A Guitar And Gear Support Forum

Well this is weird.

I have a (cheap) Jazzmaster coming from Sam Ash via FedEx, and according to FedEx communications, it will either arrive Saturday or Tuesday.

So imagine this - I just got an email from a customer service rep at Sam Ash saying she would handle my case. I have no idea what case that is, but since I have a guitar coming from them, I emailed back to ask "what case?".

Within minutes, I received a call from her saying they received the guitar back, that FedEx had returned it. I told her FedEx tracking shows it near here. She said there's probably some funny business going on with the tracking, so she will check it out and give me a call back.

Now I have known FedEx tracking to be mind-numbingly wrong before, and this feels too familiar.

You've quietly and discreetly been accumulating quite a few guitars over the last several months. Don't think I haven't noticed...

tobijohn wrote: ↑Fri May 21, 2021 1:57 pm You've quietly and discreetly been accumulating quite a few guitars over the last several months. Don't think I haven't noticed...

LOL, I am on an upswing lately, but I'm not currently bidding on anything else. It's a strange market. Pretty sure I don't have half as many as you!

BatUtilityBelt wrote: ↑Fri May 21, 2021 2:00 pm
LOL, I am on an upswing lately, but I'm not currently bidding on anything else. It's a strange market. Pretty sure I don't have half as many as you!

As long as you stay under 249 (247 plus two unassembled kits), you can avoid that dubious achievement award...

tobijohn wrote: ↑Fri May 21, 2021 2:20 pm A quick glance at the spreadsheet shows 247, plus two unassembled kits...

That's settled... I don't have 1/3 as many as you.

BatUtilityBelt wrote: ↑Fri May 21, 2021 2:46 pm
That's settled... I don't have 1/3 as many as you.

Believe me, it's not something I'm proud of. Not a PRS in the bunch though I do have a couple sets of PRS pickups...

Well, at least they have it and it's safe. I order a lot of things for both home and work and have noticed that everyone's tracking data is wonky lately, especially UPS. Where FedEx is at least still showing a chronological log of each stop along the way, UPS has reverted to basically a ship date, a general "in transit" message with no details, and then a "delivered" when it arrives.

tobijohn wrote: ↑Fri May 21, 2021 2:47 pm Believe me, it's not something I'm proud of. Not a PRS in the bunch though I do have a couple sets of PRS pickups...

I like a wide variety. As long as I don't get Joe Bonamassa crazy with my collection, I'm ok with it. I'm also ok with JB being as big as he is into it, knowing how easily he affords it. I'm guessing you do just fine too.

uwmcscott wrote: ↑Fri May 21, 2021 2:52 pm Well, at least they have it and it's safe. I order a lot of things for both home and work and have noticed that everyone's tracking data is wonky lately, especially UPS. Where FedEx is at least still showing a chronological log of each stop along the way, UPS has reverted to basically a ship date, a general "in transit" message with no details, and then a "delivered" when it arrives.

FYI - the UPS mobile app still shows all the details. The website sucks now.

uwmcscott wrote: ↑Fri May 21, 2021 2:52 pm Well, at least they have it and it's safe. I order a lot of things for both home and work and have noticed that everyone's tracking data is wonky lately, especially UPS. Where FedEx is at least still showing a chronological log of each stop along the way, UPS has reverted to basically a ship date, a general "in transit" message with no details, and then a "delivered" when it arrives.

Yeah, I did notice that 'dumbing down' on my last UPS shipment, but it arrived perfect. With FedEx, I've had one return lost, one delivery stolen (by the driver), and whatever this current case turns out to be. I haven't heard back from Sam Ash after they promised to check into it, so I'm not even sure what they received back was my guitar.

BatUtilityBelt wrote: ↑Fri May 21, 2021 2:57 pm I like a wide variety. As long as I don't get Joe Bonamassa crazy with my collection, I'm ok with it. I'm also ok with JB being as big as he is into it, knowing how easily he affords it. I'm guessing you do just fine too.

I'm very confident that JM's collection is worth literally 100 times what mine is. And speaking to the lefty side of things, I've heard Elliot Easton's is pretty crazy large...

tobijohn wrote: ↑Fri May 21, 2021 4:56 pm I'm very confident that JM's collection is worth literally 100 times what mine is. And speaking to the lefty side of things, I've heard Elliot Easton's is pretty crazy large...

