chrisdesign's Bass Rig

The neck plays better than some American production models. The pickups sound better than EMG Geezer Butlers (or at least comparable). The controls work really nicely. The finish is flawless. It’s just a stunning bass.

I wish the nut was bone, the tuners were deluxe, and the bridge was laterally adjustable, but those things are tiny. £40 gets you a drop-in replacement HiMass bridge if you want, but that’s a minimal issue.

Just change the strings, do a proper setup, and this bass is solid!

Overall a fantastic bass. It’s a shame they didn’t catch on better as Fender has discontinued them.

I love this bass... After added Seymour Duncan blackouts and a the matching two-band EQ. The tone is awesome. The bass plays and sounds better than my old deluxe fender p bass. I will never part with mine.

I love my Jazzmaster… now it’s modded. New Railhammer humcutter pickups, new pots, new capacitor, new switch, new string tree, new saddle (Staytrem), new tremolo (Japanese fender), new collet (Staytrem), new tuners (fender locking), new nut (bone), a 1 degree shim (stew mac), and a fret level.

Out of the box the saddle is terrible! The thread screws are too long so the ends either buzz on the strings or the strings buzz on the saddle tray. When it’s not buzzing it’s dropping down. Within a week of buying this jazzmaster I threw a Staytrem bridge on and have been happy ever since. Except I needed a shim to get the action right. Then the nut broke and I needed a replacement. While the Luther was fitting a new nut, I got him to run a fret dress as the frets were very uneaven. The pickups were fine, but the Railhammers changed up the tone significantly! The pots were a disaster from the factory: a 250k tone pot with a 1uF cap just makes everything dark! The stock tremolo is terrible. The lock button is essential for floating the unit right: slide lock in, tighten screw to ‘lock’, tune, unscrew until tapping up on the tremolo arm starts to tap, then release the slide. That gives perfect tuning stability. Yet the stock version lacks a lock so proper floating is impossible. The arm is also too long. Fender moved the tremolo unit forward (I don’t know why) but shipped with a standard length arm which puts your picking hand at the fretboard! When I replaced my arm with a Staytrem arm and collet unit (needed because the standard collet clangs and wobbles) I ordered the arm 1cm shorter to put my hand in the ‘correct’ position. Finally, the poly finish feels ‘resistant’ to my skin compared with my partscaster with a nitro neck and stained body (which feels PERFECT). This is a mute point because American Fenders have a similar feeling, but it’s worth mentioning.

While I adore my guitar now, I feel the effort wasn’t worth the cost. I wish I had just built this guitar from parts or saved up and bought a more expensive model. The next guitar I owned I built from a reject body and parts. It is better and £600 cheaper! Nevertheless, modding this jazzmaster was simple and I learnt a lot about guitar building in the process.

The end result is a guitar I adore and I will pass onto my children in decades to come. But the design decisions in the factory are, to me, unforgivable.

They sound great, last a long time, and feel great. What is there not to love?

This is what all humbuckers should be! It’s silent, it’s articulate, it sounds great! These in my jazzmaster make me happy!

Stop scrolling and install this genius pickup in your guitar. You’ll be happy forever, I promise!

No EQ needed to bring these pickups to life, they just sound great! Incredibly versatile with beautiful cleans and aggressive driven. Drop 12db of volume and your treble to make these sound passive.

This is the bridge Fender should include with every Jazzmaster/ Jaguar. Well made, simple, and effective. I installed one within two weeks of buying my first jazzmaster and I’ve been delighted since.

Simply a fantastic pj tone that just works. My bass is quiet as the grave and sounds perfect in everything from modern pop to black metal!