World Music Supply | Fender Pawn Shop Guitars

Hey guys, Brian from World Music Supply here again, to bring you another healthy dose of gear and guitar reviews. In today’s review I got the chance to check out some to look at some slightly older members of the Pawnshop Family of instruments from Fender. Way back when I covered the Fender Pawnshop series, I had to start with the models that had just come out on the market, the Jaguarillo, the reverse Jaguar, the Mustang special etc. The reason I’m bringing this up, is because I didn’t get the chance at the time to review the flagship models, the 51, and the 72, now that I finally had some spare time, I sat down and ran these two wonderful guitars through their paces.

The Fender 51 Pawn Shop Stratocaster

First up is the 51, which was based off of the unexpectedly successful Squier 51, and is a strange Tele, Strat hybrid that looks like an old 51 P bass scaled down to a normal guitar size. I personally loved this guitar with its weird switching system, and no tone control. It took everything I loved about the Squier and supersized it. Fender gave it a hotter humbucker in the bridge, a bolder sounding neck pickup, and a much cleaner, and more intuitive switching system, with a more balanced and dynamic tone. The inclusion of the push pull knob, for splitting the humbucker into a cutting single coil instead was also a nice touch.

Running through a clean amp, this guitar certainly has a very Telecaster style sound to it, with more twang and bite on tap than any of the other members of the Pawn shop family. The neck was easy to play, and with the slightly thicker U shaped neck it certainly felt a lot more vintage than many Fenders rolling off the line nowadays. The comfort of bending on this neck, and the loose feel of it all really lent itself to playing fast, and cleanly, something that I always look for in new guitars.

Running through a dirty amp however, with the bridge pickup in humbucker mode, really took this guitar out of Tele territory, and turned it into a more modern sounding axe, able to throw down hard rock and even metal riffs with the best of them. The bridge in both positions had body, but still loads of cut to it, while the neck pickup was smooth and straty, with lots of roundness to the tone that never made the guitar sound wooly or overly bass heavy. This guitar can hang with anyone, rockers, country, blues guys, heck if you get it in black it can probably hold its own with a metal band, the 51 can really do it all and its because of this that I award it a solid 10 out of 10.

The Fender 72 Pawn Shop Stratocaster

Next up is the 72, which is the natural evolution of the 51, taking the one third Tele, one third P bass, and one third Strat formula, and switching the telecaster part of the formula from a standard butterscotch Tele, and instead replacing it with the Thinline Tele, which leant its semi hollow F-hole equipped body, its 70’s esc colors, and its fullrange humbucker to the 51 formula, thus creating the beauty we call the 72. Most of the controls remain the same, with the single volume, no tone, and a blend knob to slide between pickup combinations.

The clean tone of the 72 was far, smoother than the 51. With a more mellow tone, without as much snap and twang on tap, this guitar has an almost jazz box like tone to it. With its crisp, round highs, and its tight, tubby low end this guitar has as tone to it that very few do. The bridge pickup was just as beefy but with a slightly more airy quality to it, thanks to the added resonance of the semi-hollow body. The neck pickup, when used alone, and when used with touches of the bridge pickup had a very big sound, with lots of beefy low end, but crystal clear highs, something that you really don’t find with any humbucker but the Fender wide range.

Running into a dirty amp this all still held true, with the bridge pickup sounding just as heavy and destructive as ever. While the neck pickup remained clear and pristine with all of the added harmonics of the distorted channel, but with all of the shimmer and shine that it had in the clean position. This guitar could easily get metal too, and the amount of feedback resistance in this guitar was amazing, as it took way more volume then I could even stand. Tuning it down, and turning the gain up, I was amazed at how metal this guitar really sounded with all of the searing, screaming power of the bridge pickup, and even the neck pickup remained pristine even at these high gain levels, truly amazing. The 72 in my book is one amazing machine, and it easily deserves a 10 out of 10 rating.

World Music Supply | Fender Basses

Hey guys it’s Brian here with World Music Supply, and today I’m here to talk to you about something that hasn’t been covered before in depth in this blog, and that is basses, specifically Fender basses. Fender basses have been the industry standard for bass guitars since the beginning, probably because Fender is the company that invented the modern electric bass guitar.

