NEW! "Blacktop" Fenders [Strat, Tele, Jazzmaster]

MikeG · Post by **MikeG** » Wed Nov 03, 2010 9:04 am

They've got one of the Jazzmasters in a shop in Cardiff. Â£560.

plaidbeer · Post by **plaidbeer** » Wed Nov 03, 2010 4:29 pm

MikeG wrote:They've got one of the Jazzmasters in a shop in Cardiff. Â£560.

A Blacktop? That's unreasonably expensive as they're retailing for $450 over here in the States.

SKC Willie · Post by **SKC Willie** » Wed Nov 03, 2010 5:24 pm

plaidbeer wrote:
MikeG wrote:They've got one of the Jazzmasters in a shop in Cardiff. Â£560.
A Blacktop? That's unreasonably expensive as they're retailing for $450 over here in the States.

For a new product, that is somewhere around what I would expect. I mean if they have plenty of stock it would probably sell for Â£470 and since they seem to be rare over the pond they're going to charge more.

p.s. I'm not arguing that the price doesn't suck but I wouldn't say it is uncommon.

SGJarrod · Post by **SGJarrod** » Thu Nov 04, 2010 5:10 pm

SGJarrod wrote:I have had my BT JM for about a month now and I have decided I do not like the HB in the bridge, it is almost all mid-range....not good clean, tonight I am trading a pedal I built for a Duncan JB, I will see how that sounds, If I do not like that then I may try a humbucker size P90

Got the JB put in and it made a huge improvment over the stock HB.... the sound is now balanced and less mid-rangey and compressed...the JB actually matches the neck single better.... in the middle position it no longer sounds like 2 seperate pick-ups but one sound now

I think the HB replacement is a must with the JM.... I also changed the tone cap to an orange drop and put a .001 treble bleed cap on the volume pot.... I am now totally happy with this guitar

MikeG · Post by **MikeG** » Sat Nov 06, 2010 5:30 pm

portugalwillie wrote:
plaidbeer wrote:
MikeG wrote:They've got one of the Jazzmasters in a shop in Cardiff. Â£560.
A Blacktop? That's unreasonably expensive as they're retailing for $450 over here in the States.
For a new product, that is somewhere around what I would expect. I mean if they have plenty of stock it would probably sell for Â£470 and since they seem to be rare over the pond they're going to charge more.

p.s. I'm not arguing that the price doesn't suck but I wouldn't say it is uncommon.

Cranes is notorious for high prices, though. They're on one of the main shopping streets in Cardiff, with sky high rents that drive up the costs. A Baja's Â£560, Classic Player Jags etc are over Â£800... I suppose they then make a big flourish of making a deal to people if they try and negotiate.

SKC Willie · Post by **SKC Willie** » Sat Nov 06, 2010 6:09 pm

Sounds like this guy needs to take a visit over seas now!

ekwatts · Post by **ekwatts** » Tue Nov 09, 2010 3:10 pm

I'm seriously considering selling my Jaguar and using the bones to grab a Blacktop Jazzmaster. When I first saw these I thought "Hell naw, more 'hot-rodded' Strats for Â£800+?" but when I saw the prices and the Jazzy I changed my mind sharpish. As I haven't read the entire thread, I was just wondering: Are these US-made? What sort of bridge is on the Jazzmaster? It looks like a Mustang bridge. Also, no tremlock button? Why? Not really bothered, just wondering. And finally: Has the trem plate been moved upwards as on the Mexi Jags and Jazzmasters to improve the break angle?

endsjustifymeans · Post by **endsjustifymeans** » Tue Nov 09, 2010 4:14 pm

ekwatts wrote:I'm seriously considering selling my Jaguar and using the bones to grab a Blacktop Jazzmaster. When I first saw these I thought "Hell naw, more 'hot-rodded' Strats for Â£800+?" but when I saw the prices and the Jazzy I changed my mind sharpish. As I haven't read the entire thread, I was just wondering: Are these US-made? What sort of bridge is on the Jazzmaster? It looks like a Mustang bridge. Also, no tremlock button? Why? Not really bothered, just wondering. And finally: Has the trem plate been moved upwards as on the Mexi Jags and Jazzmasters to improve the break angle?

They're mexican made.
The bridge is unique to this guitar... sort of mustangish.
No idea why no tremlock... I guess to cut down cost but I imagine it must have cost more to make a unique trem for this guitar.
I don't know about the trem plate location, but I'd guess it's located in the same place as the other mexi jazzies.

I can tell you that they play and sound wonderful though. There's one at my local shop that I fiddle with weekly.

ekwatts · Post by **ekwatts** » Tue Nov 09, 2010 5:07 pm

Hmmm.

I'm thinking I can get around Â£350 for my Jag if I hawk it around to enough people, and the Jazzmaster is about Â£450 on average in the places I've seen it so far, which is nice. Definitely want the black one.

I was just a little disappointed in the Jaguar when I bought it. I'd always wanted a Jag, and when I finally got one I realised they just had so many problems in comparison to other guitars that playing it was not exactly the pleasurable experience I'd expected. To make matters worse, the Mexi Jags and Jazzmasters came out at around exactly the same time, with massive improvements to pretty much everything that I'd attempted to fix on the Jag. And I didn't even like the 24" scale length, either. I found it unnecessary because although my hands are girly and a bit small, I'm not a fucking woofter. And even though I went with Seymour Duncan SJAG upgrade for the bridge, the pickups still squeal like a motherfucker when you add any serious distortion.

endsjustifymeans · Post by **endsjustifymeans** » Tue Nov 09, 2010 5:10 pm

ekwatts wrote:Hmmm.

