Jazzmaster shopping - thinner necks?

[alphabravo]

I’ve been on the market for a JM for a while and I’ve gone back and forth on a number of options. Some things I’m looking for:

I tend to like thinner necks. I’ve got a MIJ Jag with a vintage radius/frets and ive been thinking of going 9.5 or higher with larger frets to change it up. I’m hoping for a maple fretboard for the same reason but that definitely limits it.

Current contenders:

Troy Van Leeuwen Copper Age: currently in the lead but main drawbacks are the vintage radius and the fact that it’s MIM. I’ve heard MIM JMs don’t suffer from the same build quality issues as some other models but I’m skeptical.

Ultra JM: The neck sounds like a dream but I’ve heard mixed things about the pickups. I thought about changing these out but idk if the weird wiring on these would make that a pain.

AVRI 62: I’ve heard good things but I’ve seen posts that say the necks are thin and some that it’s thick. Also tougher to find and no maple option I’ve seen.

MIJ Hybrid: These would be great but I’ve never played a U neck and it sounds super chunky.

American Professional II: These sound cool but I haaaate the color options for maple necks.

Would love to hear any opinions on these or suggestions for other models. Thanks in advance!

[HarlowTheFish]

There's a lot of really good options out there right now, so it's more about picking your flavor of JM than about getting "the good one". The TVL (and the rest of the high-end MIM Fenders) are actually getting scary good, to the point where I see very little reason to pick up an MIA production Fender if there's a similar enough MIM model quality-wise. I actually dig the sound of the Ultra pickups, but I haven't gotten the chance to try them in person - I'd probably pick up a set if they were available separately, and if you're not into the sound it would be easy enough to swap them out if you like everything else about it. You're not gonna get maple on an AV/AVRI because being a reissue they try to keep those to mostly traditional specs (which is basically rosewood-only), but the quality is great and they sound stellar if you want that vintage JM vibe. As far as the MIJ Hybrids, I've mostly heard about the Strats and Teles in the line and yeah, the necks are thiccc with 3 C's. The AmPro II looks sweet and if you want a decent mix of vintage vibe and modern playability, it seems like a great option, but if you're after something more traditional and Jazzmastery then the stock pickups are gonna have to go.

It's basically gonna be an exercise in small compromises, because basically across the board you're gonna be wanting something to be a bit different unless you're putting together something from parts or building from scratch.

[losador]

I’ve been on the market for a JM for a while and I’ve gone back and forth on a number of options. Some things I’m looking for:

I tend to like thinner necks. I’ve got a MIJ Jag with a vintage radius/frets and ive been thinking of going 9.5 or higher with larger frets to change it up. I’m hoping for a maple fretboard for the same reason but that definitely limits it.

Current contenders:

Troy Van Leeuwen Copper Age: currently in the lead but main drawbacks are the vintage radius and the fact that it’s MIM. I’ve heard MIM JMs don’t suffer from the same build quality issues as some other models but I’m skeptical.

Ultra JM: The neck sounds like a dream but I’ve heard mixed things about the pickups. I thought about changing these out but idk if the weird wiring on these would make that a pain.

AVRI 62: I’ve heard good things but I’ve seen posts that say the necks are thin and some that it’s thick. Also tougher to find and no maple option I’ve seen.

MIJ Hybrid: These would be great but I’ve never played a U neck and it sounds super chunky.

American Professional II: These sound cool but I haaaate the color options for maple necks.

Would love to hear any opinions on these or suggestions for other models. Thanks in advance!

Just for clarity, what was the reason for the maple board? Is what you're after a thin neck, flatter radius (9.5" or above) and large frets, and mention a maple board as it's more likely to fulfil that criteria? Or did you specifically want a maple board too?

[Tafarel]

I've had a couple of AVRI '62 JMs, and both had/have the thinnest necks of all my Jazzmasters. The AmPro has the meatiest (and for me, best) neck of all of them. I don't have any experience with the others you noted.

The others I have are CS, and built to the specs I asked for, so not really helpful.

Hope that helps a bit.

[Tafarel]

Just for clarity, what was the reason for the maple board? Is what you're after a thin neck, flatter radius (9.5" or above) and large frets, and mention a maple board as it's more likely to fulfil that criteria? Or did you specifically want a maple board too?

Hey losador, I just noticed you joined exactly OSG 10 years to the day and time (plus one minute) after I did.

Weird.

[losador]

Just for clarity, what was the reason for the maple board? Is what you're after a thin neck, flatter radius (9.5" or above) and large frets, and mention a maple board as it's more likely to fulfil that criteria? Or did you specifically want a maple board too?

Hey losador, I just noticed you joined exactly OSG 10 years to the day and time (plus one minute) after I did.

Weird.

woah.. that's the third weird coincidence of the week for me! Something in the waters...

[Meriphew]

Dave's AV '62 seems like a pretty logical choice.

[alphabravo]

Thanks for the advice y’all! I ended up going with the TVL after getting a great price on it. I’m pretty used to 7.25 already but I’ll probably go for 9.5 next time. Now I just have to stop looking at Reverb for a while.

[WillyP]

I'm pretty sure that Pro !! and Hybrid Jazzmasters have U shaped necks so I wouldn't buy one if those if you want a thin one. I prefer slimmer necks myself and have a Performer with a really nice thin one, but the drawback is I miss the Floating Trem, which is far superior to the Strat one that comes on that model.

Do you have any preference to fretboard radius? I noticed there was a difference in the some of the models you mentioned.

[alphabravo]

Yeah I was looking to change it up with a 9.5 or higher radius but the only model I was into that had that + a maple neck was the ultra and I think maybe the American Performer. I was real close to pulling the trigger on an ultra but I got a deal on the TVL I couldn’t pass up (plus I loooove the black blocks).