The neck on this guitar has a couple of machining faults - a line across the fretboard between the 16th & 17th fret that has not been sanded out, and a narrow, slight dip in the fretboard just in front of the nut.The low E saddle on the adjust-o-matic bridge appears to have been fitted cross threaded as I had a lot of trouble adjusting it to get the intonation right. ( There had been no attempt to set the intonation at the factory, It would seem that you don't get that on sub-£1k guitars nowadays.) The saddle screw on the G string is also very loose & I've had to put a drop of contact adhesive on the end of the thread to stop it buzzing.My previous purchase was a Squier FSR 70's Jaguar and although it had a couple of issues on arrival which were easily resolved, I ... MoreThe neck on this guitar has a couple of machining faults - a line across the fretboard between the 16th & 17th fret that has not been sanded out, and a narrow, slight dip in the fretboard just in front of the nut.The low E saddle on the adjust-o-matic bridge appears to have been fitted cross threaded as I had a lot of trouble adjusting it to get the intonation right. ( There had been no attempt to set the intonation at the factory, It would seem that you don't get that on sub-£1k guitars nowadays.) The saddle screw on the G string is also very loose & I've had to put a drop of contact adhesive on the end of the thread to stop it buzzing.My previous purchase was a Squier FSR 70's Jaguar and although it had a couple of issues on arrival which were easily resolved, I feel that the overall quality of the Squier is on a par with this Fender which cost nearly three times as much. I've basically paid the extra for the name & an alder body. That said, once set up the guitar feels good, plays well & sounds great, so I'll be keeping it !

Amazing Guitar

I just received this guitar today. There is a lot of negative talk about the noiseless pickups, but it sounds phenomenal to me. Many complaints include that it sounds too "dark", but it sounds terrific through my 1966 Bassman. There is a tremendous range of fantastic tones that are possible with this guitar, but it is definitely not for metal. It gets a great tone for classic rock, alt rock/indie, jazz, funk, and stoner rock. I've gotten a great Gilmour tone to Hendrix to QOTSA, and it honestly doesn't take long to learn the guitar's wide tonal capabilities. The neck plays so well that I found myself inspired to get into new sonic territories and genres. I own a lot of guitars, and this is my favorite one currently. It's my pick over my Les Paul Traditional, ... MoreI just received this guitar today. There is a lot of negative talk about the noiseless pickups, but it sounds phenomenal to me. Many complaints include that it sounds too "dark", but it sounds terrific through my 1966 Bassman. There is a tremendous range of fantastic tones that are possible with this guitar, but it is definitely not for metal. It gets a great tone for classic rock, alt rock/indie, jazz, funk, and stoner rock. I've gotten a great Gilmour tone to Hendrix to QOTSA, and it honestly doesn't take long to learn the guitar's wide tonal capabilities. The neck plays so well that I found myself inspired to get into new sonic territories and genres. I own a lot of guitars, and this is my favorite one currently. It's my pick over my Les Paul Traditional, Telecaster, Ibanez S Premium, and the others. Do yourself a fiver and try it out with an open mind. Don't listen to the naysayers. This thing rocks!

Fender Jazzmaster Ventura 60s

Sound:Very articulate sounding guitar I like the reactions of tones lights lighting up the neck and bending strings I'm going to have to get a Mustang Bridge.Features:Play a Fender since 1977 Love's Fender guitars is Mexican models are amazing I'm glad I got this one you know it's so fantastic and articulate this guitar does trick to me and then some greatest human thank you love playing it.Overall:Fantastic Fender Jazzmaster I love the color is it a great deal thank you guys mine is the ice metallic blue matching headstock the pickup sound fantastic and there's so many ways I can use variations of of getting tones. Was packed well an out-of-the-box nothing bad I always do my own little set up finishing myself alterations for me. zZounds did me right on ... MoreSound:Very articulate sounding guitar I like the reactions of tones lights lighting up the neck and bending strings I'm going to have to get a Mustang Bridge.Features:Play a Fender since 1977 Love's Fender guitars is Mexican models are amazing I'm glad I got this one you know it's so fantastic and articulate this guitar does trick to me and then some greatest human thank you love playing it.Overall:Fantastic Fender Jazzmaster I love the color is it a great deal thank you guys mine is the ice metallic blue matching headstock the pickup sound fantastic and there's so many ways I can use variations of of getting tones. Was packed well an out-of-the-box nothing bad I always do my own little set up finishing myself alterations for me. zZounds did me right on Veterans Day thank you PS when I came out of the Navy in 78 I bought my first fender thank you again grateful.

