GUITAR VIDEO DEMO: https://youtu.be/_saaxG4yI6E
 
Jazzmasters are proving to experience a solid comeback into the mainstream these days, after being Fender's underdogs and indie kids' favourites. Many players who were true to their Strats and Teles are only now discovering these truly inspiring instruments. As a result, Jazzmasters are increasingly hard to get in the second-hand market, mainly because everyone who owns one won't want to part with it.
 
Most of the time Jazzmasters coming up for sale are traditional models made either in Japan or Mexico. Many more rock-oriented players really want to get one of these, cause they are more or less affordable, but then quickly discover a whole list of drawbacks (and come to us for modifications). Firstly, the original bridge design with ridged adjustable saddles doesn't really work that well with lighter string gauges and with more aggressive rhythm playing - strings just pop out of the saddles all the time. So Mustang or a tune-o-matic bridges are good upgrades.
 
Secondly, the original pickups and A1MEG pots provide a very trebly sound. So lowering the value of the pots or replacing at least the bridge pickup with a more powerful model is very common for rock players. The rhythm circuit, originally meant for jazz players in the 1960s, isn't really doing much besides making the neck pickup muddy. Everyone wants a series/parallel mod.
 
And finally, the necks on the vast majority of Jazzmaster reissues are surprisingly thin, which is fine if you have small hands, but a pain for everyone else.
 
So many people love the looks of the Jazzmasters but then want extensive mods to make it work for their rock, alternative or indie music. Here's when custom models, like the one here, come into play.
 
The guitar for sale is truly unique, sporting that rustic knotter alder satin finish and a striking tortoiseshell pickguard, inspired by the famous Elvis Costello Jazzmaster. Custom UK-made body resonates very nicely and has solid sustain and loud acoustic tone without being overly heavy. The body has very lovely vintage-accurate contours and comes with full inner cavities aluminium foil shielding, which together with the aluminium-backed pickguard creates a so-called "Faraday Cage", that helps curb any interference.
 
This guitar comes with a medium-sized C-shape Stratocaster neck from a 2011 Fender American Special model. The neck features a beautifully figured slab rosewood fretboard, medium jumbo frets with no wear, fretboard radius of 9.5 inch for easier bending, fitting satin back finish, big CBS style headstock and modern truss-rod. Fender tuners and truss-rod work smoothly and the neck is straight as an arrow.
 
Unique features continue with the electronics. In order to make this sound as good as it looks, we've installed a pair of truly special pickups: a Seymour Duncan Vintage single-coil in the neck position and a Seymour Duncan Hot single-coil bridge pickup. These have a very full sound and a broad range of variation via the volume and tone knobs. Perfect for most genres, including heavier grunge and alt-rock stuff. Outstanding string-to-string separation and tonal detail.
 
Wiring is all USA-spec with the highest grade components, including CTS USA A250K pot for the volume and tone, Switchcraft output socket, Switchcraft 3-way toggle and 2-way slider switches and vintage-correct cloth-covered wires. Smooth treble roll-off with a growly low end is provided by a Orange Drop tone capacitor.
 
Traditional rhythm circuit that has very limited application and usually just makes the neck pickup sound muddy was ditched in favour of a much more useful and exciting 4th sound. Slider on the upper horn engages both pickups in-series, where both coils essentially act as a spaced humbucker, doubling the output and overdriving any tube amp into sweet heaven. This sound is incredibly balanced thanks to all the twang from the bridge pickup, warmth of the neck and lack of mid scoop, that you usually get in a more traditional "middle" position, where pickups are engaged in-parallel. With the slider down, using the 3-way toggle switch you still get those 3 traditional tones.
 
Wait, but there is more! If your 3-way toggle is in the neck position and you move the slider switch up - you will get silence. This means in this configuration your slider switch turns into a killswitch for all those brilliant percussive Tom Morello-style tricks!
 
We started using Hosco Japan vibratos instead of Fender ones only recently, but the quality of the components and the tuning stability of these units is very impressive and consistent. Vibrato works very smoothly and the springs used in these are very responsive, yet stable, always returning to pitch. Tremolo has the lock function, that helps stay in tune in case of a string break. The original long tremolo arm stays in nicely and doesn't flop around.
 
Traditional Jazzmaster bridge is infamous for its rattling and string slippage, so we decided to use the tried and tested and much more sturdy Mustang bridge with a correct 9.5 inch radius saddles. Now you can hit those strings as hard as you want and lean onto the wiggle stick till your hands hurt!
 
This instrument received a full professional setup with deep body cleaning, body polish, neck deep clean, lemon oil fretboard treatment, full electronics check, truss-rod and action and intonation adjustment. Restringed with D'addario 10-46 Nickel-plated steel strings.
 
This guitar will be shipped around UK and EU with Parcelforce courier, safely packed into a sturdy guitar cardboard box. 24h courier service provided to UK customers. Worldwide shipping available as well!