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Hi! I thought I'd share my recent acquisition. I usually play and gig with my 1960 JM but wanted to find another somewhat less precious and valuable Jazzmaster for small tours across the border or gigs in riskier settings.  So I have been casually browsing the local secondhand sites to see if an AVRI or AV would pop up.

When a fellow JM fan who I sold my 1963 JM to last year offered his AV65 Jazzmaster up for sale I contacted him and we worked out a deal. It's a 2014 FSR in Firemist Silver which is a pretty rare colour, apparently either 50 or 150 were made in this production run according to posts I found on OSG. Apart from the finish it has the usual AV65 specs, so vintage size frets and a 7.25" radius, just how I like it. The finish on the back of the neck has been sanded down by the previous owner which actually feels very comfortable. It's an interesting colour, greenish in daylight but it will turn blue or gray in different lighting. Already the finish has faded a bit from blue to greenish.

I am pleasantly surprised by this guitar, love the finish and fit, the neck shape is fuller than I am used to but still feels comfortable and while it sounds brighter than my 1960 it works well with the band. Apart from a Staytrem bridge I will leave it pretty much stock. Didn't need any shims either because the 1 degree angled neck pocket. It did take some cleaning, buffing out some ugly scratches and a proper setup but I enjoy doing that work myself.

Pics!

A great specimen of Firemist Silver!

Oh my! This is simply amazing!

Wow! That's really awesome, love the matching headstock.

That's gorgeous! I agree though, the mint looks much better than the tort would have.

Hey that looks like the one I play! I love it so much. The pickguard is tort though. I cannot believe how great it plays and sounds. I've never played a vintage. I'm interested to hear your thoughts regarding the differences.

Boy that looks sharp. Congrats.

Loved these guitars, and really wish there were more of them out there. I was in the process of buying the AV65 Jaguar counterpart they did in Ice Blue Metallic but ended up getting a Thin Skin Jazzmaster instead and while I’ll forever feel like I made the right choice there, i’d still like to have one of those Jags.

Is it just me or is the headstock finished kind of shittily? Like there’s a white outline around the edge that almost looks like binding. Thinking about a 65/66 Fender with a B&B neck, but instead of stopping at the nut the binding also wraps completely around the headstock and having to punch myself in the dick to keep from having a raging semi. I got a couple guitars from the dude who matches Squier headstocks on here and my luthier talked some shit, though the few flaws he pointed out existed, I’d never noticed them before and remain unbothered by them. What really flipped my wig was when I got that Thin Skin and the headstock was sloppy on it, which to me seems insane. That guitar also has a fucked up trem route so I can’t use it without leaving the arm like, barely in the collet. Ridiculous!


TL;DR - that is an awesome guitar and I hope you get lots of use out of it

Gorgeous!

Needs Spitfire tort.

Beautiful!

Thanks everybody! Yes it's a real looker.

@DeathJag: once I've had an opportunity to play both guitars back to back in band rehearsal I'll try to describe the differences.

@Mechanical Birds: The headstock finish is well done with sharp lines, there's no white line as the pics might suggest, that's the silver and the clearcoat reflecting sunlight into the camera. The fit and finish on this one is really good, tight neck pocket, well fretted etc. So I have no complaints really.

@Maggieo: I see what you mean and I love vintage tort. I got this guitar with a vintage '65 tort guard on it but didn't like it much. I thought it looked to busy and went back to the original parchment white guard. I much prefer the cleaner somewhat frostier look with the white guard.

The 1960 wanted to say hi as well

Vinkie wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 05, 2019 11:19 am

The 1960 wanted to say hi as well

Hi there, you 60!
Can you post more pics of her?

Random thought, but next year your '60 turns 60, and last year the '59s turned 59.

I have the exact same guitar - bought it used two years ago. It's the closest reissue I've ever had (I owned a real '65 LPB for a while and the neck shape, contours and sound are perfect). Congrats. I think they made less than 200 in Firemist.