I love this guitar.

I use this product at home, mostly alone, on a Boss Katana 2 (a fun little solid state amp, which really exceeded my expectations). The guitar just has a very versatile tone, especially if you know how to use the rhythm circuit and pup positions. It can be very jangly and have a nice gulpy low E and A string that contrasts well with the sparkle of the mids and highs. You can get a lot of twang, too, if you're into that. The neck pickup is a loud single coil (kind of hot sounding) and the mid position is perfect for me. The bridge pickup is very very tinny and thin, but you can do a lot with tone on this guitar. The rhythm circuit gives a warmer humbucker-like tone, but is also versatile in tone. It's utterly beautiful to me, aesthetically, and that matters a lot. ... MoreI use this product at home, mostly alone, on a Boss Katana 2 (a fun little solid state amp, which really exceeded my expectations). The guitar just has a very versatile tone, especially if you know how to use the rhythm circuit and pup positions. It can be very jangly and have a nice gulpy low E and A string that contrasts well with the sparkle of the mids and highs. You can get a lot of twang, too, if you're into that. The neck pickup is a loud single coil (kind of hot sounding) and the mid position is perfect for me. The bridge pickup is very very tinny and thin, but you can do a lot with tone on this guitar. The rhythm circuit gives a warmer humbucker-like tone, but is also versatile in tone. It's utterly beautiful to me, aesthetically, and that matters a lot. The sustain is okay. The action is wonderful, despite being glossy neck and being kind of thick relative to shredder guitars. It sounds great for late 80s early 90s indie rock, like Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr, My Bloody Valentine, Pavement, etc, sounds good for surf too (although I don't play surf). However, these days, you can do anything with almost anything. I also play metal on it, because these days the right pedals can make a cardboard box whatever you want. The only drawback is the old school bridge; works best with 10 and 11 strings, and can be buzzy if you don't give it a little tinkering. I contemplated changing the bridge to a mastery, but now I love it. Id' give this guitar 4.5/5 stars for the price.

Jazzmasters can be excellent, but not for everyone.

