Fender '62 Reissue Jazzmaster

Japanese 'CIJ' Jazzmaster. Candy Apple Red, 200? manufacture I think. Mine's hardly been played, think it has the factory set-up (shocking, in case you were wondering).

Features are all there - tremelo arm is very loose fitting, perhaps that's what these guitars are like though, I've no prior experience of them so I've no idea.

I like playing all sorts, from jazz & soul to styles bordering on metal. I bought this with the intention to replace the Strat I normally use as an all rounder - that has Lace Sensors at neck and middle and Kent Armstrong at the bridge, meaning it's good for most styles apart from trad jazz and very heavy stuff. Although the Jazzmaster is nice acoustically, when amplified it sounds MUCH thinner in all positions than my Strat, leading me to deem it - at present - a below par Strat in tone ad this I blame on the pickups, which some internet research leads me to believe are pretty much cheap Strat pickups in a large casing. So, I'm going to replace them with Seymour Duncan Antiquity II models for which I hold out high hopes. The guitar sounds great acoustically, so I'm sure with the decent pickups it'll sort itself out. It certainly feels as if it has potential there.

Seems like very good quality build. Nut wasn't amazingly well cut, and of course the stock bridge is a waste of space. Mine has a Mustang bridge on there so it's much better. I'd say it's a very well made guitar with a rubbish factory setup, but I'm very confident my guitar tech friend will sort it out easily so don't let that put you off.

Seems very solid all round, though I've not used it on gigs much so I don't really know how it'll perform. Treat the switches with respect and it should be fine I think, since in all other respects it's pretty much like an oversized Strat with an 'interesting' tremelo. I'm confident that with my Hiscox case it'll travel the world with me with minimal complaints, so thumbs up.

Dunno...

I've been playing over 20 years, professionally for about the last 5 of those. I do studio and live stuff of various different styles. As a touring electric guitar I mainly use my Strat since I know that it's likely to come off an airplane in one piece, and if it doesn't then it's relatively easily fixed/replaced. However I'm a bit bored with it and I plan on using the Jazzmaster as a more quirky replacement.

I've got loads of guitars: Strat for all styles, 80s Yamaha AE1200 for jazz, 78 Yamaha SA 2000S as alternative all rounder (comes in handy for everything including heavy styles because of the weird combination of insanely powerful yet very versatile pickups - if you ever get the chance then buy one!). The Jazzmaster seems like it'll work well for multiple styles when given a good set up and some decent pickups. Without these it's not up to too much, apart from looking fantastic...

So overall, it's a well made and lovely looking guitar that has - with a bit of attention - the potential to be extremely good.

This guitar is a left-handed japanese reissue from the 90's that I bought used in new condition.
21 frets - I wish it had 22 but I love the way the neck sounds.
I had installed Seymour Duncan Hot Neck and Quarter Pound Bridge pickups ASAP, filed a groove in the center of each saddle, and drilled a small hole into the end of the tremelo arm to place a clip through the end so it wouldn't fall out of the trem.

This is the best clean guitar ever, in my opinion. I use it to play Ventures-style instumentals, punk-new wave, etc.

I use a silverface Fender Princeton Reverb for recording, or a Super Twin Reverb with the Boss Deluxe Reverb(bridge pickup)/Bassman(neck pickup) pedals - I can get just about any 50's/60's rock n roll, surf, or garage sound I can imagine. And it seems easy to play any other style of music in this fashion.

I also use the Boss Overdrive/Distortion pedal set on distortion mode with the gain level turned all the way down using the bridge pickup for a very fierce fuzz sound. Not much sustain, but Two-note chords, double-stops, and Randy Rhoads-style legatos sound pretty damned good like this.

However, without a humbucker, larger levels of overdrive or distortion sound like ****e.

I don't really use any effects with this guitar other than reverb (sometimes tremelo).

On a Fender Guitar, I like two different types of action, each with their own advatages and flaws;

Low action - the strings produce an awesome twangy slap (like The Ventures' Fugitive) and fretting any chord, triple stop, etc. is very easy, but the b and high e strings fret out when bending anywhere on the fretboard.

High Action - solves the string bending problem for me, but it usually messes up the intonation to where bar chords sound out of tune, so I have to resort to power chords with added thirds, etc. instead.

The alder body and maple neck seem very durable.

The hardware needs to be replaced; the vol & tone knobs aren't working, the rhytmn circuit switch broke, the frets are worn out (heavy downstrokes on bar chords and too much lead will do that to a guitar in over 5 years) - I'm thinking about replacing the nickel frets with stainless steel.

