View other reviews for this product:
Hatsubai « New Blacktop Jazzmaster »
Published on 04/25/11 at 18:29The Blacktop Jazzmaster seems to be mostly designed for those who are into rock music. It features the Jazzmaster body, alder wood, a maple neck with rosewood fretboard, 21 frets, 9.5'' radius, a humbucker and a P90 in the neck, unique bridge, 3 way toggle switch, volume knob and tone knob.
I've never been a huge fan of the Jazzmaster body style. It's something that's very much an acquired taste. One thing that really bugs me about this guitar is the way the bridge is. It's just a funky overall design that tries to make a TOM style bridge into a hardtail. I find they don't stay in tune quite as nicely as a well setup vintage style Fender, but it could simply be because I don't spend enough time with them. The fretwork on the model I played wasn't that great, so keep that in mind when buying these.
The stock pickups in this are pretty weak. I was never a fan of Duncan Designed pickups because they always tend to sound very bland for whatever reason. It's probably some conspiracy to get you to buy their more expensive models. The P90 in the neck is actually a pretty cool idea, and I'm a big fan of P90s for rock music. They can deliver a very cool "polite" single coil quality that normal humbuckers can't replicate. The guitar was kinda dead, but it could be the model I played.
I'm not a fan of the overall body shape, so my opinion may be more heavily biased, but the guitar I played just wasn't that great. The fretwork was iffy, the stock pickups definitely need to be replaced and it just sounded average. If you're looking into buying one of these, I highly recommend you try one out before you commit to buying it.
I've never been a huge fan of the Jazzmaster body style. It's something that's very much an acquired taste. One thing that really bugs me about this guitar is the way the bridge is. It's just a funky overall design that tries to make a TOM style bridge into a hardtail. I find they don't stay in tune quite as nicely as a well setup vintage style Fender, but it could simply be because I don't spend enough time with them. The fretwork on the model I played wasn't that great, so keep that in mind when buying these.
The stock pickups in this are pretty weak. I was never a fan of Duncan Designed pickups because they always tend to sound very bland for whatever reason. It's probably some conspiracy to get you to buy their more expensive models. The P90 in the neck is actually a pretty cool idea, and I'm a big fan of P90s for rock music. They can deliver a very cool "polite" single coil quality that normal humbuckers can't replicate. The guitar was kinda dead, but it could be the model I played.
I'm not a fan of the overall body shape, so my opinion may be more heavily biased, but the guitar I played just wasn't that great. The fretwork was iffy, the stock pickups definitely need to be replaced and it just sounded average. If you're looking into buying one of these, I highly recommend you try one out before you commit to buying it.