It’s fairly common knowledge that any offset guitar will require a pretty extensive set up. The break angle is almost never sufficient out of the box. It’s a great vibrato provided you set it up correctly. The neck almost always needs to be shimmed to get the bridge and vibrato working properly as well as get the action where you want it. I love mine….now.
Try a buzz stop and it would greatly enhance the ability to bend notes in the realm of a strat or Tele. Or better yet, the mastery briidge would be a great upgrade. I would take it and get it set up professionally and put one of those two items on it. Because Jazzmasters and Jaguars are notorious for having sub-par bridges.
Thanks for the honest review. I had a similar experience with my squire classic vibe mustang I bought. When I got it, the action was so high I started developing tendonitis from playing it. I had to shim the neck, replace the tuners, swap the bridge pickup (a personal choice, the stock pickup was fine), and hardtail the bridge and now it plays pretty well. Bending still sounds pretty rough but luckily I modded it to be primarily a grunge guitar. I wish I could get a good jazzmaster without spending fender levels of money but it looks like I'm out of luck.
I understand the need to set up a guitar but it shouldn't be unplayable. Nor should you ever have to shim anything new. 500 dollars used to buy quality. Not Anymore. Thanks for sharing your experience and for watching
so for a beginner this is the guitar you want..you will learn everything you will need to get along with almost any other guitar..i have this and have an actual fender jazzmaster from 1994 i love this one the most.the one thing is the fret wire could be better.its amazing after a 4 hour set up.highly recomend.
I dont think a beginner knows all these set up things.. a beginner barely knows any chords .. so i dont agree as a beginner.. i just want to play on a guitar that looks good.. i did not know a guitar needs a setup ... only after watching videos i discovered that..
@@TFFSRAD agreed... i think of it like this... when you go to buy a bicycle at a walmart it usually has a terrible setup however, get the same bike at a bike shop who sets it up and you will swear the cheapest bike there is excellent... if someone is a newbie its aright to have a cheap instrument and even squier is a great entry level instrument with modern CNC.. just get it at a shop that does setups or buy a used one at a shop that has been setup and in your budget.. the worst thing for the guitar industry and many industries is entry level instruments not being playable .. it turns off any would be musicians and for that matter anyone at entry level for anything... cheap doesn't have to be bad.... i dont believe when fender or Gibson started their entry level instruments were terrible.. maybe less features and less glitz but they still played excellent .. think of the original sought after Gibson double cut les paul Jr... nice!
A lot of the problems I’m seeing described are just due to the quirks of the bridge system with the offset bridge, it helps to shim the neck with an angled shim from .5 to 1 degree so you can bring the bridge way up & increase the break angle while having good action
I appreciate that. You're absolutely right. After I shimmed the bridge the guitar was better. And set it up, it was better, but this guitar had numerous other problems when it came in the box. I was much kinder about it than I really should have been. Anything I have gotten from Sweetwater was always at least playable. This had extremely uneven frets, totally unpolished, the nut was bone but totally not in place, one, no packing in the box. Some of the problems were in the shipping from the dealer. Many were also from the factory. It was mostly poor quality control on Squire and the dealer. My Squire tele is awesome. I still love Jazz master's and Mustangs. I'll stick with Fender though on those models. Thanks for your comments and for watching. They can't always be perfect. I love guitars
You had the bridge right against the body. I think the issue is more you not being experienced with setting up jazzmasters. Also omg plz don't use anything but an actual neck shim to shim your neck. Nothing against you tho, it's just a case of not being as familiar with the type of guitar as well as the store you bought it from doing a terrible job. Thank you for the honest review.
I think I got a good deal on my Squire 60s Classic Jazzmaster. I adjusted the truss rod at the 8th fret to .010 and the action at the 17th fret to 4/64th. I also adjusted the tremolo to make it float. The action at the first is a little high, I will lower it. I didn't have to shim the neck.
I bought mine from Sweetwater… I bought it intending it to be a project guitar.. The basic setup from Sweetwater was playable, but just barely. The string angle is a problem, I have already purchased shims from StewMac to correct that problem…. The fret board is dry but that is easily fixed.. Frets on mine need to be polished but otherwise acceptable… I will probably be replacing the tuners. The stock ones are adequate, but not as positive as I would like… The controls seem to be ok and I like the sound of the pickups. I may at sometime in the future look into replacing the bridge, tremolo, wiring harness and maybe the pickups… I think that once I make those adjustments I should have a very usable Jazzmaster at half the cost of the American made models… Just my opinion…
I believe you're spot on. It's an excellent project guitar. All of the basics are there. I totally loved the pickups. The string angle wasn't something I was aware of. After a couple of shims it played much better. The strings stayed where they belonged. There were a few fails in QC. Pickups not screwed down, frets not completely flush to the neck, nor any kind of finish work. However all of the makings were there for a great guitar. With some mods these guitars are great sounding at half the price. Thank you for watching and for your comments. Let me know how it turns out.
