fender jazzmaster

On the second day, Leo created the Stratocaster. On the following days, Leo created the Jazzmaster and the Jaguar, which, although intended for jazz, found followers within the surf music scene of the 60s and the rock music scene of the 90s. To celebrate their 50th anniversary a "revision" was in order ... This test will be of a Jazzmaster, a Jaguar with single coil pickups, and a Jaguar with Humbuckers.

The traditional main differences between the two models are both the short scale on the Jaguar (24 inches as opposed to the 25.5 inches on the Jazzmaster), and different pickups: P-90-type single coils on the Jazzmaster differ from the single Stratocaster-type ones on the Jaguar. The pickups on the Jazzmaster in fact have a warmer and rounder sound than those of the Jaguar, which are brighter.

As far as changes go, there are new pickups (Special Design Hot Single coils on the Jazzmaster and the Jaguar, and Enforcer humbuckers for the Jaguar HH) with a higher output level and thicker sound than the original models. Note that the pickups on the Jazzmaster have height adjustment screws, as do the P-90-type pickups. A Tune-O-Matic-type bridge resolves the "jumping strings" and intonation issues of previous models. You lose that little characteristic chiming sound that was obtained by strumming the strings behind the bridge (Sonic Youth loved that sound). Sound and Playability

There's the classic three-position switch for selecting pickups (neck, bridge or both). The Jaguar with single coils replaces the 3-position switch with a system combining three 2-position switches. There's, in addition to the adjustments mentioned above, a master kill switch that lets you completely cut the sound of the guitar, and two controls to mix the humbucker sound with the split sound( Humbucking/Single-Coil Blend Control), and this for each pickup. The sonic possibilities of this guitar are enormous!

Here's a sample of the "clean" sound palette of the Jazzmaster: clean1, clean2, clean3, clean4, cleanchords and cleanfunk. The Jaguar with single coils is similar to a Telecaster with its chimey sounds; true happiness for clean-sound lovers! Lastly, the Jaguar HH, with two humbuckers, is the overdrive king. The opportunity to mix in the split pickup sound gives some interesting results in clean and overdrive (ex1, 2 & 3) and, as said before, gives the guitar enormous sound possibilities.

Look

1. [+] Finish
2. [+] Neck
3. [+] Pickups
4. [+] Intonation
5. [+] Price
6. [+] Changes that bring the guitars up to date ...
7. [-] But slightly change their original character
8. [-] I'm hooked.

By Sarit Bruno