I have read that certain Japan made Jazzmasters have Strat pickups in a JM housing. Mine is a CIJ from 97-98. Just curious.
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Joined: Apr 01, 2016 Posts: 89 |
I have read that certain Japan made Jazzmasters have Strat pickups in a JM housing. Mine is a CIJ from 97-98. Just curious. |
Joined: Sep 09, 2008 Posts: 3158 Guildford England |
From what I've read the original Jazzmaster pickup was designed with a wider magnetic footprint, the idea being that they could over-wind while at the same time retain a mellow sound. In essence it "picks-up" a wider segment of the strings. The CIJ Jazzmaster has the same sized bobbin with longer magnets and Stratocaster looking narrow windings. There are tricks the manufacture can use to produce a cheaper pickup that sounds roughly in the ballpark of a full quality item. That might be fine for regular rock players but not so great for surf tone seekers. |
Joined: Apr 01, 2016 Posts: 89 |
Well that explains why my JM sounds so bad. |
Joined: Jan 02, 2009 Posts: 1297 The original Plymouth, UK. |
This is true. The Japanese Jazzmasters pickups are basically strat pickups in a Jazzmaster cover. The guitars are quality though, and for a long time were the only Fender Jazzmaster you could buy. Pop in the right pups and you'd get a quality instrument. — |
Joined: Apr 01, 2016 Posts: 89 |
Thanks de-Ron. I had heard this but didn't know it applied to all of them. Very disappointing. Since I have no money invested in this axe, I won't feel bad about getting different pups. |
Joined: Feb 27, 2006 Posts: 10320 southern Michigan |
Those MIJ Jazzmasters with stock pickups can still get a great surf sound. I recorded this song with that configuration: —Ivan Last edited: May 09, 2018 19:49:20 |
Joined: Feb 26, 2006 Posts: 2268 Stockholm, Sweden |
Here's my stock CIJ Jazzmaster on lead. It can get a bit thin on the higher strings and some of those notes can produce a somewhat unpleasant harmonic when combined fast but overall I think it sounds really good and I've never had the urge to replace any pickups. — |
Joined: Jul 11, 2010 Posts: 130 Norway |
A little off topic perhaps, but what about jaguars, i have a japanese Jaguar from the same time period? |
Joined: Sep 09, 2008 Posts: 3158 Guildford England |
bluez wrote:
From what I remember from past discussions here a lot of folk thought the Japanese Jaguar pickups were quite good. They are slightly different to the U.S. part, the wires mount to the bobbin in a different place and they are not compatible with U.S. pickup covers. |
Joined: Feb 26, 2006 Posts: 2268 Stockholm, Sweden |
A vast majority of all our surf recordings are done with stock CIJ Jaguars for the lead parts. Here's one of them: — |
Joined: Jul 23, 2008 Posts: 488 Edge of the East China Sea |
Probably too much is made of the 'incorrect' CIJ Jazzmaster pickups. Okay, they're like Strat pickups, but then so are the p'ups in a US-built Jaguar -- and nobody thinks that Jags and Strats sound bad for surf. Of course, if you're craving the authentic Jazzmaster sound, then there's a good case for swapping them, but I'd hesitate to dismiss the CIJ versions as junk without giving them a chance: different strings, amp/settings, height adjustments, etc. By the way, nice to see Klas back again! |
Joined: Feb 26, 2006 Posts: 2268 Stockholm, Sweden |
I should also add that we've always used heavy* Pyramid flatwound strings which becomes a big part of our guitar sound when combined with the Japanese Fenders. *013s for the Jaguars but less heavy for the Jazzmaster. MissingLink wrote:
Thanks man, although I'm not really back. — |
Joined: Mar 02, 2006 Posts: 1674 Georgia |
You're not? —The Mystery Men? |
Joined: Sep 09, 2008 Posts: 3158 Guildford England |
Rondo1 wrote:
Are they muddy sounding? what is it that's bad. Is it the first Fender offset you've owned and what are you playing it through. |
Joined: Apr 01, 2016 Posts: 89 |
No. I played '62 & '64 Jags back in the late 70's, so I'm very familiar with offsets. I have used this CIJ Jazzmaster for all of the Rondo Hatton recordings & gigs. After fooling around with my reverb unit, I discovered the tone cap was defective. Fixed it, no more icepick to the eyeball treble problems. I'm in love With my Jazzmaster again! Thanks for all the tips and info fellas! |
Joined: Apr 01, 2016 Posts: 89 |
Since you asked, I'm using a '61 brown face Pro with a JBL 15" in it. Heavy flatwounds, '63 Fender reverb unit. That's it. |
Joined: Sep 09, 2008 Posts: 3158 Guildford England |
Glad to hear you got sorted. Years ago someone joked Fender Jazz/Jags were part electric guitar part banjo! I dare say some people new to them could be surprised how they sound. I have a set of Fender U.S. Jazzmaster and a set of CIJ Jaguar pickups, out of interest I've ordered some magnetic field viewing film, If it works well I'll post some photos here. |
Joined: Sep 09, 2008 Posts: 3158 Guildford England |
The magnetic field viewing film has a glossy side that looks a little like metallic paint. Each sparkle is a tiny flat metal fragment which can move freely inside a bubble of oil. Hence the pickup pole tops look black because you're seeing the edge of the metallic fragment. As the magnetic field curves you see the flat side which appears much brighter. The metal claw of the Jaguar looks to have quite an effect on the magnetic field.
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Joined: Jul 23, 2008 Posts: 488 Edge of the East China Sea |
So the enigmatic claws actually do something. Interesting... |
Joined: Jul 23, 2014 Posts: 637 LA -ish |
This is SORCERY!!!! mj
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