MIJ Jazzmaster: tones, heavy strings and Gibson archtop comparison

⚡️NGD here and I've gone and purchased a MIJ Fender Jazzmaster. In this video I share some tones and show the difference 12s makes to a Jazzmaster. I also compare it against a Gibson archtop (Super V CES)

⏰ Timestamps:
00:00 Intro NGD!
01:01 Why did I buy it?
01:41 Single note tones
02:37 Rhythm circuit is critical
04:24 Gonna try these strings
05:11 First impressions
05:50 Case sucks
06:05 Do you use a luthier?
06:25 It's back
07:20 How do the 12s sound and feel?
10:10 Jazzmaster, Gibson archtop with salt and lime
11:32 It's better than my old American JM.

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#jazzpractice #fender #jazzmaster

[jazzguitarwithandy]

I’m quite knocked out by this guitar. Gigged it a couple times now and it really sounds fat. What do you think? Ps. This is not an affiliate video. Bought this guitar with my own money!

[JosephusDalrymple]

Man. That sounds great to my ears. So does your playing. Congratulations on the new axe.

[votemiles]

The Thomastiks made a huge difference! Tempted to try them now...

[johanbilliard]

Nice to hear some Gypsy jazz on a jazzmaster👍

[jamesmcnamara]

loved the video. you managed to get a great jazz tone out of it, but I think your great playing contributed to it.

[ytkoel]

Kudos on your JazzMaster... It sounds great. I've had one for some time now (a Vintera II) and I love it as well. Thomastiks are great as well, I use Swing 11s on my Ibanez 335 style and Archtop, and Swing 10s on my Telecaster, but not on the JazzMaster, where I use 8s, and they sound thick and full of body as well, surprisingly. Luthier all the way, always, and mine does the same as yours. Thanks for this and all the other videos.

[tylerk]

I got an American Original 60s. Love it!

[lonegroover]

I always take my guitars to a very capable repairer a few miles away. I knew that he'd done a refret for Scott Gorham (Thin Lizzy) and some work on a '50s Les Paul owned by David Gilmour so I was confident enough. I would always check their website for endorsements and examples of their work (some repairers will show write-ups and photos of work they've done). That said - for a sticky / glossy neck I'd just give it a rub with fine wire wool. Easy job to be honest, did it myself to a Les Paul Deluxe, took 5 minutes and worked nicely. By the way - nice to hear One Note Samba there!

[theyearoftherat]

While some might say a traditional big box archtop brings more to the table I think you have this dialed in. Another thing to take into account is the comfort of the Jazzmaster body.

[Uuur]

Really excellent video... I'd been looking for a good "jazz" Jazzmaster video for a long time... Big bonus was, I'm a fan a Japanese guitars. Is this a current model ?

[rsmallfield]

That sounds great for a solid body jazz guitar. I'm not sure why the Telecaster is more used for jazz than the Jazzmaster as this sounds more suited to jazz than a Telecaster. Great playing.

[jega]

I have an 85 mij jazz master and it's cool. It does sound great.

[jamesm]

Sounds great, as is your playing! I have a Nash Telecaster with a Bigsby. It originally had a Lollartron in the neck pickup, but I replaced it with a Lollar Imperial Low-Wind humbucker. I really like it for a jazz sound with the neck pickup. But it is a heavy bugger between the weight of the guitar itself and the Bigsby. Wondering how heavy is the Jazzmaster?

[janallexander]

Hi Andy I own two MIJ Jazzmasters one I changed the pickups for Fenders USA pickups which really made a difference.the other one perfect no changes . Guess I am lucky living in Japan! Cool Jass guitar Andy!

[donlessnau]

Interesting. That is sweet tone. I've always ignored this one because I thought the body was too awkward, the top too busy with gadgets and you can't adjust the P90s....but I this was a surprise. I'll have to do some closer research.

[farber]

Sounds great. Ever try the Jaguar with the shorter 24" scale?

[swiessler]

The Thomastiks do wonders on a Strat also.

[roughcutguitars]

Maybe it's confirmation bias, but I swear the archtop has just a bit more dimension or - brace yourself - depth, especially on single notes, but for all the reasons you so astutely pointed out, the JM holds its own. The string change - and rhythm circuit - make all the difference. I'm just astounded that at pretty much the same price point as Harmony's recent revamps, Fender wasn't (transl. 'weren't' for the King's English crowd) able to reach a similar arrangement with Mono bags, which rival most HSCs for those not familiar.

[inlandbott]

i have a jazzmaster and was always under the impression that the rhythm circuit was for just rhythm and comping and you switched to the lead circuit for lead even when playing jazz

[yashinisuki]

I guess that is good that there are still people that support slowly dying professions like luthiers, but it’s so easy to setup your guitar (including sanding neck, shimming, levelling frets etc) and I don’t really get why people are not doing it themselves.