NGD! Squire Classic Vibe Jazzmaster

I've been wanting a second Jazzmaster to compliment my MIJ, which is my #1. It has always been one of those "someday" sorta deals. Last week a good buddy was coming over for me to work on his Casino, so I told him to bring along his Jazzmaster. He's had it for a year or so but never bonded with it. He asked me to loan him my MIM Strat that I had loaded with GFS GoldFoil pups. I told him that'd be cool, just loan me the JM... Long story short, we decided to trade straight across. I gotta say that the Classic Vibe series of guitars are pretty darn solid, as is. This guitar plays and sounds really good. The Duncan Designed pups are nice too, way better than what came in my MIJ stock.

Really all I'm going to do is shim the neck, put in a custom set of AngelTone pups I had made for me, and at some point put either a Tort or Anodized guard on it. Oh, and I'll be taking the "rhythm circuit" out as I find it completely useless. Other than those couple things, I like the guitar the way it is. I could leave it the way it is but am going to mod it to be closer to my MIJ JM.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...psj4zjlpjp.jpg

The two together

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...ps2r7y5sjk.jpg

Very cool! Gotta try one one day!

Thanks guys! I'm really excited about it, I was looking at the Mascis Squire and glad I held out. It really does feel good, and not just "for the price". It's not on the same level as an AVRI or something, but it's a great guitar. Already sounds good, upgrades will be the icing on the cake. I'm merely enhancing, not trying to "fix" anything.

I've had nothing but good luck with the four CVs I've owned. All were well built and dare I say it, of better build quality than any of my mid to late 70s US Fenders.

I think you've got it down as far as upgrades. The stock pups/wiring in mine were very usable but upgrading those pieces really let the guitars shine.

Congrats and HNGD! :dude

Totally concur Dan!!! I actually like the pups, but the ones I have sitting here are way better. They're Broadcaster's built on JM bobbins. I have a set like them, kinda, in my MIJ. Won't completely spill the beans on those, but that's the gist.

I'm going to use the Duncan covers, just to mess with people. LOL

I've played the Strat, and REALLY want to check out the 50's Tele with the pine body. But I already have the parts for a real Snakehead Tele, or I'd get the Squire. But everyone I've suggested to they buy a CV has thanked me for it. I've read nothing but great things about them from people I trust.

43 AWG and A3??? :hmm

I've been going there lately and I ain't turnin' back...:odie:

PS: My pine Tele is the last CV standing. It ain't goin' nowhere! :sun

Yessiree Bobby! My other set are even more special. But the Angeltone pups going in this are killer!

I've been contemplating 'buckers w/mixed coils i.e. A3 43 awg w/A2 42awg. I'll let you know how it works out... :arhhh:

Very good, I like JMs a lot!

how is the bridge on that one?

DanD: I've never played A3 hb's, only 2 4 & 5. I do have a set of 5/2 P90's, and they're awesome!

de Melo: Bridge is fine, it has a Mustang on it. IDK if they come that way or my buddy put it on. I did shim the neck as the bridge was touching the pickguard. Trem seemed fine enough but I never use them

By the way, I put a Mustang bridge on my MIJ too. I think the stock JM bridge is absolutely horrible!!! Tiny screws and the threads? No thanks! I also have some custom titanium thimbles that don't allow the bridge to move. Like I said, I never use the trem, so between those 2 mods my guitars stay in tune and don't rattle like most JM's do. There's that string hold down bar they sell, which I think is fine. But I like the fact that there's sympathetic drones going on. I'm one of the weirdos who actually likes microphonics and sympathetic vibrations...

My Jag has a Mastery bridge and the Whizzo bar to hold down the strings. I don't use the whammy either and so replaced the thimbles too.

The factory Jag bridge was shit unless using .12-.13 gauge string sets.

Even with the mods and a buttload of pup adjustments I can't get on with the Jag and its short scale.

The Jag is going on the block... :speechles

I shoulda' got a JM and may well try a CV and see how we gel. :Banjo:

I don't like Jags or Mustangs, I think they really suffer from being short scale. I'm pretty old school with JM's, shimmed neck and a flipped Mustang bridge work fine for me. Nothing against the Mastery bridge or the string hold down, but they're useless to me because of the way I setup my JM's. Doesn't mean I don't think they're good kit, just not what I'm into.

