I am about to buy the blonde/white Jazzmaster with the red tortoise shell pick guard here in the next week or so. I know you want a review of the Jag, but I will definitely give my opinion on the Jazzmaster as soon as I receive it.

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Last edited: Sep 04, 2019 15:15:15

Looking forward to hearing as well as I am looking into a Vintera series guitar!

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So, today I visited guitar shop and decided to test some Jazzmasters there.
Vintera was pretty nice, however pickups were a little harsh to my taste. Some little flaws on finish and frets, suspiciously light colored rosewood but generally ok. However $1100 price is a little to high as for me, I’d better go with Japanese for the same price, honestly, or 60’s lacquer for $900.

But then I took up the green Original Jazzmaster. $2000 and it’s perfect!!!

Need to save some money for it.

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Samurai wrote:

So, today I visited guitar shop and decided to test some Jazzmasters there.
Vintera was pretty nice, however pickups were a little harsh to my taste. Some little flaws on finish and frets, suspiciously light colored rosewood but generally ok. However $1100 price is a little to high as for me, I’d better go with Japanese for the same price, honestly, or 60’s lacquer for $900.

But then I took up the green Original Jazzmaster. $2000 and it’s perfect!!!

Need to save some money for it.

The rosewood on the Vintera fretboard looked suspiciously light because it's not actually rosewood, it's pau ferro (and listed that way in the Fender spec's). After some oiling, the pau ferro usually will get darker and closer to rosewood. Looks like the only way you get rosewood on a new Fender anymore is on the USA made models or some of the non-export Japanese Fenders.

I bought the Modified Jaguar, but I intend to return it.

It’s not a bad guitar, there are many things I like. I have played it, almost exclusively in the single coil mode. On the bridge pickup, in single coil mode, sounds every bit the part of a Jaguar. However, if you switch in the neck pickup it doesn’t sound like a Jag on both pickups. The neck pickup is too warm. It’s not a bad sound, but as far as a treble Jaguar sound, it’s the bridge pickup, or nothing.

In humbucking mode, the sound is quite good, but probably nothing a Surf player would be interested in. It’s actually in ES 335 territory, and can do a pretty good imitation of a Jazz axe.

It’s a very versatile instrument and I couldn’t discourage anyone from buying one. With the right pickups, I think it might be great as a Jaguar, but it would also be much less versatile, which was the problem I had with my other Jaguar.

That was a Japanese made instrument of exceptional quality, but the OEM pickups were shrill. I put a set of Seymour Duncan Hot Jaguar pickups in, and it sounded good, but it was really only good at Surf or Bakersfield Country. The more mellow side of Surf, was really not within the reach of this guitar and for anything middle of the road, I had to take the edge off of it with some overdrive.

In the case of both Jaguars I’ve owned, the one thing they did astoundingly well, was to sound like a Telecaster. I don’t say this to offend anyone’s sensibilities, and I apologize if this comment isn’t well received, but if I backed off the reverb a bit, the sound was exactly what I would have wanted for playing a Country lead.

The artist formerly known as: Synchro

When Surf Guitar is outlawed only outlaws will play Surf Guitar.

I've had the Vintera '60s Jazzmaster (Oly White) and after giving the stock pickups a try for a month or so, I finally swapped them out for a set of Fender Pure Vintage '65 Jazzmaster pickups I had on hand. Huge improvement for me.

The Pau Ferro (milk chocolate-looking Pau Ferro fingerboard is alright although I might try Surfadelphia's recommendation to oil the fretboard to maybe get it a little darker.

As far as neck feel & comfort, the Mid 60’s C shaped Maple neck is wonderful for my big ol' hands.

I recently bought a beautiful Fender American Professional II Jazzmaster in Miami Blue (maple neck) with the understanding this is a more modern take on the Jazzmaster. Nice guitar and I actually like the maple neck as a fun alternative to my usual rosewood (or pau ferro) necks, even if the Deep C is a little slimmer than I prefer.

It's a beauty of a guitar, but I find the stock pickups too hot. I dialed my tone control back to about "5" on my guitar to tame the ice-pickiness and get me to my happy place tone-wise.

The Push-Push Tone control is alright, however it sits about a half inch high off the pickguard when engaged for the "vintage" sound, which is basically a thinner tone. Honestly, the "vintage" tone didn't impress me. The Panorama Tremolo is quite nice, though.

I had in my mind to put the Vintera '60s JM up for sale since I considered the AmPro II JM an "upgrade". However, I'm happier when playing the upgraded Vintera '60s JM so I'm going to sell the new AmPro II JM. I could make easy changes like putting in a new tone pot with more preferable pickups (maybe Fralin Hum-Canceling Jazzmaster pickups) but I think this time, I'll leave the AmPro II JM stock and just move it on.

My Vintera '60s Jazzmaster with the PV '65 pickups is a keeper and definitely a guitar that I'd be comfortable gigging with.

I forgot to mention I have a couple of other Fender Vintera models: a Fender Vintera '50s Telecaster in Fiesta Red that has a stunning U-shaped Maple neck that looks almost roasted and a Vintera '50s Stratocaster Modified (just the body - I paired it with a U-shaped licensed Fender Strat maple neck).

Like the Vintera '60s Jazzmaster, I found the stock pickups on both OK but worthwhile for me to still swap them out for upgraded pickups. I upgraded the Tele with Fender Custom Shop Texas Special Telecaster pickups and upgraded the Strat with Lindy Fralin Hum-Cancelling Split Blade pickups.

I put the stock Vintera '50s Telecaster pickups in a cheapie beater partscaster and the stock '50s Stratocaster Modified were put in my Classic Vibe Strat. Funny enough, these stock Vintera pickups sound great in these guitars, which means for me that they are still decent upgrades over Squier pickups.

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Last edited: Dec 27, 2020 00:50:11

Unrelated prediction: due to online hate, Pau Ferro is discontinued forever. About 15 years from now, the guitars produced with those necks will be weirdly sought after.

Daniel Deathtide

Chmason85 wrote:

I just got a surf green vintera 60s strat and can honestly say it’s the best strat right out of the box I’ve ever had. The fit and finish are impeccable, and I got to choose one with a nice dark pao ferro fretboard, and after oiling it it looks almost just like a rosewood board. Never had pao ferro before but I really like the feel of it. The only thing I really need to do is have my local tech round off the fret and fingerboard edge a bit. I play through a 68 custom Princeton reverb and it sounds killer with the stock pickups. I have a whole set of 57/62’s, a Dimarzio area 61 and a dimarzio injector and I think I’m just gonna keep the stock pickups. I highly recommend this series!

I have the exact same guitar, and I love it. I put some .12-.52 DR strings on it, and it sounds and plays great. Honestly, I play it more than my other two guitars.

I also like the factory pickups, but do have my eye on the Tru '62 David Allen pups. Anyway, it's a gorgeous guitar and I've gotten a lot of compliments on it. Enjoy it!

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