N/A

I've been playing for over 20 years.
I also have a Fender Jaguar with humbuckers.
If someone tried to steal this guitar, I'd use it to beat them senseless.
This is my favourite clean/dirty guitar ever - for overdriven & marshall type sounds I use said other guitar.

Jazzmaster CIJ in Vintge White color.
The guitar is wonderful but the white pickups covers and the white knobs are horrible...I have replaced these with 2 USA Jazzmaster pickups covers in vintage white color and 2 knobs in vintage whte color.
Now is 10!!!

The suond is good...but is very different from the true Jazzmaster. I have replaced the stock pickups with 2 Seymour Duncan Vintage SJM-1: these pickups are made as in 1957.
Attention: if you want put in you japanese jazzmaster some duncan's pickups, you must change your covers because the 6 holes of japanese models don't fit in duncan's pick ups...
I'm lucky: I bought 2 american covers because the stock covers are horribly white...
Anyway we have 2 different sounds...

STOCK SOUND: really good...but is something like a Strato...
In the pickups there isn't more copper and it sound with no more expression...Vote 7 with stock situation.

SJM-1 VINTAGE: Now is amazing. You can find a thin and bright sound and at the same time a muddy jazzy sound. With distortion you have a sound look like Sonic Youth/dinosaur Jr
Vote 10

The shape of the guitar is wonderful....The bridge, the headstock and color is very beautiful...
The only problem is the bridge: I have replaced it with a mustang bridge and a buzzstop...now you can play from soft to hard!

The guitar is very solid. All the buttons are perfect and everything works perfectly.

3 years warranty

I have a Gibson SG and with this Jazzmaster now I can play every kind of music.
Great distortion from Gibson and great Fender sound.
If you love Sonic Youth, Velvet Underground and everything indie this guitar is what you are searching for.
Japanese model is better than American model because if make these little changes (bridge, pickups and covers) with 900??? you have a guitar better than the American (1600???)

Purchased a used, tort on Black, Stock '62 American Jazzmaster Reissue, which includes the stock Tailpiece/Bridge (that for me and many other internet jazzmaster players consider a bit difficult to work with when it comes to harder playing). With a bridge alteration/and a stable vibrato tailpiece, the factory vintage Fender Tuners hold the strings in tune very well. Im not sure if the neck is an A, B, or C, curve, but its maple/rosewood combination with an overdose of vintage tinted nitro-laq that called for a brillo massage. Since this guitar was purchased used in 2006, the guitar came with its stock "Fender" stapled case without its case candy (strap, short cable, tail bar, polish cloth, etc...) supplied if purchased new. I'm not sure of the year of its birth, but I know its called an "American Reissue". Its' equipped with a three way toggle, for pick-up, selection/combos, 1 volume and tone knob for the bridge pickup, while the neck pick up kind of has its' own roller system when it comes to tonal combos. The guitar came with its' stock pickups (American Vintage Reissue), but I decided I would replace the bridge with a S. Duncan Quarter-pound. Maple wood for the neck, roserwood for the fretboard, alder for the body, smothered with Nitro- Laquery goodness. Overall this guitar looks delicious. Yum.

After a few weeks of playing the stock bridge pickup, I decided that It lacked sustain when it came to being distorted by a Marshall TSL 100. So I did a little bit of pick-up research and found a few possible choices...Curtis Novaks Pickups that people seem to really enjoy, Jason Lollars replacement model, a Seym. Duncan model of a dozen to choose from, or if I wanted to shell out the cash, have a custom wound one.... So I decided on the Quarter-Pound by S. Duncan at a price of about $60 and I'm very pleased with this decision. In addition to the new pickup, I added a buzz-stop tail piece and a mustang bridge and had it set up at a local shop. The results added a significant amount of sustain and playability that made this guitar an instant favorite that is arguablely the most sonically versatile guitar that I own..I like the neck, but as I mentioned above, the nitro is a tad over kill on the neck and headstock and required an equal scrub on the back of the neck to tame the elmers' stickiness.....The guitar before the pickup change sounded great as well...just a little too sharp for me when at high volumes on a distorted Marshall.

I dont know about factory Questions..but the local shop did a great job with the setup. No flaws that I care of....The Fender logo was a little off it's headstock....... which could have been the previous owner, who knows, I dont care, It's used and works! ....

This guitar seems like a pritty tuff dude/dudess. It seems like everything should last, but who am I to know its future?.....I would certainly gig with it no problem...I break less strings on this guitar then a Les Paul I have..so I guess this may be good for gigs in that respect?

