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Post by ozboomer on Jul 31, 2010 21:43:18 GMT -5
Well, I've been doing some extensive investigating in recent times, comprising having discussions with some local people and trawling through a number of the on-line forums and such... together with e-mail/phone calls to manufacturers, distributors and retailers... and I've come to the conclusion (for NOW -- things may still change!) that I won't be bothering with any direct importing of any guitars from overseas. There are a few reasons for this:- - My own (fairly extensive) previous experience with bringing in items from overseas shows things often arrive broken (for example, records, timber items, electronic gear, etc);
- Many of the overseas (on-line) stores I've been in touch with have policies where they will NOT refund shipping costs when returns are made (being in Australia, those costs can be greater than the costs of the guitars, after a single return);
- It seems the guitars I'm looking at all have problems with the quality of their construction and finish (there are large numbers of people who have had great guitars arrive and equally as many where the guitars have been unplayable and required a tech's services to get the guitar usable... and the costs of the remedial work were often greater than the cost of the guitar)... and it would definitely be a gamble to order such a guitar;
- I nearly always run into trouble when buying things "sight unseen"... and, like most of us, I don't really want to buy "a pig in a poke".
...amongst other annoying little reasons. On top of this, even the very few guitars similar to the models I'm considering that ARE available locally are over-priced like crazy (for example, a Taiwanese-made guitar that is ~USD100 in the USA retails for AUD500 here and that doesn't include, even a gig bag, let alone a simple hard case). So, for now, I'll keep working away at my simple modifications as detailed in the SimpleMod + ToneMod = ... thread... and, if nothing else, I'll learn lots more about what's important in getting the sound I want from my guitars. ...and, o'course, I'll still keep my eyes open for a Jazzmaster, 'coz I might just fall across sumfin' too good to pass-up, don'tcha know John
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Post by newey on Jul 31, 2010 22:09:51 GMT -5
Ozman- - Shipping can be insured so that you get paid if it's busted up.
- You have many friends a'board here who are Guitarnutz. We tend to go to music stores a lot.
- One of us may find one of your preferred Jazzy clones, at the good US price, and be able to play it to be sure it's not junk. Said person PMs you, emails you photos, or whatever.
- You decide if you want it. You send the money via paypal.
- Person ships you the guitar. Only issue is whether any import duty would be payable.
There, all your concerns can be alleviated!
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Post by ozboomer on Jul 31, 2010 23:15:46 GMT -5
HeyHey...! Good thoughts, one'n'all, newey, mate... ..but... ;D Shipping can be insured so that you get paid if it's busted up. True... and that is part of where the USD120+ shipping charge for a USD100 guitar comes from, I know... Aww, shucks. I just don' wanna impose, y'know? ...*shufflin' his feet in the sand* ...but quite right. If I DID go that route, I'd have to be careful who I asked, tho... I really don't want to get anyone off-side, y'know(!) Another imposition... but truly, an option I hadn't thought about very much, if at all... mainly because, I think, that most of the stores I've been checking out are on-line only and not "bricks-and-mortar" places, so no-one could really check things out for me anyway(!) Ya, easily done, I guess... and I think everyone would understand my paranoia about good packing and such ...*hmmm*... Well, maybe I'm back in business then... Still, one of the issues would be for my "agent" to have the good graces to do the footwork in the early stages, for example, finding out about shipping and insurance charges, packing requirements, delivery times at the shops, etc... so that a realistic estimate of cost would be obtained... but that's detail, o'course.. Thanks again, newey... I'll go back and contemplate some more... As I alluded to before, things may still change John
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Post by gumbo on Aug 1, 2010 2:45:13 GMT -5
Generally... .....Oz Customs only pr ck up their ears when the declared value ... ;D ....exceeds AUD1K ....BTW... ...anyway, I told you it was silly to get infatuated with those funny-shaped guitars....
