Official Fender Jazzblaster + Sonic Youth signatures!!

benecol · Post by **benecol** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 1:51 pm

Admittedly, I may be blaming the pickups for my fingers' shortcomings. They are 70's, CBS-era fingers.

Post by **Mike** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 1:53 pm

benecol wrote:Admittedly, I may be blaming the pickups for my fingers' shortcomings. They are 70's, CBS-era fingers.

haha

I think a lot of smack is talked about them unjustly. When I've listened to recordings using the originals (Radiohead and Franz Ferdinand for clean and dirty sounds) I've managed to ape them almost exactly without much bother at all. They have more spritely attack than a regular humbucker and more girth than a single coil. I think they're nice sounding things.

benecol · Post by **benecol** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 2:00 pm

And I suppose I should have declared my position as not really being a fan of humbuckers anyhow. The whole deluxe experience was pretty bad for me: Fender rushed out the first batch to meet an unexpectedly high demand and seemingly bypassed quality control. The ferrules fell out of the back of mine when I changed the strings, the bridge refused to intonate (it was attached on the piss) and whenever I bent a string, it would snag under the polepieces. Not good in a Â£500 guitar. I sent it back to the shop, where it languishes to this day (don't whatever you do buy the walnut deluxe from the clearance section of Peter Cook's - it my old one).

Post by **Mike** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 2:13 pm

I remember you complaining of those issues now. Mine had none of them.

It was a fucking peach. NickD owns it now.

Intonated itself, never lost tune, really great comfortable neck.

jcyphe · Post by **jcyphe** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 2:32 pm

BOOORING

Post by **Hurb** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 5:27 pm

These to me look like they were made with the artists permission, but without much input. for example I am pretty sure most of the jazzmasters thurston uses don't have toms on them nowadays. so why put them on his sig model? makes no sense. they are also ugly as fuck.

othomas2 · Post by **othomas2** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 5:39 pm

Hurb wrote:These to me look like they were made with the artists permission, but without much input. for example I am pretty sure most of the jazzmasters thurston uses don't have toms on them nowadays. so why put them on his sig model? makes no sense. they are also ugly as fuck.

but you get x2 extra pickguard screws...

Post by **Hurb** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 5:51 pm

turns out I was totally wrong about him not using toms any more.

still ugly as fuck though.

James · Post by **James** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 7:41 pm

http://www.sonicyouth.com/mustang/eq/gear.html

They've had so many better looking guitars than this one. The one listed as 'Fender Jazzmaster (cream)' is a nicer jazzblaster.

Fender scores a nil points again. The nearest to anything new they get is one or two features on a guitar they already make that they sell as a sig model. They aren't really new features just features from a different guitar they make.

The last new things I can think of them doing...

- V-strat (2007) (not heard a thing about it since the NAMM it came out)
- Toronado (98 ) (quite a decent effort, and a few decent variations too)
- Cyclone (released late 97) (no idea why it had a strat bridgebut I'm glad they still use the mustang shape a bit)

Other than that it's just those strat and tele JRs they made that look pretty ugly. So ignoring what is essentially a strat with a fancy MIDI pickup (or something similar anyway) they've done fuck all for 10 years.

You can get more excitement out of examing the contents of a dry pot noodle than you can looking at Fenders NAMM stalls.

stewart · Post by **stewart** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 7:48 pm

James wrote:http://www.sonicyouth.com/mustang/eq/gear.html

They've had so many better looking guitars than this one. The one listed as 'Fender Jazzmaster (cream)' is a nicer jazzblaster.

i love how they don't give a fuck about the cosmetics of their guitars. like writing a reminder of the tuning on a '65 body in black marker.

mewithoutus · Post by **mewithoutus** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 8:50 pm

Mike wrote:How can these Sonic Youth guys get a signature Jazzmaster ahead of Doog?

good god, youre right.

RumorsOFsurF · Post by **RumorsOFsurF** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 8:58 pm

Mike wrote:
benecol wrote:Admittedly, I may be blaming the pickups for my fingers' shortcomings. They are 70's, CBS-era fingers.
haha

I think a lot of smack is talked about them unjustly. When I've listened to recordings using the originals (Radiohead and Franz Ferdinand for clean and dirty sounds) I've managed to ape them almost exactly without much bother at all. They have more spritely attack than a regular humbucker and more girth than a single coil. I think they're nice sounding things.

Upon Mike's recommendation, I replaced the pots in mine with 1 Meg as well. I love the pickups, aside from the fact that the low end tends to be a bit muddier than I'm used to. Of course, it's my only humbucker guitar, so I expect it to sound different.

Post by **Mike** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 9:08 pm

How did you feel after the change? A bit more open in the mids and trebs?

timhulio · Post by **timhulio** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 9:15 pm

James wrote: The last new things I can think of them doing...

And some things with 'black dove' p90 pickups. The TC-90, doublecut tele, possibly chambered. The Stratosonic- a strat but still quite different. Both these were great. Didn't buy one. There was also a telesonic, with dynasonic pickups, as featured in that crap Freaky Friday film.

Actually screw all those, they're just more Strats and Teles.

James · Post by **James** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 9:18 pm

James wrote:Other than that it's just those strat and tele JRs they made that look pretty ugly.

Fender need to man up and get someone with balls in the R&D department. At the very least they need to stop making so many of their guitars available in just black white and sunburst.

Post by **Mike** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 9:35 pm

James wrote:
James wrote:Other than that it's just those strat and tele JRs they made that look pretty ugly.
Fender need to man up and get someone with balls in the R&D department. At the very least they need to stop making so many of their guitars available in just black white and sunburst.

I am currently applying for a job at Fender. Watch this space.

RumorsOFsurF · Post by **RumorsOFsurF** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 9:35 pm

Mike wrote:How did you feel after the change? A bit more open in the mids and trebs?

It seemed much more open....almost like someone had a blanket over my amp before the swap. That sounds cheesy I know, but it really made a difference.

Will · Post by **Will** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 9:39 pm

When I think of a Thurston Moore sig, I think of something based on one of these (Warning: huge-ass pics).
#1

► Show Spoiler

#2

► Show Spoiler

#3

► Show Spoiler

And yes, the Jazzblasters need to be semi-hollow.

Mo Law-ka · Post by **Mo Law-ka** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 9:59 pm

in slightly related news:
JIMMY EAT WORLD

RumorsOFsurF · Post by **RumorsOFsurF** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 10:01 pm

Mo Rocca wrote:in slightly related news:
JIMMY EAT WORLD

How is that guy deserving of a sig model?