No warranty, bought used w/out one....If I need support I go to a local shop not a corporate chain for support (take too long, bad service department...etc.) besides, I bought it at a local shop.....So if you can, support your community... support your local shop.

I have been playing since '96, and have owned too much equipment over the years....It is my most played guitar (over a Les Paul that costs twice as much). It would be silly for me to say this is a better or worse guitar then so and so....So I think the Jazzmaster is its own thing, and I would bite the person in the face really hard if it were lost and stolen because.... I love this thing, modded or un modded!

Fender 1962 Jazzmaster. A reissue, of course. The colour you ask? Ocean Turquoise.

The sound of this guitar is exactly what I had been hearing in my head for the past few years. I was just coming off of a MIM Fender Strat, so it took a little time to re-tweak the Jazzmaster with my current rig. First of all a Jazzmaster can stay in tune. When I first bought this I was abusing the trem like no tomorrow. Guess what? It stayed in tune very well. The trem system is very nice, and great for nice subtle tremelo nonsense, but not for divebombs. Played clean with a fender hot rod deluxe is a beaut. Crystal clear cleans with lots of "kick". The guitar istelf had a very rich and phat sound that I never did get out of my strat. I play with distortion. Fuzz to be exact. The Jazz rips with a skreddy mayo. THe Jazzmaster can be a tad noisey but only with gain. Using the Neck pickup or the bridge pickup with distortion can cause uncontrollable feedback. Solution? Use both the neck and the bridge pickups with the toggle switch in the middle. You can manipulate the feedback much easier and playing is not; how I would say, Sonic Youth sounding. The Lead switch IMO totally outshines the Rtyhm side. The Rthym switch's downside would be that it is too woody sounding and not as versatile. You can play pop, shoegaze, grunge, punk, and perhaps metal with the amp/pedal. I haven't tried the last, so don't quote me on that. I play a mix of Smashing Pumpkins/Nirvana/Swervedriver, so this guitar suits me to the T.

The guitar came from the factory pretty well set-up. I of course adjusted the pickups and the bridge for personal reasons. The only drawback is the bridge. Perhaps with 11 gauge strings or up you will be fine. But I play 10's with a half step down tuning and after about a week and a half the bridge flaw became present. It was a struggle but I soon decided to throw on..........a mustang bridge and the guitar has not given me any problems since then. Strings only jumped out of the saddles once for me with the original bridge. And that was due to excessively hard strumming on my part. Didn't happen again though.

I have had this bad boy since April and with only one problem withstanding, that being the bridge, I would gig with it and would like to think it will stand the test of time. It's truely a solid guitar.

I have yet to deal with the company. So I wouldn't really know, now would I?

Let's say it like this: If Jazzmasters were banned all across the world I would either quit playing guitar or get a Jaguar. Not much else to say, play the guitar and you will see for yourself.

I hope the Jazzmaster misconception continues to grow so us Indie-rock Geeks can continue to have "our" guitar and sound.

"Architecture, nature, alcohol
Space travel, rock n roll"

It's a '62 Fender American vintage Jazzmaster Ice Blue Metallic. It is a standerd model

It has a great sound, nice clean, rock, jazzy and pop. With the different switches you can create manny sounds on 2 pick-ups.

The finishing could be better. It played great but it need some adjustment. On the other hand, the rest was perfect!

This guitar is meant to last forever. The older it will be the better it wil play...

It's the best guitar ever!

1996 MIJ burst with red tortise shell pickguard. SEXY. Same options and features as the ones listed below.

The most beautiful sounding guitar i own. I had an american strat prior to this and this definetly sounds better. Clean, warm and very retro sounding. I would give it a ten but nothings a ten.

Japan workmanship. Perfect. No flaws anywhere on this guitar. I am considering a getting a second one. The american reissues are nice but the you get hung up easily on the neck due to the proper finish for that era. The japanese re-issues are every bit as nice as the americans but with the modern satin finish Fender is now using on there necks.

The bridges on these guitars have to go. Prob the worst bridge ever put on a guitar. Replace it with a mustang bridge or better yet get the Warmoth.
With the exception of the bridge i have no other complaints.

Great.

If it were stolen i would have to get another. These guitars sound amazing. There clean sound is just unreal. Dont expect to play heavy metal or hard rock, this isnt your guitar (unless your J Mascis).