It has been a number of years since I've a squire of any kind. I can't speak for every jazzmaster that came out of Indonesia. This one should have never left the factory. After a larger shim on the neck, some adjustments to the bridge, torqing ever screw, polish frets and high spots, then a total setup. It plays fine. You shouldn't have to shim the neck of any new guitar. If this had been sent as a present to someone it would have been a complete Fail. I'm glad to hear your experience was a positive one. Thanks for your comment and for watching
I mean... You have the bridge flat on the body, barely any break angle, barely any force holding the strings, and then You say You can't intonate it and strings pop out on bends. Jazzmaster bridge needs to be raised, they also need thicker strings, 10s or 11s. It's not a bad guitar, it's just not properly set up.
I agree, however set up was not the problem on this guitar. A proper set up is something I know how to do. Very few guitars come from the factory with s decent set up unless ordered from a custom shop. I am aware of the strings that are recommended for a typical Jazzmaster with this type of bridge. However, when pickups are not secured to the body. Bone nuts are not set properly. Frets have gaps that strings get caught under, little to no fret polishing, bridges that do not return to the proper position. That is a quality control problem and not a setup problem. Not to mention the shims that had to be used to get the neck playable. Thanks for your comment and for watching
Everyone knows these offset guitars need work out of the box. You could have spent around $120 for a complete set up including the shim and fret work, etc. Damn dude, I just spent $400 on my 10 year old daughter’s pizza birthday party last weekend. Maybe you should have returned it (Musicians Friend does NOT charge for a return within 45 days) and used that money for a gym membership!
YOU CAN'T RECOMMEND IT? YOU CAN'T RECOMMEND IT??? WELL, I CAN!!! DID YOU GET YOURS FROM SWEETWATER? NO! YOU DIDN'T!!! I DID!!! THAT'S WHY MINE IS PERFECT!!! PEOPLE!!! STOP BUYING GUITARS FROM OTHER THAN SWEETWATER IN FORT WAYNE INDIANA. THEY ARE THE BEST!!! I JUST ORDERED A SQUIER JAGUAR AND IT'S GOING TO BE GREAT!!! GUITAR CENTER IS THE WORST PLACE TO BUY A BRAND NEW GUITAR. IT MAY NOT REALLY BE BRAND NEW!!!
Musicians Friends has really gone down hill. I just bought a D'Angelico it arrived today. It is already on its way back to MF. Their quality control is non existent. The strings were even rusty, LOL. The guitar that showed up should have never been shipped.
I truly hate saying this. I have to agree with you. It's all the same place now. Meaning the call center is the same for GC and MF. The problem is there truly is no technical support before or after the sale. No inspection of what you buy. I find the online services of both are worse since the Bankruptcy. I've been burned to many times. All major purchases of $100.00 or more is through Sweetwater. I have found when they make a mistake they own it and make it right. I even have some repairs done there. I'm sorry about the guitar. Thanks for your comment and for watching.
You can easily adjust the bridge. However, if you don't have the nut files you'd be better served taking it to a luthier. They can do a complete setup for you for around 75 dollars plus the strings.
It’s fairly common knowledge that any offset guitar will require a pretty extensive set up. The break angle is almost never sufficient out of the box. It’s a great vibrato provided you set it up correctly. The neck almost always needs to be shimmed to get the bridge and vibrato working properly as well as get the action where you want it. I love mine….now.
Thanks for watching.
Try a buzz stop and it would greatly enhance the ability to bend notes in the realm of a strat or Tele. Or better yet, the mastery briidge would be a great upgrade. I would take it and get it set up professionally and put one of those two items on it. Because Jazzmasters and Jaguars are notorious for having sub-par bridges.
Thanks and Thanks for watching
Thanks for the honest review. I had a similar experience with my squire classic vibe mustang I bought. When I got it, the action was so high I started developing tendonitis from playing it. I had to shim the neck, replace the tuners, swap the bridge pickup (a personal choice, the stock pickup was fine), and hardtail the bridge and now it plays pretty well. Bending still sounds pretty rough but luckily I modded it to be primarily a grunge guitar. I wish I could get a good jazzmaster without spending fender levels of money but it looks like I'm out of luck.
