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By some miracle, my Jazzmaster that was out of stock and did not exist came after much wrangling, investigating and bellyaching. The process of getting it was an absolute nightmare and took months past the release date. The lacquer got a hairline crack during shipping and the bottom of the neck got a tiny nick as well, but it resulted in a discounted price and I neither care that much at this point, nor am willing to wait another 3-16 months for a replacement (as I've said before, any American guitar store turns into the Soviet Union as soon as you mention you strum with your left so you have to compromise a little).

The guitar itself: out of the box, it wasn't that great and required a little bit of work. The color and pickguard are what they are. As I've found with Fender in general, unless it's a Mustang, what comes out of the box is a bit mediocre but with endless possibilities.

You may think it's a bad review at this point, but it's not. I believe that every guitar player should be willing and able to put in a little work.

I raised the height of the bridge, put D'Adarrio 1052's on, and spent 25 minutes fiddling with the pickup height. Now the strings feel good and bend well. I can tune down a whole step and it sounds fine. I can tune the E up to C, the A up to E, the D up to G, and everything stays in tune and the strings don't break. Buzz is minimal and should be minimized with a slight neck adjustment. The Vibrato is at perfect height, pulls waaaay up and waaay down and always returns to zero, just like my Cobain Jaguar and Mustang. Frankly, I still don't understand how people can have so many tuning issues with Fender and Univox style Floating Vibratos.

The neck is glossy and feels great. Ventures songs sound like the Ventures, Sonic Youth songs sound like Sonic Youth. The Rhythm Circuit sounds like a hollow body. Everything is more or less perfect in with the adjustments. I'm still weighing in on putting an unpotted Antiquity II-style single coil in the bridge and a full-sized Curtis Novak Wide Range Humbucker (also unpotted) in the neck, but with a little bit of work, it's more or less exactly what I expected and wanted.

Grade: Out of box: C- With a little work: A-

Nice! Any pictures? I've been wanting a JM-style guitar for a while, and I'm almost tempted to buy something instead of building it from scratch, which is unusual for me.

I’m tempted by one as a modding platform, but thought they might be a touch expensive for that. Nice to hear they’ve got potential.

Worth keeping an eye out for 2nd hand?

I’ve got an 2016 fsr for my main beast, want something to have fun with - I was thinking wide range humbuckers too.

If you can find one. If is the key. One of the things I found out during this whole ordeal is that Fender has THOUSANDS of unfilled orders going back months and a serious supply problem. You may see one second hand, but there is a catastrophic shortage so you may not see too many for a few years.

Interesting, thanks. My Japanese JM is life, so not in a rush. I was tempted by a friend who is producing smaller, slimmer JM bodies, but I didn’t fancy a big project. Something where I can just swap parts sounds fun.

Am at TCR road tomorrow so will check out Denmark st on the impossible chance they have anything in stock at the few remaining shops there which isn’t a Mexican strat.

Hello, Mike and guys, how are you?
I need a lefty Jaguar. I think my options are..
1) get a Squier CV Jazzmaster, put Jag '65 pickups (got them), pickguard, chrome plates (got them) and see how that goes.
2) Have Matt and the boys at MJT make me one. (they don't have a LEFTY Tremolo) I would supply the Musikraft Conversion Neck.
3) Have another company make the neck and body, and have it finished.
So..for the guys who have, or have played a CV Jazzmaster..is it worth putting $300 or more in to? OR...can any of you guys (lefties)..tell me where to find a lefty tremolo?
Thanks, men.

tommyga wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 04, 2019 11:53 pm

1) get a Squier CV Jazzmaster, put Jag '65 pickups (got them), pickguard, chrome plates (got them) and see how that goes.

Perhaps stating the obvious but a Jaguar pickguard, pickups and chrome plates can't simply be screwed onto a Jazzmaster body.

I'd sooner try and find a left handed Jaguar from Fender Japan, upgrade the pickups/vibrato and call it done for a whole let less hassle.

I don't know how hard they are to find where you're located though, but I'd suggest it's worth checking on Reverb though.