Fender rolls out J Mascis Signature Jazzmaster pickup set

Fender has expanded its J Mascis signature range with the launch of Jazzmaster electric guitar pickup set, a pair of Alnico II soapbars that in the words of the Dinosaur Jr main man promise a “sweeter more vintage sound”.

With the Fender Jazzmaster one of the most fun electric guitars to mod – the Jazzmaster bridge often the first thing to be upgraded – these will no doubt sell like hot cakes, and offer something a little different to bright snap and midrange growl of his signature Fender Telecaster.

These will sound a little bit more mellow, and just the thing for giving your offset a fresh voice for alt-rock adventures. Those who own one of those gnarly MusicRadar-approved Squier J Mascis Jazzmasters should read on, because they could be just the aftermarket power-up you've been waiting for.

As you might expect from a man with Mascis’ discography, these pickups are voiced to pair well through any manner of overdrive and fuzz pedals, eating up the gain, maintaining warmth and clarity, and playing nice with your pedalboard, but they’ll also excel at honeyed cleans, too.

• Learn to play J Mascis's riffs and solo from Dinosaur Jr's Out There

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The J Mascis Jazzmaster pickups have an Alnico II rod magnets and enamel-coated magnet wire, have flush-mounted pole-pieces for an even response across each string, and are wax-potted to help cut down on noise when all around you is volume and gain. 

They have a vintage-style cloth wire and fibre bobbin build, and will be just at home turning your favourite offset into a bona-fide fire-breather, capable of the sort of tones you might hear when watching 1991: The Year Punk Broke, but also for more sedate sounds, the sort of cleans you can comp with, or send through some reverb and delay pedals for a dreamy soundscape.

• Dinosaur Jr's J Mascis: “Coming from drumming, the guitar was so one-dimensional. I had to find all these things to make it more dynamic and expressive“

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But, if you are happy with your pickups – or perhaps are more of a Telecaster player and prefer that side of Mascis’ sound – there is also a cornucopia of new J Mascis signature accessories available.

Those comprise a pair of brightly coloured guitar straps in Magenta Flower and Yellow Burst respectively, a 30-ft J Mascis coiled guitar cable (in bright purple) and a signature Dinosaur Jr tin and guitar pick set.

For more information, head over to Fender.