I understand the need to set up a guitar but it shouldn't be unplayable. Nor should you ever have to shim anything new. 500 dollars used to buy quality. Not Anymore. Thanks for sharing your experience and for watching
so for a beginner this is the guitar you want..you will learn everything you will need to get along with almost any other guitar..i have this and have an actual fender jazzmaster from 1994 i love this one the most.the one thing is the fret wire could be better.its amazing after a 4 hour set up.highly recomend.
Thanks for your comment
I dont think a beginner knows all these set up things.. a beginner barely knows any chords .. so i dont agree as a beginner.. i just want to play on a guitar that looks good.. i did not know a guitar needs a setup ... only after watching videos i discovered that..
how is the tone compared to the mij? are they similar?
@@TFFSRAD agreed... i think of it like this... when you go to buy a bicycle at a walmart it usually has a terrible setup however, get the same bike at a bike shop who sets it up and you will swear the cheapest bike there is excellent... if someone is a newbie its aright to have a cheap instrument and even squier is a great entry level instrument with modern CNC.. just get it at a shop that does setups or buy a used one at a shop that has been setup and in your budget.. the worst thing for the guitar industry and many industries is entry level instruments not being playable .. it turns off any would be musicians and for that matter anyone at entry level for anything... cheap doesn't have to be bad.... i dont believe when fender or Gibson started their entry level instruments were terrible.. maybe less features and less glitz but they still played excellent .. think of the original sought after Gibson double cut les paul Jr... nice!
Good to hear this perspective from all the other reviews out there! Thanks.
Thank you and thanks for watching.
A lot of the problems I’m seeing described are just due to the quirks of the bridge system with the offset bridge, it helps to shim the neck with an angled shim from .5 to 1 degree so you can bring the bridge way up & increase the break angle while having good action
I appreciate that. You're absolutely right. After I shimmed the bridge the guitar was better. And set it up, it was better, but this guitar had numerous other problems when it came in the box. I was much kinder about it than I really should have been. Anything I have gotten from Sweetwater was always at least playable. This had extremely uneven frets, totally unpolished, the nut was bone but totally not in place, one, no packing in the box. Some of the problems were in the shipping from the dealer. Many were also from the factory. It was mostly poor quality control on Squire and the dealer. My Squire tele is awesome. I still love Jazz master's and Mustangs. I'll stick with Fender though on those models.
Thanks for your comments and for watching. They can't always be perfect. I love guitars
You had the bridge right against the body. I think the issue is more you not being experienced with setting up jazzmasters. Also omg plz don't use anything but an actual neck shim to shim your neck. Nothing against you tho, it's just a case of not being as familiar with the type of guitar as well as the store you bought it from doing a terrible job. Thank you for the honest review.
Thank you for your comment and for watching
I think I got a good deal on my Squire 60s Classic Jazzmaster. I adjusted the truss rod at the 8th fret to .010 and the action at the 17th fret to 4/64th. I also adjusted the tremolo to make it float. The action at the first is a little high, I will lower it. I didn't have to shim the neck.
You sure did. I'm glad that it all worked out. Thanks for your comment and watching
I bought mine from Sweetwater… I bought it intending it to be a project guitar.. The basic setup from Sweetwater was playable, but just barely. The string angle is a problem, I have already purchased shims from StewMac to correct that problem…. The fret board is dry but that is easily fixed.. Frets on mine need to be polished but otherwise acceptable… I will probably be replacing the tuners. The stock ones are adequate, but not as positive as I would like… The controls seem to be ok and I like the sound of the pickups. I may at sometime in the future look into replacing the bridge, tremolo, wiring harness and maybe the pickups… I think that once I make those adjustments I should have a very usable Jazzmaster at half the cost of the American made models… Just my opinion…
I believe you're spot on. It's an excellent project guitar. All of the basics are there. I totally loved the pickups. The string angle wasn't something I was aware of. After a couple of shims it played much better. The strings stayed where they belonged. There were a few fails in QC. Pickups not screwed down, frets not completely flush to the neck, nor any kind of finish work. However all of the makings were there for a great guitar. With some mods these guitars are great sounding at half the price. Thank you for watching and for your comments. Let me know how it turns out.
I got a used one for $250 and I love it!
Thanks for watching
Thanks for sharing 🎸🎶🎶🎶
Thank you for watching
I have always wanted a Jazzmaster also, so I bought the CV. I sold it, many problems with it. I think I will check out a Vintera.
