Fender J Mascis Jazzmaster

The stats are listed in other reviews. The Jazzmaster is one of those great "unusual Fenders," as it is. It sits nicely with the Jag and the Mustang as a guitar that has *almost* that classic Fender feel/sound, but provides something a little different. The J. Mascis model makes it even moreso by taking a funny guitar and doing some extra funny things with it. The basswood body is light and very resonant. I like it a lot. The TOM bridge , I think, adds to this resonance, gives it a different feel and a tad more attack and sustain than a regular JM. The finish is outstanding. The jumbo frets seem gratuitous, but are genuinely unique and refreshing on this guitar. Provides great left-hand vibrato that sounds cool with the Jazzmaster snarl! Also notable is that the v. tailpiece is further down the body than a normal JM, creating the same bridge to tailpiece distance as the Jag (bridge is closer to the tailpiece on regular JM's). Feels good and easy to use.

This guitar sounds good on a mediocre amp and awesome on a great amp. Was very pleasant on my middle-of-the-road Fender Performer amp, but is just astounding on my Dr. Z Maz 18 Junior 210. I had a '65 Mustang and also have a '62 Jaguar Reissue. This Jazzmaster is in the same class. It has the snarl, grit and bite of the other two, but is a little thinner and plainer, though that's too unflattering a description . . . it is just the most straight-ahead of the three, that's more accurate. A workhorse guitar. Very natural and straight-ahead. Perfect for rhythm guitar, but fun for lead with those frets! Found the other two to be "tougher" sounding, perhaps? More mids? Great indie sound. Very Television, or the lush sounds of MBV (with the proper effects!). Still more "snarl" than "twang," but approaches some Tele-like tones on the bridge pickup. Sound sparkles on bridge+neck setting and slightly clicky, stratty lead tone on neck. I actually love the "rhythm circuit." It is warm, dark, woody and jazzy, similar to the same circuit on the Jag and is such a cool departure from all the other sounds on the instrument, making it so versatile. It creates a "learning curve" (as far as an electric guitar can have!), but gives this guitar serious character. A joy to play - gets equal time as my slightly more expensive and revered Jag!

Bought this used from the Eric's Trip guy! So was used. But in like-new condition. Finish on neck and body, flawless. Frets seemed to need some dressing perhaps? But fine, really. Was easy to play and I didn't do much to change anything.

This guitar really feels as solid as any Fender I've had contact with, meaning it's probably very, very reliable. The Japanese craftsmanship actually looks and feels superb, solid and tight. Fender Japan has built a pretty good track record, I think.

This guitar is a joy and really something fans of the "indie" Fender sound should try out. To anyone else, this would be a unique, finely built Fender with the capacity for a great straight-ahead rock sound and more. Like most Fenders, this is not a full-tilt metal or hard rock guitar, but an instrument with defined, clean, natural tone that sounds great with a bit of grit. It is definitely "different." The switching, shape and tremolo make it an acquired taste for some. For me, these things make the guitar rewarding to play, all the more with the interesting features particular to the J. Mascis model. It was always his voice I got a kick out of more than his guitar, but still a cool player and a cool sig. model!

This is the cij j mascis jazzmaster which is feature wise a whole load different to the 62 reissue cij one i have.On this guitar you get a purple metalflake polyester finish with matching headstock,a 7.5 radius slab rosewood board on a thin satin finished maple neck(c shape),jumbo frets,vintage reissue pick ups and alledgely a reinforced tremolo housing although i cant see how as it feels no different to my 62 re or the usa 65 model that was my main stage guitar for years.The guitar comes with no accesories a gig bag at least would have been nice

