Guitar of the week #90 - Fender Custom Shop Masterbuilt Full-Scale Jaguar
I ordinarily don't have the weekly feature guitar as something with a super-high price tag, but I make an exception with this one.
I'll say this first that unless you have really deep pockets, you can't afford this. But if you're one of the lucky few who can, you truly get something special.
What I'm talking about is a Jag out of the Fender Custom Shop built by Dennis Galuszka with a pair of Johnny Marr "Bare Knuckle" signature pickups in it, bound neck, special compensated bridge and aged Lake Placid Blue body finish with matching headcap...
...but none of that really makes this special.
What's special about this Jag is that it has a 25.5" scale length. That is what makes this guitar a truly rare bird.
Now you might be thinking, "Doesn't that basically make the guitar a Jazzmaster?" No, because the Jazz has significantly different pickups, significantly different electronics and a single piece pick guard while the this Jag has its traditional 3-piece guard.
One of the big reasons I personally don't like Jags is because of the short scale 24.0" neck. Whenever I pick up a Jag and strum on one, even if it's a Squier Jag, that short scale just does not agree with me.
My standard recommendation is that if you really like the Fender offset body, try the Jazzmaster first. Some people get intimidated by it because yes, it is physically longer than the Jaguar, but I honestly believe the Jazz feels better to play than the Jag does because of its 25.5" scale length.
I am fairly certain that if I played a full-scale Jag like the one shown above, yes I would totally want it. To get Jazzmaster playing feel out of a Jaguar along with the Jag's distinctively different tone would truly be something cool.
Is this special Jag worth its price tag? I'll let you decide that. I'm just glad an actual Fender-made Jag with a full-scale neck actually exists. With any luck, I hope Fender will make a limited run of some affordable full-scale Jags, as I do believe players would really take to them well. I know I would.
What is the easiest electric guitar to build yourself?
Some of you out there may get bitten by the bug to build your own guitar, and if so, this is my advice on how to go about it.
What do I mean by "build"?
I don't mean physically cutting wood yourself. You could do that if you wanted to, but you will spend an ungodly amount of cash on tools. By the time you're done buying all the tools you need, you could have otherwise just bought a new guitar for less.
What I'm talking about here is a guitar made from prefabricated parts. Only a minimal amount of tools are required.
The Stratocaster is the easiest electric to build for 3 reasons
Provided you specifically buy a new Fender Strat body (which is less expensive than you think and required because third party parts are measured to Fender spec):
1. Most choice of parts
There is a ridiculous number of parts available specifically for the Strat. More so than any other guitar.
2. Most choice of guitar necks
A Strat guitar neck can be bought new for as low as under 50 bucks. And if there is anywhere where you're going to do actual real woodworking, it will be the neck.
For example, maybe you want to sand down the entire back of the neck and try coating with satin urethane or maybe even nitro. You can afford to do that on a cheap neck, so even if you completely ruin it, it's cheap enough to buy another.
3. You can cover up the most mistakes
The Strat more than any other guitar allows you to hide the most mistakes. The large pick guard in front hides even the worst of beginner's wiring, it's easy to hide neck pocket screw-ups, and so on.
You don't save money, but at least a Strat is easy
There are guitars right now selling new for under $150, and you can't build a new guitar for that cheap.
However, when you want the easiest time building a guitar that allows you the most choice of parts, necks and is forgiving enough to make it easy to cover up mistakes, the Strat is it.
On a final note, some of you may think the Telecaster would be the easier guitar to build. It isn't for one reason. The control cavity area is smaller and not as beginner-friendly, and the parts are slightly more expensive compared to a Strat.
Guitar of the week #89 - Fender American Professional Jazzmaster
You know I just had to give my 2 cents about this guitar.
In a strange turn of events, Fender has decided to have guitars labeled as "Professional" to be one step above American Standard whereas previously it was one step below.
I'll explain.
There was a time not-so long ago when a Fender USA "Professional" Stratocaster was $999, which was lower than the American Standard. And "Professional" only applied to the USA Strat and nothing else.
Now things are different. "Professional" now refers to several models. Aside from the Fender American Professional Jazzmaster (which is what this article is about), there's the American Professional Stratocaster, American Professional Telecaster, American Professional Jaguar, American Professional Precision Bass and American Professional Jazz Bass.
