J. Mascis Jazzmaster

[Tiga]

This NGD is a little overdue. My daughter was struggling a bit through this past school year with the shutdown, remote learning, etc etc. and it was affecting her grades (among other things). I decided to try a little positive reinforcement and we agreed if she got all of her grades up by the end of the school year she could get a new electric guitar just for herself (she typically plays one of mine when she wants).

Well she pulled it off and decided she wanted a Squier J Mascis Jazzmaster. I found the best price from MF and pulled the trigger. I have to say this thing is fantastic It has to be the best Squier I’ve ever played and better than the Classic Vibe Jaguar that I recently purchased. The overall build quality as well as fit and finish is literally on par with my 2017 MIM Standard Strat. What really surprised me was that it was perfectly set up out of the box - fret edges were perfect, nut was cut perfect, action was perfect, no truss rod adjustment needed - unbelievable. My Strat needed all of these worked on when I got it.

Differences from a regular jazzmaster include a tune-a-matic bridge vs a rocking bridge and the pickups are not typical jazz masters (although they sound great). Other features include nice vintage style tuners and a BEEFY satin neck. All of the hardware seems fine and works well (even the trem) and it holds tune really well.

Cons of this guitar (and these may be just personal preferences) is I’m not a fan of the vintage tint and although the satin feel of the back of the neck is great, I wish the front of the headstock had more of gloss finish like my Standard Strat.

It might seem like I’m a little smitten with this guitar and if you think that you wouldn’t be wrong. I’ve heard that this model is being discontinued so if you have ever wanted to get one you may want to consider it sooner than later. Thanks for reading!
Tiga

[Tiga]

A few pictures:

[Mossman]

I've played the J. Mascis, and you're right, it's a great guitar. I came close to buying one a few years ago. I was torn between that and the Vintage Modified Jazzmaster (in CAR with a gold PG). I preferred the look of the VM, but I thought the J. Mascis sounded better. I've heard that the pickups are more like P90s than Jazzmaster pickups. I kinda forgot about both of them after I built the Eclipse, but this is starting to rekindle that GAS.

How is the tuning stability with the TOM bridge? I used a Mustang bridge on the Eclipse after hearing that they work better than an actual JM bridge, and so far, I haven't had any tuning issues... But I don't really use the vibrato that much.

[Tiga]

The TOM bridge seems to work just fine from a tuning stability standpoint. I honestly wish my CV Jaguar had the same. The mustang style bridge rocks way too much and creates issues. There are some work arounds out there that I'm going to try but a rocking bridge just seems like an odd concept to me.

[BatUtilityBelt]

I'll never get to try out the J Mascis because they didn't release a lefty of it. But I do have the CV with the rocking Mustang style barrel saddle bridge. From a mechanical perspective, I think the rocking bridge would help avoid excessive string wear at the bridge from movement caused by the trem.

Think of it this way - to get those pitch changes from the tremolo, the tension must change on the portion of the strings between the bridge and the nut. That means the tension change moves across the bridge (the string changes its position on the bridge). So the more wear from the friction of the strings on the bridge, the more likely it will cause strings to break earlier, more often.

So I would expect the J Mascis to need more string changes. Other than that, it looks cool and the demos I've heard sound great. As an added benefit, a well planted bridge wouldn't have the potential grounding problems of a rocking bridge (I had to address this on my CV).

[honyock]

I've got a Gotoh TOM on my Kurt Cobain Jag, I tried a roller bridge and it offered no improvement in tuning stability, so I went back to the Gotoh. I didn't want to put in the effort to change to a JM or Mustang bridge. Since it already has humbuckers, no point in going vintage correct on this one...

I put the roller bridge on my cheapo HB Mustang with JM vibrato style. It was a upgrade over the low end TOM bridge on there. If I didn't already have the roller though, I would have converted to a JM style bridge.

Sent from my SM-G998U using Tapatalk

[Mossman]

I got the Mustang bridge not so much for tuning stability, but because I had heard that the strings had a tendency to pop put of the saddles of a standard JM bridge, and you can't adjust the height of the saddles individually. I later learned that the strings jumping off the saddles has more to due with string-gauge than the bridge design, since the vibrato was designed with 12s in mind and few people use anything heavier than 10s these days, but I definitely needed to adjust the saddle heights, since the fretboard on the Eclipse has a 12" radius, and I assumed that a JM bridge would have either a 7.25" or 9.5" radius.

