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.
Shoegazer… “It emerged in Ireland and the United Kingdom in the late 1980s among neo-psychedelic groups[2] who usually stood motionless during live performances in a detached, non-confrontational state.[1][12] The name comes from the heavy use of effects pedals, as the performers were often looking down at their pedals during concerts.”
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!
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
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.
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'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!
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!
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.
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!
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.
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.
#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.
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 :)
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!
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.
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
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.
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.
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 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
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!
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
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!!!!!!!
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.
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!
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!
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)
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.
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.
You guys nailed it. Great episode! I’ve been a JM player for over a decade now and rolling off or adjusting the tone gives me a wide variety of sounds in fender land especially with some overdriven or fuzzy sounds. I had some work done on my ‘61 and my luthier put 250k pots in to replace some junk that was in there. I really lost a lot of “something” and went back to the 1 megs. Darker amps are preferable as well. I’ve heard a few people say that they tried JM and didn’t like it, but I honestly think it employs a different sort of focus that is counter intuitive for some players because you are in fact combating treble a lot of the time. If you’re looking to give that guitar a good upgrade a mastery bridge is a really exceptional choice. You notice a vast improvement even acoustically. Also the Seymour Duncan Antiquity 1 pickup is a pretty spot on replica of the late 50’s to early 60’s sounds.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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!
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.
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
Yessss. Get your solder out and mod away. Any true offset fan understands the need to fiddle and make it your own. I dropped mine to 500k and put a Curtis Novak Wide Range humbucker in the bridge and it was the best guitar I’ve ever owned.
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.
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.
I have the same guitar, color and all. It joined my family a few years ago and is played and enjoyed so very much. After a few months of performances, and as others have suggested, I upgraded to the Mastery Bridge -- huge difference in keeping the strings in the saddles. This past Christmas, I switched the pickups to Curtis Novak Wide-Range Humbuckers which are fantastic!! They keep much of the same surf/trebble tone in the middle position but add a bit of mid/warmth in the neck and add some fullness to the bridge. As much as I liked the original pickups, the hum was killing me. ENJOY IT!
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!!!!!
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!
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.
I could have used this excellent demo a year ago when I was trying to decide between my first Tele or my first Jazzmaster (went with the Tele and I'm super pleased I did). All the comparison videos I found at the time really did not demo the sound of it very well at all. You guys nailed it.
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 can hear why people change the pots, though I might not conclude that based on the first 10 minutes of playing it. In a band all that high end might come in handy. And going into drive it's quite a bit different, like having the treble boost built into the guitar. I'm training myself to get used to sounds that may be harsh or somehow not ideal when I'm playing alone because often those same sounds are fantastic in a band mix, as you gents have often discussed. I'm finding with my Strat that the 25.5 scale length is getting tougher for me as I age - I'm a small guy with small hands. Maybe someday I'll get acquainted with a Jaguar.
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!
LOVE that you guys got a Jazzmaster. I love mine so much. I’ve done some mods to it that I feel have made it better and maybe you’d like to try. • Mastery Bridge • Fender V-Mod Pickups • Bone Nut • 250k Pots The 250k pots ended it softening it up a bit but not too much. It still has that versatility but with lots more control. So don’t feel shamed about wanting to take the 1 meg pots out.
Thanks Shawn. Been slightly stunned at the do-not-mod comments, not least because a handful of JM devotees love a mod or two! Mind you, I feel that way about Strats, so I understand the point of view at least!
Nice! I own a CIJ jazzmaster in surf green with matching head stock. So very similar. Such a great guitar. I instantly get inspired when I pick it up, but its funny how its in a slightly different way than usual. I play differently playing my jazzmaster, like it wants me to do something else. Looked like you guys sort of had the same experience. And yes, it is bright as hell. My go -to-tone on this guitar is the tone rolled back to around six and I almost never use the bridge pickup on its own, and when I do, its together with a fuzzpedal. Anyway, bla, bla, bla. Congrats!
