In a little rowboat Posted June 20, 2009 Share Posted June 20, 2009 Ive been a gibson guy for so long...but damn Nels Cline and his jazzmastery goodness...$550 on ebay for a CIJ jazzmaster...my fire has been stoked... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ghost of Electricity Posted June 20, 2009 Share Posted June 20, 2009 any pics? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
In a little rowboat Posted June 20, 2009 Author Share Posted June 20, 2009 I should have it tuesday, i post some then, rather than rip off the seller's Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Moss Posted June 20, 2009 Share Posted June 20, 2009 I should have it tuesday, i post some then, rather than rip off the seller's Always wanted one myself, of course that's true of most guitars. Sounds like you got a good deal. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
anthony Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 Damn. So jealous. That is a pretty good deal, too. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BigWheeledWagon Posted June 22, 2009 Share Posted June 22, 2009 Congrats -- looking forward to pics. The next electric guitar I purchase will likely be a Jazzmaster (though that should be quite a long time from now). When it comes to electric guitars, I'm already a bit of a Fender guy as it is (52 Tele Reissue; rebuilt Strat project), and although I would love to bring a Gibson electric into the family (perhaps an SG), I've developed such a fascination with the Jazzmaster that it will have to be the next electric addition. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MattZ Posted June 22, 2009 Share Posted June 22, 2009 awesome! Be sure to post pics so that I/we can live vicariously through you. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jff Posted June 22, 2009 Share Posted June 22, 2009 Ive been a gibson guy for so long...but damn Nels Cline and his jazzmastery goodness...$550 on ebay for a CIJ jazzmaster...my fire has been stoked... These CIJ guitars, are they still being made? If not, when were they in production? '80s? I always hear they're as good as or better than their USA counterparts. Anyway, sounds like you got a bargain. What color did you get? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
In a little rowboat Posted June 22, 2009 Author Share Posted June 22, 2009 Yeah i think the CIJs were late 90s-early 00s...the japanese instruments started in 1980 when fender hadnt a domestic plant...they have a pretty tight reputation... This one is black with tortoise pickguard...i have ordered a mustang bridge replacement and a proper trem bar...should be nice! I think its only a couple years old... Having never owned or even played on a jazzmaster, im taking a leap of faith on this one, but cant imagine ill go wrong, esp at this price... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
danelectro Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 You can still buy brand new CIJ JM's as well as other models, several Japanese eBay stores specialize in Japanese guitars new and used. The difference between MIJ and CIJ Fender's is only the production date, 82-97 is MIJ and mid 97-current are CIJ. There's a lot of nonsense about one being better than the other but the reality is it's a date thing only. There is a difference in Japanese Fender's some weren't even made by Fender, they farm out work like any other company. Some of the mid 90's Fender's came out of Tokai's Japanese factories. Good price on the JM. I've had a couple, bought a new CIJ from Hisashi Guitars in 2007 and grabbed a nice 1997 from an old guy selling on craigs for $375. It's the one Fender guitar I've never been able to bond with. I know it's not supposed to be a blues machine or anything but something about the bridge design coupled with the tiny vintage style frets makes bending notes difficult. Both of mine had problems with dead bends and fret out above the 9th fret unless the action was set extremely high. If it doesn't have a bridge mod you may want to consider putting a Mustang bridge on it and a buzz stop, the JM's can be pretty buzzy. I bought mine when I was in a surf band but I haven't surfed for a while so both were sold. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
In a little rowboat Posted June 26, 2009 Author Share Posted June 26, 2009 Arrived today (damn ups, late, and the day after my record release party)...ill get some pics up...to my surprise, it turned out to be s*** brown, not black, hahaha, kind of cool... I have replaced the bridge with a mustang set up, not sure about the buzzstop yet...its much more resonant than a strat, not as loose feeling as a tele... ok what i am hating is the trem bar...it is too close to the body to push down much, i really can only use it by pulling it up and vibrating it...i cant pick and hold the bar at the same time either...part of it might be that im used to a bigsby on my les paul, but i cant use it worth dick...do they custom make these somewhere...theres no bending this thing to where im used to having a bar Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BigWheeledWagon Posted June 27, 2009 Share Posted June 27, 2009 Arrived today (damn ups, late, and the day after my record release party)...ill get some pics up...to my surprise, it turned out to be s*** brown, not black, hahaha, kind of cool... I have replaced the bridge with a mustang set up, not sure about the buzzstop yet...its much more resonant than a strat, not as loose feeling as a tele... ok what i am hating is the trem bar...it is too close to the body to push down much, i really can only use it by pulling it up and vibrating it...i cant pick and hold the bar at the same time either...part of it might be that im used to a bigsby on my les paul, but i cant use it worth dick...do they custom make these somewhere...theres no bending this thing to where im used to having a bar I'm pretty sure there are lots of custom trems out there for jazzmasters, jaguars, and mustangs as they are notoriously , , , um . , , , temperamental. I think it's sort of a rite of passage to owning a jazzmaster to mod the floating trem or the tailed bridge. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the guitar once you've had a chance to get used to it -- although it may be a few years down the road, it's on my list of guitars to acquire. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
In a little rowboat Posted June 28, 2009 Author Share Posted June 28, 2009 well...i went take some pics and my battery need recharging...so screw that I wasnt sure how to start out playing it...i knew i needed to doo some mods, but i had decide whether to pull a before and after, or to just go ahead and mod it, then play it...so...put a mustang bridge on it (although there are ways to make the stock one work, i play with .11s and real heavy low strings (Slinky heavy bottoms, .52-.42.-.30.-.22wound-.14-.11)... The biggest grip about CIJ jazzmasters online is the pickups are too strat-like, so i swapped the neck pu out with a novak p-90, and put a new cap in on the bridge...the p90 has a shielding plate under it, so i only had to put copper shielding under the bridge pick up and on the non-stock pickguard (the cavity is painted with shielding paint)...i had to adjust the floating trem and intonate for the heavy strings...no noise whatsoever... then plugged it in to my Fender DRRI straight, no effects...im pretty impressed: wonderful chiming highs, wickedly rich lows and terrific string balance...it takes a while to get used to the '2 guitars in one' set up of the controls, but after a bit i figured it out and am blow away with the number of sounds and tones i am able to get out of this thing...chording and arpeggios are a pleasure...and the low strings drone... The strings below the bridge are fun to play with, some cool sounds there, but more importantly, they resonate ALOT, giving out wonderful harmonic overtones and more than compensating to the lack of sustain (as compared to my les paul)...the guitar really sing, and the thing feels more like an acoustic than almost any electric ive ever used, certainly more than any fender...i have not had too much buzzing, which often a problem, but im not sold on the really thin frets and string bending is no easy on this neck (its a jazz-master, not a blues master), so that stuff ill have to do on the gibson... i worked a bit trying to emulate the Impossible germany solo, it was hard to get the trem parts the sound was dead on... two biggest cons, so far...as i mentioned, the trem bar is way to low, i have to find a way to add near an inch to its height...and the extra length of the arm means you have to pick right over the neck pick up, which is awkward..the other problem is that the volume knob is very easily turned, and i tend to downstroke right into it, ducking the volume lower in mid song, but this is an easy fix... I can easily see why this is the go-to guitar for so many folks, it is unique, extremely flexible, very resonant, and wonderfully quirky...i dont know if itll be my number one yet, as i play in a lot of different groups, but its going to get alot of use... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
In a little rowboat Posted June 28, 2009 Author Share Posted June 28, 2009 These CIJ guitars, are they still being made? If not, when were they in production? '80s? I always hear they're as good as or better than their USA counterparts. Anyway, sounds like you got a bargain. What color did you get?looks like i need some polish...my two electrics Ive already named the jazzmaster Mr Hanky Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BigWheeledWagon Posted June 28, 2009 Share Posted June 28, 2009 The strings below the bridge are fun to play with, some cool sounds there, but more importantly, they resonate ALOT, giving out wonderful harmonic overtones and more than compensating to the lack of sustain (as compared to my les paul)... This quality is perhaps what most intrigues me about the Jazzmaster. I imagine one can get some pretty cool sounds utilizing what is essentially a primitive third bridge -- even without using pencils and screwdrivers like Sonic Youth -- who, by the way, just got their own signature Jazzmasters: http://www.fender.com/sonicyouth/ Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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