"Vintage" Jazzmasters....

[Roger Rettig]

...like these:

http://www.sweetwater.com/guitargallery ... /sV197227/

I'd assumed that they were a product of the CA Custom Shop, but does anyone actually know? ARE these made in the USA, I wonder?

The price would suggest that they are but there's nothing in the blurb to confirm it...

[Chas. J. Wagner]

The Jazzmaster does not show up in the Fender Custom Shop section. It is in the Products section of the main Fender site.
http://www.fender.com/products/search.p ... 0100800806

The "American" in the title would lead one to believe it is made in the USA.

[Dave Hopping]

Roger-
They can't say "American" unless it's made in the USA.These are AVRIs,and MF has them for the same price.I have one(pictured below),a 2007 bought new,and I'm very happy with it.IMO they're just as good as the ones I did setups on back in the day.The only caveat I'd bring up is that the trem placement and break angle are optimized for the heavy-gauge strings in use when the J-master was designed.Lighter gauges tend to jump out of the bridge saddles if you even THINK about playing hard.My fave fix for that is the Buzz-Stop(also pictured)

[Roger Rettig]

Thanks, guys - that makes sense.

Good pic, Dave. I think I'm going to get one although I wish the sunburst was a touch more pronounced. I missed the Thin-Skin J'masters - they had big .6105 frets on them which I would have loved.

They certainly seem at least as well-made as the eraliets ones from the '50s and '60s, don't they?

[David Mason]

A lot of people "fix" the string-jumping problem with a Mustang bridge, either a stock one or a modified one, like the one carried by Warmoth here:
http://www.warmoth.com/Modified-Mustang ... 6C700.aspx

However, the "Mastery" bridge seems to be the best of these fixes:
http://www.masterybridge.com/bridge/

To me, they're like the Mustangs - I like the body shapes, but by the time you fix all the little problems Fender drags along on the historic re-issues, you might as well build one up from Warmoth or USA Custom wood and quality parts from the start.

[Roger Rettig]

Thanks, David - very interesting and useful info. As far as making a 'Parts-Master' goes I'm afraid that my practical skills wouldn't begin to suffice. And how about the finish???

I'll get one of these "'62 AVRIs", spend a little time in front of the mirror posing, then address the most urgent issues.

To Rick Batey: Thanks for that link - I went to the Wildwood site but couldn't find any JMs - but then your link took me straight to it! I'm sorry, though - mine has to be a sunburst.....