Congrats, that's a beauty. From what I have read, the pu's are much improved on the American Pro 2 JM's. The first gen American Pro JM's basically had Strat pu's hidden beneath JM covers. The Pro 2's are constructed like a more traditional JM pu with the windings close to the edges of the covers. The deep C neck shape with rolled fretboard edges are great on the Fender American Pro 2's. I have an American Pro 2 Tele and the neck is the best feeling Tele neck I've ever played.

Honestly,I can't find anything I dislike about this guitar.
I plugged into my Princeton and had zero issues with any PU hum.
My Messa. did have more hum, but which does offer more drive.
So my clean tone is excellent!

The 'Rhythm' circuit is not traditional and not necessarily way off from being one. The PU pair go into series with a boost.But if you roll back the volume to 50-60% it returns to the vintage thick clean sound.
The bridge PU has a push-pull on the tone knob making the perfect vintage sound into the OUT position.
The IN position gives a powerful modern lead. The PP knob is also functional using the toggle for both PU in the middle position, also creating a wide range of possibilities.
Overall, lots of tone can be created making it a very versatile instrument.
Does it SURF?
You bet!!.
I guess the main difference is, if I compare to a traditional Jaguar, all settings for the Jag are surely traditional 60s.
The Jazzmaster Pro2 does have at least half of it traditional, while the other half goes modern.
It's a great instrument that delivers the teaditional tones you seek and let's you explore new modern territory.

Last edited: Sep 20, 2024 19:55:04

synchro wrote:

Whoa dude! Nice catch.

Am I correct in understanding that the Rhythm Circuit works like the vintage Rhythm Circuit, except that it puts both pickups in series? If so, that sounds like a recipe for a nice thick sound. I have a Tele with Fender Noiseless pickups, and a four-position switch which includes a series connection of both pickups. It’s a great sound. Having that on tap, with separate volume and tone controls sounds like a very useful combination. Is it hum-cancelling with both pickups selected?

How do you like the Panorama tailpiece?<<

Thanks Synchro!
Yes the Rhythm circuit has both PU in series, just like a Telecaster 4 way switch offers. And as you know it's a boost. I would say more so on this Jazzmaster in terms of volume and attack. But with separate volume and treble control you can roll back and tame it into the traditional Rhythm circuit, very jazz- box thick sound.
I will try it on the Messa amp to see if it becomes hum canceling, which I think it is.

The tailpiece tremelo is certainly different than traditional and I can easily see how some players might not like it. The range is huge compared to a traditional Jazz trem. And I have seen the videos where using heavy strings will cause the spring to flatten out and become unusable.
I am generally a light string player due to chronic hand fatigue, so #10s are the heaviest I play. And this Jazzmaster is setup perfectly for these now.
By comparison to my Jeff Beck Stratocaster, which dive bombs like nothing else I have tried, this Paranormal Jazz tremelo is about 75% of that range. Using it lightly is all I do anyway. It's not that sensitive that gets out of traditional bending and jumps into the dive bomb either.
So, I like it and it's range suits the other modern capabilities of the whole guitar.
Traditional Purists will balk it for sure. But at that point the entire guitar might not fit those users world either.
BTW. I traded my Guild Surfliner Deluxe for this new Jazzmaster and can honestly say I have no regrets. It too was a take on combined traditional and modern blends. But by comparison it was far off anything like a Jazzmaster and more like a Stratocaster. It was fun,and played beautifully, but I found myself playing odd types of music, i call jazz-chill-surf...lol. The new Jazzmaster brings me back to traditional and modern surf style most of the time, which is where I like to be.

Last edited: Sep 21, 2024 07:32:38

Well it's only been 5 days of playing often and I am still on the Honeymoon phase. But I did eventually find something that puzzles me.
This is the 4th Fender offset guitar I have owned and I thought I understood all the quirks they are well known for.
The bridge and Tremolo combo have always been an issue for the other guitars.But with enough break-in and tuning usually everything gets stable enough to stay in tune.
I am having issues with this one as well.
This has new 'Panorama' Tremolo and honestly I knew nothing about it, other than it has more range.
The issue is the guitar goes out of tune frequently with its use, more than I am used to.

