Re: How fast are you on a Jazzmaster?

RumorsOFsurF · Post by **RumorsOFsurF** » Sun Nov 11, 2007 9:21 pm

OffYourFace wrote:
RumorsOFsurF wrote:

What does sustain have to do with playing fast??? No offense....
Hahaha! Nothing, i didn't explain that well. It just gives you that little extra feel that most fast players like. The buzzstop will have your JM feeling more like a gibson stop tail.
Shredders like sustain.

The Buzzstop.... as the original ad said, 'make your jazz or Jag play like a real guitar!" :-\ Fuck you...

Okay, I got it...

Post by **Orang Goreng** » Mon Nov 12, 2007 1:50 am

About as fast as a tortoise with arthritis. I'm a wee bit faster on my SG, but never in public.

Superfuzz · Post by **Superfuzz** » Mon Nov 12, 2007 2:14 am

The freatboard radius has some consequence when you have to do that classic hard rock solos, where you continously bend the third string while picking alteratively the second and the third itself (a bit hard to tell, since I got any teoretical skill of electric guitar)..I mean something like Comunication Breakdown solo..It comes a lot easyier on my bro's Les Paul..(even if Jimmy Page wrote it on a Broadcaster)
The more technical solos, "note by note" has something to do with your own technique indeed..I usually can play Phantom of the Opera by Iron Maiden with my JM

... they wrote it on a Strat too!

Mute · Post by **Mute** » Mon Nov 12, 2007 2:45 am

I've found that I'm a little bit slower on my JM than on any of my other guitars. I think it's because of the relatively heavy string gauge I use - I use 11's but I've got 10's on most of my other guitars. The neck definitely isn't the big problem because I'm used to playing a lot of very different necks (Gibson type necks, short scale fenders, teles, rickenbackers, a 20" or 22" -ish acoustic and the Jag baritone too).
I've got this idea that the combination of 11's and the JM trem has this effect on me. Maybe because the trem on the JM doesn't feel like a stop tail, string-through or similar more "solid" bridge constructions that I've been playing for years before i got the JM

That said, if I want to shred on my JM I can still do it without too much of a problem. It just doesn't feel as comfortable as on, for instance, a tele. Still love my JM to death though, it's my main guitar and this probably won't change for years to come.

chrisjedijane · Post by **chrisjedijane** » Mon Nov 12, 2007 3:05 am

I don't really play that fast at all, either on my SG or my JM...

I don't feel that my JM slows me down any, though. I have it set up with a higher action and heavier strings than the SG, though - and it's tuned to DADGAD.

Post by **zhivago** » Mon Nov 12, 2007 3:26 am

hey guys, thank you for all the replies

been thinking more and more about the difference frets etc make on the speed of the guitar, because I've been reading up on the "Fretless Wonder" and loads of people (modern players) say it's hard to play because the frets are low

but the old ads when the guitar came out, said that the low frets were supposed to make the guitar play faster

(yes, I'm looking into buying a Les Paul sometime late next year, maybe during my trip to the USA)

luau · Post by **luau** » Mon Nov 12, 2007 3:44 am

I agree with the ad. For me personally, I find that the lower the frets are, the faster I can go with less effort. That seems to be a bigger issue for me than scale, radius, or make of guitar. The downside is that I have to be much more precise when bending. With higher frets, an imprecise bend (say I don't catch the string squarely before I start the bend) is easier for me to salvage while lower frets aren't at all forgiving. Wider frets seem to help this.

I think both low, but not so low that bending becomes an issue, and wide frets are a blast to play on. The frets on the CS reissues fit the bill perfectly IMO.

Superfuzz · Post by **Superfuzz** » Mon Nov 12, 2007 4:01 am

Higher frets are also minded for tapping..that's actually impossible on a JM (thanks God!)

Mute · Post by **Mute** » Mon Nov 12, 2007 4:25 am

Superfuzz wrote: Higher frets are also minded for tapping..that's actually impossible on a JM (thanks God!)

I've done it before

But yes, tapping is harder to do on a JM than on those shred guitars with frets the size of pinky fingers

Not that I do it a lot (hardly do it at all) but I've played some shows that involved some elaborate tapping solos. I was in kind of a joke band at the time, so I guess I don't have to feel guilty about it today

Post by **mynameisjonas** » Mon Nov 12, 2007 4:39 am

i like tapping when it's done tastefully, like we are knives. i actually do a bit of tapping myself on the intro of my dancing in the dark cover.

Post by **mezcalhead** » Mon Nov 12, 2007 5:40 am

Like flatfiver, I can play fast enough .. these days I find my limitation is how fast I can think, not how fast I can move my fingers, particularly since I'm usually trying to play the changes and/or harmonize.

I do notice that a Gibson neck feels different, but I don't think it makes me faster really. I did most of my early study on bass and double bass so the differences in various board radii, string gauge etc. on guitars doesn't really stand out to me.

EnosEmurf · Post by **EnosEmurf** » Mon Nov 12, 2007 6:24 am

I shred on my Jazzmaster all the time..I don't see the problem with tapping on it either. But that's just me.

IMHO scalloped fretboards and .08 gauge strings are for girls.

fuzzking · Post by **fuzzking** » Mon Nov 12, 2007 6:40 am

Orang Goreng wrote: About as fast as a tortoise with arthritis.

count me in. i don't get faster than eights, no matter what guitar.

northern_dirt · Post by **northern_dirt** » Mon Nov 12, 2007 7:29 am

I don't have a JM yet, but id assume id be as fast as I am on any fender style guitar.. which is about 3/4 as fast as on a gibson and 1/2 as fast on a jackson or equally "metalized" shredder..

Not planning on using my JM for finger ripping solo's so I guess speed isnt really a factor im looking for in a JM..

fenderjeff · Post by **fenderjeff** » Mon Nov 12, 2007 12:11 pm

I'm not fast. I don't care about speed and I've never been able to play any taping riff... I'm a quiet punk