As regular readers know, I'm a Jazzmaster guy.
Would I buy the Fender American Professional Jazzmaster?
No.
But you might want one for the reasons I don't want one.
Maple fretboard option
The finish shown above is Sonic Gray, which appears to have a kind of a steel blue-ish look to it. The three other finish options are 3-Color Sunburst, Mystic Seafoam and Olympic White.
Sonic Gray and Mystic Seafoam come with the maple board. Olympic White and 3-Color Sunburst come with a rosewood board.
I'm not a fan of maple fretboards on Jazzmasters. It makes the guitar look cheap. There are rosewood board options, but still, that maple... nah.
"Deep C" shaped 22-fret neck
I've not a clue what "Deep C" means other than "chunky". That I don't mind. What I do mind is the 22-fret nonsense. That has no place on a Jazzmaster.
Mustang saddles
This is something I really don't like. It's a response by Fender to accommodate to players who don't know how to wield a Jazzmaster correctly.
Treble bleed circuit
This indicates to me that this Jazzmaster does not have 1meg potentiometers in it but rather 500K or 250K and is voiced to sound more Strat-like. True? I don't know for sure, but the fact the treble bleed circuit is in this guitar strongly suggests it.
Single circuit with pickup selector moved to the top horn
This is basically what makes this guitar a no-sale for me more than anything else. The dual circuit design is gone, replaced with a single circuit, and the pickup toggle moved to the top horn...
...which is the worst place Fender could have placed it. A very common complaint by Jazzmaster and Jaguar owners is that the up/down circuit toggle keeps getting whacked by mistake to the point where tape has to be put over it to keep the player from hitting it accidentally.
And what does Fender do? They put the switch exactly where players said it shouldn't go.
That was a seriously dopey design decision...
...but I do see they tried to position it so the player won't whack it. If you examine the toggle placement closely, it's purposely placed about 1 inch lower than the up/down circuit selector would be. Not only does that look weird, but I don't think it will do anything to prevent players from hitting it when they don't want to.
That 3-way toggle switch should have kept its original position on the bottom horn. There was no need to move it. Fender literally fixed a problem only to create a new one by moving that switch.
Did Fender get anything on this guitar right?
Yes.
The "Vintage Style Floating Tremolo" (which is actually vibrato) now has a screw-in arm.
The vibrato system is the correct space from the bridge instead of that short-spaced bridge with the Adjust-O-Matic crapola.
"Witch Hat" knobs are standard, and those look cool.
Pick guard is mint green and other plastics are aged white. Both are good choices for the Jazzmaster.
Truss rod is Bi-Flex, a notable improvement over the old truss rods.
Frets are narrow/tall style, which a lot of players prefer.
Nut width is wide at 1.685". This is quite noticeable over the standard 1.650".
This is a modern Jazzmaster
The American Professional Jazzmaster is what players asked for. They hated the original saddles, so Fender put dopey Mustang saddles on it. The vibrato arm kept falling out, so Fender made that screw-in. The guitar is voiced to be more "civilized". It's also designed to be easier to use by having just one circuit instead of two.
But again, this is not a guitar I would buy. It's just too un-Jazzmaster for my liking.
Fender fortunately still makes the '60s Jazzmaster Lacquer that, while Mexico made, is "how they used to make 'em", warts and all.
And of course there is the Squier Vintage Modified Jazzmaster, which is very close to how they used to make 'em, save for the fact the body is basswood, it has a modern neck with 9.5" radius fingerboard and modern medium jumbo frets.
The American Professional Jazzmaster is a good guitar, but has too much changed around for me to ever consider trying one out, much less buy one.
I do list it as a guitar of the week because again, it does feature several things players of Jazzmasters have been requesting for some time.
On a final note, I'll just say this. Everything that scared people away from Jazzmasters has been attended to by Fender for the American Professional model. Even though I don't like it personally, it is a very user-friendly guitar.
How I lost my butt and got it back
Diet story time.
This is not exactly a diet update but rather just a story of what literally happened to a certain part of my body, and how I corrected it.
So I lost weight and kept it off. Nothing new there. That's old news now. But the story I haven't told is what happened to my butt.
