Comments about Fender Classic Player Jazzmaster Special Electric Guitar:

This is my #1 guitar. I don't say that lightly either. I own over 20 and through my shop I have access to about 75-100 more at any given time. I have played this guitar at every single gig I've done since 2010. It has also been all over both of my band's records. It plays GREAT, sounds great, and almost never goes out of tune. (and yes, I use the trem constantly. I also live in Hawaii where the climate, humidity, and my altitude drastically changes all the time)This guitar is just incredible. Due to my use of fuzz and heavy overdrive, I did change the bridge pickup to a custom Novak JM humbucker. (basically a PAF in a JM pup cover)but the stock pups are great. I'm so in love with Fender for FINALLY fixing the design flaws and doing all the bridge/tailpiece mods for us. If you're in the market for a Jazzmaster or Jaguar, get the Classic Player. They are the best. Hands down, no discussion. They totally whip the Americans and 50th anniversary editions. THIS is the one! :)

Comments about Fender Classic Player Jazzmaster Special Electric Guitar:

Owning a MIJ reissue Jazzmaster since 1997, I was excited to get my hands on the Classic Player Jazzmaster. I was skeptical at first given the price versus that it is made in Mexico. That said, the only things I disliked about the guitar are barely noticeable lines in the black painted finish and a lack of the guitar being set up properly. The set up was a quick fix, I adjusted the truss rod a half turn to loosen it and raised the bridge a touch, and I was set to shred. I have to say I am blown away by what a nice, well crafted guitar the Classic Player Jazzmaster is! First, the neck is awesome. I much prefer the polyurethane finish to the nitrocellulose finish on reissues and vintage Jazzmasters. The medium jumbo frets are an improvement over the thinner frets on all other Jazzmaster models which will also get more life out of the frets, and the 9.5" fretboard radius makes for a still very comfortable, and more easily playable neck while being able to have a much faster action. I love the neck! The hotter pickups are the next great attribute. They can go from the familiar, well-balanced, bright, & biting Jazzmaster treble sound to full, warm, and fat when using the neck pickup and/or the rhythm circuit. The guitar also sustains noticeably better given both the hotter pickups as well as the tremolo housing being moved up by about a centimeter towards the bridge. I have no intention of installing a "buzz stopper" aftermarket bar on this model. The Adjust-omatic bridge is also a very nice touch, it's so easy to set the intonation. The Classic Player Jazzmaster has all the vibe and features of the more expensive USA made reissues, but will cost roughly half the price which is why I chose it over a USA made model which was within my budget. I have owned MIM Stratocasters before that were decently made, but had to replace the pickups. I do not intend on changing these pickups in the CP Jazzmaster, it's a great guitar and an excellent value, and it's easily the most well crafted MIM guitar I have ever played or owned.

Comments about Fender Classic Player Jazzmaster Special Electric Guitar:

This is a MIM guitar, but that's not a bad thing, in my opinion. Think about it: most of the guitars which are played by players who play weekend gigs in clubs and garage bands, play instruments which are manufactured in Mexico, Korea, Japan, China, or someplace other than the good old USA. These guitars are the 'work horses' of most musicians, and are the backbones of a lot of bands who play and work hard to entertain us.
And this guitar is as good as any of the guitars which are made in foreign countries. All you have to do, if you're going to play gigs, particularly with Fender MIM guitars, is replace the historically 'weak' pups, and you're good to go. But the standard pups are pretty good, just as they are. The craftsmanship of this guitar is first rate. The fit and finish is outstanding. I have a lot of other guitars (I suffer from the common decease called GAS - guitar acquisition syndrome) which are made in the USA, and the quality and overall finish of this guitar is as good as most of them.
The only thing I didn't like; when I received it from MF, the action was set way too high. I fixed that issue in a few minutes, so it was no big deal. The pups are 'hotter', as advertised, but they're almost too 'hot' for my taste. That's just my personal opinion, however, and a lot of other players might love them just the way they are.
I play mostly Stratocasters (EC signature, original 62, SRV signature), and play through a Carvin Vintage 50 (4x10 cab), Tone King Imperial, Fender Blues Deluxe, and a few other tube amps. I bought this guitar as a relatively inexpensive 'change of pace' from my Strats, and I haven't been disappointed. I can play 'surf' music with it through the Carvin, and blues and jazz through the Tone King. I also get some really nice blues tones with it when it's plugged into the Blues Deluxe.
My overall rating is 4 stars. It's a nice axe, but it's not up to the same standard of my custom shop EC Strat, and shouldn't be. After all: it's less than a quarter of the price! I like this guitar, and would recommend it to anyone who wants a nice, very well built, good playing, and good sounding, guitar which isn't going to break their bank account.