You know why you should leave the pots the way they are? For the same reason there are still actual Tweed amps out there - they can sound harsh but they can also cut through the mix. Also like you guys kind-of said -- with the stock pots you'll NEVER have to worry about losing too much treble no matter which amp or pedal you use - you will always have enough treble. To me it would be worth the trouble to have to fiddle with the tone control.
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. 👍🏻😎
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.
That is my exact guitar! I got mine as a floor model for $700. Love the tonal options. I utilize the lead and rhythm circuits for 4 quick switching options. I set the lead tone knob at 7 or 8 for a nice non abrasive treble. I also replaced the bridge saddle with a mustang. Thanks for including us 80s guitar worshipers. This my Shoegaze guitar. 😁
In lieu of taping the circuit off, I borrowed the J Mascis trick and put an eraser in it. It’s too much of a liability live when you’re jamming and BOOM, “where the hell did the sound go”? In a controlled environment it could have more use. Oh & yeah, cut the pots; 1 meg linear taper/audio taper can be too brash. Also love mastery bridges. -Aaron
My dad's has been looking for a new guitar and had bought the 60th anniversary lacquer JM. We loved the way it sounded but couldn't get rid of the rattles in the bridge so it went back. Waiting on delivery of a PRS CE 24 now.
This is gonna be a great new color on your pallet of tones, can't wait to see more of it! Also, that A/DA flanger? I want to hear more of that one, maybe side by side with the Longamp Roxanne. Good flangers are far and few between and this one sounds great!
I recently bought an american Performer Jazzmaster with the Strat-Style Trem. Unbelievable good guitar. Doesn't sound like a traditional jm, more in between of a Strat and a JM. Absolutely killer
I love my American vintage series jazzmaster, but have the same trouble with it being so bright. Try running the treble around 3 o’clock, the mids at 11 and the bass leaning more between 2&3. Trust, those inversions will sound Stella Dan
Mike lemmo makes the jazz master sound amazing! That guy knows how to dial this kind of beast. Check him! besides he's a great player he haves an innovative approach to the guitar in my opinion.
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.
Can you get Björn Juhl from BJFE (bjfe, mad professor, one control etc.) to your show? One of the most brilliant minds in the pedal world, a true legend. Has this Master Yoda element to him.
Hey guys! Long time listener, first time caller here. Absolutely love the show. :) I was as thrilled to witness your newfound Jazzmastery joy as I was appalled at the idea of a knee-jerk swapping of the pots. While I'll agree that the treble was indeed way out of control, I'm of the opinion that the problems you were experiencing weren't due to the value of the pots but rather the pickups themselves. Fender's current Jazzmaster pickups aren't really Jazzmaster pickups at all. Fender's reissue/modern Jazzmaster pickup builds stray far from the original design, resulting in pickups that don't sound anywhere near as interesting, detailed, or distinctive as the originals. Why Fender decided to change the build of the Jazzmaster pickups but keep the values and tapers of the pots and caps the same is beyond me, but they did; and they don't mesh well; and I think that what you're hearing is that mismatch. Changing the pots and caps could indeed solve that problem, but what you'd have then would be less of a Jazzmaster and more of just a ... general Fendery type thing. Which is fine, if that's what you're after. But why not let a Tele be a Tele, a Strat be a Strat, and a Jazzmaster be a Jazzmaster? The combo of a 1M linear taper volume pot, a 1M audio taper tone pot, and a .033μf PIO or ceramic tone cap can sound absolutely glorious with a proper set of Jazzmaster pickups, and Curtis Novak, Jaime Campbell (of The Creamery UK), and Jason Lollar all make excellent Jazzmaster pickups to proper build spec. Jazzmasters tend to come with a slew of idiosyncratic little problems. I'd humbly like to propose an alternative and more comprehensive approach which will solve just about all of 'em, and I hope you two will be willing to consider it: • Shield all component body cavities with quality conductive adhesive copper foil. • Shield the entire underside of the pickguard with conductive adhesive copper foil. • Ensure that the cavity shielding makes reliable/constant contact with the pickguard shielding when closed. • Pull the stock standard wiring harness. • Replace it with quality components. • Don't change the values and tapers of the pots. • Don't change the value of the tone capacitor. • Dress your internal leads whenever possible. • Earth the wiring harness to the control cavity shielding. • Earth the vibrato to the control cavity shielding. • Pull the stock Jazzmaster pickups. • Replace them with Jazzmaster pickups by Curtis Novak, Jason Lollar, or the Creamery UK. • Pull the stock bridge. • Replace it with a Mastery Bridge. • Have Jonny Kinkead give it a proper setup. If after all this y'all still feel like it needs a bit of tweaking then by all means, tweak away.
