Fender Troy Van Leeuwen Jazzmaster - Review
Jul 9, 2014 17:53:33 GMT
Akquarius and Phil Taylor like this
Post by grayn on Jul 9, 2014 17:53:33 GMT
The thing that caught my attention, with this particular Jazzmaster, was it's looks. The "oxblood" coloured body and head, with a tort scratchplate and creamy white pickups and "witch hat" knobs, just looked amazing. And boy was I pleased that it played and sounded just as good as it looked.
I've had this guitar for a few weeks now and have played it every day, through my current amp of choice, a Peavey Classic 30. I understand that the guitar is made from all American parts but assembled in Mexico, to keep the price down. And they even included a very nice Fender hard case. I've owned a couple of Jazzmasters before, a Classic Player and a Blacktop. Both were decent guitars but this model stands head and shoulders above them. One aspect I was particularly pleased with, is the tremolo. It's as smooth as can be. Many Jazzmaster and Jaguar trems, I have tried, have always seemed rattley, especially when used vigorously.
The Fender Troy Van Leeuwen Jazzmaster has a Mustang, brass-saddled bridge. The neck is C-profiled, with a 7.25”radius, bound rosewood, fingerboard and block markers. The pickups are American Vintage ’65 Jazzmaster single-coils. As with most JMs, you get a lead/rhythm switching, for variety. To be honest, I have it on lead all the time. I've always been a player, on basses or guitars, to have tones and volumes at full, unless they are active. I just tend to use the pickup selector and playing technique for tonal variety.
I pretty much exclusively use this guitar for instrumental surf music. I use plenty of the Classic 30's, delightful, spring reverb (which is even better than the one I had on my Fender Princeton Re-issue) and a single repeat, slap-back echo, most of the time. I also occasionally add tremolo, rotary speaker effect and/or longer, multi-repeat echo. And within it all, the Fender Troy Van Leeuwen Jazzmaster just sounds wonderful. And for me, is the ultimate surf guitar. It doesn't quite have the full-bodied clarity, I got previously, from my Burns Marvin 64 but somehow, it just sounds more authentic, with a lush, sparkling tone.
So yes, this guitar was a very good buy, for me.
I've had this guitar for a few weeks now and have played it every day, through my current amp of choice, a Peavey Classic 30. I understand that the guitar is made from all American parts but assembled in Mexico, to keep the price down. And they even included a very nice Fender hard case. I've owned a couple of Jazzmasters before, a Classic Player and a Blacktop. Both were decent guitars but this model stands head and shoulders above them. One aspect I was particularly pleased with, is the tremolo. It's as smooth as can be. Many Jazzmaster and Jaguar trems, I have tried, have always seemed rattley, especially when used vigorously.
The Fender Troy Van Leeuwen Jazzmaster has a Mustang, brass-saddled bridge. The neck is C-profiled, with a 7.25”radius, bound rosewood, fingerboard and block markers. The pickups are American Vintage ’65 Jazzmaster single-coils. As with most JMs, you get a lead/rhythm switching, for variety. To be honest, I have it on lead all the time. I've always been a player, on basses or guitars, to have tones and volumes at full, unless they are active. I just tend to use the pickup selector and playing technique for tonal variety.
I pretty much exclusively use this guitar for instrumental surf music. I use plenty of the Classic 30's, delightful, spring reverb (which is even better than the one I had on my Fender Princeton Re-issue) and a single repeat, slap-back echo, most of the time. I also occasionally add tremolo, rotary speaker effect and/or longer, multi-repeat echo. And within it all, the Fender Troy Van Leeuwen Jazzmaster just sounds wonderful. And for me, is the ultimate surf guitar. It doesn't quite have the full-bodied clarity, I got previously, from my Burns Marvin 64 but somehow, it just sounds more authentic, with a lush, sparkling tone.
So yes, this guitar was a very good buy, for me.
Jo whoever he is.
