When Jazzmasters were Badazz. . .

[Fatherflot]

The Jazzmaster - not just for vegan emo hipsters. . .

 

[e???]

I wish I had one. The string tension always weirds me out though. You'd think it'd be an easy switch from a strat, but it's a different animal entirely

 

[Fatherflot]

It got better when I tuned down to E flat. But it needs heavy strings and that gives it a totally different feel than the typical Strat set up with super light strings. It is a completely different experience from any other guitar -- even other Fenders.

 

[StratoCraig]

Jazzmasters are not for vegan emo hipsters. They're for Elvis Costello, Tom Verlaine, Sonic Youth, and Sean Eden.

The neck and bridge pickups by themselves sound like a beefed-up Strat. It's when both are on that the JM really shows its uniqueness.

I also tune my JM to Eb. It just sounds right. Not sure why.

 

[Fatherflot]

Jazzmasters are not for vegan emo hipsters.

Well. . .

 

[morgan918]

Jazzmasters are not for vegan emo hipsters. They're for Elvis Costello, Tom Verlaine, Sonic Youth, and Sean Eden.

The neck and bridge pickups by themselves sound like a beefed-up Strat. It's when both are on that the JM really shows its uniqueness.

I also tune my JM to Eb. It just sounds right. Not sure why.

I'm not vegan but that's a dick comment.

 

[rollyfoster]

I'm not vegan but that's a dick comment.

Did you even read the first post?

 

[bealtown]

All the surf guys prefer Jazzmasters as the prime surf guitar, then Jaguars after that, though some complain about the 3/4" scale difference of the latter. So the poseurs who insist on 'being different' don't really define anything by preferring Fender's 'offset' models. They just need to differentiate themselves from their idea of the mainstream.

 

[Fatherflot]

I wasn't looking to be different. I actually went looking for a Telecaster in 1983 and ended up with a genuine '66 JM for $250. I had never even seen one in a picture before that day. It was the cheapest guitar in the place and they were begging me to take it off their hands. I think that's how it got popular, originally, with younger players. They were out of style and dirt cheap in the 80s.

But once I had one, I was hooked. That sexy body that tucks in so nicely under the rib cage, the retro-modernist offset design, like a Vegas casino sign from 1959, and that vibrato bar---addictive!

Actually, Elvis Costello's personal JM story is somewhat similar:



I guess you could call him the original "hipster" adopter of the JM, though he never seemed very vegan to me. Not to mention that he was a hell of a badazz in the day. . .

 

[PixMix]

Jazzmaster and then jaguar were supposed to be "top of the line" models as intended by Leo. When they were introduced they were more expensive than tele and strat, but at least in US, they never really became that popular. I think Jazzmaster is an awfully misunderstood instrument. I have grown to like jazzmasters more than anything that's out there, and with the right eq-ing of the amp (and pedals) the rhythm circuit can not only sound really great, but makes the guitar really versatile.

 

[IPLAYLOUD]

Leo sent one to Town Hall Party for "anyone" to use, and they did.
He could have sent a Strat or Tele, but he didn't.
It was always plugged into Joe Maphis's Standel Amp.

Gordon Terry (in an unrehearsed song for sure).


Carl Perkins


Gene Vincent's Band

 

[StratoCraig]

To me, the so-called "rhythm circuit" isn't so much for rhythm as it is a sort of "classic jazz tone" circuit. It can sound a lot like the tone of 1940s and '50s jazz guitarists. At the same time, it's kind of redundant, since you can get pretty much the same tone on the main circuit by selecting the neck pickup and turning down the tone knob to about 4.

I just set the rhythm circuit volume to zero and use the circuit selector as a kill switch.

 

[ultradust]

And thank goodness for um...Jaguars, too

 

[eigentone]

As of December 2016, Jazzmasters are still Badazz.

 

[kracdown]

I remember being at this when I was 14...



and then I saw Queens of the Stone Age for the first time a few years later (not at this show though):



Now I'm rocking these two most of the time (and I have an AV65...):

1966

1959/1967

Now when did they stop being bad ass?

 

[shane8]

they were discontinued for a reason

 

[ultradust]

they were discontinued for a reason

Nearly 22 years from the late 1950s debut until the final few in September 1980 ain't a bad run for any quirky guitar. Didn't CBS discontinue a bunch of things around then?

 

[IceTre]

The Jazzmaster - not just for vegan emo hipsters. . .

Ha ha. I understand. It has become a fad, among the pretty bearded hipster "indie" (which is really pop) band, hasn't it? Those guys are driving the price up. Glad I bought mine before it was hip.

 

[filtersweep]

I remember being at this when I was 14...



and then I saw Queens of the Stone Age for the first time a few years later (not at this show though):



Now I'm rocking these two most of the time (and I have an AV65...):

1966

1959/1967

Now when did they stop being bad ass?

I love the blocks and binding- I bought a Jag for a similar neck.

 

[dirk_benedict]

HAHA. Elvis Costello is a longtime vegetarian actually.

I love everything about JMs except the bridge pickup conundrum* and working on them.

(*Yeah, yeah there are lots of contortions you can go through to get it to sound okay, but it's the achilles heel of the basic design of that guitar, IMVHO. Even beefed up pickups in the JM form factor seem to struggle. And just to level-set, I'm hardly a Les Paul --into Marshall/classic rock-or-die tones kind of guy.)