Comments about Fender Classic Player Jazzmaster Special Electric Guitar:

Bought this guitar about a year ago. Call it what you like this isn't your average Jazz guitar. WHAT'S IN A NAME ANYWAY? If your serious about Jazz get a Archtop. If want a guitar that will play any style well but does so kind of middle of the road a Jazzmaster is a good choice. The pickups are a tad hotter than the originals, and have adjusting screws like P-90's. I like the the pickups, but some people don't and change them, I'll keep is as is. I can play Jazz on it but also Country and some Blues and Rock. Mostly I use it for my Church Band part of the time and have taken it to a few recording sessions. It's not my main guitar but I always wanted one when I was a kid back in the early 60's. Okay so it took me almost 50 years to get one, and I've had allot of gutars I didn't like as well. The CPJM is a good value for me, why buy a '62 reissue when this comes close enough and plays so well? I like the upper bout controls and use it to switch from mellow to bright with the flick of a switch. The thing I recommend is fixing the the tremolo so the ballends don't hit the back of the tremolo plate. (Hint:)Take off a few 100th of an inch, filed off the back of the base plate behind the string mounting plate does the job, now the tremolo doesn't mess with the strings and works way better.

Comments about Fender Classic Player Jazzmaster Special Electric Guitar:

Pros:
Excelent tone--1000k pots give a bright, jangly clean sound. Nice hot pickups. No bright switch needed on your amp with this guitar.

Comfortable to play. Not too heavy. Great finish and tremolo. No major issues here.

This is currently my go-to gigging guitar.

Cons:
The neck--OMG. The truss rod screw is located at the bottom of the neck inside the neck pocket, so in order to give the truss rod a little 1/4 twist you have to remove the entire neck from the body, then reassemble it. Everytime you want to make even a minor adjustment you have to go through this whole exercise. Whoever decided to put this neck on this great guitar ought to be shot. If you don't put a gouge in the guitar with your screwdriver while doing this over and over you deserve a medal. My CPJ came with the action ridiculously high, and four years later I still have to make occasional adjustments in the winter as the air dries out. Really a shame.

The tone--when you drop the volume knob below nine, the brightness disappears and the guitar sounds muddy. Some may like this, but I don't need two tone controls on my guitar. I put in a treble bleed circuit and now it stays bright all the way down. After much experimentation I settled on a .001 mF capacitor with a 10K resistor (not 100K as is used in mnay other guitars), in series. Anything higher than 10K dampens the tone as the volume is decreased, and anything lower is too bright.

Comments about Fender Classic Player Jazzmaster Special Electric Guitar:

First off, I bought this guitar because I wanted a versatile guitar that I could play jazz on as well as other styles. This was not that guitar. To anyone looking for a crossover guitar, I suggest a semihollow (I play my eastman semihollow exclusively now). The jazzmaster while it can make sounds that resemble a jazz guitar, just doesn't have that richness and depth of tone that you get with a real jazz guitar. I also had some problems with buzzing behind the bridge, and the action has to be very high or there will be fret buzzing as well - a setup did not fix that. The guitar is good looking, however, and if you want a guitar with that fender jangle for your indie/punk/surf band, this guitar is a great choice. Keep in mind though, if you end up deciding you don't like it after the warranty is expired, it is very hard to sell.

Comments about Fender Classic Player Jazzmaster Special Electric Guitar:

I've owned several Strats and Tele's and some knock-offs. But mostly I'm a Gibson/Guild guitarist. I play everything from 30's Jazz up to 80's Rock. I bought this guitar because I always wanted one. Yes I can play Jazz on it, sounds better than a Strat for what I play. The rhythm circuit sounds allot like my '56 LP Goldtop but just a tad softer. I can almost get an accoustic Jazz guitar sound out of it, by tweaking the my controls on the amp. The lead channel will cover most of a Strat's sounds pretty good, some say it's too bright in the bridge pisition, well use your tone control, that's what it's there for. I'd say in all honesty this guitar isn't for everyone.
It's about everything you would expect from Fender. The updated features kind of make sense since there were some problems with the original design. I think part of that was the tremolo system which they moved a little closer to the bridge. If I remember the original JM's were made before slinky strings became popular and the heaver strings didn't have issued with the bridge as much as lighter strings. Try stringing a vintage with 9-42 slinkys and you may have some issues with string buzz and tremolo adjustments. Thats why so many players of the vintage guitars install a buzz stop ($40+/-). I unstalled a set of 9-42's and noticed a little buzz on the 3rd string after I had re adjusted the neck and bridge (more on that later). I like the pickups the adjustable pole pieces may be a small benefit but I haven't adjusted them or the pickups yet. They seem well balanced, so why mess with them. Since I'm a Jazz player and used to Gibson's, I like the rhythm circuit and will use it allot in my playing. The longer scale neck will take some adjusting to get used to, but I've owned Strats and the scale is the same length.
The finish was fantastic, just what I wanted, Sunburst. No flaws I could detect. Polly not Nitro so it is tougher to scrach, but it still will chip. I had to re-adjust the neck and take out most of the relief. I like a flatter neck and faster action than who ever set this thing up. I doubt they really did a set up on this guitar. Easy enough to do myself. I also had to lower the bridge at the same time. When you change one thing other adjustments also need to be dealt with. However, I found that doing both of these paid off, because it brought the intonation spot on. Since I changed the strings to 9-42's the tremolo needed to be adjusted. It's the middle screw by the trem-lock button. This can be tricky to adjust. You want to be able to lock the tremolo from moving if you break a string to prevent the guitar from going out of tune. You can still use the tremolo down but not up. I have it set and just leave it on. Hint: Use it when you change strings. Another minor issue after playing it a few days I found I had to tighten the neck bolts, all 4 were a tad loose, each took about a 1/4 turn. I gave this a "9" but really I could have given it a "9.5"
When you consider the over all quality, it's not a bad value for a MIM guitar but should be more in line with a MIM Strat as far as price. Although I did get a little extra off the sale price and free shipping, that helped.