Sound wise this guitar suits me perfectly as i am a huge fan of not only mascis but other jm users tom verlaine,kevin sheilds,thurston moore and lee ranaldo so you could discribe my style as indie.i play through a traynor ycv40 amp and use a boss ds1,marshall regenerator,and sovtek big muff alongside the amps switchable channels and i can honestly say that the j mascis knocks spots off my 62 re and although a hell of a lot brighter than my 65 is a close run thing.the rhythm circuit is pretty well redundant on all three of my jazzmasters as i find it muddy and over middly in an unusable and not very musical way.However the lead circuit is a joy to be hold played clean the bridge pick up is sparklier than my other two neck is a bit like a strat neck pickup in tone and the hum cancelling middle position is jangle heaven.I have read some jazzmaster reviews which dont rate the guitar when distorted but i think its all subjective as a distorted jazzmaster is one of my fave sounds and this one has a bright growl all its own as my others are a mellower proposition altogether,sure this is not the sound of an emg or regular humbucker and there is a degree of background noise but the tone is enough to make up for that.

the guitar came beautifully set up although i dont know if the factory did this or the store,the action is slightly higher than with an original jazzmaster bridge but there is less buzz and you can relly go for it in solos without fear of the strings jumping out of their slots.my only complaint is the alleged reinforced trem housing which in my opinion is no better than before maybe the mex classic player trem which has a threaded arm would have served this guitar better.

I have already used the j mascis live as my number one choice as i dont take the 65 out to gigs anymore.The strap buttons are solid the finish seems as tough as old boots and intend using this guitar for a long time to come japanese workmanship of the highest order in my opinion.Would i use it live without a back up no but then i wouldnt trust any guitar not to let you down with a string break and no one wants string changes and silence onstage surely.

never had need to deal with fender in 20 years of playing

After 20 years of playing and a reluctance to take vintage guitars into live situations i can report that the j mascis jazzmaster is an excellent guitar for the jazzmaster fan i rate it over my japanese 62 reissue however jazzmasters are not for everyone if i played country i would use a tele for example so if you are into alt/rock and indie and want to sound and look different to other bands i would recommend this as a must try option.

Purple sparkle finish, gold anodized pickguard, MIJ pickups, standard Jazzmaster controls, tuneomatic bridge, tremolo. LOVE the jumbo frets!

I play in a couple of space rock bands, one of which is very riffy, the other one is more textural. I run a budda bud wah, boss tu-2, maxon ad80, Seymour Tweak fuzz, Barber Direct Drive, Menatone KOB, Dunlop Univibe Stereo Chorus, Fulltone Supa Trem, Line 6 DL4, and a H&K Rotosphere into a Rivera R100 Duo 12. The guitar doesn't work great for heavier stuff, but overall I find it to fit my style very well. I'm a big fan of distorting single coils. The only issue with these pickups is that they're pretty much devoid of personality. They're very usable, but not inspiring. I'll be putting in a set of Lollars or Novaks very soon.

I was extremely surprised at how bright this guitar is, I'm talking icepick bright. I believe that's due to the megaohm pots. However, Jason Lollar gave me a tip on that, if you roll back your volume knob to between 8 and 9.5, it doesn't lower the volume, but puts a load on your pickups and the icepick highs disappear.

The nice thing about this guitar is that it has a nice acoustic ring to it, so I know a set of great pickups will really make it great. One thing worth mentioning is that it was fairly mediocre in that department until I added a buzzstop, then the guitar had a TON of sustain, and the strings were super chimey. So I HIGHLY recommend the buzz stop, it really turns this into a great guitar, it's totally removable, and doesn't require any mods to your guitar.

Having to spend an additional $40 for the buzzstop and another $160 for new pickups is the only reason I'm going to give it a fairly mediocre rating, but don't get me wrong, once those things are done it'll be awesome.

One thing to note is that often with import guitars I find it necessary to make a number of mods before they're truly nice, and this guitar is no exception. This guitar required a setup, but that's to be expected.

The thing that attracted me to this guitar was the sparkle finish. Unfortunately, Fender picked a shade of purple that appears radically different in different types of light. In florescent light it looks purple, in incandescent light it usually looks red, and in natural light it looks fuscia. Thus, the gold pickguard will either look great or absolutely horrible depending on what light you're in. I always expect guitars to look a little different depending on where you're at but this is crazy. It sadly looks nothing like the pics on Fender's website, but it's still super cool.