Absolutely fantastic. Probably the most underrated comment in this video comment section. Thank you for taking the time to write such an in-depth response. I, for one, learned a great deal! Cheers.
Hey Mick and Dan, first off I wanted to say I love TPS, I've been watching it for years. Your channel is one of the best for guitar content, keep it up! Second, I also own a 60's lacquer jazzmaster as my main guitar. While everyone else is talking about keeping the 1Meg pots (which you should) and changing the bridge and tremolo to staytrem/mastery, another mod that could make the guitar more interesting would be to rewire the rhythm circuit. Reverb ran an article on mods for the jazzmaster where they replace the wiring to have independent volumes for the pickups, a tone and a bass cut control, and parallel/series switching. I did this to mine and find that this wiring is much more useful than the stock rhythm circuit. Anyways, good luck with all the modifications you plan on doing to this guitar, can't wait to see how it turns out! Reverb article: reverb.com/ca/news/upgrading-jazzmaster-electronics-part-II-wiring-mods
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!
Lovely and bright on the cleans, seems a shame to neuter it to make it conform. Not something I would look to buy but for me a guitar collection is all about having instruments that inspire in different ways. Keep up the good work.
![Every Guitar We Own [And A Couple We Don’t] - That Pedal Show](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/SJoJcrOrLqI/mqdefault.jpg)
![Every Guitar We Own [And A Couple We Don’t] – That Pedal Show](/img/tr.png)
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.
E bow works also fine AF with the rhytm circuit
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.
I say keep it as it is and love if for what it is. Using a different guitar gives you different options and ideas.
@@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.
Those descriptions written by mick deserve so much more recognition they’re the real highlight of TPS videos
You're so damn right
@C. R. Anderson I believe you just did.
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.
Puisheen ahhh wouldn’t it be amazing to have you on the show?! 🤯
@@gitsloth1 I'll bring you as my play tester. Look at us, two pals having an old-fashioned chat in the youtube comments!
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.
@@tiorimas Do you just like the looks of a JM or something? RHCP and Hendrix are Strat players
@@gunkanjima3408 Hendrix also played a JM to be fair.
When discussing the tremolo: "I would be on this all the time, every note I play".We'll make a shoegazer of you yet Dan.
Shoegazer… “It emerged in Ireland and the United Kingdom in the late 1980s among neo-psychedelic groups[2] who usually stood motionless during live performances in a detached, non-confrontational state.[1][12] The name comes from the heavy use of effects pedals, as the performers were often looking down at their pedals during concerts.”
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!
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.
What, you mean the correct setting for a knob isn't turned up full? Mind blown...
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
@@kaiying74 Its difficult to find a guitar review of any type without the tone pot on 10.
It is better to be able to turn it down than not have treble in the first place
@@tlister67 I honestly just changed my pickup heights a bit and dropped the treble on the bridge and I think it helps imo
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.
if by "wetter" you mean "extremely hot and dry on the surface, with sulphuric acid clouds", then yes. the jazzmaster is like that.
nepalnt2121 I did say it was different! Cloudburn!
