Is it worth buying a Jazzmaster when I have a Jaguar?

PenPen

Augustus_McCrae said: oh, I wouldn't care to argue...I'm just curious as why one would choose one over the other...

24" scale is the main factor for me. Makes the Jag more comfortable for me at least. After owning a Jag for years now, I find Strats and other 25.5" scale guitars uncomfortable. I know some people prefer the sound and feel of this scale, I'm just saying my opinion is that the Jag is more comfortable than any longer scale.

johnniespring

there is no sound of a scale.

PenPen

There is a difference in sound from the higher string tension in a Strat scale. This is common knowledge among luthiers, I'm not just making it up. In my studies for guitarmaking its come up many times. And it makes sense in a physics sense, strings tuned to the same pitch but at different tensions are going to have differing attack and sustain properties. A strat scale has more of a bell-like tone properties.

EDIT: Quick link that explains this: http://www.12fret.com/fret/fv4n7.htm

johnniespring

yeah?

did they also cover the idea of putting thicker strings on shorter scale guitars? cos that'll put the tension higher than on strat scale guitars. so does that mean 13s on a stang would have more bell-like tones than 10s on a strat? cos the tension would be way higher.

PenPen

I'm not going to go into this right now, I'm not prepared to explain away every aspect of it because I don't fully understand it myself. It IS common knowledge from several sources. I CAN tell you to google the phrase "guitar scale length tone". First hit is the link I provided, next is stewmac, and several hits follow. There's nothing more I can explain about it, all I initially said was that there WAS a tone to a scale length, and the sources back that up. I don't understand everything about it so I can't answer for every case.

LIFE

I don't know, I think that shorter scaled guitars do sound plingy. I use 9s on my Tele, and 11s on my Mustang. The Mustang is much plingier, as have every short scaled guitar I've ever played. It could have to do with the more mass being vibrated as opposed to tension though.

dots

heavier strings do produce a fatter tone which makes sense as you are vibrating a larger mass.

LIFE

Mmm, that's arguable, but not what I meant. By larger mass, I meant that the vibration on full scale strings is an inch and a half longer than a short scale, so it could effect it some way.

Rick

we're talking roughly 4% increase in scale from 24" to 25.5" here, aren't we?

PenPen

I'm not as concerned with the sound exactly. To me its more the comfort factor of the shorter scale, its easier for my short arms to stretch out and play anywhere on the neck comfortably. When I played a Strat copy, I was most comfortable playing around the 3rd fret. The first and 2nd frets were harder for me to play on because of the angle I'd have to put my hand in. With the Jag I'm just as comfortable at the first fret as I am in the 7th. I can see some people having a harder time with it, thats why I wouldn't say that the short scale is superior, it just fits me better.

The other thing I like about the Jag over the Jazzy is the look of the chrome on it, rather than just pickguard all over the place. But thats just a taste issue about the looks of the guitar.

Rick

the positions of the first fret, in relation to the body, is the same on the jaguar and the jazzmaster. jazzmaster neck is possibly just routed further in to the neck pocket a bit. with the bridge further back.

so you don't actually have to stretch your arm futher out, to reach the first fret. it's in the same postion. it's just that there's a small amount more distance between the frets themselves

PenPen

Rick said: we're talking roughly 4% increase in scale from 24" to 25.5" here, aren't we?

You'd be suprised how much difference that makes for some people. Some people even argue about the feel of a Gibson guitar with a 24.75" scale vs the Fender 25.5". Thats an even smaller difference, but some people can tell the difference.

Depending on the person, the threshold for comfort is pretty small. I'm only around 5'8", that extra 1.5" is a bit of a stretch for me. To play the first few frets on a longer scale requires me to angle the neck higher, wheras the Jag I can just play without having to pull the neck up.

Gavin

There's definately a noticable difference in feel between strat scale and shortscale, I find short scale much nicer to play. Whether or not the sound difference is due (at least in part) to scale is more debateable, I'd say that there will definatley be a difference, maybe not a huge one, but it just stands to reason that there would be.

dots

Rick said: we're talking roughly 4% increase in scale from 24" to 25.5" here, aren't we?

4tr00. i used to hate my short scale guitars because i had learned on a strat. then i got the toronado which is in between a strat and a stang, and i loved the feel of it. now i found the short scales to be faster to play. can't say that i actually prefer one to the other, though.

Mad-Mike

I like the 24" scale and 25.5" for the same reason I like both singles and humbuckers both, each sounds good in a given musical situation.