Comments about Fender Classic Player Jazzmaster Special Electric Guitar:

I've not played AVRI JM's, but I've played a 64 vintage JM, and I've owned a Blacktop and still own a 94 MIJ besides this one, and I can tell you that this is a fine guitar. Much nicer than I was led to believe by the fan boys on the forums.
Pretty much what you'd expect from a JM, except done right. The Adjustomatic bridge instead of the vintage one that everybody replaces; the pickups are hotter and meatier but not in a gorilla dual humbucker kind of way (I like that these are different than the Pickup Wizards in my MIJ JM); I actually prefer the modern radius and medium jumbo frets on here; finish is nice. My only complaint here is that I don't like the Strat-style screw-in trem arm. Some people complain about the tremolo base being closer to the bridge, that it's not vintage spec but it doesn't bother me. I can't tell the difference really.
Every bit as nice as the American and Japanese Fenders I already own. You're not buying a cheap guitar here.
At the price this guitar is every bit as nice, and to modern hands perhaps nicer, than buying a used Japanese guitar and having to spend the $$ on those everyone has to spend (replacement bridge & pickups). This has the sound and the look without paying the big price. Sheesh, I got this one used on here at Musicians Friend for a fantastic bargain.

Comments about Fender Classic Player Jazzmaster Special Electric Guitar:

This guitar (at least the one I got) is superb. In my opinion, it's better than the originals. The well known problems with this model have been fixed. The PU's are excellent sounding---provided you don't expect them to sound like a Tele or Strat. This guitar was designed to get a fuller, more mellow jazz sound. For whatever reasons, this guitar has a firmer, more clear sound than most electric guitars. This sound makes for an excellent rythmn guitar. It has some good lead qualities too, but don't expect it to be a screetching distortion machine. You have to appreciate it on it's own terms, or you'll be dissappointed.

As for me, I'm having a great time with it. Don't buy the "62" American made version which has all the old problems--- this one a better, more usable guitar.
There are those who say the one of the reasons the Jazzmaster never became a big seller is because players found the dual circuits too complex. Personally, I find it very straightforward to use the dual circuits, and it's a really usefull feature.
I was amazed how good the quality of this Mexican made guitar is. The burst is very well done and though the finish is poly, it's not slathered on. Everything on this guitar looks sharp and clean, very good quality. You won't do any better with one of the American made models.
Anyone who complains about the price is lacking perspective. In the early 60's, we paid about half this for a Strat. The was full list price and there was no discounting in those days. In today's dollars that amount would be about 3 times this asking price.

Comments about Fender Classic Player Jazzmaster Special Electric Guitar:

Really happy with my black JM, not a single gripe comes to mind. The action and intonation out of the box were good (but subsequntly I fine-tuned it and got it right for my preference) and the strings on it were fine, but again I put my own preferred choice on, which are much heavier.

The pickups are good. Not great; merely good. I was a little disappointed with them, but I suspect that fault lies with my taste and not Fender's production. They seem a little flat to my cloth-ears, but then I am all about the treble these days, which is unfair to expect JM to provide that. when it's a personal preference thing.
People who use Jazzmasters generally have a good idea what they are about, as usually they are not the first or second or third places to start discovering guitars after LP's, Strats and hideous pointy things. That being the case, there are a number of features that JM's have which really set them far apart from the more mainstream guitars: i.e. the tremeloe, the switching, the pickups.

The CP JM has all these, of course, and what really impresses me is that the classic issues of JM's - the bridge - has been addressed here. And Fender have done well. I really like the attention to detail with the CP. Everything works, works well, and is made well.
The JM is extremely well made; fit and finish are AAA+++, and believe me I have looked for faults. I don't much care for the thick poly finish, but at this price I suppose nitro is out of the question. It's very nice to play: neck is long and comfortable, body shape is just right. My favourite oart: the wavy lines and the headstock logo. That gets me every time. Classy!
Great value. A soft case is included, which is fine, and the Fender warranty is pretty comprehensive.