I play with my JM tone at 7ish. I love how my JM goes from so bright to dark and fuzzy. So many great sounds in those guitars.
"Fu... ar. Out." Nice save. On a more serious note, I do love a trebly guitar and now I want a Jazzmaster. Darn it!
Nicholas Caldwell I loved that too... definitely didn’t sound like he was gonna say “far out”! Maybe “fu-ar out” can be the new chalk and day?
Perhaps you'd like a Jaguar? It looks like a Jazzmaster but shorter, shinier, and treble-ier.
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'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!
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!
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.
Imagine Sonic Youth without their Jazzmasters...unthinkable!
@@mattgilbert7347 I can think of that easily I reckon, especially for Lee not so much for Thurston
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.
Jonathan Veillette
Yes they are great with those pickups , Leo was right about the 1000k on the Jaguar and Jazzmaster!!!!!
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!
"Wait, you can turn the knobs?" -90% of rock guitar players
Yes... it's all about the mojo!
Jonathan Veillette it’s not rocket science then. Just turn the knob down or up and all is good. I think he likes to over complicate
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.
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.
Leave the 1 meg pots. Maybe install 50s wiring? Use tone control.
NO 1meg pots are horrible
@@shckltnebay If you don't know how to use the volume and tone knobs, maybe.
Or lower the bridge pick up
#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.
Agreed, gnerd99! It's a very useful, fun part of the great range that a Jazzmaster offers.
Well said
Just turn the tone knob down a third - sounds real fine 😊
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 :)
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!
Thank you Samuel!
Thank you for clarifying the JM pickup issue. You are correct in saying many people get that way wrong.
Another great recommended mod is the Staytrem bridge and tremolo arm kit.
I had a great result in this and have zero tuning issues.
Leave it stock and embrace it...
Only upgrade should be an AVRI tremolo assembly. The lack of a sliding lock is almost criminal to its nearly perfect presentation.
@kevin paul halliday while I agree that it's very popular, it is one which I believe ultimately depends on string gauge and playing style.
Well, I'd add one of those roller things to the bridge so it isn't mad hard for me to play
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.
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
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.
Jazzmaster owner here! Check out Curtis Novak pickups, especially the JM-V neck : highly recommended!
Ha! Mick's inner SRV is never very far away...gets a new color and then thinks "let's make it sound like a Strat!" : )
“The unusable circuit” 😂the rhythm circuit is my favorite part of jazz masters.
Agreed. Works great for fuzz or as a kill switch! Also nice for a little muddy woody jazz noodling.
Always surprised by folks who think the rhythm circuit is useless. I live there too!
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.
this video shows Dan in his happy place and it's such a joy to watch and listen to
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.
Dan’s smile has never been so infectious. Great way to start my day. Thanks
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
I like to use a compressor with it, brings in the high end
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!
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
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!!!!!!!
Gorgeous playing from 19:48 onwards by Dan. Perfect style for the voicing options that a Jazzie offers.
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.
Yeah, I've never tried one but in theory it keeps more top end that you can then roll of with the tone
I also run a treble bleed in it and use a vox amp so maybe I am just into treble.
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!
hahaha, ah, cheers mate, that's very kind. Come to the gig on Thursday, i'll do an impromptu chord ting for you ;)
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!
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
im pretty certain the classics have AVRI pickups?, ill admit the antiquites are very cool but a tad too boxy for me
It's a Classic 60s lacquer. Same pickups as in the AV65.
@@vw9659 haha yea thats what i thought
Yep they are(i have set) they sound great but they are brighter the vintage jazzmasters
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)
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.
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.
You guys nailed it. Great episode! I’ve been a JM player for over a decade now and rolling off or adjusting the tone gives me a wide variety of sounds in fender land especially with some overdriven or fuzzy sounds. I had some work done on my ‘61 and my luthier put 250k pots in to replace some junk that was in there. I really lost a lot of “something” and went back to the 1 megs.
