I just got my CME Jazzmaster today and my whammy bar fits securely. I had to press it in all the way, but it’s as solid as any of my Strat whammy bars with the spring installed. No issues with the stock bridge or vibrato. The threaded stock worked fine even with 9’s installed. No string popping out of place or tuning stability issues after lubing the nut, bridge, and string tree. Why pay Mastery all of that money for no good reason? Just setup your guitar correctly, and or ideally have it setup properly from the seller.
weird; I’ve just finished setting up the CME jazzmaster for a customer and found it to be the complete opposite. I’m biased because i’m typically working on vintage / AVRI JM’s & Jags which have little to no issues when set up properly, but even with the usual tricks (blue loctite on all the screws, neck shim for proper break angle) I had a good amount of rattle compared to my mastery and even stock vintage style bridge equipped guitars. Maybe it’s because I use .11s on my guitars and the client asked for .10s, but i think the stock bridge on these is just pretty junky. You’d be better off finding a mustang bridge with the proper radius if you don’t want to shell out for a mastery or staytrem, but to me it’s completely worth it.
Great review. Honestly so glad that I found out about the CME Jazzmaster. So annoying that fender put Humbuckers on their player jazzmasters (and with the worst color options too, lmao).
Jazzmasters need a very specific setup to run properly. I recommend watching Puisheen for some insight. I got the Vintera II and after a proper setup it smokes all my other guitars, it's snappy, it's warm and super clear. Basically you need to shim the neck
i just ordered this same guitar from CME and i’m really nervous as to how it’ll come when delivered. i’m hoping there’s not much fret buzz. i’m glad i ran into this video, thank u :)
I got this guitar recently; I love it. Pickups sound great, neck is super-smooth. The bridge is complete trash-not entirely sure why Fender even uses these bridges anymore. Not in love with the nut, either. So it’s gonna require some mods and a good setup, but man, dat shell pink. Lovvvvvve.
Leo Fender made the bridge for the Jazzmaster and Jaguar for 11 gauge strings. If you have a lot of fret buzz that is likely the problem, Lighter gauges just can't be used on a Jazzmaster
I bought one used, the previous owner swapped out the pickups for some really fancy boutique hand wounds,,, and tusq saddles, nut. Pros: as I bought it, sounds great Cons: the fret work is so freaking sharp. I had to sand the shit out of them to not bleed out playing. And,, the pickguard is too bright white.
Great video! I have one too... I really do enjoy it! It has a great tone and feel, but my pickup selector is on fritz, therefore on the third and forth positions work, only. I have needed to contact Fender, but life...
The locking trem bar was a feature that was intended to be put in thr CME exclusives but they decided otherwise for some reason. They forgot to take it off the advertisement. Lol
I have this in ice blue, got it used, so I saved 200.. the trem system is fine. Bend the arm a bit and it stays put. I swapped the saddles for tusq (45 bucks)put a Stew Mac shim on(8 bucks)raised the bridge, lock tite on the threads & it plays great. Mastery is a great upgrade but not necessary
I picked up one of these and I’m wondering if anyone else has noticed that the shielding paint in the cavity isn’t grounded? I’m getting a lot of noise and I’m not sure if it’s intentional or a defect.
First off your bridge is way too low, you need to raise it and put an angled shim in the neck pocket… sure you can get a mastery but I’d suggest still getting a neck shim
not sure why buy my identical guitar sounds like shit... and no, it's not my playing.... my epiphone les paul sounds 10X better... maybe it's cause mine is blue and not pink?
Timestamps! Build Quality = 1:24 / Neck Feel = 3:44 / Electronics = 4:54 / Hardware = 7:10 / Demo = 9:27
Love the detail and honesty of this sort of review.
I just got my CME Jazzmaster today and my whammy bar fits securely. I had to press it in all the way, but it’s as solid as any of my Strat whammy bars with the spring installed. No issues with the stock bridge or vibrato. The threaded stock worked fine even with 9’s installed. No string popping out of place or tuning stability issues after lubing the nut, bridge, and string tree. Why pay Mastery all of that money for no good reason? Just setup your guitar correctly, and or ideally have it setup properly from the seller.
weird; I’ve just finished setting up the CME jazzmaster for a customer and found it to be the complete opposite. I’m biased because i’m typically working on vintage / AVRI JM’s & Jags which have little to no issues when set up properly, but even with the usual tricks (blue loctite on all the screws, neck shim for proper break angle) I had a good amount of rattle compared to my mastery and even stock vintage style bridge equipped guitars. Maybe it’s because I use .11s on my guitars and the client asked for .10s, but i think the stock bridge on these is just pretty junky.