Clearly one of Leo Fender and the Fender company’s most illustrious achievements has to be the invention of  the Precision Bass, taking the musical range and sound of the upright bass, and making it a compact and easily transportable form. Fender also decided to add a fretted fingerboard, so that bassists could play in tune quickly and easily. Eventually, Fender also produced the Jazz bass, with its thinner faster neck profile, and its much mellower sound. So lets go through a brief rundown and review of some of the most popular Fender basses on the market today.

The Fender American Standard Precision Bass

First and foremost, is the Fender American Standard Precision Bass. With a tone that is bold, punchy, and iconic, it’s widely understood that the P bass can fit in almost any situation. Sure, you would assume that one pickup doesn’t give you much versatility, but that has never stopped the P bass from playing in everything from rock and blues, to funk and R&B, all the way to shred metal, modern pop and hip hop. There is nothing that a P bass can’t do.

I sat down with the American Standard P Bass, and put it through its paces. I was able to get everything from thundering low growls, which were great for quick jazz runs, to bright sounding rock tones with nothing more then a quick roll of the tone knob. The neck felt smooth and comfortable, and the body shape fits you like an old friend. There is nothing I could dream of adding to, or changing about this lovely instrument, and I would give it a 10 out of 10, except it would be unfair of me to grade the P bass. As the P bass was the first real bass guitar, all other bass guitars are judged by the bar it set all of those years ago.

The Fender American Standard Jazz Bass

Next up, is the Fender American Standard Jazz bass. Invented as a part of the plan by fender to help bring jazz players into the electrified world, the Jazz bass was given a thinner neck, an offset body style, two redesigned pickups to help give it a darker, more mellow tone, and a different control scheme that gave it far more versatility tone wise. Yes, it was designed for jazz, but that has never stopped it from being played in everything from metal to country, and anything in-between. As with its brother the P bass, it seems that there is nothing the Jazz bass isn’t capable of.

Sitting down with the American Standard Jazz bass, I was impressed by how it all felt. Playing jazz lines, on a jazz bass will always just sound and feel right, because Fender really got this instrument right. The tones were delicate and bold at the same time, with punch and growl, but playing softly resulted in those classic soulful, yet whispery tones. Being able to zip from really bright tones on the bridge pickup, and then by a twist of the two volume controls, and a whirl of the tone, go bright bridge tones to the darkest neck tones imaginable is a testament to how versatile this instrument really is. Slapping and popping gave me all of those old tones, that would be more then at home on any old funk record ala Sly and the Family stones. Playing with the pads of my fingers gave me big open jazz tones, and switching to a pick gave me all of the big rock style tones I could ever need. It really just does it all, and does it all with style.

This is a bass that can do it all, easily a 10 out of 10, but like I said with the P bass, these two basses are the ones that started it all, without them the instrument as we know it would be far different indeed.

The Squier Vintage Modified Short Scale Jaguar Bass

The next bass in the review is the Fender Squier Vintage Modified Short Scale Jaguar bass. Fender tends to use their Squier brand to produce one of two things, cheaper versions of their Fender made instruments, or they use them to create radically different instruments for markets that would be too expensive to fill with their higher dollar instruments. This is a good example of the latter.

The smaller scale length of this instrument seems fitting, as Fender has made many quirky short scale basses over the years, with models like the Bronco, or the Mustang bass, as Fender has always attempted to figure out a way to exploit that niche as much as possible. The neck on the Short Scale Jaguar felt comfortable, and after it was strung up with heavier strings, this thing came to life. The super versatile electronics of this guitar include a jazz bass style volume and tone layout, with both a Jazz bass pickup in the bridge, and a Precision bass pickup in the neck. Being able to have the punchy-ness of the P bass, and all of the mellow growl, and the ability to pan between pickups like a Jazz bass just gives this instrument way too much power.

The body feels strangely unlike a bass, and the short scale of the neck does make it feel a lot more like a guitar then a bass. This can lead the odd syndrome of wanting to play guitar style lines on a bass, with big huge jumps between notes, leading you away from the standard walk along the neck that bass players have done for so many decades. The only downside I can find about the Vintage Modified Short Scale Jaguar bass, is that they didn’t include the active bass circuit of the rest of the Jaguar bass models in the Vintage Modified line, a feature that would have given this already dark sounding bass a little extra edge . Overall though this little addition to the Fender family does exactly what it needs to, and is one amazing little bass at a really affordable price. For its versatility and cool short scale playability, the Fender Squier Vintage Modified Short Scale Jaguar bass gets an easy 9 out of 10, because while it’s not every bassist will like the short scale length, every bass player should own atleast one short scale bass, for their unique dark mellow tone.

