Fender Blacktop Jazzmaster HS Electric Guitar, Black Rosewood Review

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(More customer reviews)Here's a warning for anyone interested in a Jazzmaster: DONT get this guitar.
Jazzmasters are notorious for having horrible bridges. When people have described the Jazzmaster Bridge problem when talking about this guitar, they said that the saddle screws rattle and buzz, and that this can be fixed by applying a drop of threadlocker. Upon receiving the guitar, I realized the lousy bridge design created many more problems than just a buzz.
When I first opened the guitar, I noticed the action was set rather high. I like my action almost as low as possible, and have my Mexican Strat set up as so. I looked at the bridge, saw that the saddles were raised pretty high, and thought, "I can probably lower this action to play almost as good as my strat".
So I played the guitar through my amp for an hour, and it sounded PRETTY good. There was a horrible buzzing from the saddles, but it didn't really matter at the time because I expected them to do that, and planned on putting threadlocker in there to fix that. But I noticed after playing for a while, the action was really bugging me, and the intonation was completely off. Basically, I needed to set the guitar up. That's where the problems started.
1.) The saddle screws collapse on themselves, even if you put threadlocker in. What I mean is, the screws that you turn to adjust the action loosen themselves, and lower the action, making the guitar go out of tune, and buzz.
2.) Even at a reasonable action, the strings will slip of out the groove on the bridge.
3.) The G string and E String for some reason had a dry sound, as if they are being muted, because somewhere on the bridge, a piece of metal was pushing against them.
4.) I was unable to get the A string's intonation anywhere NEAR correct because the intonation screw was angled up on the saddle of this string, pushing against the string.I had so many problems with this bridge, I really didn't even see the point in taking it to a tech to try to have them set it up. My options were really to replace the bridge, or pay a lot of money for a tech to angle the neck or something.
I really would do all of that, because the guitar LOOKS nice (Except for the ugly mint green pickguard on the black model, I thought it was white from the picture), it sounds beautiful on the neck pickup, but the bridge humbucker is dreadful. The humbucker on my mexican strat is beautiful, it is perfectly clear, but still has that humbucker bite, while the humbucker on this Jazzmaster is extremely muddy. I realized after playing it through distortion that I think the humbucker was designed to be played distorted, because it sounds amazing distored, but bad clean.
Avoid this model, and check out the Classic Players Model. I really wish I did. Apparently the Classic Players Jazzmaster has a COMPLETELY different bridge, and another Jazzmaster pickup in the bridge.

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The Fender Blacktop Jazzmaster HS is designed to cover a wide range of traditional and modern tones. Fitted with a pair of Duncan Designed pickups, the Blacktop Jazzmaster HS has a traditional Jazzmaster single-coil neck pickup and hot humbucking bridge pickup along with simplified controls. Instead of the array of confusing switches, the Blacktop Jazzmaster HS has a standard 3-way pickup selector switch with master volume and tone controls that make it easy to plug in and rock out. Keeping with tradition, the Blacktop Jazzmaster HS has an American Vintage Jazzmaster tremolo with an Adjusto-Matic bridge and Tremolo Lock button. Skirted black amp knobs add a distinctive modern touch. Other features include an alder body, maple neck, 9.5-radius rosewood fingerboard with 21 medium jumbo frets, and chrome hardware. Case not included.While the Fender Blacktop Jazzmaster HS has a low price tag, it is a quality instrument recommended for players of all levels. If you love the shape of a traditional Jazzmaster and want an instrument that is capable of producing heavy sounds, give the Blacktop Jazzmaster HS a spin!Blacktop SeriesBody Shape: JazzmasterBody Material: AlderNeck: MapleNeck Finish: Gloss UrethaneFingerboard: RosewoodFingerboard Radius: 9.5" Radius (241 mm)Frets: 21 Medium JumboPosition Inlays: White DotsScale Length: 25.5" (648 mm)Nut Width: 1.650 (42 mm)Nut Material: Synthetic BoneTruss Rod Nut: 3/16" Adjustable Hex NutPickups: 1 Duncan Designed Humbucking Bridge Pickup, 1 Duncan Designed Single-Coil Jazzmaster Neck PickupPickup Switching: 3-Position Toggle: Position 1. Bridge Pickup Position 2. Bridge and Neck Pickups Position 3. Neck PickupControls: Master Volume, Master ToneHardware: Nickel/ChromeTuning Keys: Standard Cast/Sealed Tuning MachinesBridge: American Vintage Jazzmaster Tremolo with Adusto-Matic Bridge and Tremolo Lock ButtonTremolo Arm: Vintage Jaguar/Jazzmaster Tremolo ArmStrap But...

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