Sound:Today's guitars are all made on cnc's unless you get something like a US made G&L, those are cut out with bandsaws and routers, like fenders in the 50s up to the 70s. The neck pocket in mine is very clean and neat, the body routing is very clean, the frets were nice out of the box, no misaligned screws or parts, no blemishes in the finish or anything.Features:The least useful feature for a majority of people will be the rhythm circuit, it has its own volume and tone pots and is neck pickup only, with a much darker tone than the neck pickup on the lead circuit, leave the switch in the down position, and you never have to worry about it unless you want an old school jazz guitar tone. Then push that switch up. (It does old jazz guitar really well)Ease of ... MoreSound:Today's guitars are all made on cnc's unless you get something like a US made G&L, those are cut out with bandsaws and routers, like fenders in the 50s up to the 70s. The neck pocket in mine is very clean and neat, the body routing is very clean, the frets were nice out of the box, no misaligned screws or parts, no blemishes in the finish or anything.Features:The least useful feature for a majority of people will be the rhythm circuit, it has its own volume and tone pots and is neck pickup only, with a much darker tone than the neck pickup on the lead circuit, leave the switch in the down position, and you never have to worry about it unless you want an old school jazz guitar tone. Then push that switch up. (It does old jazz guitar really well)Ease of Use:The jazzmaster has quite a bright bridge pickup, makes it well suited for surf, or spaghetti western guitar, but it also means distortion on the bridge pickup will cut through rather well. the neck pickup is strat like, but bigger and thicker. Like a strat neck pickup on steroids. Both pickups together results in a sweet soft sort of quack tone, due to the pickups being so far apart, it's not the same as a strat quack tone, but its very nice sounding. Then of course there's the neck only rhythm circuit which is very much like an old jazz tone (hence the name Jazzmaster)The pickups are generally higher output than most other fender pickups, and work well with distortion. A lot of people still think jazzmaster pickups are p90s. Nope, real jazzmaster pickups are roughly the same size, but thats where the similarities end. They don't even sound similar. This confusion is furthered by the old mexican player jazzmasters, the j mascius, and others that have P90's.Quality:Fender mexico didn't skimp on the electronic parts, the pickups are very much like a mid 60s jazzmaster in sound, even down to the gray bobbins and enamel coated coil wire. Pots are CTS, both switches and the jack are switchcraft, just like they are supposed to be. They should last forever. The trem is built well, but not exactly the same as the old ones, the trem arm is screw in, it really should be a push in arm, like all the old ones. Also, I think the hole of the trem arm in the top plate is way way too big, it only needs to be slightly bigger than the trem arm collet.The tuners are kluson like split shaft, loke fender used from the very earliest days until 68, they're not made by kluson but it doesn't matter the design is too simple to screw up. The frets are vintage, they're always described as tall and thin. They're not tall, but they are thin, it is a 60s styled guitar after all. But I think a lot of people used to 9.5 and flatter radiuses will have problems, it's a 7.25" radius fretboard, requires a bit higher action but a half hour or so of playing, you get used to it. It also has a truss rod nut at the heel of the neck, its a correct feature for all fender's prior to 1971, but man was that a bad design choice on leo fender's part. You either have to loosen the neck a lot or take it completely off to adjust neck relief, and hope you got it right.Now when I got my guitar I took it completely apart (I always do). What I found on the inside could be improved. First was an excessive amount of wire. There is a lot of wire in a jazzmaster, but they didn't even bother cutting the pickup leads to length. Both pickups had about a foot of unnecessary lead wire, so I fixed that.The other issue was a bad conductive paint job in the cavities. The jazzmaster is an electrically noisy guitar, they need all the shielding they can get. The conductive paint was one thin coat, and didn't even go up the sides of the cavities, it wasn't doing anything. From 1958 to the end of the original run around 1980 each jazzmaster had brass tubs in all the cavities, all soldered together and grounded. I don't expect that in a new jazzmaster, but they knew then that it needed shielding. The pickguard in 58 was also gold anodized aluminum, which was excellent for shielding. But the anodizing wasn't good, and the gold wore off after a few months so and looked awful. In 59 fender switched to plastic tort pickguards, with a thin pickguard sized aluminum shield underneath. Anyway I properly shielded the cavities. Also the pickguard only had aluminum tape for the toggle switch to the jack, and another piece for piece for rhythm circuit switch and pots. That ain't going to do it. I added more shielding, put it all back together and it was a major improvement. Recently I decided to see what a proper gold anodized aluminum pickguard would look like on ice blue metallic, and its VERY cool, looks like a 1960s california speed shop modded my guitar, might put some tele knobs on it sometime.I also made another modification, I had a 65 reissue trem and bridge laying around, so I put them on it. In the old days, the lock button, trem arm collet, and the channel that the saddles sit in on the bridge wasn't a shiny chrome finish, they looked more a frosted chrome or stainless steel. The 65 reissue parts have that same look, the trem also has a better feel.Some people tend to bash on pao ferro, without having any experience with it. Those people are dumb. There's nothing wrong with pao ferro, it isn't plain chocolate brown like rosewood, you'll get everything from tan to black streaks in it and lots of red, I think it's a nice looking wood, and can be darkened up nicely just by oiling it. feels the same as rosewood to me, some will tell you it sounds wildly different, I highly doubt it, the same sorts of people still believe nitro paint makes a guitar sound different and better, and fail to realize a lot of fender old nitro paints were acrylic, and the guitar is covered in a plastic based sealer before painting.Value:A lot of people will see the price tag of a vintera jazzmaster then see its made in Mexico, and say it's way overpriced. It's a quality guitar, with quality parts, just needs better shielding and some tidying up under the hood. Also, I keep in mind the fact that in the mid 60s a jazzmaster cost 345 bucks. Sounds super cheap. In today's money that's over $3,000. Today's guitars are far more consistent, and actually far more affordable. When I was growing up, everyone wanted a fender. Most of us ended up with Teisco, or a silvertone, a kay, an airline or a danolectro if we were lucky, and all those guitars were dreadful. Today almost anyone can afford a high quality fender.Manufacturer Support:I've never needed to call fender, but everything I've heard from people who called fender was good.The Wow Factor:The appeal of the jazzmaster is quite high, 20 years ago you couldn't give them away, now they're everywhere. It was a crazy radical guitar from the late 50s, the top horn even sort of resembles the jet age fins that were on every car. But I can't say I'd recommend a jazzmaster to someone that has no experience with a properly set up proper old school jazzmaster. That's why I rated that as a 6 out of 10, but I can't stop anyone from getting one. If you're new to them, Read up on everything about them, especially set up guides. Follow those set up guides, and it'll be awesome.Overall:I got my ice blue metallic vintera 60s jazzmaster in October 2019, back when virtually no one had them for sale. I'm going to be brutally honest here, I'm not going to gloss over anything, this ain't no honeymoon period influenced review. If you're new to jazzmasters the guitar is quite big and heavy, they usually weigh 8 pounds or more, you'll probably get confused by having 2 switches and 2 sets of pots at first. The bridge and neck is moved further up than a strat or tele, so the guitar feels like a much longer scale, but nope it's 25.5".The biggest problem for people new to the jazzmaster is a lack of knowledge on how to set them up properly, so they operate as intended. I've seen so many people get a jazzmaster, and use 9s on them and have all sorts of problems, then go down a rabbit hole of buying fixes when all that was needed was thicker strings.When the jazzmaster was designed, the lightest strings you could get was 12's with a wound g. Just a few years before, all strings were flatwound.Leo fender and others working on the jazzmaster decided on a very low break angle over the bridge. It worked just fine back then. None of the commonly reported issues you can find on the internet. These problems came around in the late 60s when 10's, 9's, and 8's started being made. People put them on the jazzmaster, and people blamed the guitar, when it was just user error, and the general guitar playing public not knowing simple physics. Heavier strings have more tension, more tension puts more downward pressure on the saddles and bridge, the bridge becomes stable, strings don't pop out of the saddle grooves, and it all works. I'm not saying 12's with a wound g is necessary, but 11's are a very good idea. It won't hurt you to build up a little finger strength. As for the actual review, I'll do that in the detailed review section.

