versatile instrument and perfect platform for some pedal exploration. I also LOVE to mod Jazzmasters
Guitar sounds beautiful!! There’s something special about that middle position too. The chime it gives with my AC30 is so one of the coolest sounds! And the bridge pickup makes it absolutely scream!
Very cool, just needs a mastery bridge *the pickups in the classic series jm are very bright seymour duncan antiquites are more representative of an old one
I have this guitar and put some Seymour Duncan Antiquity 2s in. Seem to cope with the Jazz top end in a far more pleasing way. Would recommend (and a staytrem)
I own the same guitar, love it, learned to deal with the treble by actually using the Tone pot. ;) The bridge position is something special. You’ll have to tweak your amp, but once done, really good stuff, and very unlike a Strat or Tele.
Unsure if this has been commented down below, but the best thing for it is to change the strings to 11 or 12 gauges, leave the circuitry as is and get a Staytrem bridge and vibrato collet, makes the world of difference. If you fancy a pickup swap, Mojo do a fantastic Jazzmaster set. Glad you like it!
I've owned this same guitar for quite some time now. First thing i did was replace the bridge for a mustang bridge. After a while I tried a treble bleed, but took it out. I'm gonna try 500k pots now. I love how it plays, it's form, the pick ups... absolutely love it. The thing is, a guitar is a tool you can change stuff to to make it your own. People who are saying not to change it don't get it, imho. I bet that your guitar and mine guitar sounded different straight out the box though they are essentialy the same. That's the deal with all guitars, they all have their own individual,character. So, what ís the purpose of a guitar? What IS the purpose of a Jazzmaster? According to the people who say you shouldn't change it because you are, say, de-jazzmastering it. Please go out, take your stock Jazzmaster and go play only Jazz on it, cause THAT's what it's purpose truly was... the purpose of a guitar, ANY guitar is to play music on it, make it your own, make it suit you... make it YOURS!
I’ve got 26 guitars, including a Jaguar. Now you’ve gone and given me GAS for a Jazzmaster. Bastards! 😎 Oh, and Dan, I can afford a Jazzmaster, but not the chords you used in the intro. 😜 And of course I found a deal on Reverb. One exactly like the one in this episode will arrive next week. 👍🏻😎
Hey Mick! Matthew here. On some earlier show you made an offhand comment about "Timmy-type" pedals. I do love my Timmy. I'm putting my vote in for maybe doing a show that dives a bit more into where"Timmy-type" pedals sit in the pedal family tree, and why I like mine so much? Cheers!
Another thing to try is to put flat wounds on them! I have a 2017 jazzmaster 65 reissue that I bought last summer and it sounds amazing with flat wounds. It also is what Leo Fender made the guitar for back in the day (or so I have heard). Also the volume pot is incredibly adjustable with just turning it down which can really take that bite away. Also I love the rhythm circuit on my guitar but I can understand the hate it gets. With flat wounds and rhythm circuit on it is really a jazz master. Love the guitar. I hope you guys enjoy it!
Thanks for the flatwounds info, I'm gonna try them out! Mark Spears from Khruangbin also uses flatwounds, but on his modified stratocaster and i absolutely love his tone and approach to playing.
@@ForeverChillMan Yeah I have just recently discovered Mark Spears and really love his tone! I think flat wounds really work on jazzmasters as they warm up the tone but still keep the overall characteristic of the guitar intact. If you want that bright tone you can get by playing the strings harder but at normal levels of strumming it mellows it out considerably.
@@ThatPedalShow Glad to help! It was a big difference when I first got the guitar and it had normal 7s on it. I thought it was overly bright coming off a Gibson Les Paul being my only electric for 10 years. I still loved the overall characteristic of the Jazzmaster when I first got it but putting on 11 flat wounds made it really shine. Also a staytrem bridge is fantastic for keeping the guitar in tone and keeping the strings from buzzing against the bridge. For 60 pounds (90 dollars for us Americans) it is well worth the investment and they don't look as ugly as the mastery bridges or cost as much. It is just too bad they stopped shipping to the US recently due limited stock but they still accepted orders from UK.
My Goodness that explains so much! I have the exact same Jazz and have tried 3 different sets of pickups and never been happy with the tone, always painful high end! Now I'll look at changing the pots. Exciting cos it is one of the fun guitars to play.
Interesting thing about these pickups is that in shaping the coil the way he did the inductance goes up, though not quite to the same degree as a p90 as it has the alnico poles rather than steel screws. Steel poles increase eddy currents which flatten the pickups response, or lower its Q. Something else that lowers the response and Q of a pickup is lower value pots. Hence the combination of alnico poles and big pots really make these peaky. But they are what they are. My biggest issue with the bigger pots is increased series resistance when turning down which really darkens things, so these are a good candidate for treble bleed experiments. The one upside of the pot size is that they tend to magnify the fuzz pedal clean up effect. Something in everything as they say. Cool episode. Take care guys.
You bloody...you’ve fed my GAS once more!!!! And now, i desperetly seeking for a Jazzmaster!!! Yesterday i went in my favorite musical shop and i tried the J Mascis Jazzmaster, which is often good and i jurked around a lot with her before let her go, while my wife lookin down to the ground, disconsolate and hopeless! I hate ya but i love ya! 🤣
That rhythm circuit is used to toggle quickly between rhythm playing /circuit and lead playing circuit, and as Dan demonstrated can be used as a kill switch. The rhythm circuit sounds heavenly especially when using a fuzz effect. BTW, would never change the Ohm resistance of the pots as this will kill the Jazzmaster mojo, imo!!!!!
Dan's tones at the 20-minute mark reminded me of The War on Drugs, which is fitting since Adam Granduciel plays a Jazzmaster a good amount and routinely uses reverb. A lovely sound.
Love, love, love my Jazzmaster (and my Novelli custom offsets, I have two). Definitely put a Staytrem or Mastery bridge on it. I have a MIM Fender JM and it's surprisingly great with a few mods (and 500k pots). Cheers guys!
When I was a kid, my Dad bought a 1965 Ford Falcon Station Wagon in Seafoam Green. We drove it on a 8,000 mile tour of America in the summer of 1971. It was unforgettable, a 31 day road trip. Your Jazz Master is definitely Surf Green, exactly like my 1996 Jeff Beck Stratocaster, which I took and put DG-20 pickups on it. Man, if my Dad had only bought a Mustang! A Ford Mustang, that is.....
Check the pickups to see if they’re truly the “wide/shallow” design. Most stock JM pickups are basically overwound strat pickups these days. You can get more vintage styled ones from Novak and Lollar and even Seymore Duncan. Not sure why fender started changing them, but I believe it started with the Japanese built JMs it n the 90s
Just got a MIM TVL Jazzmaster and am totally blown away by how great this guitar sounds!!!! The setup from Sweetwater was spot on!!! The only minor adjustment had to make was getting the tuning stabilized when tremolo is engaged Vs. tremolo locked-out, and it was easy-peasy!
The tremolo system on this thing is genius. Does your guitar have the simplefied version, or is it the original with the trem lock button? Mr Fender was a genius after all.
