First Fender, first Jazzmaster, and first MIJ guitar. Absolutely blown away; everything is nearly perfectly setup out of the box and it sounds incredible. There’s def something in the water at the Japanese factory, hands down the most comfortable fretwork I’ve ever played. Neck is a little thick for my usual style but some 0000 steel wool took enough of the nitro finish off that it’s not super sticky. I’ve never seen another Jazzmaster with a competition stripe, so that was my main selling point on this guitar. So happy it’s finally here.
The Japanese U is def different from the Mex and American U, it’s a lot closer to a slightly thicker C than a really vintage-thick U. To put it another way, it’s not enough of a difference from a modern C that I really feel thrown off by it, but it’s definitely noticeable and it would be nice if it was a more modern C profile. I absolutely hate anything that strays from a modern-to-thin C shape, so the fact that I don’t mind much it that much says a lot to how non-U like it is.
Have you played a Marr Jag, and if so how do you feel the neck shape compares?
I own both Japanese Traditional Jazzmaster and Johnny Marr Jaguar, both have significant shoulder especially on the bass side of the guitar. The Jazzmaster has a slightly more flattened feel than the Jag which is rounder. However, they feel somewhat similar to me, just slight differences in roundness. Both are super beefy necks.
Marr Jag is way different. A lot closer to a vintage C type thing like on the Vintera IIs than this, plus obv being short scale. I would say I prefer it to this, but it being a Jag makes it a very different neck entirely.
Beautiful!
I have the strat one of this series, was thinking of getting the jazzmaster initially, the racing stripe going through the tailpiece is just such a cool look
I’ve never seen another one like it. Just such a clean and unique look.
Awesome. Are you in the US? Where’d you buy it?
In the US, bought it from an eBay reseller, Tsurugi-Shoten. Took forever to get here, plus dealing with FedEx and customs was nightmarish. It arrived well wrapped and no damage, so I’d def recommend the seller.
I want to get one but they say the neck is too thick. Wish fender mex and US had better options for offsets
For me, MIJ offsets just always have a very special vibe, plus they have way cooler paint jobs generally. Neck is def thicker than a modern C, but it’s not different enough that I really mind it. Just took like half an hour to get used to and I was good.
Mij offsets are so cool looking. Really looks way better than MIA. It says U shaped on eBay and was thinking of just biting the bullet and if I don’t like it after a week then I can just sell it
looks phenomenal! i wasn’t sure about the U neck. do you find it much different from the modern C?