TheCruelSea
Joined: Feb 25, 2012
Posts: 131
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Posted on Apr 15 2013 04:11 PM
I have a Squier VM Jazzmaster fitted with 62 reissue pickups and other various reissue parts, however I can not get that twangy metallic sound while in the middle position. I hear it all the time on recordings of the ventures but it is very prominent in this video. If it is pickups or strings, any info will help
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIwK4Ikl4U0
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JakeDobner
Joined: Feb 26, 2006
Posts: 12159
Seattle
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Posted on Apr 15 2013 07:31 PM
Jazzmasters don't twang. They dull thud, the video you posted is dull thudding, not twanging. Bridge pickup on most guitars will get a little twangy, but the middle position on a Jazzmaster does not naturally twang.
You can probably make it change via technique, amp, pick/picking style/attack.
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websurfer
Joined: May 14, 2007
Posts: 1753
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Posted on Apr 15 2013 07:35 PM
That's a great sound. Besides those you mention, George Tomsco of the Fireballs gets a similar Jazzmaster tone. Since you didn't mention which strings you currently use, the first thing I would recommend are a set of .012 or .013 gauge flatwounds.
Last edited: Apr 15, 2013 19:37:36
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eddiekatcher
Joined: Mar 14, 2006
Posts: 2779
Atlanta, GA
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Posted on Apr 15 2013 08:10 PM
I'd have to disagree with ole Jake on this one as I think that's pretty twangy and right smooth too. A LOT of things add up to make that sound. First the vintage age of those guitars were just a bit different than current ones. The pickups a bit smoother, the body wood, the type of strings that they were using, and of course the amp and speakers. Both the Ventures and Neal and Buddy Merril were big on the early tweed and blonde combo amps. There are numerous pix of Neal and Buddy with matching Fender 2-10 Super
Amps and reverb tanks. Modern amps (even the blackface ones) had more gain and were not as brown sounding as the blonde and tweed amps were and the speakers in them were smooth as babies fannys. The absolute best sounding one I have crossed paths with is HB Kahuna's Bandmaster. It just sounds like the 60's. It has THUNK for days. Big fat bottom and really smooth top. I love to play out of it. I have three 1962's and they sound great but not like HB's. It makes "THAT" sound I remember from my early days of drooling over Fender amps at the music store. Check your pickups to make sure they are in phase and change the volume pot to a 500K audio taper. Go with some good flats and after about 10 hours of playing, all parts will start to gel. You'll dig it.
Reverbs,
ed
— Traditional........speak softly and play through a big blonde amp. Did I mention that I still like big blonde amps?
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JObeast
Joined: Jul 24, 2012
Posts: 2762
Finknabad, Squinkistan
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Posted on Apr 16 2013 02:31 AM
That young man Lawrence Welk sure had some snappy music played on his show! And that kid on the guitar is a real good picker. I like the video – much better than that crazy rock'n'roll stuff with all the gyratin' so you can't see what's goin' on at all.
— Squink Out!
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casey
Joined: May 18, 2006
Posts: 521
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Posted on Apr 16 2013 02:52 AM
May want to check that your p/u's are RWRP and wired correctly. Jazzmasters and Mustangs should have that distinct metallic tone with both p/u's on. I use fender nickle strings, 11's, and get that sound with no trouble on my '62 AVRI JM.
Last edited: Apr 16, 2013 11:11:42
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TheCruelSea
Joined: Feb 25, 2012
Posts: 131
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Posted on Apr 16 2013 03:29 PM
casey wrote:
May want to check that your p/u's are RWRP and wired correctly. Jazzmasters and Mustangs should have that distinct metallic tone with both p/u's on. I use fender nickle strings, 11's, and get that sound with no trouble on my '62 AVRI JM.
Thanks for all the suggestions. Ya I have on 11 gauge round wounds so I will definitely pick up some flat wounds. And Casey, I had the neck pickup installed at a shop then did the bridge myself. When I have it in the middle position it does not sound RWRP but it has this hollow sort of sound. Any thoughts on that?
Last edited: Apr 16, 2013 15:30:28
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ErnestHernandez
Joined: Jun 16, 2008
Posts: 597
The Alamo City, TX
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Posted on Apr 16 2013 10:21 PM
First, I absolutely love Mr. LeVang, especially when he plays a Jazzmaster.
Second, I understand where Jake is coming from BUT that guitar is twangy. The tone doesn't have the overtones that roundwound strings give you BUT the "thonk" of the low end is there and awesome.
FWIW, in addition to my surf/instro band, I play my JM in a "cowpunk" honky tonk band and have plenty of twang. But I don't rely on the middle position for that I go with the bridge pup (or the neck pup-with the bright switch turned on on my amp).
I use GHS "GBH 12-52" as my string choice.
— https://kingpelican.bandcamp.com/
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AXXA
Joined: Mar 30, 2013
Posts: 51
Atlanta GA
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Posted on Apr 17 2013 02:21 AM
I'm wondering if your pickups got wired out of phase on accident?