-2003 MIJ jazmaster. Limited edition one of 350.
Japan all the way.
-p-90(ish) pickups. Look like soapbars from the top, but underneath, thecoils aren't much wider than normal single coils. Sounds different than a strat though.
Candy apple red. gloss gloss gloss!
-3 way toggle, rhythym circuit with volume/tone roller circuits, cruddy main volume/ tone knobs.
-standard crappy jag/jazz bridge. Ordered a mustang bridge. It's in the mail. "ALL PARTS" offers replacement mustang saddles pretty cheap too.
-guitar came with an allen wrench to adjust the crappy bridge.

aesthetically this guitar is freaking sex. It looks so hot. Mechanically, the bridge and volume/tone pots have to go.

this guitar is perfect for my style. I play danceable throw-back indie-pop. A little abrasive, but melodic as well (think Gang of four, Strokes, Pixies, Sonic Youth, Wire, XTC, Cure, Pavement, Kinks, Elvis Costello).
I've been using a 1968 silvertone twin, but I'm looking for a fender twin reverb. The thing about fender gutiars is they usually sound great through most any amp, but they hit their stride when paired up with a fender amp.
-I use two delay units, an mxr booster, and a jekyll & hyde overdrive (sparingly).
-The sound is warm and rich, slightly abrasive at times which is perfect. AS a lead instrument, the gutiar is lacking. It's tough to break through for a solo with this guitar. It just lacks that little bit of "oomph" ti needs. I think I could fix this with some aftermarket p-90's. Gibson makes a good hybrid, the p-94.

-the action was a little high, and the tremolo was not adjusted. With a minor tweaking, I had it set up great.
-THe pick-ups are even sounding, neither one really dominates the other in volume.
-The one flaw with these japanese jazz/jags is the bridge. The saddles are horrible. They buzz all the time. You gotta use like 13's to keep it on. I put 13's opn it and the low e still popped off the saddle on every song. It really became a major problem at each show. I'd have to adjust the strings and retune after each song.
The screws vibrate out and the strings slip off the saddles all the time. This can be fixed by replacing the saddles with fender mustang saddles. (18.99 online).
-The volume/tone pots are bad. Volume hums at 1-5, then builds at 7-10, tone just takes away volume. This guitar will get new pots.

I've had it 8 months and besides the bridge issues, it's a keeper.
here are current and future mods:
-reissue mustang bridge/mustang saddles
-chrome strap-locks
-new volume/ tone pots
-fender p-90 pickups

Guitar is great, I do gig with a backup as this one is out of tune constantly. Chalk that up to my style I suppose. I always finish with a bloody right hand.
hardware should be okay, except for the bridge and pots.
finish looks good.

called musicians friend, they had no idea how to adjust the trem.

I've been playing for 5 years. I've owned 18 different guitar in that span. I own an early 70's epiphone coronet, a 2001 taylor big baby acoustic, 1968 silvertone twin twelve, 1960's lindell combo, 1960's teisco bass, various other instruments: accordion, synths, keys...

I give this guitar a 7 because of it's cool factor. The tone is great, and it feels so good in my hands. Seriously, girls want to have sex with it. I've had several offers, but turned them all down.
The saddles and pots WILL be replaced soon. Other than that problem, it's a great guitar, much beter than my jaguar reissue I bought

Mine is a metallic placid blue MIJ Jazzmaster. I has those wide p90-esque pickups, standard pickup switch, and "revolutionary" rhythm switch. Ditto for the rest.

Played clean, this guitar still retains the fender snap despite the "warm" sounding p90 like pickups. I would say that the bridge pickup is quite even without sounding sharping or ice-pickish. The neck oup is quite fat and still retains some nice definition across chords. In combination, you have a nice hum-cancelling sound that is more acoustic sounding than you would expect. This guitar excels at clean or slight overdriven sounds.

With some distortion this guitar reveals itself to me more of rhythm guitar than lead. The pickups do not lend themselves to soloing when distorted as it sounds a little strained. However, if you want a nice wall fuzz or white noise (think mbv) this guitar does it well.

The neck is nick and sleek although not as slinking as a tele. The tremolo is quite effective and considering it is non-lcoking, is a great unit, particularly suited to the "surf" sound. Finish is nice and even.

My biggest grip is the quality of the tone circuits and pots. Treble controls rolls of very quickly so you can really on play with treble all the way on or off.

When you engage the rhythm circuit the guitar (at least mine) seems to roll off post of the treble, which is too much even for the most timid of rhythm guitarist. I am planning on getting a guitar tech to install nicer treble circuits the roll off evenly, ditto for the volume too.

As for the bridge...well it just plain sucks....put on a mustang bridge..problem solved. Definately worth doing as it is a non destructive change.