Look Elsewhere.

After opening the case, the rear tone knob immediately fell off. It had not been secured to the pot via the integral set screw. The guitar arrived in unplayable condition. The neck had a massive bow, putting the strings so far away from the fret board as to render it useless. I made an adjustment with the included truss rod allen wrench and that straightened out the neck. I then noticed that the bridge had been improperly adjusted and was set far too high. I also fixed that with the included small allen wrench.This is not acceptable. It's clear that no one at the factory bothered to actually inspect this guitar and neither did anyone at Musician's Friend. A instrument of this price should be free of such defects. Not happy at all. I'm probably going to return this.

Love my Jazzmaster

I have the older version the Classic Player, 2011 but they are close to the same guitar. Different JM pickups the adjustable screws type I think their tad hotter than the originals. Otherwise almost the same guitar. One little thing about the bridge, I changed the bridge to a roller type, which fits right on. Glad I did. I don't know why Fender doesn't put those on at the factory. Makes the vibrato work better, easier on the strings and stays in tune better. If you buy this guitar, try a roller bridge.

Manufacturer and supplier errors

Overall:I purchased this guitar last November and from the moment it arrived I immediately plugged it in and there was the absolute worse feed back noise coming from this jazz master. I emailed the company because it was my first time purchasing from the site and it took them roughly 2 months to respond, well my impatience got the best of me while waiting for an email back so I took it into a repair mechanic. We both played similar models and the same exact model off the shelf at the store and no other jazz master seemed to have the same issue. So we ordered and installed new pick ups, he added sheilds, went over all the wiring and still couldn’t fix it. After two different repair techs couldn’t resolve the issue, I finally reach out to zZounds to return the ... MoreOverall:I purchased this guitar last November and from the moment it arrived I immediately plugged it in and there was the absolute worse feed back noise coming from this jazz master. I emailed the company because it was my first time purchasing from the site and it took them roughly 2 months to respond, well my impatience got the best of me while waiting for an email back so I took it into a repair mechanic. We both played similar models and the same exact model off the shelf at the store and no other jazz master seemed to have the same issue. So we ordered and installed new pick ups, he added sheilds, went over all the wiring and still couldn’t fix it. After two different repair techs couldn’t resolve the issue, I finally reach out to zZounds to return the product because obviously this is a manufacturer error and a company error because these guitars are supposed to be inspected before they are shipped; they proceed to tell me it’s been past 45 days they can’t take it back. The representative was rude and told me tough luck…So I’m basically stuck with a 1200 dollar piece of wall art. My advice Spend the extra dollars buy American.

