OffsetGuitars.com

So a new guitar day - Fender Japan Traditional 60's Jazzmaster left handed. Alder body, U-shaped rosewood neck with 7.25" radius and vintage frets.

Last July Fender announced a limited run of lefty MIJ offsets and at the time this was the only way for me to get my hands on a lefty JM (American Professional and Squier CV lefties weren't announced until this year) so I decided to pull the trigger and pre-ordered the one in CAR (the other option was 3TS). It took my Fender dealer one year to deliver, but it was well worth the wait since this is by far the nicest guitar I've ever played.

These are some upgrades I've done to it:

• Staytrem bridge - a huge upgrade over the original bridge from which my low E string slipped the first day I got the guitar (and it was strung with 11s straight from the factory)

• Staytrem tremolo - I prefer this to the original since it's tighter, doesn't rattle (although to be honest I didn't push the stock one all the way knowing I'll be going the Statytrem route) and it's significantly shorter so it doesn't get in the way while playing

• Seymour Duncan Antiquity pickups - I for the bridge and II for the neck, since original pickups were basically JM sized Strat pickups

I have also replaced pot caps (custom witch hats off Reverb), switch caps and pickup covers for black ones since I didn't like the original vintage white on white pickguard color combo. All the electronics are quality US-made stuff (CTS, Switchcraft) so no work was needed here.

Here's a pic:



Here's how it looked like stock - https://i.imgur.com/UkYzNFZ.jpg

There are some additional photos of the guts and the pickups here - http://www.offsetguitars.com/forums/vie ... 7&t=113329

Cool score - one thought, I actually find lower gauge strings slip less on the stock bridge, since the low E in particular seats deeper in the saddle. Also- a big reason they slip on the Japanese models is the low E in particular has a slanted path across the bridge, since the Japanese vibrato unit has narrower string spacing than ideal. Keep those things in mind as you mod, and enjoy

Glad they quit cheap pots on these too.

Beautiful score! Enjoy!

awesome score - congrats! how do you like the staytrem tremolo? I added a buzzstop to my JM and Jag.. stock trems but staytrem bridges. LEFT ON!!!

armyofbees wrote: ↑

Tue Sep 03, 2019 11:01 am

awesome score - congrats! how do you like the staytrem tremolo? I added a buzzstop to my JM and Jag.. stock trems but staytrem bridges. LEFT ON!!!

Hey thanks. The tremolo (as well as the bridge) is great - as mentioned above, it's tighter and shorter than the stock one which suits my playing better. And the installation was a breeze. I really hope Staytrem will find a way to expand production again..

Hi!
One important question:
Is the cavity of jm shielded?

I have 2016 mij jm - shit pots, no shielding
I have 2018 mij mustang - CTS pots, cavity shielded

So I would like to know if 2018japaneese jazzmasters has shielding...?

Acoasma wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 22, 2020 11:46 pm

Hi!
One important question:
Is the cavity of jm shielded?

I have 2016 mij jm - shit pots, no shielding
I have 2018 mij mustang - CTS pots, cavity shielded

So I would like to know if 2018japaneese jazzmasters has shielding...?

Yeah, MIJs from 2018 are definitely shielded. At least with graphite paint.

Man those skirted knobs look good on there, and the black pup covers with the matching headstock are killer! Congrats.

Looks way better with the changes you made!