£381.00?? For a re-issue?

I've been out of the guitar market for too long apparently, because I remember when an original mustang would only set you back £150.00 at most.

Speaking as someone who owns two Fenders (original '58 Jazzmaster and a '62 Jaguar, both bought cheap way back in the day before the market apparently exploded into insanity.) I really think Fender is one of those unless you can try it, shouldn't buy it guitars. I've seen the quality vary quite a bit from guitar to guitar. I love mine, but once played a friend's '67 which was absolute crap. The re-isssues seem to be a bit more consistent, but also a bit mediocre.

Everyone else has already mentioned the scale, tone, etc. issues that you'll encounter.

My best advice is hunt around until you find a guitar that plays nice, and has the sound you want, and then buy that, regardless of brand/name/colour etc. You can re-paint and put pinstripes on anything... just ask my cat.

Good luck.

h8 m0dems wrote: jazzm's also have an extra fret but the neck feels strangly long.

Are you sure? I thought it was the jaguar that had the extra fret. I don't have my jaguar here, so can't check. But I'm pretty sure that's the case.

nope jazzmasters have the extra fret. compared it with my jag the other week when i fixed up my friends one.

h8 m0dems wrote:I have a japanese jag and it plays nicely and sounds great. I have played other japanese jags and jazzmasters that haven't been as good though. guess that japanese made ones are a little hit and miss.

I'm guessing that was a set up issue. They are essentially stamped out, identically. I've had a few and I've played many, and they are all pretty decent if set up.

-A

there's some doohicky you can get for a Jaguar or
Jazzmaster that holds the strings down beneath
the bridge.. WTF is it called?? Anyways I've got one
on my '65 Jazzmaster and it was like night & day
to play after I installed it - went from a dog to a dream
to play it. But I need some good pickups someday 'cuz
I'm not thrilled with the old original ones.

with any guitar, you gotta find the one that plays
great so it's hard for me to commit to something
that I've seen but not touched.

definitely a Jazzmaster, over a Mustang.. IMO.

then again, Mike Lust gets his Mustang to fucking
scream - but I'm sure he swapped the pickup out
with some heavy metal bullshit, it sounds like a
single coil with a humbucker's "umph" though.

apples and oranges, but that pic does look sweet.
and if yr more slight then stout, it might be good for ya.

necks/frets are critical on USA Fenders, and old ones
are ALL OVER THE ROAD so ya can't really say that
this year or that year is the most desireable 'cuz out
of ANY x20 of the same model, x2 will be awesome,
x5 or so will be OK, and the rest varying degrees of
not-great to absolutely shitty.

I've found the foreign-made Fenders are actually much
more consistent and the quality of the Japanese ones
are especially pretty great for a factory guitar. I've got
a Jap '67 reissue Strat that kills, although I did replace
the pots, jack, and switch with decent quality US-made
ones, and I put some Fender CS '69 pickups in as well.
Now the thing is just the best Strat ever.

alway put big-ass frets on yer Fender necks if you have
to re-fret, you'll be SO glad that ya did!!

the doohicky is called a buzz stop

don't like em... you can't play the strings between the bridge and the tremolo and you can't use the space there to bend the strings with your palm either

OK, I'll give you that - but I don't care about that kinda
stuff with this guitar - all I know is that it plays better plus
now it stays in tune.

diff'rent strokes, it's all good mang.

Sorry, but I wouldn't dare buy a Mustang over ebay, or most any vintage guitar outside of a Bean, because you know what you're getting in that case. For one Mustang that was solid, there are probably 20 shitty ones. The same may go for Jaguars and Jazzmasters, to a lesser degree. I had a '66 Mustang that was the most solid guitar I owned before having Beans. It kept tune better and generally felt better made than my '65 Jaguar. However, I have never played another Mustang that I thought was even good enough to borrow. Some have looked great, yet the pickup switches yielded the same sound, no matter what the setting. Or the neck was off...I'm sure some people have had good experiences, but with wood necked guitars, disintegrated saddle screws and fading pickups, I would skip the online game and find one I could play first.

jerny wrote:OK, I'll give you that - but I don't care about that kinda
stuff with this guitar - all I know is that it plays better plus
now it stays in tune.

diff'rent strokes, it's all good mang.

yeah fair enough cept I'm not actually sure if the buzz stop helps with tuning, as the name suggests it is meant to stop fret buzz, which is apparently a problem with jags etc (never had a problem myself though). So the buzzstop helps with tuning for you?

but yeah, I just stopped using the whammy so much and I don't have the tuning problem anymore...

its a japanese fender reissue...

you could get a comparable sound out of an alvarez for much less money.

if you are simply in love with the visual appeal of it, then go ahead.

if you want a decent sounding vintage fender, keep searching....