Thanks for your comment. They do sound good. Just to many bugs to fix. Thanks for watching
I really like the MIJ version...very nice player
I would have loved to had the chance to try one. I had a Japanese tele I wish I had never let go of. Thank you for watching.
I expect any $400 guitar to need to be set up and modded. To expect a $400 guitar to go on tour is nonsense
Thanks for watching
I wonder if the quality control isn't as good in the Indonesian factory? I had a Chinese made Classic Vibe Jazzmaster that played and sounded great.
It has been a number of years since I've a squire of any kind. I can't speak for every jazzmaster that came out of Indonesia. This one should have never left the factory. After a larger shim on the neck, some adjustments to the bridge, torqing ever screw, polish frets and high spots, then a total setup. It plays fine. You shouldn't have to shim the neck of any new guitar. If this had been sent as a present to someone it would have been a complete Fail. I'm glad to hear your experience was a positive one. Thanks for your comment and for watching
Sounds to me that with a professional setup this is a fine Jazzmaster. Put in a Mustang bridge and you still got a deal.
Thanks for your comment and for watching
@@davidmurphey9514 often upgrading a classic vibe puts one in Fender MX price range and the MX are a better guitars by far.
I mean... You have the bridge flat on the body, barely any break angle, barely any force holding the strings, and then You say You can't intonate it and strings pop out on bends. Jazzmaster bridge needs to be raised, they also need thicker strings, 10s or 11s. It's not a bad guitar, it's just not properly set up.
I agree, however set up was not the problem on this guitar. A proper set up is something I know how to do. Very few guitars come from the factory with s decent set up unless ordered from a custom shop. I am aware of the strings that are recommended for a typical Jazzmaster with this type of bridge. However, when pickups are not secured to the body. Bone nuts are not set properly. Frets have gaps that strings get caught under, little to no fret polishing, bridges that do not return to the proper position. That is a quality control problem and not a setup problem. Not to mention the shims that had to be used to get the neck playable. Thanks for your comment and for watching
Everyone knows these offset guitars need work out of the box. You could have spent around $120 for a complete set up including the shim and fret work, etc. Damn dude, I just spent $400 on my 10 year old daughter’s pizza birthday party last weekend.
Maybe you should have returned it (Musicians Friend does NOT charge for a return within 45 days) and used that money for a gym membership!
Thank you for your comment and for watching
YOU CAN'T RECOMMEND IT? YOU CAN'T RECOMMEND IT??? WELL, I CAN!!! DID YOU GET YOURS FROM SWEETWATER? NO! YOU DIDN'T!!! I DID!!! THAT'S WHY MINE IS PERFECT!!!
PEOPLE!!! STOP BUYING GUITARS FROM OTHER THAN SWEETWATER IN FORT WAYNE INDIANA.
THEY ARE THE BEST!!!
I JUST ORDERED A SQUIER JAGUAR AND IT'S GOING TO BE GREAT!!!
GUITAR CENTER IS THE WORST PLACE TO BUY A BRAND NEW GUITAR. IT MAY NOT REALLY BE BRAND NEW!!!
Thank you for your comment and for watching
I agree with you on Sweetwater
Musicians Friends has really gone down hill. I just bought a D'Angelico it arrived today. It is already on its way back to MF. Their quality control is non existent. The strings were even rusty, LOL. The guitar that showed up should have never been shipped.
I truly hate saying this. I have to agree with you. It's all the same place now. Meaning the call center is the same for GC and MF. The problem is there truly is no technical support before or after the sale. No inspection of what you buy. I find the online services of both are worse since the Bankruptcy. I've been burned to many times. All major purchases of $100.00 or more is through Sweetwater. I have found when they make a mistake they own it and make it right. I even have some repairs done there. I'm sorry about the guitar. Thanks for your comment and for watching.
after all that complain.. you play a sweet tone.. I am disappointed.. haha
Thanks for watching
Take it to a guitar shop and get it set up
It's setup. That wasn't the problem
Lol... did you watch the video? He just named about 20 things that a setup won't fix
The action is too high on mine
You can easily adjust the bridge. However, if you don't have the nut files you'd be better served taking it to a luthier. They can do a complete setup for you for around 75 dollars plus the strings.
If you buy cheap, you buy twice 😑.
Thank you for your comments.
Just purchase good quality in the first place, the stupidity of buying cheap and having to replace most things is just that, STUPID !
Thank you for watching
do not buy guitars on line EVER go to a local shop..ALWAYS.
Thanks for your comment
I cannot trust any review in which the person can't even write SQUIER correctly.
Lol. Ok