mum: "what would you like for your 21st?"
me: "how about car insurance?"
mum: "that's not very exciting. i would rather get you something a little bit special for your 21st."
me: "well there isn't anything that i really want..."
mum: "well how about a guitar or something along those lines?"
me: "hmmm... how much would you be willing to spend? the guitar i have now is quite good and a better one would be much more expensive."
mum: "why don't you look around and we'll talk about it once you've found something that you're happy with?"
me: "sure, sounds good."

i'd never thought about top of the line guitars before because they were always so far out of reach. but as soon as it hit me that maybe i could get my hands one one, i became obsessed with the idea. so i started searching...

the trouble with shopping for top of the line guitars is none of them sound bad. i don't know why i was expecting it to be easy to narrow it down. now i suppose that's not really a bad thing. it would have been impossible to make a bad decision. it was just quite hard to make the "best" decision.

so i'd done the rounds; i'd visited every music store in the area only to find that any guitar with a decent reputation deserves its reputation. so i asked my gf to help me and together we made the decision. so now i have... a genuine USA fender jazzmaster!

http://www.fender.com/products//search.php?partno=0100800806

mine is the 3 color sunburst.

the gibson les paul was a close second. i actually think that it sounds slightly better than the jazz in some areas, but it didn't feel anywhere near as nice. very uncomfortable to play sitting down, and its weight would take some getting used to if i was to play standing up. the jazzmaster, on the other hand, is very very comfortable to play (its unusual shape was designed for jazz players who often prefer to play sitting down!), and it sounds unbelievable.

the difference between good and bad audio equipment is the versatility. with a half decent guitar, you plug it in, then play around with all the knobs and switches for a while until you get a good sound. with a good guitar, you plug it in and the good sound is there. fiddle with the knobs and switches and all you'll find is more interesting and usable sounds (some better than others, of course). that's what i've found with this jazmaster, and i love it.

i'm playing this through a vox AC30 and frequently use a boss DS1 distortion pedal as well as a boss DD3 digital delay. it's a great setup; it's truly inspiring to play.

if you're interested in what this thing sounds like, with the back pickup i can get it very very close to tom verlaine's sound on marquee moon, and most of the nirvana guitar sounds. the front pickup is very jazzy, as is the rhythm circuit, though i can't think of who those positions sound like.

ok, that's all i have to say i think. sorry about the length. i could have condensed that a little hehe. so i know at least a few of you are musicians. what are your thoughts on jazzmasters? i'd also love to hear what equipment you use and your thoughts on it.

Nice score, Moeboid ! Although, I'm more envious of the AC30 than the Jazzmaster... lol

Well, since you asked (and since I've been known to pluck a string from time to time), my "setup" consists of variations of the following:

Fender Telecaster Deluxe (2004 reissue, black, two humbuckers)
1975 Gibson Les Paul Custom (black)
1999 Fender SJ acoustic

1977 Fender Super Reverb amp

Vox wah pedal
Boss RV-3 digital delay
Ibanez Tubescreamer TS-9 (not an original 808 like SRV made famous, but mine's modded with an 808 chip)

P.S. The Les Paul is definitely heavy -- like strapping a water-soaked log over your shoulder -- (and try playing a three-hour gig with one!), but the creamy tone that it produces as a result is delicious.

P.P.S. I believe Honorio is a Strat man. So, if he happens upon this thread, we'll just humor him, k?

i'm jealous of that les paul. i'm sure the weight is worth getting used to.

did you ever play the '72 thinline tele reissue? i played them both and i thought that the thinline had the edge. they're both very nice guitars though (and have you ever seen a bigger pickup???).

I bought a Mexican Fender Telecaster a few years ago, and I enjoy playing it (I'm sure no one else enjoys my playing it, but what the heck), but actually, I think I still play my age old acoustic Levin more hours a month -- when I'm just noodling around on my own, I guess it seems easier to just pick the acoustic off the wall and be off.

Oh, and, Moeboid, Congratulations!!!

I tried out a Thinline a few years back; I remember liking it at the time, but the difference in tone between it and my Tele (which has the exact same pickups as the Thinline) was negligable. And in terms of feel, was pretty much the same too.

Yes, as Anthony said, I’m a Strat man. My actual guitar is a Mexican Fender Stratocaster, and it sounds good enough to me. I once owned an American one when I played semi-professionally but I sold it many years ago (now my old guitar belongs to Mendieta, a quite famous Spanish soccer player). But I’m afraid that I am completely ignorant in technical matters. My amp is a Peavey Bandit. Not bad, but not that good.
So in this forum we have a Jazzmaster, a Stratocaster and two Telecasters. We are Fender boys, no doubt

I have three guitars, all cheap- one of them sounds ok.

-I have a Squier which was my first guitar and now my wife is teaching herself to play. It's a pretty easy guitar to learn on.

-My other electric which I don't play much is some brand called Stetson that my friend's dad gave to me. It's a Les Paul knockoff- probably built in the late 60's/early 70's. I've never really been able to find out much about it. I don't like it too much.

-I love my Alvarez acoustic guitar. I bought it for 200 bucks about seven years ago. I tried out a ton before buying one and that's important when buying a guitar because you'll be able to spend a lot less and find something you really like.

Of course, I'm just teasing Honorio -- Stratocasters are respectable guitars for sure, and their popularity over the last half century is definitely no fluke. I think my gripe against them has to do more with the look and feel of them; I've never been able to get past the thin body, or the carved back, or the dinky neck. But... then there's the tone, which, with the right Strat, the right equipment and the right fingers, can be divine. I'm specifically thinking about one of my favorite guitarists, who just also happens to be an avowed Strat player -- David Gilmour. (The solo of "Comfortably Numb" is one of the best advertisments for a Strat that I know of.)