IceratzSurf wrote:

synchro wrote:

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

You mean this one?

Iceratz YouTube

Yeah, but you’re doing it all wrong. You need to have titles on every video that end with “and then this happened”. Then you put in your normal video, but you stretch it out by examining the history of the sport, back to the time of the Pharaohs, using stock photos/footage, so if you mention money you have a picture of money, or if you mention boots you flash up a picture of an assortment of footware. After 14 minutes of aimless prattle to run up your view minutes, you put in 45 seconds of the actual subject of the video, followed by a 15 seconds where you found a penny in the snow, to fulfill “and then this happened”. Now that’s how you make a YouTube video.

Just kidding mate, I like your videos, just as they are, and the Surf music is just as fitting for iceboards as it is for surfing. Unfortunately, ice boarding is not likely to happen in southern Arizona. The biggest “lake” in the area is the Willcox Playa, and it’s been dry for a very long time, and is infested with Mojave Rattlers.

The artist formerly known as: Synchro

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

Last edited: Sep 28, 2024 08:24:55

markbxr400 wrote:

Very nice guitar. I just happened to find a Pro II as well, and appreciate your detailed writeup on the tremolo. I was just getting ready to change out the pick guard and strings, so plan to go ahead and address the spring while I have it apart. Thanks for taking the time to write this up.<<

Thanks for the feedback too.
The thing with the tremelo spring is, it's the normal spring and cone you find on all Fender standard design.
The issue, (besides a bit of quality control of the spring cut end) is the Panorama tremelo has much-more flex range possible over a standard. So at full bend things get awkward for the standard spring and cone fit.
If you hear any click, then the spring is causing friction on the cone.
Debur what you can and ad a dab of grease, end of any issues with tuning stability.
I really love my Jazzmaster Pro 2!
Debating on whether to upgrade other offsets to the Panorama, the precision action is excellent.

_Well, its now been 6 months and the Honeymoon is OVER! lol

I have enjoyed the Fender Jazzmaster Pro 2 for most everything it offers, especially the maple deep C neck and the Panorama tremelo.

But came to the conclusion that the electronics were really not my bag.
Mostly because of the VMod2 pups were way too noisy to my liking and beyond what most anything vintage would provide, even though I could tweak controls to get some of that. Overall, the sound is more modern, as its designed to be.

As for the unwanted noise, I tried all the tricks I know about copper shielding, in the hopes I could tame the noisy signals.

I have had tremendous success with shielding several Jaguars and really had hoped that was all I needed for the Jazzmaster P2.

After that failed to my liking, I began the quest with research for all things 'noiseless pups' which led me into the boutique world of Curtis Novak, Fralin, Kinman and Brandonwound. All very expensive choices, with long build waits and NO refunds.

I then decided to try a departure for the new Fender Jazzmaster Wide Range CuNiFe pups. Buying from Sweetwater, they promised if I did not like them I could return them, which they did make good on.
They were a bit quiet than the VMod P2s, but did not have the sparkle I was opting for.
And I tired all kinds of pots/ caps , 500 and 1 meg.
I would best describe the sound 'range' as all MIDS, to LOW, with very little treble. Surprising for what is being called a "Wide Range".
The Neck was far better than the bridge for sure. I could almost live with that too, but opted to return them to try something else.

Then I came upon reviews of the new Seymour Duncan 'Silencer' pups, available in both a vintage and modern voicing.
These sounded great in the video clips I saw.
So I ordered the Vintage directly from SD, as most retailers were still waiting for stock for these new released pups, recently debuted at the NAMM 25 show.
The concept is pretty cool, not a 'stacked' humbucker type coil like most other 'noiseless', but rather a central single coil, surrounded by a cage of humbucking noise canceling coils. its Pat/Pend as well.

The other great thing about ordering from SD directly is they have a guarantee - exchange program, that if you don't like the pups, you can exchange for anything alternate they offer.
I figured worst case I could end up with later would be the Antiquities.

I am still waiting for the right 0.047uf caps to arrive (SD suggested with 1Meg pots), but the plan is moving forward and I should be wired in a couple days.

While I was at it, I completely ripped out the stock wiring and re-wiring for a traditional rhythm circuit.

How about if I jump on the aluminum pickguard program!
I like it!

Last edited: Apr 09, 2025 09:10:50

I finally got everything installed and it sounds just awesome!
ZERO hum and unwanted noise.

Seymour Duncan really did a great job on these new SILENCER pickups.
I have the vintage model and it does sound like it.