Darker amps are preferable as well. I’ve heard a few people say that they tried JM and didn’t like it, but I honestly think it employs a different sort of focus that is counter intuitive for some players because you are in fact combating treble a lot of the time.
If you’re looking to give that guitar a good upgrade a mastery bridge is a really exceptional choice. You notice a vast improvement even acoustically. Also the Seymour Duncan Antiquity 1 pickup is a pretty spot on replica of the late 50’s to early 60’s sounds.
The offset Trem is amazing when it's set up right. You just need to treat it as its own thing. It's at its best when being used slowly and steadily.
Thnk u for the comparisons with tele and strat! Lovely jm congrats.
You are the only person to say that. Thank you! Most people are considering jumping off a cliff because we're going to change the pots. Hilarious!
Some of the best playing I've heard from Dan in a while.. I think it suits you.
After 60 years Jazzmasters finally rule the guitar world, Leo Fender was right Strat bitchez 😋
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.
@@AndreaAustoni The ProAm II solves ALL those issues! Have had mine for over 6 months now, and hardly touch my MIA Strat any more.
@@sgd5k292 except the new vibrato doesn't work well worth heavy gauge strings
@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.
Sending out love for Timmy! Still my favourite drive ever.
Mine too
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.
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!
Yes!! the only guitar you'll ever need!! 😍
"I love it, sounds great! Let's change it..." ;-)
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.
What I do on my Jazzmasters is I adjust the pickup height so that the treble side is a little bit further down. It helps even out the top end.
I've played them all. 15 years ago I found the Jazzmaster could do everything. I've never looked back. :)
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!
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.
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
Yessss. Get your solder out and mod away. Any true offset fan understands the need to fiddle and make it your own. I dropped mine to 500k and put a Curtis Novak Wide Range humbucker in the bridge and it was the best guitar I’ve ever owned.
i love the 1m pots they make it so you can actually use the tone knob without getting to muddy..
If you want it less muddy, change the value of the tone cap.
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.
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.
I have the same guitar, color and all. It joined my family a few years ago and is played and enjoyed so very much. After a few months of performances, and as others have suggested, I upgraded to the Mastery Bridge -- huge difference in keeping the strings in the saddles. This past Christmas, I switched the pickups to Curtis Novak Wide-Range Humbuckers which are fantastic!! They keep much of the same surf/trebble tone in the middle position but add a bit of mid/warmth in the neck and add some fullness to the bridge. As much as I liked the original pickups, the hum was killing me. ENJOY IT!
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!!!!!
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!
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!
Aha. Flatwounds explains the 1meg pots perfectly! Thank you - knew there had to be a reason! Mick here.
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.
I could have used this excellent demo a year ago when I was trying to decide between my first Tele or my first Jazzmaster (went with the Tele and I'm super pleased I did). All the comparison videos I found at the time really did not demo the sound of it very well at all. You guys nailed it.
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.
Yes, Mick. I have a jazzmaster, and I DEFINITELY do "that"thing! Thanks for bringing out the jazzmaster mates!
I can hear why people change the pots, though I might not conclude that based on the first 10 minutes of playing it. In a band all that high end might come in handy. And going into drive it's quite a bit different, like having the treble boost built into the guitar. I'm training myself to get used to sounds that may be harsh or somehow not ideal when I'm playing alone because often those same sounds are fantastic in a band mix, as you gents have often discussed.
I'm finding with my Strat that the 25.5 scale length is getting tougher for me as I age - I'm a small guy with small hands. Maybe someday I'll get acquainted with a Jaguar.
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!
LOVE that you guys got a Jazzmaster. I love mine so much. I’ve done some mods to it that I feel have made it better and maybe you’d like to try.
• Mastery Bridge
• Fender V-Mod Pickups
• Bone Nut
• 250k Pots
The 250k pots ended it softening it up a bit but not too much. It still has that versatility but with lots more control. So don’t feel shamed about wanting to take the 1 meg pots out.