One day I go to the toilet to "do some business", to so speak, and I felt something. Pain. Not a harsh pain, but it was annoying.
The pain came from the fact I felt like I was sitting right on my tailbone.
After I was done my business, I took a look at my butt in the mirror. Yes, I really did this. What I noticed actually scared me a little. My butt had shrunk. A lot. I hadn't noticed it until that moment. Why? Well, do you look at your butt in the mirror on a regular basis? I thought not.
I also discovered that I had legitimate difficulty sitting on hard chairs comfortably. This was something I learned first hand when I went to a place to get the oil changed in the car and the waiting area had nothing but hard chairs. I had to keep shifting in my seat to keep that annoying pain away. And again, this was not a horrible pain. Just annoying.
My solution to this was to adjust my exercise routine by adding in the #1 exercise to build a butt - the squat.
For several months I've been doing squats almost daily. I do 50 a day in 2 sets of 25. In time I will do more.
Did I get my butt back? For the most part, yes. I've built enough muscle back there so I don't feel that annoying pain whenever I sit on a hard surface now.
Go on YouTube and search for "perfect squat" so you know how to actually do one correctly. Most people do them wrong, and that can lead to back injury. There are several videos on how to squat. Watch a few, and pick the one that has the best instruction to your liking.
If you've never done squats before, do not be surprised if you have a difficult time holding your balance and keeping your heels on the floor. Do not do more than 5 repetitions to start with. The first hurdle is actually being able to do a few squats without falling over.
After finishing a few successful squats, you will feel it most not in the butt but in the legs. And you will be sore in the beginning. Count on that.
One thing I've not done yet but probably will in 2017 is add weight to my squats via cuff weights. I personally think using cuff weights is a more sensible option compared to a kettlebell or loaded barbell. Why? Because they can be used for pretty much all basic exercises. Cuff weights are very versatile like that.
Do I use any added weight now? No. Right now I'm using my own body weight. If you decide to start squats, I suggest the same. Don't add weight until you're good and ready for it.
How to intonate an electric guitar correctly
Most people intonate electric guitars wrong. This is how to do it right.
The first thing to know is that there is no such thing as a perfectly intonated guitar neck. It doesn't exist. Yes, there have been things invented such as Ernie Ball's compensated nut (standard on all Music Man guitars and basses including the lower cost SUB models), but that type of nut "expects" you to use standard tuning and the recommended string gauge for it to work like it should. There is also such a thing as compensated frets which looked like "melted" frets on a guitar neck, which is an extreme method of attempting to achieve perfect intonation. But again, try as some might, there really is no such thing as perfect intonation on a fretted instrument.
What matters more is intonation location.
Choosing where to intonate pretty much means everything
The standard advice is to intonate at the 12th fret. I do not do this because it always results in many fretted chords sounding slightly out-of-tune.
Being I play a lot of fretted chords, I intonate at the 7th fret. On a 25.5-inch scale neck, which is what my Jazzmaster has, my chords always sound better when I intonate there compared to the 12th.
What this means is that when I intonate a neck, I do not aim for a perfect E-A-D-G-B-E but rather a perfect B-E-A-D-F#-B.
Should you follow what I do?
Only if your guitar is always "out" even when your strings are in tune...
...but it doesn't mean you should intonate at the 7th fret like I do.
If you are always playing "cowboy chords" and rarely go past the 5th fret, try intonating to the 5th fret and see if your chords start sounding more in-tune.
Or, if you routinely fret notes higher up on the fretboard but your notes are off just slightly, maybe intonating to the 10th fret would work better instead of the 12th.
In other words, the best thing to do is to intonate wherever you play most on the neck. You're either only playing the first 5 frets, playing in the middle or up on the high frets. I fret notes and chord often around the middle of the neck, so that's where I intonate.
15 cents
Something else you can try is that on 25.5-inch scale necks specifically, tune down your G string and only the G by 15 cents when using standard tuning. If you don't have a tuner that shows cents, get the Korg GA-40 or the Korg TM-50. Or if you want to get a supremely good tuner, there's the BOSS TU-3 (which is crazy-accurate).
A 15-cent detuning of the G is very slight, but on a 25.5-inch scale neck it can work wonders for making chords sound a lot better. This is true regardless if the guitar is made by Fender or not.