Jazzmaster. What to look for?

[KentNZ]

Hey all. Been awhile! My son is getting into guitar and my guitars have the advantage of not being appealing to him. Whew. So he’s looking for a 1k jazzmaster. What do I look for? I know nothing about those weird slopey guitars!

Any advice out there? Thinking a used player style guitar, or, Mexico or Japan Fender used. Maybe up the budget slightly. He could nearly go a squire new but figured older used is better.

Thoughts?

[Slowy]

Hey all. Been awhile! My son is getting into guitar and my guitars have the advantage of not being appealing to him. Whew. So he’s looking for a 1k jazzmaster. What do I look for? I know nothing about those weird slopey guitars!

Any advice out there? Thinking a used player style guitar, or, Mexico or Japan Fender used. Maybe up the budget slightly. He could nearly go a squire new but figured older used is better.

Thoughts?

Have you asked your son's opinion? Does he want traditional or a modern style without the tone switching and possibly humbuckers?

For a start.

[IMOCD]

The Squire J Mascis signature model is held in very high regard.

[k1w1]

I have a VM Jazzmaster in sonic blue I would consider selling. Mustang bridge, upgraded trem system from Stewmac and Artist case. Great player with all the Jazzie controls. Seymour Duncan design pickups. Would do $550 plus shipping. See my avatar. Small chip on the lower bout but otherwise very clean.

[KentNZ]

Ah yes. I’ve asked my son. I’m just after feedback about general reputation of different Fender tiers and brands etc. cheers

[kdawg2a]

I have a VM Jazzmaster in sonic blue I would consider selling. Mustang bridge, upgraded trem system from Stewmac and Artist case. Great player with all the Jazzie controls. Seymour Duncan design pickups. Would do $550 plus shipping. See my avatar. Small chip on the lower bout but otherwise very clean.

Damn, $550 is a pretty sharp deal especially with the mods and the case.

[Rog]

I bought mine without trying it out first and although it looks great hanging on the wall, that all it's ever gonna experience. Why? Baseball bat neck. Grr.

[StrummersOfThunder]

I have a VM Jazzmaster in sonic blue I would consider selling. Mustang bridge, upgraded trem system from Stewmac and Artist case. Great player with all the Jazzie controls. Seymour Duncan design pickups. Would do $550 plus shipping. See my avatar. Small chip on the lower bout but otherwise very clean.

Sounds like a pretty good options
Other than pickups of the trem and bridge have been addressed your looking good . Also yes a case is a great to have
Japanese JMs are way over priced for what they are
Some Nic Mexican offerings but you don’t see the good ones often
I’ve never laid hands on a squier VM but they get good reviews.

[GrantB]

I bought mine without trying it out first and although it looks great hanging on the wall, that all it's ever gonna experience. Why? Baseball bat neck. Grr.

What model did you get Rog?

[Rog]

Lol just a cheapo Fender knockoff that looked great

[werdna]

If the Jazzmaster were a car, it would be the Citroen DX.

[jimi]

Between the trem that can make tuning a little less stable, and the heavy gauge strings recommended to reduce the tuning problems, it’s hard to recommend one as a beginner guitar.

They do look great though, and the Squier build quality is decent. Mine is a 70s classic vibe squier, it plays well and the pickups sound pretty good out of the box.

[Candeevr4]

I loved my Telemaster, but I had too many similar guitars and wanted a floyd. I really need to get another one in ssh and a floyd. My Baritone is great too..

[StrummersOfThunder]

If the Jazzmaster were a car, it would be the Citroen DX.

0-60 in 21.8 seconds

[StrummersOfThunder]

Between the trem that can make tuning a little less stable, and the heavy gauge strings recommended to reduce the tuning problems, it’s hard to recommend one as a beginner guitar.

They do look great though, and the Squier build quality is decent. Mine is a 70s classic vibe squier, it plays well and the pickups sound pretty good out of the box.

I think this is a bit of a fallacy. The fender JM/Jag vibrato is one of the most tuning stable set ups. I have zero tuning issues with any of the JMs I’ve owned or currently own. I’ve had much more issues with bigsby armed guitars.
Comes down to set up and having good quality gear.