The Squier Vintage Modified Five String Jazz Bass

The last guitar in this review is another Squier, and the bass in question is the Fender Squier Vintage Modified Five String Jazz bass. I’ve always loved the added versatility that a low B gives you, and with the big bold tone that Duncan designed pickups gives you, this bass definitely has a lot more power then anything in its price range. This is an amazingly high quality bass, not just a high quality Squier, but definitely a true high quality bass all around.

Sitting down with the bass, I loved the added body, and sustain that the extra wood and weight gives to the Jazz basses tone. Playing through standard jazz changes is far easier when you can shift down to that low B as you walk higher up the neck, as you can leap around within the changes much easier then on a standard four string. Dropping the low B to an A, I was able to play everything from some deep down funk, some bright rock, even some dark metal chugging, without the low A ever seeming unnecessary or misplaced. As far as bass guitars go, the Fender Squier Vintage Modified Five String Jazz Bass is miles above and beyond its competition, and nothing in its price bracket comes close to its power, and tone. The Vintage Modified Five String easily snags a 10 out of 10, for just being so practical, and affordable.

As you can see, even though Fenders range of basses isn’t that gigantic, and even though the design of said basses have rarely changed in sixty or so years, they are still just as important and revolutionary to modern music as they have ever been. So why don’t you start playing the same basses that revolutionized modern music all those years ago, and go pick up a Precision, a Jazz, or even the newer Jaguar basses over at Worldmusicsupply.com today!

World Music Supply | Fender Pawn Shop

Hey Guys, it’s Brian here with World Music Supply and I’m here to talk to you about the new line of Fender Pawnshop Guitars. By now we’re all at least semi-familiar with this new line of Fender guitars, but if you aren’t, let me fill you in. The Pawnshop line is in Fender’s own words are “guitars that never were but should have been.” They’re patterned after some of the more eccentric models that were produced during the latter years of Pre-CBS Fender, when they were coming out with models like the electric XII, the Musiclander, the Marauder, the Bass VI and let’s not forget the Starcaster or the Coronado.
 

          In truth though, the first line of these guitars, the 51 and the 72 are based off of the unexpectedly successful Squier 51, a strange Tele, Strat hybrid that looked like an old 51 P bass scaled down to a normal guitar size. I personally loved the Squier version, with its weird switching system, and no tone control. The fender model though? It took everything I loved about the Squier and supersized it. Fender gave it a hotter humbucker in the bridge, a bolder sounding neck pickup, and a much cleaner, and more intuitive switching system, and don’t even get me started on the 72. I am in love with that guitar, and if they offered it in fiesta red, I would pick one up in a heartbeat….but I digress. Now, Fender has created a new set of wild, retro looking guitars. The Pawn Shop line now includes the Offset Special, the Jaguarillo, a reverse Jaguar bass, and the Mustang Special.

The Fender Offset Special

 

Let’s start first with the Offset Special, the strange, mutant love child of a Fender Jazzmaster, and what looks like a Stratocaster. You want a weird and quirky guitar? This guitar has it in spades. The Jazzmaster has always been one of my favorite guitars, made as an attempt by Mr. Leo Fender to try and diversify his company away from making “country” guitars, he made what he figured jazz guitarists would love, big, full sounding pickups, a floating tremolo, and a circuit just for the neck pickup, so you could get two different flavors of smooth tone. Problem was…jazz guitarists tend to be a pretty conservative bunch, and they didn’t want any part of it.

    The only people to give the model recognition were surf guitarists during the 60’s, but they soon migrated back to their Stratocasters with the success of bands like The Shadows and Dick Dale, and when Fender came out with the Jaguar, the Jazzmaster fell into disuse and mediocrity. It wasn’t until bands like Nirvana and Sonic Youth got their hands on these old relics that Leo had designed for jazz guitarists, now found acceptances by post rockers and grunge players alike. So why did I go through this short history lesson on the Jazzmaster? Well I want to point out just how weird the Offset Special is. They took most of the hardware from the Jazzmaster, one of their least successful guitars of all time, and mated it with the Stratocaster, arguably one of their finest guitars of all time, and what do we end up with? Something amazing, a guitar with all the smooth tone and class of a Jazzmaster, and all the power and playability of a Strat. So in short, what do you get with the Offset Special? We get a hollow, offset, Strat style body, with big steel guitar style pickups, a floating tremolo, and a 21 fret Strat style neck, and the sounds of this thing is huge! It’s like a cross between a Gretch Country Gentleman, and a Jazzmaster. Thanks to the hollow body, and the shorter distance from the tremolo to the bridge, the Offset Special defiantly sounds bigger then a normal Jazzmaster, a bit fuller, a bit rounder, and the floating trem lends itself well to smooth jazzy bends. I love the period correct style of the guitar, what with it looking like a cross between a Jazzmaster, a Stratocaster, and a 72 Tele, the Offset Special has something for everybody. I give it an 8 out of 10 stars, because even though it does have a very distinct tone thanks to the Jazzmaster style pickups which are well suited to country, jazz and certain brands of alternative rock, that same distinctive tone that gives it that signature shimmer and spank, might not lend themselves to heavier styles of music as well. 

