OffsetGuitars.com

CME Player Jazzmaster in sunburst with black headstock! I preordered it in May, and it kept getting delayed until finally shipping in mid/late September. The preorder took so long that I had to buy other guitars while waiting for it lol. CME did throw in a t-shirt and gig bag though.

If you are a vintage purist, look away now... Specs here https://reverb.com/item/32722064-fender ... -pre-order.

Initial impressions and pics below! There are other threads about modding this model, so in case it helps someone I included pics of the routing and wiring. I can post more close-ups of the wiring if that would help anyone.

Look: I'm very happy with the wood grain on the body, and the dark streaks in the pau ferro fretboard look great to me. The finish is almost perfect, with a small segment on the headstock where the black paint didn't create quite as clean of a line as the perfectionist in me would want, but it's only noticeable from certain angles, and the finish is otherwise beautiful. If only it had blocks and binding!

Feel: The "modern C" satin finish neck is comfortable and smooth for my hands, but it is on the thin side and probably not for those who only like fat necks. If you've played any of the Player series Strats, it's like that, and not far off from my American Standard Tele. I personally enjoy having a variety of neck sizes and shapes, but I've recently been spoiled by a roasted maple neck. I was worried about sharp fret ends like some have reported with the Vintera series and fortunately the frets feel totally fine to me. Some of the frets had mild oxidation already, even after a setup by CME, but that was easy to polish off. Medium jumbo frets are a good balance for me, and for some reason my fingers don't get along with narrow tall frets.

Sound: I'm no JM pickup expert, but I love the pickups, which are supposed to be pure vintage 65's. They've got a perfect chime that brings out the resonance of the trem system beautifully. I haven't gotten any ice pick sounds out of it but haven't played at band volumes yet. I'm into the 4-way switch that adds both pickups in series for a beefier tone.

Mods: I'm undecided if I want to swap out the pickguard for a vintage one with rhythm circuit (and then maybe push/pull pots for series and/or phase). For me, the rhythm circuit would be mostly for mojo, or maybe for a quick tone switch or a kill switch, but I think one could approximate the tone closely enough with either the series + tone knob or the neck pickup + tone knob. There is some mild bridge buzz here and there that I'm tinkering with, but I'm considering swapping in an Am Pro JM mustang-style bridge. I'm not sure I feel the need to replace the trem system at this point and still need to learn more.

Without further ado...

The black headstock looks amazing on these.

I think a gold guard and black plastic would just look *chef's kiss*

Awesome grain on that fingerboard. I think I actually prefer my pau ferro fingerboard to my previous rosewood one. I did get lucky cause i bought it sight unseen, but i did like 3 coats of linseed oil and that helped darken it a bit.

I wonder why they didn't shield the cavity walls? That seems odd to me. I thought you painted the bottom and sides?

Really into the black headstock over burst like that it looks awesome

Are there other JMs without the rhythm circuit that are routed for it? I was surprised to see that here but maybe it’s common.

I’ve been looking at the Shell Pink one for some time.

monsterdonkey wrote: ↑

Fri Oct 09, 2020 5:22 pm

Are there other JMs without the rhythm circuit that are routed for it? I was surprised to see that here but maybe it’s common.

Here are two other threads about this series, but I'm not sure how common it is. One theory is that Fender is just repurposing MIM bodies from the Vintera series.
http://www.offsetguitars.com/forums/vie ... 6&t=112535
http://www.offsetguitars.com/forums/vie ... p?t=115708

As others have noted, there aren't any pre-made pickguards that have cutouts for both a rhythm circuit and a 4-way selector switch, so for an "easy" mod one would have to give up the series option. To workaround that, my fantasy mod would be to use a vintage pickguard with rhythm circuit, but then turn the volume knob into a push/pull to keep the series option, and maybe use the tone knob as a push/pull for out of phase. But so far I like the guitar stock. I'll probably swap out the bridge though...

blunderbuss wrote: ↑

Fri Oct 09, 2020 6:19 pm

I’ve been looking at the Shell Pink one for some time.

I would have totally gone for Shell Pink if the headstock was matching! That might be the holy grail for me.

monsterdonkey wrote: ↑

Fri Oct 09, 2020 5:22 pm

Are there other JMs without the rhythm circuit that are routed for it? I was surprised to see that here but maybe it’s common.

I was surprised at that too. Almost makes me wonder how much it would cost to land one over here.

Veitchy wrote: ↑

Sat Oct 10, 2020 4:50 pm

monsterdonkey wrote: ↑

Fri Oct 09, 2020 5:22 pm

Are there other JMs without the rhythm circuit that are routed for it? I was surprised to see that here but maybe it’s common.

I was surprised at that too. Almost makes me wonder how much it would cost to land one over here.

CME has been specifically doing this and advertising it as such. They had an ice blue metallic JM run, also with the blade switch, that they advertised as being routed for a rhythm circuit. I think it was separate from this run of sunburst and pink JMs, because those didn't have painted headstocks.

mbene085 wrote: ↑

Sat Oct 10, 2020 5:09 pm

Veitchy wrote: ↑

Sat Oct 10, 2020 4:50 pm

monsterdonkey wrote: ↑

Fri Oct 09, 2020 5:22 pm

Are there other JMs without the rhythm circuit that are routed for it? I was surprised to see that here but maybe it’s common.

I was surprised at that too. Almost makes me wonder how much it would cost to land one over here.

CME has been specifically doing this and advertising it as such. They had an ice blue metallic JM run, also with the blade switch, that they advertised as being routed for a rhythm circuit. I think it was separate from this run of sunburst and pink JMs, because those didn't have painted headstocks.

I can understand repurposing bodies (if that's what they're doing) , but it's interesting that they advertise them as such. Maybe it's for full disclosure if someone opens one up and is disappointed at the extra routing (just call it chambering), or they're trying to attract customers who can solder.

Congrats! Pretty guitar - very nice fingerboard and body wood grain.

Great looking Guitar.. Not sure about the Purist aspect but you will have fun with it.. Congrats!

mbene085 wrote: ↑

Fri Oct 09, 2020 12:47 pm

The black headstock looks amazing on these.

I think a gold guard and black plastic would just look *chef's kiss*

Absolutely! A gold guard to match the gold decal would look great.

mbene085 wrote: ↑

Fri Oct 09, 2020 12:47 pm

The black headstock looks amazing on these.

I think a gold guard and black plastic would just look *chef's kiss*

You and I think alike. That would make it perfect (for me). The black head absolutely makes it though. Best way to finish a burst guitar scheme I think.