I like the Jaguar's 24" scale a little more though, because of the extra fret (I do lots of solos where I bend up to a high F#), and it's overall a faster neck (very close to my Jag-Stang, though the back shape on my CIJ Jaguar feels VERY different from my MIJ Jag-Stang, unless it's just the fact the Jag-Stang is worn in a lot more). The Jaguar has a load more projection though, probably due to the passive and smaller pickups. Unplugged they both sound almost identical.

As for the Jazzmaster, I always liked the pickups on that particular guitar, especially the neck pickup. I liked P-90's, but I LOVE A Jazzmaster pickup in the neck position. I'm hard pressed to find neck pickups that I like the sound of clean and distorted. Humbuckers always sound too muddy to me, P-90's rock, EMG SA-1's in a Mustang or Jag-Stang in the neck sound great for a sort of faux acoustic guitar sound, but nothing beats a Jazzmaster neck pickup and a good fuzz pedal. Ever since playing a Jazzmaster through a BOSS Hyper Fuzz years ago, I've been hooked.

I got the Jag, time to find a Jazzy.

ekwatts

You put EMG's in a Mustang? What next? Filtertrons in a JEM?

Mad-Mike

ekwatts said: You put EMG's in a Mustang? What next? Filtertrons in a JEM?

LOL

Nope, I don't have a Mustang Yet, the EMG's are in a JAg-Stang, Mustang does not need EMG's since I use a slightly different EQ for one anyway (nice and brown sound from a Samamp boutiqe amp and a 69' Reissue Mustang).

As for Ibanez JEM's, I hate em personally, too generic metal for me. I don't mind flashy finishes, but metal players have been using those bloody humbuckered up strats for years, and nothing truly creative so far, plus the Floyd Rose is too friggin cliche and a little too cold for me, and I already said Neck humbuckers usually sound bad to me.

ekwatts

Post some of your out-there, inventive shredding, then. On a Jag-Stang.

Mad-Mike

ekwatts said: Post some of your out-there, inventive shredding, then. On a Jag-Stang.

Ah then........no probalo......and I got even more to put up, plus a new artist page for NES covers to do, and I'd say about 75-90% was done on the Jag-Stang in some way. As of late, the Jaguar has been taking over (Jag-Stang is getting pot replacement ATM).

http://www.soundclick.com/mjmadmike

Jaguar

--------------------------------------

In The Screen - 100% Jaguar

Living With The Ghost - 100% Jaguar

Jag-Stang

--------------------------------------

The Mad Sleeper - JS Leads, Warlock Rhy

Lost In Lake Forest Park - Jag-Stang, Everything

In The Winter Snow - Jag-Stang, everything

Burning House - Jag-Stang, Everything

What You Expect - Jag-Stang, Everything

Try Another Name - Jag-Stang, Everything

As I Lay Down To Sleep - Jag-Stang, Leads

Black Mage - Jag-Stang, Everything

ekwatts

In The Screen:

Starts as it means to go on. Some delay, some harmonised lines, some totally plaguarised Thin Lizzy riffs (from Whiskey In The Jar). Pretty heavy 80's style distortion. I like the drums. But that chord sequence really does get a little boring after a while, and the fact it's temporarily interrupted by a harmonised lead break (often repeated) does nothing to break the tedium. The middle eight is alright, and actually veers toward genuinely heavy, until the sub-Scott Gorham solo chimes in. Wait, I just listened to 4+ minutes of this? Holy hell.

In conclusion: Not enough pinch harmonics, otherwise fantastic.

Living With The Ghost:

Brilliant into section, bit effects heavy though. Could do with the gain being turned down a notch, in fact. Everything is sufficiently reverbed out so as to conjure up the feeling you got in 1987 when you heard the first opening notes of the latest Great White or Dokken album. Unfortunately, I turned it off after I realised the "intro" was actually the entire song.

In conclusion: Not enough pinch harmonics. Good solo, though.

Childhood Nightmares - The Bellz N Horns From Hell:

A bit crap at first, but gets much better. I love the "wobbly" sound bits. Actually, this was my favourite. Apart from the speaking section which sounded a bit rubbish. Definitely needs to take lessons from Taco teh Wodner Dog on this kind of thing.

In conclusion: Not enough pinch harmonics.

The Journey:

That 80's distortion again. The sound of the guitar is beginning to get on my tits a little now. Anyway, it's so-so. Just like the rest, really.

In conclusion: Not enough pinch harmonics.

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