My First Jazzmaster

I waited for it for months on back order. It finally showed up. It's a beautiful guitar. The mocha color is amazing. I'm mostly a Strat/Tele player. I string my guitars with 10-46 gauge strings. I immediately changed it to 10-46, I'm really not familiar with the workings of a Jazzmaster, so I took the guitar to my friend/luthier to get a full set up. He did a great set up. & showed me a few things about the bridge that you can lock it up when you change strings or just leave it locked if you want. It's a really nice guitar. It's my first offset guitar. Still getting use to all the options I have for the different settings. The neck has a great feel to it & smooth. It came in a I believe ATA molded case. A little larger than a standard G&G case. I have quite a few ... MoreI waited for it for months on back order. It finally showed up. It's a beautiful guitar. The mocha color is amazing. I'm mostly a Strat/Tele player. I string my guitars with 10-46 gauge strings. I immediately changed it to 10-46, I'm really not familiar with the workings of a Jazzmaster, so I took the guitar to my friend/luthier to get a full set up. He did a great set up. & showed me a few things about the bridge that you can lock it up when you change strings or just leave it locked if you want. It's a really nice guitar. It's my first offset guitar. Still getting use to all the options I have for the different settings. The neck has a great feel to it & smooth. It came in a I believe ATA molded case. A little larger than a standard G&G case. I have quite a few guitars & I'm glad to add this to my collection. With MF 0% financing made ot very easy to purchase this guitar.

Worth every penny!

Sound:Absolutely perfect for playing almost any genre besides the heavier forms of metal which is more conducive with humbucker pickups whereas the Jmaster has the vintage single coil sound.Features:Most useful features depends on your style but I love the insane tone control the volume/tone pots give you as a player. They are so much more responsive than any other guitar I've played in my sixteen years of playing.Ease of Use:Plays like a dream, it feels like butter and is perfect for beginners who are learning the nuances of the theory that goes into learning the guitar and advanced players who will maximize any refined skill they possess.Quality:Amazing craftsmanship is really all I can say, intonation and string height is perfectly set although with any ... MoreSound:Absolutely perfect for playing almost any genre besides the heavier forms of metal which is more conducive with humbucker pickups whereas the Jmaster has the vintage single coil sound.Features:Most useful features depends on your style but I love the insane tone control the volume/tone pots give you as a player. They are so much more responsive than any other guitar I've played in my sixteen years of playing.Ease of Use:Plays like a dream, it feels like butter and is perfect for beginners who are learning the nuances of the theory that goes into learning the guitar and advanced players who will maximize any refined skill they possess.Quality:Amazing craftsmanship is really all I can say, intonation and string height is perfectly set although with any new guitar you purchase you should do a thorough setup either by yourself if experienced or at your local luthier.Value:Worth every penny and that's the bottom line.Manufacturer Support:Fender is known for it's responsive and helpful customer service especially in comparison to other companies (specifically Gibson) and they have always responded to any email the day of sending one.The Wow Factor:It's one of the best guitars I've ever purchased and I own eleven other guitars and my main one before this was a Mexican made stratocaster which needed a refretting and intonation adjustment to reach it's potential. The Jazzmaster needs none of that besides thicker strings which is what the guitar is made for.Overall:I bought the Olympic White 60's Fender Vintera Jazzmaster for a birthday gift to myself and I couldn't be happier. The only tweak I wish Fender would make is shipping these to distributors with heavier gauge strings at the very least .10's (I use .11's) as the Leo Fender himself explains that these are meant to be played with .12's. Ignore the people who say if you buy a Jazzmaster that it needs an aftermarket bridge because of the ignorant reputation it gained for string buzzing which is due to being assembled with .9's and a change to even just a .10 set will stop any buzzing. This guitar plays like a dream and zZounds is the first and really only seller I would make a purchase from as their customer service is unmatched along with their timely shipping practices got my guitar two days after making the purchase. You will not regret going with this particular guitar through zZounds.