BuddyHollywood wrote:I finally had a chance to play an American Professional Jazzmaster last night. I loved it! If I had the money I would have bought it on the spot. The neck feels great. The strings are pretty close to the edge especially the low E but it is a non-issue. It played great. I think it's just another thing people were trying to find wrong with them. The bridge works great with this guitar too. It sounds good acoustically and the strings stayed in the slots. If I had one of these guitars I don't see any reason to swap the bridge. I didn't plug it in but it sounded lively acoustically which I'm of the belief translates to the plugged in sound. If the pickups are a hybrid Jazzmaster / Stratocaster design I'm sure I would love them too. The guitar felt very familiar to me immediately. The particular guitar I played had the action just a little bit higher than I like it but I noticed these come with the micro-tilt feature on the neck. If I ever get one of these I know that I would be able to adjust the action and the playability perfectly for me. I also like the simplified controls.
The American Professional Jazzmaster is what I would want to ask the Fender Custom Shop to build for me if it didn't exist.
Your assessment is pretty much exactly my experience. Like a true offset fanboy, I criticized the heck out of it when they were announced. I was so intrigued by the Mystic Seafoam model that I kept looking at it and eventually became obsessed after watching numerous YouTube videos. Several Jazzmaster critics kept criticizing but every review I read of people who actually owned them, loved them.
When I found one at a store I plugged it in and new immediately Knew I was going to buy one. I've had it for like 5 days now and I am in love with this thing. Here's a quick review of the features from an actual owner:
The Neck:
Most comfortable neck I've ever played personally. Love the extra fret and Deep C shape. Great soft satin feel to the back of the neck, slides really nice. The tall frets are the best, each note just rings so clear, has a nice springy bounce when playing. I feel like I'm a better guitar player with this neck.
The Bridge:
I have Staytrems on all my AVRI Jazzmaster and Squier Bass VI. The day I bought this I went to the Staytrem online store and put one in the cart but decided to wait until I tried the stock bridge. I'm so glad I waited! Yes, the E's are a bit closer to the edge but not much more than my AVRI with a Staytrem. The bridge on this thing is SOLID! No buzz whatsoever, low action out of the box, and very easy to adjust. Tremolo system is beautiful too! Very springy. First time I took it out of the case it was very close to being in perfect tune! Sounds excellent unplugged.
No Rhythm Circuit:
I very rarely use the Rhythm circuit so the lack of it here is a non issue for me. If I need to do some deep Shoegaze swells, I'll use my AVRI, but most the time for those I'll still just use the lead circuit.
Pickups:
To me these pickups do sound like a Jazzmaster/strat hybrid...a little more spank, but they definitely don't sound like straight up strat pickups. Very unique sound. I love them! I didn't buy this to sound like a classic Jazzmaster, I have a '62 AVRI for that. I bought this for different tones and texture when layering in my recordings.
Switch location:
If there is a flaw with this guitar I would have to say this comes the closest. Actually in its normal place on the lower horn of my AVRI I have the tendency to hit it from time to time, so really it's the same problem here. It not hard at all for me to avoid it but it is there and I probably will hit once in a while. Not a big issue but worth mentioning. For the normal way I play it won't be a problem.
Treble bleed circuit:
Just awesome! Sounds wonderful.
Mystic seafoam:
My favorite Fender color now. Just amazing in person.
Hard shell case:
Great form fitting interior, love it! The dark gray looks awesome with this guitar. The out side is a tad bit cheap plastic looking if I had to be nitpicky, but is great and will definitely keep this thing very safe.
Overall:
9.5/10 - For a new line claiming to be a modern Jazzmaster I feel like they nailed it. I will always want a classic sounding Jazzmaster and now I will always want a modern sounding one. I'm sure they'll get along beautifully together in my studio.
...but, I probably won't be playing my AVRI for a while...