I'm thinking I can get around Â£350 for my Jag if I hawk it around to enough people, and the Jazzmaster is about Â£450 on average in the places I've seen it so far, which is nice. Definitely want the black one.

I was just a little disappointed in the Jaguar when I bought it. I'd always wanted a Jag, and when I finally got one I realised they just had so many problems in comparison to other guitars that playing it was not exactly the pleasurable experience I'd expected. To make matters worse, the Mexi Jags and Jazzmasters came out at around exactly the same time, with massive improvements to pretty much everything that I'd attempted to fix on the Jag. And I didn't even like the 24" scale length, either. I found it unnecessary because although my hands are girly and a bit small, I'm not a fucking woofter. And even though I went with Seymour Duncan SJAG upgrade for the bridge, the pickups still squeal like a motherfucker when you add any serious distortion.

Would it not make more sense to have a US shortscaler grab one and ship it? They can be had for $400 over here sometimes.

ekwatts · Post by **ekwatts** » Tue Nov 09, 2010 5:15 pm

endsjustifymeans wrote:
ekwatts wrote:Hmmm.

I'm thinking I can get around Â£350 for my Jag if I hawk it around to enough people, and the Jazzmaster is about Â£450 on average in the places I've seen it so far, which is nice. Definitely want the black one.

I was just a little disappointed in the Jaguar when I bought it. I'd always wanted a Jag, and when I finally got one I realised they just had so many problems in comparison to other guitars that playing it was not exactly the pleasurable experience I'd expected. To make matters worse, the Mexi Jags and Jazzmasters came out at around exactly the same time, with massive improvements to pretty much everything that I'd attempted to fix on the Jag. And I didn't even like the 24" scale length, either. I found it unnecessary because although my hands are girly and a bit small, I'm not a fucking woofter. And even though I went with Seymour Duncan SJAG upgrade for the bridge, the pickups still squeal like a motherfucker when you add any serious distortion.
Would it not make more sense to have a US shortscaler grab one and ship it? They can be had for $400 over here sometimes.

Customs. It might still end up cheaper even with some comedy customs charge slapped on for giggles, but probably only by Â£50 or so which, while not to be sniffed at by somebody as ridiculously poor as me, still leaves the risk of something going horribly wrong and it getting lost in transit.

endsjustifymeans · Post by **endsjustifymeans** » Tue Nov 09, 2010 5:18 pm

fair nuff. Just seems an outrageous price for what really is budget guitar.

SKC Willie · Post by **SKC Willie** » Tue Nov 09, 2010 6:10 pm

ekwatts wrote:I'm seriously considering selling my Jaguar and using the bones to grab a Blacktop Jazzmaster. When I first saw these I thought "Hell naw, more 'hot-rodded' Strats for Â£800+?" but when I saw the prices and the Jazzy I changed my mind sharpish. As I haven't read the entire thread, I was just wondering: Are these US-made? What sort of bridge is on the Jazzmaster? It looks like a Mustang bridge. Also, no tremlock button? Why? Not really bothered, just wondering. And finally: Has the trem plate been moved upwards as on the Mexi Jags and Jazzmasters to improve the break angle?

I have the trem plate from an old 95ish Jaguar. It doesn't have the springs or any part that actually goes into the cavity for the trem but it does have the little brass slider guy. If you get one and want to see if it works you could have it. I'm not using it for anything; just sitting in my parts box.

ekwatts · Post by **ekwatts** » Tue Nov 09, 2010 6:54 pm

Cheers Willie.

I think if I do this then it will probably be just after Christmas, at which point they'll probably be on sale in a few places, knocking the prices down maybe to Â£400 or so.

SKC Willie · Post by **SKC Willie** » Tue Nov 09, 2010 7:13 pm

Sweet, just let me know. I'd be curious to see if it works.

avj · Post by **avj** » Tue Nov 09, 2010 10:49 pm

Aww. This delightful exchange was the perfect antidote to the Ro S classifieds thread I just read.

ekwatts · Post by **ekwatts** » Tue Nov 09, 2010 11:26 pm

avj wrote:Aww. This delightful exchange was the perfect antidote to the Ro S classifieds thread I just read.

Haha, that was some amazing shit, amirite? Some people are just crazy as pie. I've actually not traded with that many people on here, but people tend to trust me when I do because I don't talk to them like they're a class A dickhead. It's really not rocket science.

paul_ · Post by **paul_** » Wed Nov 10, 2010 12:27 am

endsjustifymeans wrote: No idea why no tremlock... I guess to cut down cost but I imagine it must have cost more to make a unique trem for this guitar.

My guess is that they used some of the pre-existing asian copies of JM trems, which you see on a lot of Eastwoods and various Jag-influenced imports. Maybe cheaper to buy a shitload of those than send a bunch of the Japanese [or whatever the Mascis and CP use] out on guitars that are going to sell for far cheaper than any Fender to feature said trem in a long time.

Eastwood Sidejack (they use it on a lot of copies in place of an original's weirder trem)

DiPinto Galaxie 4

$40 on GPR

Fran · Post by **Fran** » Wed Nov 10, 2010 1:20 am

ekwatts wrote:I'm seriously considering selling my Jaguar and using the bones to grab a Blacktop Jazzmaster.

Pfffft. Why are you joining a Feeder covers band? Upgrade the humbucker though, you'll need to to get that 'buck rogers' tone.

I STILL fucking hate this blacktop series, sorry guys. They are way too expensive in the UK, Â£560 for a MIM diluted/modified Fender is just pure bullshit, how dare they?!!?

Ankhanu · Post by **Ankhanu** » Wed Nov 10, 2010 2:35 am

Fran wrote:They are way too expensive in the UK

Absolutely correct... not too bad here in North America though. The UK price is just ridonkulous.