Quite a heavy guitar...wouldn't like to get hit with one.

In my opinion, the Jazzmaster is the coolest guitar ever. I have coveted one ever since first caught sight of one. Not quite that most practical of guitars, and it certainly is not a jack of all trades.
Nonetheless, pure class.

Japanese reissue Jazzmaster, Lake Placid Blue (unique color, especially since most Jazzes found in stores now are sunburst), pretty much stock equipment (though mine was shipped without the trem-bar and mute).

I just recently picked up this guitar, and knew it mostly from the artists I've seen using it (Radiohead, Sonic Youth, Nirvana). I've been playing a Strat for about four years now so basically everything I have to say about the Jazz is in comparison to it. This is a very versatile guitar. It has a rhythm/lead switch (at least that's what I've been calling it) and seperate volume and tone controls for each (indicative of how old this particular guitar design is, but you get used to it after playing for a while). When in "rhythm mode" the guitar has a very strong midrange, and the tone slider causes the guitar to go from a fairly biting attack to almost not attack at all (a sound similar to the "between-pickup" settings on the Strat). When switched to lead, this guitar is extremely bright. The pickup selector has a similar effect to that of the Strat, accentuating bass, midrange, or treble depending on the pickup. The selector on mine only seems to work on the lead setting, however. I'm not sure if this is intentional, but I'm perfectly happy with the tones I can already get from the rhythm circuit so it isn't a big deal. This is a great guitar for both rhythm and lead playing.
I've read some complaints about the Jazzmaster's performance with distortion, and to a certain extent this is a fairly messy-sounding guitar when the gain is cranked. However, I found the sound to be an interesting alternative to the tighter distortion I get from my Strat. This is not the messy sound of a cheap knock-off, but Nirvana-style controlled chaos. Roll the tone all the way up on the rhythm circuit and you get a chimey, harmonic distortion. Roll it all the way down and (much to my surprise) you get a Smashing Pumpkins-esque hum (think most of the heavier tracks from "Siamese Dream"). This is a sound I've been trying to get out of my Strat for a while now. The lead circuit is well-suited for it's name. This guitar doesn't sustain very long, but it is well-suited for quick, mellow solos.
Regarding the buzz from the bridge; this is apparently a common problem for the Jazz, as mine has it too. I've read about others replacing their bridges with Mustang bridges and whatnot, but I've noticed that normal ball-end strings don't seem to fit well in the string-holes, so I'm going to try putting some Fender Bullets on this guitar and see if it makes a difference before I try anything drastic.

According to the description of this guitar on good-ol' Ebay, this particular Jazzmaster had been a display piece before I got my grubby little hands on it. It shows. The guitar still had the plastic wrap on the pickguard when it came in, and the finish shows no sign of wear. The action of this guitar is pretty standard Fender action and will be comfortable for anyone who owns a Strat or Tele. That said, the neck has a noticably longer scale length than that of a Strat, though this didn't take as much getting used-to as I thought it would. The tuners are very effective; I have yet to knock this guitar out of tune. They did, however, need a little oil. As I said before, the guitar came missing the trem-bar, but there are a whole mess of them available seperately on Ebay, and the absense of the mute wasn't a big deal as most guitarists seem to consider it more of a conversation piece than a useful accessory.

As with most Fenders, the Jazz has a bolt-on neck and a solidly constructed body. I haven't owned this one long enough to put it through the gauntlet, but I have faith from my good experience with the Strat. The strap buttons are solid and the finish is of good quality (not to mention a very nice color). My one gripe is that the strings it shipped with feel pretty old, but I plan on restringing it soon anyway. I would feel confident playing a gig with this is my only guitar, but it's always good common sense to have a backup in case strings break or some other disaster happens.

I've never had to deal with Fender directly, but I'm quickly becoming addicted to their guitars.

I've been playing for about five years now, and my other guitars are a venerable old Harmony acoustic and a Fender Standard Strat. I run my electrics through a Marshall AVT50 and spice things up with an Electro-Harmonix Small Clone Chorus. The Jazzmaster works beautifully with the Marshall, as this amp adds some nice crunch to what is normally a fairly mellow guitar. Will the Jazz replace my faithful Strat? No, because the Strat can do things the Jazz cannot, and vice-versa. These two guitars fill the holes in each other's sounds very well, so I intend to keep using them both. Overall, the Fender Jazzmaster is an easy-playing, versatile guitar. This is not a metal axe, but it suit my alt-rock and surf tastes just fine.