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Big quandary... I've got a JMJM on layaway and it's just about paid off. I was in the dealer a week or two ago and he had a new old stock Fender Cyclone HH (daphne blue) hanging on the wall. So do I transfer my JMJM deposit to the cyclone and wait another month to pay the difference, or take home the JM this weekend? I'd like both, but the days where I could afford/justify lots of guitars are long gone, and I've already got a MiM reissue duo and a strat partscaster.
The cyclone and the JM both play well, so I'm pretty stumped. The dealer can't get any more of any of them, so it's my last chance to buy either of them new. What would you do?

Squier J Mascis Jazzmaster.

bottom rung wrote:the days where I could afford/justify lots of guitars are long gone, and I've already got a MiM reissue duo and a strat partscaster.

Think of it this way: we almost all know what a bolt-on Fender with a Strat bridge OR thru-body hardtail feels like, many of us even have one "on the side." A Jazzmaster is brave new territory when you haven't had one before. Everything's familiar if you've played a Strat or something, yet at the same time it's so damn different. It's like when you vacation in another country... just near the airport/hotel/neck pickup you're thinking "oh, this isn't really different" but then you go out eating/shopping/partying and seeing the sights, and by the end of the week you're like "...fucking hell."

That's my opinion, anyway... or Travolta's in Pulp Fiction, whatever.

I've played both and I'd say the Cyclone .. I don't think the J Mascis is all that . And pricewise you're better off going the extra couple of bucks and going for the Fender anyway . Especially with the discounts out there right now .
The Cyclone is just a much better guitar .. Atomic pickups , nice neck , bridge , etc .
A Cyclone and a Jazzmaster are completely different guitars anyway . Sometimes you have to shop for what you like and not for the price .

I'll tell ya what .. Tell me where this Daphne Blue Cyclone is .. I'll buy it .

If it helps make your mind up, out of my SQJMJM, my VIJ KC Jag, and a AVRI Strat, the JMJM gets the most love. So, so damn good

Cyclone.

Having owned both of these (My Cyclone was a II but I imagine the feel and build quality to be quite similar across the range) I would have to say JM.
The Cyclone was very nice but it suffered from a lot of the issues that were characteristic of Mexican Fenders, back in the early odds. Thick, heavy poplar body, less than stellar fret dressing, weird pale rosewood fretboards... The whole guitar balances precariously between feeling solid and reliable and feeling coarse and unrefined. I personally appreciated the dichotomy and it inspired a different kind of writing from me and to approach the instrument in a new way but I think if you're looking for a more uniform and familiar feeling (provided you're used to Jazzmasters) I'd suggest the JMJM.

J Mascis is a fine guitar.... stick with it !!

JMJM. Is it the JMJM MIJ or MIC version? Either way you can't go wrong.

I hope it's the Squier, cause otherwise I really don't see a contest, here.

Yes, it's the squier I'm talking about. Still in two minds! I'm thinking I'll pick one and then put the other on layaway and pick it up in a few weeks. Then again, the new squier VMs are coming out.... Think I'll get the mascis and take a look at the new VMs before I ask the dealer to put the cyclone on layaway for me. I could always sell one of the other guitars in the meantime. The recessions a bitch, a few years ago I'd have just gone and got both.

I'd get the cyclone as it's a little more rare - you'll be able to pick up a JMJM or a VMJM for a while without too much trouble, and you can always get rid of the Cyclone if you aren't into it. You could sell it to me, for example.

I'd probably opt for the Cyclone. They're nearly impossible to get "new" anymore, and the other two models (VM Jaguar and JMJM) are still current production models and MUCH easier to track down - even if your local dealer says he can't get any more JMJM models.

Jeez, I was all set for the Squier... But the cyclone is a real rarity here and I'll not find another. I might regret this, but I think I'm going to go for..... Aw crap I don't know.

I'm going down the store later today with the last instalment of the balance on the JM. I'll make up my mind then if I'm going to switch to the cyclone, and wait another month while I pay off the difference.

bottom rung wrote:The dealer can't get any more of any of them, so it's my last chance to buy either of them new.

This isn't true. The dealer can definitely get another JMJM new, and if he can't someone else will. Whereabouts are you?

Also, do your guitars have to be new? I'm asking because I'm sure another Cyclone will show up on ebay at some point (although I know some people just prefer new guitars to secondhand ones, which is fair enough).

I've been on eBay for a few years, and in that time I've bought and sold all sorts of stuff. But in the past year I have barely touched it. I've been fecked about so often by buyers, had stuff either 'go missing' or just not turn up, and then had my PayPal account hacked a couple of times. Down in the republic Donedeal and adverts.ie are more popular, and that's where the local stuff gets advertised and you can check out guitars before you pay cash.
I've bought a good many old guitars before, but this dealer is a good guy and I've had a few good deals off him in the past. This might be one of the last new fender cyclones available, and I haven't seen one in Ireland for sale secondhand. And rumour has it that stocks of the mascis jm are thinning out in preparation for the arrival of the new squier VM range.... But that could be a bit of a tale...

bottom rung wrote:And rumour has it that stocks of the mascis jm are thinning out in preparation for the arrival of the new squier VM range.... But that could be a bit of a tale...

This sounds like a bit of a tale alright, given that they only came in this year. Has anyone else heard this?

BacchusPaul wrote:

bottom rung wrote:And rumour has it that stocks of the mascis jm are thinning out in preparation for the arrival of the new squier VM range.... But that could be a bit of a tale...

This sounds like a bit of a tale alright, given that they only came in this year. Has anyone else heard this?

i'd heard the rumour that the run was coming to an end as well

Oh. Seems a shame.