The idea of the bridge rocking back and forth seemed like some hinkey engineering to me at first, but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. The string and the bridge move in unison, greatly reducing friction on the string as @BatUtilityBelt mentioned, but having everything moving as one unit also helps better ensure that the string returns to its original position, increasing tuning stability. Frankly, I think the JM vibrato was the best design of its time. In range, it's more limited than a Strat trem, but it doesn't have any of its shortcomings. Less string movement, less friction, stays in tune better, if you break a string the other 5 strings will stay in tune, they're easier to install and set up... and I may be wrong about this, but I believe it was also the first to have a pop-in arm, too. In what it does, the JM vibrato is more like a Bigsby, but it doesn't suffer any of the problems that they have, either. I think Leo really put his engineering cap on when he designed this one.

[Flatline]

I have it's cousin the Squier Deluxe JM in red/gold. Same build but different color and pickups. I swapped my TOM bridge to a roller bridge and it has been great.

[honyock]

I got the Mustang bridge not so much for tuning stability, but because I had heard that the strings had a tendency to pop put of the saddles of a standard JM bridge, and you can't adjust the height of the saddles individually. I later learned that the strings jumping off the saddles has more to due with string-gauge than the bridge design, since the vibrato was designed with 12s in mind and few people use anything heavier than 10s these days, but I definitely needed to adjust the saddle heights, since the fretboard on the Eclipse has a 12" radius, and I assumed that a JM bridge would have either a 7.25" or 9.5" radius.

The idea of the bridge rocking back and forth seemed like some hinkey engineering to me at first, but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. The string and the bridge move in unison, greatly reducing friction on the string as @BatUtilityBelt mentioned, but having everything moving as one unit also helps better ensure that the string returns to its original position, increasing tuning stability. Frankly, I think the JM vibrato was the best design of its time. In range, it's more limited than a Strat trem, but it doesn't have any of its shortcomings. Less string movement, less friction, stays in tune better, if you break a string the other 5 strings will stay in tune, they're easier to install and set up... and I may be wrong about this, but I believe it was also the first to have a pop-in arm, too. In what it does, the JM vibrato is more like a Bigsby, but it doesn't suffer any of the problems that they have, either. I think Leo really put his engineering cap on when he designed this one.

The threaded saddles on my old SX SJM had that issue until I put 13s. Got sick of the strings and put on a buzz stop and could run 10s without it popping out when I would strum too hard.

[Mossman]

The threaded saddles on my old SX SJM had that issue until I put 13s. Got sick of the strings and put on a buzz stop and could run 10s without it popping out when I would strum too hard.

13s! Yikes! I put 11s on the Eclipse... Not because of strings popping out (the saddles on the Mustang bridge preclude that), but because I wanted to try a gauge that was closer to what the vibrato was intended for, to see if it would make a difference. Plus, I happened to have a couple of sets of 11s laying around that I bought for the Casino (which sounds and plays so much better with 11s, BTW). On the Eclipse, I like the feel of the 11s better, and I think it stays in tune better with heavy vibrato use. I'm actually thinking of going up to 12s, but I think that's as heavy as I want to go.

[Tonray's Ghost]

A few pictures:

IMG_8958.jpgIMG_8959.jpgIMG_8960.jpg

Seriously considering one...how noisy are the pickups in single neck and or bridge positions ? I want to swap out the gold guard for a mint green but I've read on various boards that for some the anodized gold guard was the only thing keeping the noise levels down to acceptable limits.

[BatUtilityBelt]

Seriously considering one...how noisy are the pickups in single neck and or bridge positions ? I want to swap out the gold guard for a mint green but I've read on various boards that for some the anodized gold guard was the only thing keeping the noise levels down to acceptable limits.

There shouldn't be any noise reducing capability in the gold pick guard that could not be equaled by backing a pick guard with foil tape (and grounding it).

[Tonray's Ghost]

Seriously considering one...how noisy are the pickups in single neck and or bridge positions ? I want to swap out the gold guard for a mint green but I've read on various boards that for some the anodized gold guard was the only thing keeping the noise levels down to acceptable limits.

There shouldn't be any noise reducing capability in the gold pick guard that could not be equaled by backing a pick guard with foil tape (and grounding it).

Thanks...planning to do that for sure. I've got quite a noisy house wiring for whatever reason...even my Strat is annoying to play in anything but positions 2 and 4 so that's why I had some concerns.

[BatUtilityBelt]

Thanks...planning to do that for sure. I've got quite a noisy house wiring for whatever reason...even my Strat is annoying to play in anything but positions 2 and 4 so that's why I had some concerns.

I can relate. My house AC/heater fan creates noise in single coil guitars that I have not yet shielded well. And a lot of people have that issue with venues they play at regularly. I know a guy who prefers his strat but plays a les paul whenever he plays out just for noise cancelling.

[Tiga]

It's only been played through a Roland Microcube to this point and the pickups appear to be very quiet. I like the way they sound too.