Fender Troy Van Leeuwen Jazzmaster

Basically very rough fret work, compromising playability. If you don't mind taking the instrument for regulation, this may not be relevant in your decision. Particularly, I find it unacceptable that an instrument of € 1,290.00 presents this sloppiness in the finish. I was always afraid of Fender's MIM instruments, and unfortunately it was confirmed. For this price, I prefer to invest in a guitar made in USA, Korea, Japan. Even my Hagstrom Fantomen made in China has a better finish than this Fender Troy Van Leeuwen. A pity indeed. As for Thomann, the excellent service as always. Very attentive!

I ordered this Troy Van Leeuwen Jazzmaster last April, after receiving a very bad Fender SQ Classic Vibe Jazzmaster. I decided to ask Thomann to not replace the Squier Jazzmaster but put my money in an upgrade to this TVL signature Jazzmaster.

Yesterday it finally arrived, well packed in two cardboard boxes and its own black Fender case.
On the Fender cardboard there was a sticker which indicated a final double-check had been performed before leaving the Ensenada Fender Plant. The result is most definitely noticable, please read on;

Right out of the beautiful guitarcase the TVL was almost in tune, after less than 15 seconds I plugged the beauty in, turned up the tube amp and started experimenting with all the various tones through my digital and analogue pedals and effects.

After 15 minutes my fretboard hand was already perfectly accustomed to the amazing rosewood fretboard with its beautiful block inlays and silver shiny frets.

The dark deep red Oxblood glitter colour is the most beautiful guitar colour I have ever seen, seems like it’s coming alive while you play the guitar in studio lighting or sunlight. Together with the chrome bridge and creamwhite vintage witchhat knobs the TVL JM looks like it beamed itself up right from a music shop window out of the 1960’s.

The hardware is very good, the floating bridge a litte sturdy but in my honest opinion that is a good sign and a guarantee for long endurance.
The vintage tuners keep the strings perfectly in tune.
The 65 Jazzmaster pickups take some time to get used to but after adjusting all the switches and pedals and knobs on the amp in the end in no time you are creating your own miracle with this guitar. What I discovered for myself is that the pickups seem to change in their bite if you start strumming chords harder or put more pepper in your string picking. Nice extra surprise!

Today, that is day TWO that I have the celestial privilege to play this Troy Van Leeuwen Jazzmaster, I could not stop putting base rythms in my looper with the alternative circuit, to complete them by weaving chords in over them.

This guitar, for anyone, from beginner to decades of professional guitar playing, at this moment, is really the best Jazzmaster money can buy!

Thank you Fender and Thomann !

I had my eye on this for a year before I decided to pull the trigger. I waited patiently until it was finally available and arrived in my hands.
Visually this is a stunning guitar and the colour changes quite a bit depending on the light. Soundwise it is very versatile and covers different sounds than my other main guitar (Les Paul). The bridge is very bright and twangy, so using the tone knob is recommended especially on cleans. With overdrive this pickup screams though and delivers classic rock tones. The neck is great for cleans and smooth leads and the middle position offers nice humcancelling and is great offer cleans and funky rythms. The rythm circuit is also great especially with a brighter amp. So all together this a great guitar, with similar features as more traditional inspired American jazzmasters, but with a "custom" colour, at a lower price.
However, the condition this came in was not to the standard of this price. The action was almost unplayably high (and I don't mind high action in general), the fretboard was dry and covered with polishing residue which I still haven't gotten fully off, the truss rod needed to be readjusted (the neck needs to be taken off to do this- I guess to be "vintage correct"...) and there were microscratches on the body (nothing terrible but you would expect a pristine guitar when you buy it new for 1400€). There were more minor issues with the set up and the hardware, but I don't want to go into to much detail. I did not want to send it back as I waited forever for this and this is visually the coolest jazzmaster I have ever seen so I didn't want to buy a different one.

All in all, this is an amazing guitar for me, which I plan to keep as long as I can. However, the condition this was in was unacceptable for any price point and makes me very sceptical of buying another MiM fender and also buying such an expensive guitar on thomann.