Thanks Shawn. Been slightly stunned at the do-not-mod comments, not least because a handful of JM devotees love a mod or two! Mind you, I feel that way about Strats, so I understand the point of view at least!
Nice! I own a CIJ jazzmaster in surf green with matching head stock. So very similar. Such a great guitar. I instantly get inspired when I pick it up, but its funny how its in a slightly different way than usual. I play differently playing my jazzmaster, like it wants me to do something else. Looked like you guys sort of had the same experience. And yes, it is bright as hell. My go -to-tone on this guitar is the tone rolled back to around six and I almost never use the bridge pickup on its own, and when I do, its together with a fuzzpedal. Anyway, bla, bla, bla. Congrats!
I am SO here for this!
Its about time someone makes a video on car colors and guitar colors
You know why you should leave the pots the way they are? For the same reason there are still actual Tweed amps out there - they can sound harsh but they can also cut through the mix. Also like you guys kind-of said -- with the stock pots you'll NEVER have to worry about losing too much treble no matter which amp or pedal you use - you will always have enough treble. To me it would be worth the trouble to have to fiddle with the tone control.
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. 👍🏻😎
Drive-By Troll - I agree. That would be an awesome episode! Let me guess, you prefer the JM, right?
You guys are officially Hipsters. Congratulations!
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.
Reinhard Hvidsten agreed. The lock button is often misunderstood. It’s for when a string breaks. Brilliant.
That is my exact guitar! I got mine as a floor model for $700. Love the tonal options. I utilize the lead and rhythm circuits for 4 quick switching options. I set the lead tone knob at 7 or 8 for a nice non abrasive treble. I also replaced the bridge saddle with a mustang. Thanks for including us 80s guitar worshipers. This my Shoegaze guitar. 😁
In lieu of taping the circuit off, I borrowed the J Mascis trick and put an eraser in it. It’s too much of a liability live when you’re jamming and BOOM, “where the hell did the sound go”? In a controlled environment it could have more use. Oh & yeah, cut the pots; 1 meg linear taper/audio taper can be too brash. Also love mastery bridges.
-Aaron
My dad's has been looking for a new guitar and had bought the 60th anniversary lacquer JM. We loved the way it sounded but couldn't get rid of the rattles in the bridge so it went back. Waiting on delivery of a PRS CE 24 now.
This is gonna be a great new color on your pallet of tones, can't wait to see more of it! Also, that A/DA flanger? I want to hear more of that one, maybe side by side with the Longamp Roxanne. Good flangers are far and few between and this one sounds great!
I recently bought an american Performer Jazzmaster with the Strat-Style Trem. Unbelievable good guitar. Doesn't sound like a traditional jm, more in between of a Strat and a JM. Absolutely killer
Kurt Vile recently taught me to love the Jazzmaster, but I was fine not owning one till this video :o
I love my American vintage series jazzmaster, but have the same trouble with it being so bright. Try running the treble around 3 o’clock, the mids at 11 and the bass leaning more between 2&3. Trust, those inversions will sound Stella Dan
Mike lemmo makes the jazz master sound amazing! That guy knows how to dial this kind of beast. Check him! besides he's a great player he haves an innovative approach to the guitar in my opinion.
I run 250's in my Jaguar and it sounds wonderful, its still a very bright guitar but doesn't hurt your ears with treble.
You KNOW what this calls for..... THAT (how you use this) GUITAR SHOW!!
I think I have just fallen in love with the Jazzmaster....😍😍😍
Keep the 1M pots!! They're great once you get use to them - tone on 7 becomes the new normal, then you have extra treble there when you want it.
If you need that much treble, something is very wrong with the rest of your signal chain or amp!
@@ThatPedalShow Haha, possibly. I wasn't suggesting you'd need it often..! :D
I made my rhythm circuit a series/parallel switch and I love it.
An episode on surf guitar would be great, getting that 60s tone especially with the recent passing of dick dale , good work fellas 👌
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.