The action is awesome, I LOVE the jumbo frets, and the tuneomatic. I did add some string saver saddles to it, as the stock saddles were very, very cheap, and also very poorly cut. Once that was done and the buzz stop was added, it became an incredibly nice guitar. The frets needed a polish, but they shined up nicely. I am a huge fan of the tremolo. I don't know if this trem is different than other Jazzmasters, but I have found it to be extremely stable with tuning, it has a real nice feel to it, and is great for relatively subtle vibrato. I often hear people complain about jazzmaster trems, but I believe when properly adjusted they're one of the best out there. Definitely not worthy of a 10, but when properly setup and modded out the guitar is awesome.

This guitar is solidly made, and I'm sure it'll give me many years of playing. The hardware is great, the tuners stay in tune very well, and I'm sure I won't need to replace any of that any time soon.

Never dealt with Fender personally.

Overall I'm very happy with my purchase. Besides that, it is a very unique guitar in the Fender lineup, and something tells me it won't be around for long. Definite collector's item potential here. I've been playing for 19 years, and I've been fortunate enough to have some truly incredible instruments. This one, now that mods and setup have been done, will be reached for on a regular basis. If there's one thing I wish they did differently, it would be to offer it in maybe one or two other sparkle finishes. It has most of the things that I would've done had I purchased a regular Jmaster. How cool is that? I did choose between this and another of the same model, because guitars can be so vastly different in feel despite being made to the same specs. This one had a more vibrant acoustic character, so I knew that with pickups I'd be able to make it great. I wish the pickups were nicer, but that would jack the price up quite a bit higher. I think all things considered it's a tremendous buy, whether you're a Dinosaur Jr fan or not.

2007.. j mascis jazzmaster.. killer purple sparkle.. mij pups.. basswood.. jumbo frets are like jesus guiding your hand on the fret board as you play.. etc..

the sound is bright and cutting with heavy overdrive..
using an ampeg W/ boss looper,trem,ddelay,tuner,tubescreamer808..
i cant find anything to complain about its exactly what i was looking for i got rid of a jaguar hh for this and it blows the jaguarhh away..

action was a lil wonky.. needed new strings.. bridge has little metal thing on it that kept falling off so i just took it off.. i have no clue what its for it made zero difference off..

basswood is soft so i KNOW it will bang up easily if i drop it..
hardwear is cool.. locking bridge!
i added schaller strap locks gold to match pickguard..
it IS uber dependable.

its fender.. cmon theyre huge for a reason!

been playing guitar/bass 14 years.. have owned teles, strats rickenbackers, gretch, hofner,hagstrom, mustangs, jaguars, sg, lespauls i prefer it for my own personal vibe and sound..
if it was lost or stolen id be really sad.
i love it all j mascis rocks..
buy one.. throw new strings on, set it up and crank up the amp.

07'CIJ Purple sparkle body with maching headstock. The neck has a vintage color tint to it and feels great, big ol frits on it. gold pick guard. Basic jazzmaster controls and parts. I heared it may be wired different from stock or vintage jazzies, I don't know. It has a gibson style bridge, vintage style tuners. The body is basswood. I wish it was a different wood just because of the name

I have heard bad things about Japan Jazzmaster pickups, I have also heard that the mascis Jazzy has different japan pickups (I don't no), either way, I won't be changing them anytime soon. Can I make it sound like J? HELL NO, but I like what I hear. Does it sound like a vintage jazzmaster? most likely not, but I have never played one. There are many, many tones and volues inside. You can make this guitar do what ever you want it to.

Very, very, very, well made with what looks like good parts. I got it from a great store who sets up all the guitars they get in

It will last as long as you want it to, nuf said

noda

I think j is hands down the greatest player ever. I had to have this guitar. On the other hand I play nothing like him and still love this guitar for my own crappy style of music. If you want to sound like j maybe get a tele and some old tweeds. If you want to do what ever it is you do, but give J a shout out, this is perfect. If you hate J and the color, paint it and play it. YOU WILL LOVE IT. Great guitar. Period.