Classic Player Jazzmaster any issues?

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laurencestutz
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Classic Player Jazzmaster any issues?

Post by laurencestutz » Sun Mar 17, 2013 11:51 pm

Hey guys new here..been itching to pick up a jazzmaster for a while and ready to make my move!

didn't want to spend a whole load of cash and so was looking at the CP but was concerned at some things i heard about the trem system( a bit rigid?) and also the neck shape/ radius.I currently have a JD MIJ telecaster which although this has a V shape huge neck neck has vintage frets and a 7.25 radius ( i believe! ) and so i'm thinking this is kinda what i like ..which i know the AVRI is.I'm a rhythm player really..and so was a bit worried that i might notice this different neck .Also a big attraction for me is getting a guitar with a trem..so i can do some atmospheric stuff..and don't want to pick up a CP for that reason if it ain't great..

cheers guys..

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Re: Classic Player Jazzmaster any issues?

Post by friendshipmaster » Mon Mar 18, 2013 12:08 am

I'd look for a used MIJ or CIJ, I owned a cp jag for one day....'twas a bad day

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Re: Classic Player Jazzmaster any issues?

Post by Magnawolf » Mon Mar 18, 2013 1:17 am

My friend has a classic player Jazzmaster and I have a CP jag. The jazzmaster plays well, I like the flatter neck better than the vintage/rounder ones. My CP jag on the other hand is perfect for me. It has a custom staytrem arm on it.

I would suggest getting a Squier VM jag or jazz if you really want a trem system for little cash. I heard they're good for the money.

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Re: Classic Player Jazzmaster any issues?

Post by wproffitt » Mon Mar 18, 2013 6:26 am

I have a CP and love it. The flatter neck is a matter of personal preference, but I wouldn't say that the 9.5 radius is such a drastic difference from vintage that you'd need to make a big adjustment in your playing. Also, the bigger frets are really nice. As far as the trem goes, the one on mine works great. I did replace the collet and arm with AVRI (snap-in) parts, but the trem assembly itself is identical to the one on the AVRI and works well. The bridge (Tune-o-matic style) probably accounts for what some people call a stiffer trem action. If properly set up, it works reallly well. Try to play both the CP and the Squier and see which you prefer. Also, check out the J Mascis Squier if you can find one. They really do feel/play/sound great.

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Re: Classic Player Jazzmaster any issues?

Post by JforJag » Mon Mar 18, 2013 7:27 am

wproffitt wrote: the (CP) trem assembly itself is identical to the one on the AVRI and works well. The bridge (Tune-o-matic style) probably accounts for what some people call a stiffer trem action.
I'm curious about this... I love both my AV Jag and CPJM but the Jag trem still has slightly more travel and is smoother than than the CPJM despite the fact that I've swapped the 'TOM' for a rocking AV bridge and an AV spring. I think the springs between an AV and CP are the same tension-wise, btw.

I haven't yet been able to compare an AV Jag and AV JM, but is the trem action the same between the two guitars? (A question for a rainy, crappy day here)

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Re: Classic Player Jazzmaster any issues?

Post by gutter rock » Mon Mar 18, 2013 7:50 am

I had one and had no problems with the flatter radius. In fact I have grown to like the more modern necks better than the more vintage AVRI necks. The moved trem and tuneomatic bridge is another area that doesn't bother me much because it does solve some bridge issues that you may or may not encounter with the traditional set up. I sold my CP in the end though because I hated the hotter pickups. I didn't want to sink money into a pickup swap because it was sunburst and that guitar reminded me of just how sick of sunburst I really was. I did really like one thing about the trem... screw in arm. Why Fender hasn't went to this instead of the collet snap in system is a little surprising to me.

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Re: Classic Player Jazzmaster any issues?

Post by texican » Mon Mar 18, 2013 10:05 am

I had one, and totally beat the hell out of it for over a year before I got an AVRI. The only problem I ever had was string slippage on the low E, but that only happened twice ... EVER.

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Re: Classic Player Jazzmaster any issues?

Post by 017493816 » Mon Mar 18, 2013 10:53 am

I tried one out at a local music store so I could give you my input. I thought it was a good guitar with a great sound. My only concern was the feel of the neck finish, but I'm SUPER picky s far as finishes go, and I don't like fresh guitars. Great for the money, I need to try a cp jag.

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Re: Classic Player Jazzmaster any issues?

Post by jagajaguar » Mon Mar 18, 2013 11:20 am

I own a couple and they are great guitars, about to buy one more JM. The necks on both of mine I sanded some to get rid of some finish and get a smooth feel. The body poly finish is pretty thick on both.

The pickups in the CP jaguar were pretty bad honestly the bridge especially everything else was good though. The stock jag pickups did sound ok with overdrive and dist but I dont use much so for me was not that great. swapped with vintage spec pups it sounded totally different.

The JMs pickups are good, brighter than vinage spec but sound great. As far as the over all quality, neck, hardware etc, great craftsmanship all around. Parts from fender cali and mexo are shipped back and forth when one plant runs out of whatever so they are pretty darn close to american guitars anyways. The CP JM and JAG have more sustain than the vinage spec versions with the trem adjustment and neck angle is for the best. Its a matter of what sounds good to you, go play them but I've never picked up a MIM and been like wow what a POS... However the squires are another subject entirely, after owning a couple I would never waste money on them again and save the extra couple hundred for a mex guitar and mod it.
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Re: Classic Player Jazzmaster any issues?

Post by Despot » Tue Mar 19, 2013 3:08 am

I had one a while back, though I suspect that I my have had a really really bad one, so take my comments here with a pinch of salt.