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TheCruelSea
Joined: Feb 25, 2012
Posts: 131
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Posted on Apr 17 2013 11:15 AM
AXXA wrote:
I'm wondering if your pickups got wired out of phase on accident?
What's an easy to tell? A couple of my buddies thought that might be the problem but they didn't know how.
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eddiekatcher
Joined: Mar 14, 2006
Posts: 2779
Atlanta, GA
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Posted on Apr 17 2013 11:26 AM
If both pickups sound good individually, but together sound weak and thin, you can bet they are wired out of phase. Together you should get that warm "thunk." You can try flipping one pickup around in it's mount to check. That may work. I ended up with a complex challenge dropping one AVRI Jag pickup into an AVRI Jazzmaster. Apparently the orientation that I used initially, was wrong because the magnet orientation was backwards from each other. If memory serves me correctly, I ended up putting the Jag pickup in backwards and wired it in reverse. In Richard's MIJ Jazzmaster, the original owner had replaced the MIJ pickups with Duncans and together, they sounded awful. I just reversed the wiring of one at the switch and that took care of that. You can hear the difference big time. No Thunk no bass........out of phase, either magnet charging or winding output.
ed
— Traditional........speak softly and play through a big blonde amp. Did I mention that I still like big blonde amps?
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casey
Joined: May 18, 2006
Posts: 521
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Posted on Apr 17 2013 08:41 PM
If it sounds OK with individual pickups but hollow with both could very well be that the p/u's are wired out of phase - that's the sound you get with an old Mustang when the selector switches are in the out of phase position. I'm no expert on wiring, but would try reversing the wires from one p/u and see what happens.
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AXXA
Joined: Mar 30, 2013
Posts: 51
Atlanta GA
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Posted on Apr 17 2013 11:59 PM
If they are out of phase, its likely just the wiring. For example, you may have mixed up your ground and hot wires on one of them. I would look at the wires of the first pickup installed and then make sure the second pickups wires match. You probably don't need to flip the pickup around. I'm kind of new to this stuff myself, so I could be wrong. Best of luck, I hope it's a simple fix!
Last edited: Apr 18, 2013 00:00:17
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TheCruelSea
Joined: Feb 25, 2012
Posts: 131
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Posted on Oct 14 2013 05:18 PM
hey there! I tried pretty much every suggestion I could find. I double checked my wiring, changed string heights, put on flatwounds, and re-soldered what looked like bad connections. I did not flip the pickup around however. Individually both pickups sound way better than before but the middle position still doesn't have that thunk I so badly desire. Im really craving that Bob Bogle jazzmaster sound. I would appreciate any other suggestions. Thanks for all the help so far!
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6V6
Joined: Nov 15, 2008
Posts: 284
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Posted on Oct 14 2013 06:56 PM
I will ditto others... the the tone on the vid is pretty close to what I get with my AVRI JM. I use a light set of flats (a set of DR 12s with each string moved down a position). I used to have a MIJ JM...it was a good guitar, but a step removed from the tone in the vid.
Sounds to me like there is a little amp vibrato happening there, too?
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Baine
Joined: Mar 08, 2008
Posts: 197
NJ shore
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Posted on Oct 14 2013 09:25 PM
I just took 11 D'Addario XL Chromes Jazz Light flatwound strings off my 64 JM. I didn't like the feel and the tone - which sounded a lot like what the guitar in this video is putting out. I prefer a brighter, more jangly sound. But if you like that sound, I would definitely recommend trying a couple of different type of flatwounds until you find the sound you like.
That being said, I know for certain that Jake is wrong about Jazzmaster's not twanging because my wife - who knows nothing about guitars or tone but knows a lot about what she doesn't like - frequently complains when I play "that damn twangy guitar" late at night.
Little does she know her complaint is music to my ears, both because of the twangy bit, but also the reminders of Springsteen's riff on his dad and "damn guitars."
— "We're lousy, we can't play. If you wait until you can play, you'll be too old to get up there. We stink, really. But it's great," Johnny Ramone .
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AXXA
Joined: Mar 30, 2013
Posts: 51
Atlanta GA
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Posted on Oct 17 2013 01:50 AM
Maybe post some pics of the wiring, or take it to a tech to make sure its wired properly, just to be sure. Perhaps you could compare it to a schematic yourself?
It's possible you just don't like the sound of those particular pickups too.
Last edited: Oct 17, 2013 01:50:48
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AXXA
Joined: Mar 30, 2013
Posts: 51
Atlanta GA
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Posted on Oct 17 2013 01:53 AM
Also, what kind of amp are you using?
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TheCruelSea
Joined: Feb 25, 2012
Posts: 131
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Posted on Oct 30 2013 12:55 AM
Ya so I just realized that more of the thud came from my neck and bridge than the middle spot. Here is a completed sound demo of the guitar. If ya'll here it please let me know. Its been driving me crazy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5tZu3WmmkY
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