Oh yeah, EE... Yes, he loves his collecting, and I'd love to see him sell more. Oddly, I lucked into buying one of his guitars years ago, an Eastwood RS-II. It was a guitar he riled the Leftyfrets forum up about getting a run made, had them ordered through Jerry's, and then he didn't love the tone, so he traded it back. It has limited applications, but I like it.

BatUtilityBelt wrote: ↑Fri May 21, 2021 5:30 pm

tobijohn wrote: ↑Fri May 21, 2021 4:56 pm I'm very confident that JM's collection is worth literally 100 times what mine is. And speaking to the lefty side of things, I've heard Elliot Easton's is pretty crazy large...

Oh yeah, EE... Yes, he loves his collecting, and I'd love to see him sell more. Oddly, I lucked into buying one of his guitars years ago, an Eastwood RS-II. It was a guitar he riled the Leftyfrets forum up about getting a run made, had them ordered through Jerry's, and then he didn't love the tone, so he traded it back. It has limited applications, but I like it.

I sorta remember that. I had other things going at the time and was just on the fringes.

mickey wrote: ↑Fri May 21, 2021 5:50 pm I sorta remember that. I had other things going at the time and was just on the fringes.

I didn't know about leftyfrets at the time, or I probably would have jumped into the forum guitar deal. So I guess I was really lucky to only join later and not yet have an RS-II when EE's came up for sale used. Not much happening on that forum these days.

Seldom is much going on there.
I think the guy who owns it is a fundamentalist preacher or something.

tobijohn wrote: ↑Fri May 21, 2021 2:20 pm

BatUtilityBelt wrote: ↑Fri May 21, 2021 2:00 pm
LOL, I am on an upswing lately, but I'm not currently bidding on anything else. It's a strange market. Pretty sure I don't have half as many as you!

As long as you stay under 249 (247 plus two unassembled kits), you can avoid that dubious achievement award...

I am not sure whether to applaud you or call A&E to get you on Hoarders.

So.......where's the Jazzmaster?

tobijohn wrote: ↑Fri May 21, 2021 7:18 pm So.......where's the Jazzmaster?

Haha, dunno. It's covered because Sam Ash told me any problems I'll get a full refund, but I have no idea right now. No updates either from Sam Ash or FedEx. I might not know for days if past experiences with FedEx are any indication, or it might just show up tomorrow. I will post an update eventually.

Well that was fun. I was staying home today because the FedEx tracking was saying the guitar was on the truck out for delivery. About 12:45, I got an email from FedEx saying it was delivered. I went out to look, but no guitar and no truck. I've been here before, so I called FedEx to initiate a trace. That took about 10 minutes, after which I went outside again and the guitar had been dropped off. So I'm guessing FedEx left it at someone else's house, and that someone else brought it to my house. I have an unboxing to do now, yay, and when FedEx calls back I can tell them it showed up after my call. This is far better than the other 2 times FedEx claimed deliveries that didn't show up.

Ok, I played it for about 20 minutes, and here's what I now know about the CV 60s Jazzmaster - it plays decently without any setup. Everything works as designed, and the shape and weight are correct for what it's supposed to represent. The pickups are very good. Fit and finish are fine for this price range (no issues, just could be closer tolerances). It's a keeper. Now to the one bad thing: I have never played a guitar that needed its cavities shielded as much as this JM! Single coils are notorious for this, and hotter single coils moreso, so I'm only surprised by the amount of noise it actually picks up. I feel like a walking antenna tower with this guitar. So it will get that treatment. I never experienced this with Kato (the green JM in my avatar) because I built that one and shielded it before I even assembled it.

Bottom line: Squier built a very good guitar for the price, Sam Ash made it a good deal, and FedEx came close enough to delivering it that whoever received it found me quickly.

Edit: I spoke too soon. It's not a shielding issue necessarily as much as a bad wiring issue. The buzz is louder when I touch the strings, and quiets down if I grab the nut of the pickup selector switch. So that's a grounding issue instead of a shielding issue. I'm going to have to open it up to see how they wired this lefty wrong. It never fails that lefties of cheaper guitars are wired wrong.