Neck - radius and frets were nice, no issue there. I switch between vintage fender radius and gibson flat radius guitars all the time, so maybe that's just me. In fairness I've yet to meet a neck that I couldn't find something to like about - from skinny/fat Rickenbackers, to fat or thin flat Gibsons to Gretsch boat shapes and everything in between.

Pickups - at the time I didn't have an AVRI Jazzmaster, so I had nothing to compare them to in terms of 'how a JM should sound'. I found them to be a bit bland all the same - but plenty good with a little bit of gain - just clean they lacked something that I found later in both a modded CIJ and the '65 reissue.

Trem - didn't get on with it - I disliked the screw in arm and found it to be stiff/wooden. It held tuning pretty well though (once you flared the slots on the adjustomatic a little bit), but I'm used to bigsby trems so maybe that coloured my opinion slightly.

The Main Issue - none of the things above are necessarily show stoppers. The real problem with mine was the shoddy neck angle. This is something that I believe they advertised as being 'corrected' with the CP (like the trem moving closer to the bridge to give more break angle). However even with the adjustomatic bridge bottomed the action on mine was silly high. Shimming the neck/adjusting the truss rod couldn't cure it - in the end I traded it in and I believe that the store owner had to reprofile the neck/frets to get the action low enough to be playable all the way up the neck!

My advice - if you like it go for it, but play it first. Take look at the height of the adjustomatic when you do - if it's bottomed and the action is still too high for you put it the hell down and walk away.

If I knew then what I now know about that particular CP I would have avoided it and looked for a CIJ Jazzmaster second hand instead. I picked one up recently that has been substantially modded (better pickups, better wiring/switches/pots, proper shielding) and now it's easily on a par with the vastly more expensive American made reissues (even factoring in the cost of the mods, it's still a whole lot cheaper).

A lot of what I like now about JMs comes from the pickups - both pre-CBS type and grey bobbin CBS type - there's just more warmth all round (even in the brigher CBS/grey bobbin designs). Tonally they're quite different to the CP pickups, which I think are closer to a p90 (bar magnet across the bottom rather than magnetized pole pieces). Nothing wrong with a p90, but I love the old/original JM sound - so even if I found a CP that I liked these days I'd probably still swap out the pickups for a pair of SD Antiquities or something nice like that.

Anyway - rant over! Trust how it feels and sounds to you OP - we've all our own subjective views, either based on experience or otherwise - go with what works for you.

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Re: Classic Player Jazzmaster any issues?

Post by jagajaguar » Tue Mar 19, 2013 9:38 am

Despot wrote:However even with the adjustomatic bridge bottomed the action on mine was silly high. Shimming the neck/adjusting the truss rod couldn't cure it
Someone else on here had a similar problem they were saying when I bought my CP JM not sure of they were able to fix it or found the cause.

You're right about the pickups but its really what you like, some people want a hotter pickup. persionaly I like the vintage spec so mine are swapped out as well. But to be fair you would swap out the MIJ pups out as well... The only difference between these and the MIJ will be the neck and what suits you. Thankfully none of my CP's have and any of the above issues but I'd be pretty turned off if they did...
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Re: Classic Player Jazzmaster any issues?

Post by jakeisjake » Tue Mar 19, 2013 10:04 am

i own an AVRI JM...and play the CP's when ever i go to a music shop.

the only thing i can say is, i never once said to myself "Man...my JM kills this thing".

i wouldn't have any qualms (other than colors) about picking one up.
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Re: Classic Player Jazzmaster any issues?

Post by jagajaguar » Tue Mar 19, 2013 10:29 am

jakeisjake wrote:i own an AVRI JM...and play the CP's when ever i go to a music shop.

the only thing i can say is, i never once said to myself "Man...my JM kills this thing".

i wouldn't have any qualms (other than colors) about picking one up.
wonder if colors are limited so they don't bit into the AVRI sales?
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Re: Classic Player Jazzmaster any issues?

Post by milesofsquares » Tue Mar 19, 2013 11:19 am

I have a CP JM and a AVRI Jag. I enjoy both guitars very much. The only issue I've had with my CP JM is the tremolo. I somehow ended up stripping out the threaded trem arm and sleeve that the trem arm screws into. Fender does not make a replacement "threaded sleeve" or "bushing" for the CP tremolo. So I'm going to have to get the AVRI sleeve and arm that pops in rather than screws in. Probably a common upgrade.

Other than that, my CP JM plays very nicely. The pickups don't sound as bad as some people say, although I will probably upgrade to Novaks when I get a chance. I run stereo through a fender tube and line 6 solidstate (for now) so I get a pretty nice tone out of her.

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Re: Classic Player Jazzmaster any issues?

Post by Larry Mal » Tue Mar 19, 2013 11:31 am

I'm no fan of the Classic Players, so be aware of that. I usually bad mouth them on here, and I probably will again.

But if you like the vintage style necks of your Japanese made Telecaster, then get a Japanese made Jazzmaster or an AVRI. Buy what you know you want once and you won't have to do it again. I also love that style of neck, it's great for rhythm playing, which is what it's designed for. Not to say you can't play the more modern Fender necks, I have a very nice Telecaster American Standard that has that. And of course I have tons of Gibsons.

But to me, the strongest necks Fender has ever done are those round, comfortable necks with the elegant little fretwire. Since you already like how this plays, just get that and stay with your strength.

Not to mention all the other things that the classic Jazzmaster does better than the "Classic Player". Classic Player. Please. Let's modify our amazing, vintage design and call it a "Classic Player" and make it in Mexico with cheap components.
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