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Post by sumgai on Aug 1, 2010 3:31:13 GMT -5
...anyway, I told you it was silly to get infatuated with those funny-shaped guitars.... Yeah, them Strats, Teles and LPs sure do look weird, don't they? ;D But as luck would have it, I've got an idea (and it's not even copyrighted!) John #2, you're in close proximity to gumbo... why don't you talk to him off-line, he'll vouch for me as an agent. Then, why not just assemble the guitar yourself, and save some serious coin? I can pickup, literally, with my own two hands, a body and a neck from USACG, unfinished or finished as you wish, and send them to you unassembled. You know the drill from there, but I think those are two biggest things to worry about, the rest of it could be done through me again, or through other agents, if you wish. But I do live "just up the block" from USACG, and in fact I've done some work for them, so they know me pretty well. If you call them, don't let on that you're in Ozland, they'll get all wonky about shipping and customs and that kind of thing. Just let them assume that you're stateside, and that'll keep things simple. Later will be time enough to work out the details, should you go this route. Just a suggestion....... sumgai (Edited by Newey to fix links)
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Post by ozboomer on Aug 1, 2010 6:16:28 GMT -5
...anyway, I told you it was silly to get infatuated with those funny-shaped guitars.... Ya, ya... I know... ...and that's why I'm still experimenting... Gotta try and understand all this, y'know... sumgai, maaaate. I think the USACG idea is a good one ( BTW, you left off the 'S' in your link ;D ) ...but I did some quick maths... Body + Solid Colour finish + Maple everything Neck + neck finish = ~US$700.. which is not quite within my AUD500 budget(!), given that there's no electronics, no hardware AND! I have to assemble it all myself (which, frankly, I'd be too scared to do and would probably farm-off to a tech... so that would add another AUD200 or more)... so it's almost to the stage of buying a low-level Jazzmaster anyway (Classic, for example, at USD800 online) ...and you've always been on TheList TM as an agent... ...but let me do the investigation about some sources for the "cheapo" models... and I'll post back here when I get myself organized... MANY thanks for the assistance (and offers!) John
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Post by gumbo on Aug 1, 2010 7:57:03 GMT -5
...they're selling those bodies??? ...I guess they're the ones that got caught in the revolving door on the way to the front counter, right?...... ...no wonder they're cheap... ....and vouch for him??? ....I was hoping someone would vouch for me.....
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Post by newey on Aug 1, 2010 9:51:36 GMT -5
Slightly off topic, I noticed that the Wikipedia article on the Fender Jaguar claims that, when introduced in 1962, the Jaguar: Putting a notch in the side plate improves shielding? How does that work?
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Post by sumgai on Aug 2, 2010 4:31:55 GMT -5
newey, Leo first wanted to use an "above the pickguard" metal shield to reduce EMI (electromagnetic interference). What he found was that the magnetic field that was supposed to pick up the string vibrations was badly distorted (actually, we now know that it was improperly focused), and the resulting signal was weak, comparatively speaking. The "notches" were found, experimentally, to bring the signal back up to normal levels, yet the EMI was still below the level of no shield at all. It was a compromise, but it worked to some degree, and since it was chrome plated, it meshed well with the overall appearance of the guitar, so it stayed. HTH sumgai
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Post by gumbo on Aug 2, 2010 4:39:41 GMT -5
...plus all that chrome took your mind off the shape....
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Post by sumgai on Aug 2, 2010 12:20:59 GMT -5
...plus all that chrome took your mind off the shape.... Well, I don't recall that either Dali or Picasso ever used chrome on their "non-mainstream" shapes, yet they both laughed all the way to the bank.
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Post by gumbo on Aug 3, 2010 5:35:59 GMT -5
Finally!!!! ...I've worked it out!! .....it's a Dali Strat!!! ...finally I can go back to sleep....thank you so much sg...
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Post by sumgai on Aug 3, 2010 10:58:57 GMT -5
Finally!!!! ...I've worked it out!!
.....it's a Dali Strat!!!
...finally I can go back to sleep....thank you so much sg... Those of us who are not upside-down already knew that Fender couldn't use the name "Dali", due to copyright concerns, of course. HTH
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Post by gumbo on Aug 4, 2010 4:07:45 GMT -5
Ah..
Yes, of course...the No-Dali Caster...why didn't I think of that?
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Post by sumgai on Aug 4, 2010 13:31:17 GMT -5
Yes, of course...the No-Dali Caster...why didn't I think of that? Sadly, you did. Now how'm I gonna get to sleep tonight, with that runnin' through me head?
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Post by ozboomer on Aug 7, 2010 8:35:10 GMT -5
...and to gently nudge the direction of this thread... ;D ... Even though I've had the CDs for a while, I never realized that Bob Dylan played a Jazzmaster at some stage... Observe: the back cover of the "Essential" Bob Dylan CD set.. I only found this out as I was watching Martin Scorsese's biopic, "No Direction Home" tonight... Fancy 'dat...