The color combo came out great with the aluminum pickguard too.
It's a keeper!

Here is a Facebook group link I have shared more with a demo.

Sorry that didn't work...
Maybe here...

Last edited: Apr 11, 2025 12:46:46

Sorry that link to Facebook didn't work.

Here are a few more pics of the wiring.
Seymour Duncan said to use 1meg pots and a 0.047uf cap.
And it works great with plenty of sweep range to the tone.

These pickups really have come a long ways and I can see these becoming quite popular.

The AM Pro 2 has a lot going on for it besides the wiring, which obviously I didn't care for.
The maple neck deep C is very different than most necks. It starts out like a normal C bur then transitions into slightly fatter, deeper at the 12th.
And some could either love or hate the Panorama tremelo, but honestly it's a design well worth upgrading to.
Sure it can dive more than a traditional, but you can adjust the screw and get it back if you want.
I am impressed by its stability.
You need to look under the hood to really appreciate the advancement.

Last edited: Apr 11, 2025 16:46:57

MrFingers wrote:

Fender is pretty clear on what is distinctive about this model, which is definitely not intended to be a vintage recreation. It is designed for more contemporary, popular string gauges, as it ships with 9s! The Panorama trem is meant to permit more extreme pitch changes. The series mode, rather than the vintage Rhythm mode, is meant to give instant access to a a lead sound at the expense of a retro rhythm-chord tonality. There's a more modern radius. I wouldn't argue that everyone should see these changes as improvements, but that's why Fender makes more vintage-correct and other JM models. Personally, I consider this to be the best-playing JM ever, and the changes generally take a cantankerous design to a more contemporary standard of playability and reliability. The neck shape, radius, finish, and even the unusual choice of frets are spectacularly successful. Even the colors available are awesome. Since I play 9.5 string sets, swapping in a 10 for the high E, the Panorama actuallty does deliver both the wonderful JM flutter and more modern and severe pitch changes, returning to pitch, which is a tall order. Taking the extra step of adding a shim (which is not strictly necessary), you can get a better break angle over the saddles and end up with a trem that is stable, quiet, and reliable -- without losing the fantastic touch of a JM. But like everyone, I have a few complaints to deal with. The first is the use of very non-standard JM pickups. I cannot grasp making a Jazzmaster that does not have much of a Jazzmaster voice, offering instead what seems to me to be a really generic, somewhat hot, Stratty tonality. A Mojotone neck and Novak bridge pairing gave me the sound I want. The second complaint is the rat's nest wiring, which in my case included an almost-severed pickup lead delivering intermittent volume cuts as well as complete dropouts caused by shorting against an adjacent tab. It's the kind of error that happens with complex, crowded, and non-standard wiring, but the truly horrific wiring, including lots of excessive-length leads and many terminals and joints squashed together and buried under tangles of wires seems to have resulted in a poor level of final checking before signing off on the wiring. I found one failed and two problematic connections. Sorry for this long writeup, but I think prospective buyers should be clear what this model is, and what it is not. For my money, even with some faults, it is a really spectacular success and a rare example of Fender making a guitar based on some newer design elements and functionality rather than repackaging the same vintage stuff with a few trivial tweaks. After all, nobody considers the vintage JM to be a seamless, "perfect out of the box" design like the Tele. It's a work in progress, and having owned some disappointing older JMs, I, for one, am loving having a new Fender that ius genuinely an improvement.

The non-Jazzmaster sounding pickups puzzle me. The Panorama trem’ sounds interesting, although I’m not much for dive bombing and the standard trem’ works ok for me.

I’m glad to see s9me new developments, but every guitar manufacturer has a balancing act between vintage specs and the desire to innovate.

The artist formerly known as: Synchro

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

IceratzSurf wrote:

Spring is here and most of my guitars are all moving loosing neck relief.
All but 1.
My Jazzmaster AM Pro2!
Maybe it's the shape deep C ?
It stays in tune as well.
I did also replace the tuners to locking.

And I'll say this again, the Seymour Duncan Silencer Vintage pickups are about the most amazing pups I have in any guitar!
Any other testers out there?

Try living here. We go from needing to humidify to everything being soggy in the span of a few days, when monsoons arrive. I’ve long since become accustomed to neck relief adjustments on the fly. I track humidity trends with my tuner. If the guitar is flat, the humidity is dropping, but if it’s sharp, I know that the humidity has gone up.

The artist formerly known as: Synchro

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