The Fender Jaguarillo

          Next up is the Jaguarillo, my personal favorite of the new line up, because its just one of those “really why didn’t they do that sooner?” kind of designs. I’ve seen people do this with Jaguars for years, take out bridge pickup and replace it with a humbucker. By itself that would be enough to make the Jaguarillo a great little guitar, but pair that with a much simpler switching system and a slanted HSS configuration, and you have one monster of a guitar. The Jazzmaster style trem is well suited to bigsby style flutter, or some light vibrato. The HSS configuration is slanted, meaning it makes the low strings sound a little fatter, and the high strings a tiny bit brighter, so it sounds like a Strat, just with a little wider range of tones.  Lastly, something about the offset pickups and the simplified control scheme, just makes this guitar look so, so good. Out of the new pawnshop line up, I like the Jaguarillo the best, especially in the faded sonic blue, easily  9 out of 10 stars, simply because some people might have reservations about buying a guitar with slanted pickups. Regardless, the Jaguarillo looks and sounds amazing!

The Fender Mustang Special

Then, rounding out the Pawnshop Guitar line is the Mustang Special. Now this is something I’ve been hoping fender would do for a long time, introduce a nice small guitar again. Sure I loved the old Mustang, but that tremolo unit on it always frustrated me, sure it worked, but it was just so tedious to maintain, and though I love the sound of fender single-coils, on an instrument this small, they just sounded a tad too bright even for my tastes. So the addition of a good hardtail bridge and some nice fender full-range humbuckers is just what this guitar deserves. The Mustang style switching system is still there, but now with the more powerful pickups, its given a whole new twist of being able to do strange coil tapping, where you can either have the back, or front pickup of the humbucker. Overall I give it a 9 out of 10, because even though I love it, I’m sure a Fender purist is going to be mad that the mustang trem and phase switching isn’t there. This guitar sounds amazing though, purists aside, and I’m glad that Fender finally has a good sounding, and good looking little guitar again, and at an affordable price.

The Fender Reverse Jaguar Bass

Now a strange turn for the line is the more modern flavor of the new Reverse Jaguar Bass. Featuring a Fender high mass modern bridge, a bigblock humbucker in the neck, a reverse jaguar special humbucker in the bridge, and a short-ish scale 32” neck with a reverse headstock and trust me, this thing sounds massive. I like the shorter scale length, but I also like that they didn’t go as low as 30” like fender used to with the mustang basses, which always sounded a little dark to me. This thing though? It’s the perfect place between too dark and too bright, with more then enough power on tap for even the most modern bass players. The reverse design is something I love too, it reminds me of old Mosrite guitars, and basses from the 70’s All in all, this bass is a nice addition to the new line up that is the Fender Jaguar bass range. Easily the best idea fender has had in a while. I easily give the Fender Reverse Jaguar 10 out of 10 stars, because even a Fender purist can’t get mad, because the jaguar line is such a new line of basses. Now if only they would make a guitar version of a reverse jaguar, maybe with some modern touches as well? Some high output humbuckers and a Floyd Rose anybody?

the four new additions to the Fender family

At the end of the day, I like the Pawnshop line up, probably because I love all those weird Fenders from back when Leo ran the show, and let’s be honest, these guitars are beautiful. So what if they don’t look like your standard Strat or Tele, if you get one of these, you will have a weird little gem of a guitar that is quirky and unique, with all the spank and sparkle that you have come to expect from Fender. So how about you go on over to Worldmusicsupply.com, find something unique, and start standing out from the crowd, go get yourself a Fender Pawnshop guitar today!