J Mascis vs Vintage Modified Jazzmaster

[vojtasTS29]

hey, guys I've been looking to buy a Jazzmaster and inside my price range there are only two that i like. The J Mascis and the Vintage Modified in sonic blue. Which one would you recommend? Honestly I can't stand the clearcoated neck on the VM, but I am mainly asking about the quality. Most J Mascises I've seen felt on par with MIJ fender, but I've never had a chance to play the Vintage Modified thing that had a playable setup. Can I get the Vintage Modified to play as good as the Mascis, or should I just get the Mascis and not bother.
Thanks for advice

[Fran]

Gonna say JMJM.

Had one and would say they are close to CIJ quality, I'd even go as far as saying the pickups are better.
Bare in mind the jumbo frets and TOM though, not to everyone's taste.

Not played a VM but I'd presume the bridge will either need work or upgrading. Don't know about the pups or how the neck feels.

I did an video of the JMJM I owned...

[youtube][/youtube]

[vojtasTS29]

Jumbo frets is something i like, and i can always get a replacement staytrem bridge. Tbh the only thing i don't like about the Mascis is the closer mounted tremolo. I feel like this would stick a lot in the TOM saddles and it looks that little bit off to me. I wish i could get both and swap the neck, pg and hardware from the mascis to a vm body.

[BearBoy]

Capo FU

[BearBoy]

Sounds great though Fran. Always loved the look of the purple sparklez MIJ ones but assume they’re fairly daft money now.

Is that new red and gold JM basically a JMJM in all but name?

[vojtasTS29]

The ones I've seen have smaller frets, but are otherwise the same. They make me feel like they're the bad parts that didn't pass the QC to be used in a JMJM though. That would also explain why they're sold for quite a lot less than the VM, while the Mascis costs the same as a Mexican Mustang at least here.

[BearBoy]

I’d be more than happy with the smaller frets tbh but less so with the other stuff. What did you feel was wrong with the other parts?

[vojtasTS29]

the one i've had the chance to play felt kinda wonky. Most of it was probably mainly because the setup was not very good, compared to the J Mascises that get treated like flagship models. Stores here generally sell only strats and Les Pauls and 90% of older guitarists make fun of you if you bring out an offset, so nobody knows how to set them up. What you get in stores are JM's where they take out the shims, the bridge slides on the PG because it's decked and the strings keep jumping out. The TOM fixes some of those issues but a shotty setup does what it does. If the guitars were otherwise the same, the price difference wouldn't be there though. It screams leftover/lower quality parts to me. The necks are still really nice.

[Fran]

Jumbo frets is something i like, and i can always get a replacement staytrem bridge. Tbh the only thing i don't like about the Mascis is the closer mounted tremolo. I feel like this would stick a lot in the TOM saddles and it looks that little bit off to me. I wish i could get both and swap the neck, pg and hardware from the mascis to a vm body.

I didn't have any problems with the tremolo, the strings didn't stick but I did only use it subtly.

Something I did notice, you don't get the audible 'ghost notes' from behind the bridge when using high gain. Which may be the reason for the shorter distance.
Some years ago I fitted a Duncan humbucker in the bridge position of a CIJ Jazzmaster and those notes were really audible. Almost like a weird delay effect. I ended wrapping a hair bobble around the strings behind the bridge to mute the sound.

I think your decision should be based on how you play. I'd guess the JMJM is more suited to higher gain settings.

[Fran]

Capo FU

[George]

Jmjm is a much better guitar.

[vojtasTS29]

Btw if any of you UK guys had the Classic 60's surf green jazzmaster for around 700 pounds, i'd jump on that right now. Visual condition is not a concern.

[Josh]

I have a vm jazzmaster and a 60s surf green classic series jazzmaster. I bought the fender because I wanted an upgrade and because it had a mastery on it for stock price so I jumped. Aside from the mastery bridge it’s not much better. The neck definitely feels nicer since it has vintage frets and 7.25 radius, but after putting the fender bridge on the squier vm it really brought it up to the level of my fender. Definitely feels “cheap�, but don’t be fooled. I like it.
Now the j mascis on, eh. I’ve played a couple and still prefer my blue vm one over it. Not a huge fan of the neck and the TOM. they also moved the tremolo closer to the bridge like those classic players.
Imo, ball out for a fender (absolutely love mine), or go with one of those vm ones and buy a better bridge (also love my blue one, it’s a treasure). IMO they’re kinda close, if I had to choose I’d sell my fender and keep my squier and put the mastery bridge on it.

[BearBoy]

Btw if any of you UK guys had the Classic 60's surf green jazzmaster for around 700 pounds, i'd jump on that right now. Visual condition is not a concern.

GAK are doing them for £850 at the moment in their sale.

[sunshiner]

What about new Squier Deluxe Jazzmaster? It seems to have all the features JMJM has and it looks great

[Noirie.]

Jmjm is a much better guitar.

[Noirie.]

What about new Squier Deluxe Jazzmaster? It seems to have all the features JMJM has and it looks great

Same guitar just different finish iirc

[Doog]

Weird, the Squier JMJM has the same 'tailpiece moved forward' as the Classic Players et al, but the Fender OG JMJM doesn't.

Never knew that.

[vojtasTS29]

Uhh, so i went into a store and left with a JMJM. Pics tomorrow.

[theshadowofseattle]

Weird, the Squier JMJM has the same 'tailpiece moved forward' as the Classic Players et al, but the Fender OG JMJM doesn't.

Never knew that.

Tailpiece moved forward was a huge improvement and mojo crybabies whined so hard.