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Hey guys, new to the forum. I just bought a used classic player Jazzmaster. It sounds incredible, but there are a few things I thought I'd ask about.

First, there is some string buzzing and I know this is an issue with Jazzmasters. Second, when I move the guitar around next to my ear, I can hear a part moving around from one end of the guitar to another, kind of like how if you drop a pick inside the hole of an acoustic guitar and move it around. Might be a loose screw or something. Anyways, I was planning on taking it to get set-up at a shop around here, if I described these problems to the person, would he be able to easily take care of the issues?

I've never bought a used guitar before and have always bought new guitars (they just felt more "my own" if that makes sense), so if there's anything else to check out in a used guitar that I don't know about please share. I'm really happy with the purchase, only a few light scratches mostly on the back of the guitar, and like I said it sounds great, and I got a great deal for $500. I'm just a little anxious because I don't know the exact history of the guitar and just want to make sure it's as good as can be.

Thanks in advance!

I'd say ask for a full service if you're taking it in, that way the tech will probably poke around enough to find the cause of the rattle!

I'd recommend taking a screwdriver to it and pulling the pickguard off and having a look yourself. Like you said its probably just a screw or other detritus in the routing cavity and it'll save you some dough. The JM's are good in that the pups are attached to the body not the guard and its pretty basic pulling the electronics off the guard and removing the bridge too. I love poking around inside my geetars As for the buzzing its normally due to the bridge not being set up properly, if you arent confident enough to have a go adjusting it yourself take it to a GOOD tech and have them set it up. Otherwise, people often switch out the stock JM bridge for a Mustang or other aftermarket (ie Mastery) bridge to help cure the buzzing.

Yeah agreed with above post.

I fitted my old jazzmaster with a tune-o-matic bridge and parts, works a treat. You could also try a 'buzz stop', I've never tried one myself but people seem to dig them, although others say they take away some jazzmaster magic?

YMMV

The buzzing is most likely coming from the bridge saddle screws...because of the design they just kinda rattle around.
Get some loctite (the blue one should be good, you don't want super strong ).

Gunner Recall wrote:The buzzing is most likely coming from the bridge saddle screws...because of the design they just kinda rattle around.
Get some loctite (the blue one should be good, you don't want super strong ).

Yep. The CP's have "Adjust-o-Matic" bridges, and the screws rattle a bit. A little bit of loctite will fix it right up.

If you're not getting buzzing in the frets, and your intonation is on, I wouldn't bother with a tech. The rattling is most likely the screws of the bridge, and the noise under the pickguard is probably a little piece of wood or something. Ten minutes, a new pack of strings and a screwdriver will get that taken care of.

Heavy_Soul wrote:You could also try a 'buzz stop', I've never tried one myself but people seem to dig them, although others say they take away some jazzmaster magic?

I don't think buzz stops work with Classic Players because of the tail piece being moved forward a bit.

Thanks a lot for the replies, you guys are really helpful.

I think I'm going to go with what someone suggested and have a good guitar tech look at it...I don't really feel confident enough to take apart a guitar :/

orange buffalo wrote:Thanks a lot for the replies, you guys are really helpful.

I think I'm going to go with what someone suggested and have a good guitar tech look at it...I don't really feel confident enough to take apart a guitar :/

You'd just be taking the pickguard off.

Since you got it used, you want new strings on it. The strings on it are used, so they're probably pretty nasty.

Just do a normal string change - take them all off, but instead of putting them right back on, simply lift the bridge off of the posts. It slides right off without issue. Then just unscrew the pickguard and have a look inside. My bet is there's just a clump of wood, or possibly a screw rolling around inside, so it should be easy to spot.

Once you get the object out, put the pickguard back on, get the screws back in, and then restring. It's way easier than a tech will make it sound, and anyone can do it.

Also, like I said above - if your setup is already good with no buzzing on the frets with your intonation on, you're set.

orange buffalo wrote:Thanks a lot for the replies, you guys are really helpful.

I think I'm going to go with what someone suggested and have a good guitar tech look at it...I don't really feel confident enough to take apart a guitar :/

You should at least give it a shot (with help from ILF).
Worst case is not being able to fix it and then having to take it to a tech.

DO IT!
I bet you'll learn something!

I'll say it here, someone else can say how expensive they are

MASTERY BRIDGE

hey sorry to bring this up after awhile...I think I'm going to switch out the bridge with a Mustang bridge. A few questions...

I'm looking on ebay and $30 seems to be the running price for one. Does that sound right?

Also, is it an easy procedure (i.e. no experience AT ALL working on guitars) to switch the bridge? Should I have a guitar tech do this?

Thanks.

Oh yeah, other than that the guitar plays and sounds great, just need to get rid of the buzzing (not on the fretboard, just at the bridge).

i had less issues with those adjust o matic tune o matic bridges then mustang bridges
i thought they sounded better aswel

orange buffalo wrote:hey sorry to bring this up after awhile...I think I'm going to switch out the bridge with a Mustang bridge. A few questions...

I'm looking on ebay and $30 seems to be the running price for one. Does that sound right?

Also, is it an easy procedure (i.e. no experience AT ALL working on guitars) to switch the bridge? Should I have a guitar tech do this?

Thanks.

Oh yeah, other than that the guitar plays and sounds great, just need to get rid of the buzzing (not on the fretboard, just at the bridge).

That's about right. I think mine was $24...

The bridge literally is just sitting in two holes, so it'll pretty much fall out once you take your strings off.

a bit off topic, but why did fender have to mess up the best thing about the jazzmaster on the Classic Player... the string length behind the bridge... err forever will piss me off!