"New" 1974 Sunburst Jazzmaster

Discussion of vintage Jazzmasters, Jaguars, Bass VIs, Electric XIIs and any other offset-waist instruments.
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74Offset
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"New" 1974 Sunburst Jazzmaster

Post by 74Offset » Tue Jan 22, 2019 1:56 pm

Hey all,

I've had a few days with my latest acquisition, an all original 1974 Sunburst Jazzmaster. I'd describe it as closet vintage...it's got a few knicks here and there, but it wasn't played or abused. There's some slight checking on the finish here and there, but overall it's in fantastic shape. Beautiful 3 color burst that is really growing on me the more I look at it. I have very little experience with late 60s/70s era JMs, but I'm in love with the way this guitar sounds and plays. The pickups are nice and plunky, but have a real edge to them when desired. The neck is narrow and slim, and the guitar can be set up with an extremely low action with no buzzing whatsoever. I anticipated switching the bridge out for a Mastery, but I'm going to live with the original for now...it sounds great and is not exhibiting any issues.


Image

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Gavanti
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Re: "New" 1974 Sunburst Jazzmaster

Post by Gavanti » Tue Jan 22, 2019 2:18 pm

Gorgeous! The blackguard JM’s are my favorites in sunburst.

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garyfanclub
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Re: "New" 1974 Sunburst Jazzmaster

Post by garyfanclub » Tue Jan 22, 2019 2:24 pm

It's beautiful, congrats!

Played one of these at CME last year and LOVED it, but not in my price range, unfortunately. Wish I'd been able to compare the pickups to the mid-60s Jazzys they had, but didn't have the time to do it. Would love to hear your thoughts on that if you've got another to compare it to.

Enjoy it!

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Re: "New" 1974 Sunburst Jazzmaster

Post by 74Offset » Tue Jan 22, 2019 2:42 pm

garyfanclub wrote:
Tue Jan 22, 2019 2:24 pm
It's beautiful, congrats!

Played one of these at CME last year and LOVED it, but not in my price range, unfortunately. Wish I'd been able to compare the pickups to the mid-60s Jazzys they had, but didn't have the time to do it. Would love to hear your thoughts on that if you've got another to compare it to.

Enjoy it!
I'd say that the pickups are higher output overall. It's just a different flavor of the mid-60s stuff...not necessarily better or worse.

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Re: "New" 1974 Sunburst Jazzmaster

Post by sunburster » Tue Jan 22, 2019 4:06 pm

Very nice! You nabbed that one on CME (the headstock grain gives it away). Looks like it's lightweight too. Great find.

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Re: "New" 1974 Sunburst Jazzmaster

Post by 74Offset » Tue Jan 22, 2019 4:40 pm

sunburster wrote:
Tue Jan 22, 2019 4:06 pm
Very nice! You nabbed that one on CME (the headstock grain gives it away). Looks like it's lightweight too. Great find.
Yep! CME guitar. Beyond impressed with them on the deal. Guitar was better than represented.

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Re: "New" 1974 Sunburst Jazzmaster

Post by bterry » Tue Jan 22, 2019 4:45 pm

love it!!

CME is great - for some reason they often undervalue their vintage gear even or will take lower offers even though they know the score. Great customer service and nice guys/gals.

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Re: "New" 1974 Sunburst Jazzmaster

Post by PJazzmaster » Tue Jan 22, 2019 5:52 pm

that's a nice looking one !!! enjoy!!

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Re: "New" 1974 Sunburst Jazzmaster

Post by Despot » Wed Jan 23, 2019 12:00 am

Happy NGD OP - I had a '76 myself for a while ... ended up selling it to fund my '62.

I get what you mean about being a different flavour - I've had a few '60s Jazzmasters (my '62 and two '66s) and while there are big differences between the earlier and later pickups in the '60s, there was an even bigger difference between the '60s and that '76 - it was a lot louder and darker sounding overall, which seems to mesh with what you say about pickup output.

My old one was quite heavy - but while it was heavy it was also super resonant ... something that I can't recall having encountered before or since in a heavy guitar.

Re: Mastery fitting ... I had trouble fitting one to mine - the bridge thimbles were a little off (the treble side wasn't 90 degrees - it canted a little off to the right) and the Mastery took a bit of messing to get in there (and then there was a 'floor' on how low I could set the action because of the way that I'd had to bodge it with the out of line thimble). I went back to the standard bridge and everything just worked again.

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Re: "New" 1974 Sunburst Jazzmaster

Post by debudavid » Wed Jan 23, 2019 1:43 am

Very nice. Any closer to that fire though...

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Re: "New" 1974 Sunburst Jazzmaster

Post by s_mcsleazy » Wed Jan 23, 2019 9:39 am

mon the black guards
offset guitars resident bass player.
'Are you trying to seduce me Mrs Robinson? Or do you just want me to solder a couple of resistors into your Muff?'

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Re: "New" 1974 Sunburst Jazzmaster

Post by Embenny » Wed Jan 23, 2019 10:47 am

That's a beauty. Congrats!
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Re: "New" 1974 Sunburst Jazzmaster

Post by leokula » Wed Jan 23, 2019 11:55 am

The black guard over sunburst screams 70's! Amazing, man, congrats!
Jaguar > Jazzmaster :)

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Re: "New" 1974 Sunburst Jazzmaster

Post by Kent » Wed Jan 23, 2019 12:29 pm

There is something about those models that really works for me. It hosts a number of things that I don't like on Fenders but when they come together on the Jazzmaster, it looks lovely.

I tend to dislike:
sunburst
block inlays (quite a bit)
Non-matching headstocks (minor preference)
black guard with white plastic parts
three tone sunburst with bright red (preferring, by a large margin, a faded '50s two tone burst)

On this era of JM, it all comes together in a striking way and looks :-*

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Re: "New" 1974 Sunburst Jazzmaster

Post by LossyShades » Wed Jan 23, 2019 1:35 pm

She's a beaut! Looks like you had a nice fireside chat with her.

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