You’d be better off finding a mustang bridge with the proper radius if you don’t want to shell out for a mastery or staytrem, but to me it’s completely worth it.
Great review. Honestly so glad that I found out about the CME Jazzmaster. So annoying that fender put Humbuckers on their player jazzmasters (and with the worst color options too, lmao).
Bought one of these in store at CME, had it set up. This was maybe 6 months ago. No issues with bridge or vibrato system.
I vouch for the mastery bridge and trem system. Best upgrade I did on my AmPro Jazzmaster
Jazzmasters need a very specific setup to run properly. I recommend watching Puisheen for some insight. I got the Vintera II and after a proper setup it smokes all my other guitars, it's snappy, it's warm and super clear.
Basically you need to shim the neck
i just ordered this same guitar from CME and i’m really nervous as to how it’ll come when delivered. i’m hoping there’s not much fret buzz. i’m glad i ran into this video, thank u :)
its a great guitar! the pickups and neck are so great, just wish the bridge was better.
@@SeanZetterlund i’ll definitely look into a mastery bridge in the future. i cant wait till it comes home to me
I got this guitar recently; I love it. Pickups sound great, neck is super-smooth.
The bridge is complete trash-not entirely sure why Fender even uses these bridges anymore. Not in love with the nut, either. So it’s gonna require some mods and a good setup, but man, dat shell pink. Lovvvvvve.
Leo Fender made the bridge for the Jazzmaster and Jaguar for 11 gauge strings. If you have a lot of fret buzz that is likely the problem, Lighter gauges just can't be used on a Jazzmaster
@@SeanZetterlund The bridge isn’t bad. Just use the gauge of strings it was designed for (10’s and up).
Is the trem in the traditional position? It looks like it
I bought one used, the previous owner swapped out the pickups for some really fancy boutique hand wounds,,, and tusq saddles, nut.
Pros: as I bought it, sounds great
Cons: the fret work is so freaking sharp. I had to sand the shit out of them to not bleed out playing.
And,, the pickguard is too bright white.
The j mascis neck was vastly better quality. I like this neck shape better though. Thin/slim, fast. Shame about the rasp/microplane fretwork.
@@Dungeon_of_Regret wouldn't you prefer the 7inch neck then? This one is 9
Anyone notice that fizzy rattley sound whenever a guitar is too bright? It seems to come up whenever listening to a demo.
Great video! I have one too... I really do enjoy it! It has a great tone and feel, but my pickup selector is on fritz, therefore on the third and forth positions work, only. I have needed to contact Fender, but life...
Mine did the same it was bad solder joints in there
How do you add the toggle pickups up top? Would you ask fender?
The locking trem bar was a feature that was intended to be put in thr CME exclusives but they decided otherwise for some reason. They forgot to take it off the advertisement. Lol
I got one of these in peach 🔥🔥🔥
GREAT REVIEW!
Where has this channel been all my life?
I love my HH player jazzmaster but when I found out about the CME model I felt so cheated lol
I have this in ice blue, got it used, so I saved 200.. the trem system is fine. Bend the arm a bit and it stays put. I swapped the saddles for tusq (45 bucks)put a Stew Mac shim on(8 bucks)raised the bridge, lock tite on the threads & it plays great. Mastery is a great upgrade but not necessary
I picked up one of these and I’m wondering if anyone else has noticed that the shielding paint in the cavity isn’t grounded? I’m getting a lot of noise and I’m not sure if it’s intentional or a defect.
The UK version of this has changed the bridge to saddle type bridges. No complaints from me with that.
from guitarguitar?
@@iwanjoness Yes!
First off your bridge is way too low, you need to raise it and put an angled shim in the neck pocket… sure you can get a mastery but I’d suggest still getting a neck shim
Wait…..no rythym and lead circuits??!!! What???
Wait... it's a 5 way switch...??
So positions 2 & 4...they're out of phase? So, noise cancelling...??
Cos if so, you're burying the lead, bro!
Whats the difference between fender American and fender Mexican?
Where they're made, and price
American is better quality, supposedly..
The American will come with the locking vibrato. They removed the lock slide button from the Mexican for some reason. I just swapped mine out.
But then Corona-chan happened.
not sure why buy my identical guitar sounds like shit... and no, it's not my playing.... my epiphone les paul sounds 10X better... maybe it's cause mine is blue and not pink?
Would you also upgrade the bridge on a USA Jazzmaster?