In the past I have removed the Tremolo assembly and found the fulcrum not so precise as it's usually a stamped and bent metal plate. The fulcrum often has burs and I have trued & polished them out.
The Panorama is 'creaking' and I was suspicious. So it was time to look under the hood!
I was quite surprised to see a total new engineered design, with a fulcrum pin and precision action.
I began pushing the pin, it slides a bit and I see nylon bushings.
Well that is not where any creaking is coming from. Pleasantly surprised by the whole design arrangement.
The Tremolo arm socket is the next improvement with a square block housing another nylon bushing, with a hex adjustment screw to tighten the arm swing. Way Cool!
I tweaked it a nudge with an Allen wrench.
The spring is perhaps the issue here, it's squeaky for sure. The screw shaft moves a lot, with the screw head bearing on the surface plate.
I can easily see where this is binding, along with the seats of the spring underside.
This needs attention with lubricant or maybe nylon washers, to remove metal on metal friction.
Stay tuned!

I had a shootout with my Jaguar and everything you would expect between the two are the same.
The Jaguar has more chime and the Jazzmaster has thicker punch and 'thump'

https://vimeo.com/1012600508

Last edited: Sep 24, 2024 19:43:03

synchro wrote:

They make for a handsome pair, but I gotta ask, is that clock Surf Green? I haven’t seen, or played, a guitar with a Panorama, so I’ll be interested to see how it develops.

The clock is more sage green, but it works the theme!

For all the improvements Fender makes on the Panorama, I am surprised that the spring seat and screw shaft is so crude. It's really the same as it's always been. But the increased range makes it problematic.
Did you watch the video link?

https://vimeo.com/1012600508

Last edited: Sep 24, 2024 20:27:51

Way to go! I figured that if anyone could find the root cause, and enact the solution, you’d be the guy. As to FMIC’s quality control, I have to say that the last AVRI trem’ I bought was rough, and required a bit of deburring, before it worked smoothly. I’ve bought three of those trems, and the first two are perfect, but the third one should never have escaped the factory without remediation.

The artist formerly known as: Synchro

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

IceratzSurf wrote:

synchro wrote:

Way to go! I figured that if anyone could find the root cause, and enact the solution, you’d be the guy.<<

Thanks Synchro!
I like working on guitars in general, and it annoys me to find issues with new ones but is satisfying to solve. It's my nature in general and is part of my profession in the structural construction industry.

Few more eye candy pics!

That Maple fingerboard really works with the finish color.

The artist formerly known as: Synchro

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

IceratzSurf wrote:

PROBLEM SOLVED!

I took apart the spring assembly found machine burs on the cone that fit on one end and the spring itself had burs with one particular hook from the tool used to cut the spring.
As I spun the cone around the spring it would bind up.
I resurfaced the rough cut ends of the spring making smooth.
I took the cone, which had rough tooling as well as a burr from the spring burr hook, mounted into a hand drill and lathed it smooth using 320 grit.
Added a thin layer lubricant grease, from fishing reel use.

As soon as I reassembled the tremelo it worked silent. The 'creaking' I heard was entirely gone.
Strung it back up and now it stays in perfect tune, returns to pitch even after dive bombs.

I question the quality of this assembly by Fender. This detail should never become an issue.

I'm sure this could be a problem for many older guitars as well. But it was more of an issue for this new Panorama because the bend range was so much greater than a traditional tremelo.

Back to the Honeymoon! ;)

Off topic, but couldn't help but notice the Penn Brand Fishing Reel Grease in the picture. Penn is actually located about a 10 minute drive from where I live. Great people. Some years ago, my brother had a very old Penn reel that he loved but it needed some work and he took a shot and called Penn. They told him to bring it in and they would take a look at it. Ended up, Penn fully refurbished the reel to like new at a major bargain price....great folks over there at Penn Reels.

Last edited: Sep 26, 2024 13:45:47

IceratzSurf wrote:

Off topic, but couldn't help but notice the Penn Brand Fishing Reel Grease in the picture. Penn is actually located about a 10 minute drive from where I live. Great people. Some years ago, my brother had a very old Penn reel that he loved but it needed some work and he took a shot and called Penn. They told him to bring it in and they would take a look at it. Ended up, Penn fully refurbished the reel to like new at a major bargain price....great folks over there at Penn Reels.<<

Penn is another great name in American made products.
I have several vintage Penn fishing reels and they last not only a lifetime, but passed on to future generations.
Built to last!!
Glad to hear they stand behind thier products as well.
The 'green' grease in particular is my go-to lubricant when I question use on anything.
The tremelo and tuning is working perfectly!
Thanks for your post

So I extrapolate from this that the secret to great tone is Penn fishing reel grease?

The artist formerly known as: Synchro

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

IceratzSurf wrote:

^^^^maybe just one of those things discovered by accident!

You should start a YouTube channel promoting your tone secrets, Penn grease and marine resins.

The artist formerly known as: Synchro

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