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Post by newey on Aug 7, 2010 8:43:49 GMT -5
Not only Dylan, also Johnny Cash. When lpf3 and I were at the Fender Museum in June, we saw a white '62 Jazzmaster Cash used to record "I Walk The Line".
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Post by gumbo on Aug 8, 2010 7:56:33 GMT -5
...yeah, but those guys were frequently wearing REAL dark glasses, so probably they had difficulty seeing which guitar they had picked up out of the rack..... ;D Thread direction? What thread direction, O-B??
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Post by cynical1 on Aug 9, 2010 6:07:04 GMT -5
Thread direction? What thread direction, O-B?? To quote the line from the famous John Houston film, The Treasure of the Amo del Jazz... "Thread direction? We ain't got no thread direction. We don't need no thread direction! I don't have to show you any stinkin' thread direction!"HTC1
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Post by Yew on Aug 16, 2010 3:56:01 GMT -5
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Post by newey on Jan 17, 2011 20:50:52 GMT -5
Well, we got a bit sidetracked from the subject of cheap(er) Jag/Jazzymaster clones. Meanwhile, Fender (errr . . .Squier) to the rescue: The new Squier "Vintage Vibe" Jazzmaster. There is also a "Vintage Vibe" Jaguar, but not too "vintagey" as it has dual HBs. The JM at least has the real deal, albeit a SD-designed variety of JM pickup.
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Post by 4real on Jan 17, 2011 22:23:42 GMT -5
Neither these jazz or jag squiers have a trem...at least they could have put on the superior strat trem so you could play surf on the things...LOL...and I'm a fan of squiers....shame... They were always kind of weird guitars turning up here and there...but really, how many tracks can you positively identify by ear as a "jazz/jag" sound...where as a strat is unmistakable in many guises...some odd fish and some poor engineering, but they are cool to look at and a jazz can be relatively decent to play. What ever happened to imagining guitars that never were with a classic feel like this... Ok....sure no trem...but the squier 51 was a great idea for a guitar with a twist...this was a real success, but they ditched it apparently. See that look on that girls face...she is sad this model died before it's time! Other guitars that never were like the surfcaster and talman series were kind of cool too. Now...if squier made an affordable version of the old semi 'starcaster' I might actually be interested perhaps. But the more recent squiers have lacked a bit IMHO compared to some of the stuff they have come up with in the not too distant past...like my contemporary mahogany strat that I play these days...a fantastic guitar, classic but with some great unique looks. Perhaps the squiers were putting the real things to shame a little too much there for a while.
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Post by ozboomer on Jan 17, 2011 22:31:08 GMT -5
Ya, I saw sumfin' about the new Squiers, the Jazzmaster model in particular... and was kinda excited... ..but then, I noted that although it had Jazzmaster pickups (and not P-90s), it had no tremolo -- so much for my Surf -style guitar... and having a toploader bridge installed, I expect it would be an expensive proposition to swap it over with a Jazzmaster-style tremolo (involving routing-out the "box")... ...and as it's a new model, I dunno if it's going to be like the other Squiers in terms of $$$. I have my Bullet and and Affinity Strat that are both Squiers and they are good as gold for me (although I can tell the difference when playing one of them compared to a MIM or MIJ version).. So, has anyone sighted or played any of these yet? ...and/or is there some $$$ info available? I might yet get motivated and see about the trem... and hold fire on the Junglemaster (maybe). John
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Post by newey on Jan 22, 2011 7:48:44 GMT -5
$299 USD for either the JM or Jag version.
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Post by asmith on Jan 22, 2011 10:03:33 GMT -5
I've decided, on the strength of this thread, that I'm going to put together a left-handed Jaguar and play it upside down. It's alternative-rock without trying to 'feed off' some sort of pseudo-retro vibe, it's grunge without conformity, it's Jimi Hendrix but with a different guitar, it's unmistakably Fender with the Gibson Thunderbird look (for the kids), and it's the classic-guitars ethos of Keith Richards/Izzy Stradlin/countless other guitar heroes that have some degree of kudos. It's a little cynical to do so, but if I'm going to be a rock and roll hero damnit, I'd better approach it like one.