Can you get Björn Juhl from BJFE (bjfe, mad professor, one control etc.) to your show? One of the most brilliant minds in the pedal world, a true legend. Has this Master Yoda element to him.
Hey guys! Long time listener, first time caller here. Absolutely love the show. :)
I was as thrilled to witness your newfound Jazzmastery joy as I was appalled at the idea of a knee-jerk swapping of the pots. While I'll agree that the treble was indeed way out of control, I'm of the opinion that the problems you were experiencing weren't due to the value of the pots but rather the pickups themselves.
Fender's current Jazzmaster pickups aren't really Jazzmaster pickups at all. Fender's reissue/modern Jazzmaster pickup builds stray far from the original design, resulting in pickups that don't sound anywhere near as interesting, detailed, or distinctive as the originals. Why Fender decided to change the build of the Jazzmaster pickups but keep the values and tapers of the pots and caps the same is beyond me, but they did; and they don't mesh well; and I think that what you're hearing is that mismatch. Changing the pots and caps could indeed solve that problem, but what you'd have then would be less of a Jazzmaster and more of just a ... general Fendery type thing.
Which is fine, if that's what you're after. But why not let a Tele be a Tele, a Strat be a Strat, and a Jazzmaster be a Jazzmaster? The combo of a 1M linear taper volume pot, a 1M audio taper tone pot, and a .033μf PIO or ceramic tone cap can sound absolutely glorious with a proper set of Jazzmaster pickups, and Curtis Novak, Jaime Campbell (of The Creamery UK), and Jason Lollar all make excellent Jazzmaster pickups to proper build spec.
Jazzmasters tend to come with a slew of idiosyncratic little problems. I'd humbly like to propose an alternative and more comprehensive approach which will solve just about all of 'em, and I hope you two will be willing to consider it:
• Shield all component body cavities with quality conductive adhesive copper foil.
• Shield the entire underside of the pickguard with conductive adhesive copper foil.
• Ensure that the cavity shielding makes reliable/constant contact with the pickguard shielding when closed.
• Pull the stock standard wiring harness.
• Replace it with quality components.
• Don't change the values and tapers of the pots.
• Don't change the value of the tone capacitor.
• Dress your internal leads whenever possible.
• Earth the wiring harness to the control cavity shielding.
• Earth the vibrato to the control cavity shielding.
• Pull the stock Jazzmaster pickups.
• Replace them with Jazzmaster pickups by Curtis Novak, Jason Lollar, or the Creamery UK.
• Pull the stock bridge.
• Replace it with a Mastery Bridge.
• Have Jonny Kinkead give it a proper setup.
If after all this y'all still feel like it needs a bit of tweaking then by all means, tweak away.
Absolutely fantastic. Probably the most underrated comment in this video comment section. Thank you for taking the time to write such an in-depth response. I, for one, learned a great deal! Cheers.
Hey Mick and Dan, first off I wanted to say I love TPS, I've been watching it for years. Your channel is one of the best for guitar content, keep it up!
Second, I also own a 60's lacquer jazzmaster as my main guitar. While everyone else is talking about keeping the 1Meg pots (which you should) and changing the bridge and tremolo to staytrem/mastery, another mod that could make the guitar more interesting would be to rewire the rhythm circuit. Reverb ran an article on mods for the jazzmaster where they replace the wiring to have independent volumes for the pickups, a tone and a bass cut control, and parallel/series switching. I did this to mine and find that this wiring is much more useful than the stock rhythm circuit. Anyways, good luck with all the modifications you plan on doing to this guitar, can't wait to see how it turns out!
Reverb article:
reverb.com/ca/news/upgrading-jazzmaster-electronics-part-II-wiring-mods
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!
Lovely and bright on the cleans, seems a shame to neuter it to make it conform. Not something I would look to buy but for me a guitar collection is all about having instruments that inspire in different ways. Keep up the good work.