From having a MIJ and CV, I'll say this: the MIJ is a better instrument both in fit/finish and overall playability. It feels more solid but suffered from having shit pickups. The CV had better pups, but feels like a MIM guitar. That's not a slam at all, it's a good guitar, just not as good as the MIJ. It's solid, plays and sounds good.

I don't like Mustangs but I love 24" Music Masters and Duo-Sonics. For me, it's not the 24" scale length that ruins the Mustang, it's the vibrato- it seems to suck the tone out of the guitar.

I don't like 22-1/2" Music Masters, Duo-Sonics and Mustangs. I definitely notice the short scale length's affect on tone with those guitars.

Again, I gotta try a Jazzmaster!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by chuckocaster

I don't like Jags or Mustangs, I think they really suffer from being short scale. I'm pretty old school with JM's, shimmed neck and a flipped Mustang bridge work fine for me. Nothing against the Mastery bridge or the string hold down, but they're useless to me because of the way I setup my JM's. Doesn't mean I don't think they're good kit, just not what I'm into.

From having a MIJ and CV, I'll say this: the MIJ is a better instrument both in fit/finish and overall playability. It feels more solid but suffered from having shit pickups. The CV had better pups, but feels like a MIM guitar. That's not a slam at all, it's a good guitar, just not as good as the MIJ. It's solid, plays and sounds good.

---

My Jag is a MIJ semi-hollow model and suffers from rather bland pups. I've contemplated a pup swap but I have a feeling my issues are more due to scale length than any thing else. My first set up on the Jag was with a Mustang bridge and shimmed neck angle so I could raise the bridge up and get some break angle between the bridge and tail to cut back on the sitar effect.

That setup worked just as well as the Mastery/Whizzo setup does now and was a much cheaper fix but I was still not getting what I wanted out of the Jag and the Mastery/Whizzo setup was another (failed) attempt to get the Jag to work with me. I think I'd be better suited with a 25.5" scale neck.

Can I simply bolt the longer scale neck on the Jag I currently have? Are the distances from the neck pocket to bridge the same on JMs and Jags?

I hadn't thought about that. :hmm If they are I may try a neck swap before offing the Jag. :yah:

I don't think they are interchangeable. But, if I was you, I'd get a set of GFS Slick brand flat pole pups and stick them in the guitar. For less than $60 you'd know real quick if it's the scale or the pups.

IME, MIJ guitars are well made and resonant. They simply suffer from crapy pups! I'm the kind of guy who believes in the acoustical properties of an electric guitar being important to the amplified sound. I ALWAYS play an electric unplugged first, I listen to the overall tone of it. Then, and only if I like the acoustic sound, do I plug it in. I know this is a hotly debated topic, and some people have become enemies over the mere discussion... But I'm a firm believer in NOT trying to polish that turd. All that to say, if you like playing it unplugged, but hate the way it sounds through an amp. Then change the pups. If however you don't like to just strum it, cut ties and find something else. Life's too short for bad tone!!!

Take care buddy, and RAWK ON! :dude

Got the pups in yesterday! I also changed the thimbles for some custom ones I had made. The bridge fits tight in them and doesn't rock.

They sound great! Think I'm going to swap the .02 cap to something bigger, but that can wait till next string change. I need to play it and get used to how it's different from my MIJ. I can already tell it's not as "aggressive" as the other one. And I'm fighting myself to leave it alone. I really don't need EVERY guitar I have to be the same, because what's the point of owning several?

Have NONE of you noticed that this thread was started on 3/28/2016??????? As I'm typing here it's 3/15/2016!!!!

Sorry about being MIA! Been caught up with other stuff. I haven't put the new bridge on as I haven't been playing much, I'm waiting for the strings to die.

Overall I really like the guitar, but it is very different from my MIJ. And while that's a good thing, I have to fight myself to not want to change it. Point being I don't need 2 guitars that sound exactly alike.