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Post by 4real on Jan 22, 2011 18:11:27 GMT -5
LOL I've always been fascinated by the reverse strat look...I even have a cheap lefty somewhere in bits come to think of it...but the more I played with the idea, the more I wanted to mod it...better higher fret access made it look phallic on paper, controls under the arm, trem bar in the way...tuners that turn the wrong way (I even have a set of reverse tuners somewhere I think)... The Jazz is not that much better...but still as an "image"... I've been doing some net surfing lately for parts...and came cross these many and varied jazz's...this one caught my eye as being an improvement... They have P-90 versions with a jazz tremolo in different colours...can't vouch for the quality. But this one is the cheapest ($179), being a natural finish they are going to have to be more select and solid wood (ash). The neck is compatible with replacement strat necks, the pups are standard HB so infinite choices in that department...and they have left the upper bout blank so you could go nutz with switches up there with 2xHB's! The strat trem is superior really...I've played a vintage jazz a friend owned decades back and it was a bit of a dog in many respects, especially sustain and such (and they are renown for that) as well as tuning stability...this kind of 'strat' version does have many advantages plus the ability to upgrade things like trems or simply block it off. But they also have many models that have the jazz trem and p-90's for not much more as I say... www.guitarfetish.com/XV-JT-Series-Offset-Electric-Guitars_c_208.htmlI was listening to "Slacktone" the other day and I suppose you really can tell a jazz sound if you try...but it isn't the greatest or most versitile guitar other than it's retro cool looks...might take more than retro cool looks to be a rock star and not be laughed at with an upside down version...plus step on your cable and that scratch plate could be history! I see they have some interesting hard tailed "tele" ersions as well of the Jazz. As for the Jag...there seems so much wrong with them to me, the pickups seem lame, the bling over done and the scale length anti-fender and that is where a lot of that fender 'spank' comes from! Upside down jazz/jag....well, I really don't know if that's a winner.
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Post by wolf on Jan 22, 2011 19:04:22 GMT -5
neweyI'm old and I remember that song when it was a hit - that rendition was recorded in 1956 (Yes, I'm old) So, recording that on a '62 Jazzmaster presents a host of problems. I looked up the song on Wikipedia which said that it was recorded by Cash many times over the years. I'm guessing the Fender Museum™ (wanting to present a more prestigious image) tells people that they have the guitar Johnny Cash used for that song (1972 maybe ??) but it is definitely not the guitar used on the original rendition. Well I guess I have totally derailed this thread. Sorry about that. Still it was a story that had to be told.
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Post by ozboomer on Mar 25, 2012 7:06:54 GMT -5
As I nudge the discussion back this way a little... After finally getting my hands on a Squier J Mascis Jazzmaster a couple of weeks ago and spending a couple of hours trying out the sounds, etc... I decided that with my other guitars, I don't really need this Jazzmaster, 'coz the sounds I was hearing aren't too different from anything I can already get with 3 guitars(!)... but remember this guitar has different pickups (amongst other things, I understand) to the early-model ("real") Jazzmasters. With that thought in mind, I've this notion to go back to the drawing board again... and revisit some thoughts I had earlier in this thread. Specifically, with re-postioning the pickups somewhat on a standard Stratocaster-style guitar, viz:- Now, where this gets interesting is that I've recently seen/heard how this can make a significant difference to the sound (and you can get that 'bright twang' that the Jazzmaster often gives us). Have a look at/listen to the following:- ...and take particular note of the change in tone around 1:42 - 1:44. As he slides the pickup down, (maybe) you'll hear a ringing harmonic that sounds like the Jazzmaster 'twang' (well, MORE so than you normally would on a Strat, I guess, as the pickup is moving through a 'magic point'). Anyway, just thought I'd pop through an update... 'coz the experimenting/research never ends, as most of you well know John
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Post by reTrEaD on Mar 25, 2012 14:22:13 GMT -5
Have a look at/listen to the following:- I like it. Sort of like the Gibson Grabber on steroids. More travel, two independently moveable coils, useful switching. As a player it might be a bit clumsy to work with, but as a mule to determine pickup spacing it would be most excellent.
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Post by yakkmeister on Mar 25, 2012 20:58:53 GMT -5
Have a look at/listen to the following:- I like it. Sort of like the Gibson Grabber on steroids. More travel, two independently moveable coils, useful switching. As a player it might be a bit clumsy to work with, but as a mule to determine pickup spacing it would be most excellent. Man, that's cool ... Now if only there was a way to have the most-useful positions pre-set with some kind of switching to make it easier to precisely select the position and voice you want ...
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