hallmark 60s custom: how does it compare to a Jazzmaster?

[beenawhile]

I have owned a slew of Fenders including several strats, several jazzmasters, and a jag. I love these guys, but the long scale guitars can be tough on my tendons and the jag is too short for some things. I think I might do better with the 24.75 scale of the Hallmark.

I had the opportunity to try one out the other day and was impressed. I don't have any personal experience with Mosrites, other than listening to a ton of recordings by the Ventures and a few other bands. During my demo, I was struck by the tonal similarity between the jazzmaster and the 60s custom - at least with both pups engaged. I didn't necessarily feel that the pups were driving the amp in a way that I associate with Mosrites on recordings, but I did sense that the guitar is up for any task that I would use a jazzmaster for (and I LOVE my JM).

Just curious what others have found....other than appearances, why might you use the 60s Custom over a jazzmaster in a given situation. I'd love to know more about the strength or weaknesses of this guitar - other than the obvious claim that it is the best mass-produced Mosrite clone on the planet.

Looking forward to hearing what folks have to say.

[Strat-o-rama]

I have both. The Jazzmaster is more high maintenance than the Hallmark 60 C. I find I don't have to do near the tweaking to the Hallmark as compared to the JM--mostly rattles and buzzes in the bridge. I know there are solutions to the problem, but I just haven't gotten to messin' with them other than a set-up and nail polish on the screws to sort of lock them in place. One major difference is the feel. I like JMs with heavier gauge strings, 11-46 minimum, and the Hallmark with 10-46. The Hallmark is definitely a faster, slicker play. As for the sound: yea, they both have a dark kind of twang. But they're not the same.
I'm not in a band right now, but do like to play surf/instro and garage type styles...even blues with the Hallmark.

[Veenture]

The strings of my used-to-be MIJ Jazzmaster kept popping off the bridge saddles during play. Also, the bridge height adjustment screws turned by themselves down gradually during play until there was zero action left
I loved the tone, although it was not a USA-made one. Jazzmaster tone is splendid for traditional Surf (hardly anything better IMO).
However, when I got my hands on a Hallmark 60 Custom last year, I was thrilled to bits. With the pickup toggle in mid position (both pickups on) I'm in the clouds .
No bridge- or saddle issues. They are both very desirable guitars but nonetheless, different animals.

[beenawhile]

Took me a good year of ownership to figure out how to master the setup issues with the fender offsets. But once you figure it out, its pretty hands off (thread lock and a little tape will permanently fix all the rattles).

I use the middle pup position for my jazzmaster for nearly all leads. Sometimes the bridge for rhythm work. Both pups by themselves are good, but the magic is in the middle.

With the Hallmark, I wasn't wowed by either pickup alone, but like the JM, the magic was in the middle.

I am surprised to hear this:

"I like JMs with heavier gauge strings"

I would kind of expect the opposite, given the smaller scale of the Hallmark. And in fact, I was hoping to be able to put 11s on one. I use a custom 10-42 set of flats on my JM.

I could immediately see the blues potential for the Hallmark - seems like it would be good for all sorts of early rock/jazz/blue/country.

[beenawhile]

Hey Veeture - I was checking out a bunch of your band's vids last night - fun stuff. Ginza lights it just awesome Wish I lived in your corner of the world. Looks like you have a fun thing going (I have something similar, but sadly its not related to instro). I was in a great surf band a few years back, but kind of ran of time.

Anyway, as for strings popping off the bridge, I filed a small (tiny) notch in the saddle for the lowest e string. Haven't lost a string since.

Using heavier strings solves that problem for most guys, but I had a bad tendon injury a few years back and need to play lighter strings. Sadly, even the light ones give me troubles

[Veenture]

Thanks for the kind words beenawhile, yeah, "Ginza Lights" turned out particularly nice in the sudio setting (one or two takes only, for once LOL). I played it on my Fender '57 USA Reissue Strat through a 'proper' Vox AC 30 and for echo fx, used my Yamaha Magicstomp (out of print) with programmed Shadows' echo User patches. Sorry to hear about your tendon injury still giving troubles.

[jfine]

The Jazzmaster bridge can be problematic. It was designed for the heavier-gauge strings used in the '50's and early '60's, especially flatwounds. The sound on the 1960 recording of "Walk Don't Run" is a Jazzmaster with flats, both pickups on. There are a couple of hardware solutions to help alleviate the lack of string angle and loose saddles on the Jazzmaster--one is the Mastery bridge http://www.masterybridge.com/home.html --another is the Buzz-Stop, which is a second axle that mounts with the forward screws on the tremolo plate and provides more string angle at the bridge, available from AllParts, I think. The recent Classic Player Jazzmasters and Jaguars from Fender use a trem mounted a little closer to the bridge and an increased neck angle, which helps (but doesn't entirely solve) the problem. The Hallmark 60 Custom needs none of that stuff--Bob Shade's tremolo works well. I had the bridge rollers glued down on mine to eliminate rattles, and the rocking motion of the bridge is enough to keep it in tune for what I do. Tonally they're two different animals--the Hallmark is a little darker than a Jazzmaster. For tuning stability and sustain I prefer the Hallmark. I may at some point try a set of Ed Elliot's pickups to get a little more twang out of it, but it sounds good with the stock Hallmark pickups too--it's just closer to a Mosrite than to a Jazzmaster.

[CookieMan]

I'm not in a band right now, but do like to play surf/instro and garage type styles...even blues with the Hallmark.

Interesting, Strat-o-rama. You say you play blues stuff on your 60C? I love mine, and even though I think the tone is well-suited for blues, I find bends to be a major hassle, especially on unwound strings and on lower frets (say up to 7). I have a heck of a time bending my high E up from A to B at the 5th fret and when I release it I get a little "plink" sound coming from somewhere between the zero fret and the nut/string guide. Got any tips when it comes to squeezing some blues out of a 60C?

[LOSTVENTURE]

Another quick fix for Jazzmaster/Jaguar bridge problems is to replace the "rocking" portion of the bridge with the Mustang bridge. I did this to my Jaguar and then to a friends JM and eleminated both the buzz and the string position stability issue.
Also, I find that the Hallmark is much more sensitive to dynamics, pick attack and such, than the Fenders. You can be playing rythem, strummimg over the lower portion of the neck, and the switch to more cutting lead tone, and volume to some degree, by just picking the strings closer to the bridge. Also I have to mention that there is absolutely no comparison in the neck/action area. IMHO.
Don

[Strat-o-rama]

Hey Cookie!
Let me qualify that. I'm not playing SRV type blues on the Hallmark. All that Texas style roadhouse blues rock is Strat territory!
I've been working more along the lines that are rooted in Charlie Christian styles--more like Charlie Baty or Kid Ramos. Swinging blues! Jump blues! The Hallmark 60C is capable of very complimentary tones for that style. Typically this style is played on archtops (I've got a Gibson ES295 that is the classic sound), but I've found the fast feel of the Hallmark lends itself well.

Jfine. I've heard great feedback on the Mastery Bridge, and if I were gigging regularly with a Jazzmaster, I would make the investment into one.

Now if I can just get more practice time in.