I bought a new guitar
Before I moved to Portugal, almost 10 years ago, I had a semi-hollow guitar from a Brazilian brand called Hofma. It had the most comfortable neck I had ever played at the time and I loved it, but alas, I couldn't take it with me and, considering I would have access to international brands at a lower price than in Brazil, I sold it. I came to regret it later.
I played every musical genre with it and it was a blast.
In Portugal, I first bought a Gretsch hollow-body, but then sold it and bought a Squier Jazzmaster. I went into the store wanting a Telecaster, but fell in love with the offset shape. It is so much more comfortable, be it standing or sitting, and although I'm not that much of a Fender fan, I also fell in love with their guitar necks.
I have stubby fingers, so necks that are too narrow and flat — like, say, a 42mm nut in a 10" or 12"-radius neck — are almost impossible for me to play, no matter how much I practice, because I'm always muting by accident a string that I shouldn't. I'd rather buy a Yamaha Pacifica than any Squier or low-end proper Fender, but alas, they are practically unplayable for me.
So, I went into the store to buy a Telecaster and came out with a Jazzmaster Classic Vibe. Fender products in general seem to have horrible factory setups, so I changed their shitty nut for one of those that self-lubricate — so I could use the whammy bar and keep the strings in tune — changed the bridge for a proper Fender one — so I can lock it if I want and use alternative tunings — and have been slowly replacing the electronics with better-quality parts.
It sounds great, it's extremely versatile, and the playability is awesome. The nut is only 42mm, but the 9.5" scale radius creates enough space for my fingers to stop tripping over the strings. I brought it with me from Portugal, because international brands literally cost 2x more in Brazil than in Europe or the US.
However, the electronics are still a bit finicky, so I wanted something more reliable to just play around with until it's all finished, especially considering parts are more expensive here too. Then I thought about my old semi-hollow again.
I found out that that model isn't manufactured anymore, so I was looking online for a used one in the last few months. This last weekend, I finally found one and instantly bought it, since I had some cash lying around. A few hours later, the vendor canceled the sale without any explanation. I got mad and went looking for something to buy that was within the budget, and then I found it: a Jazzmaster clone made by a Brazilian brand, and with a neck that seems as comfortable as the Squier one.
Well, this afternoon I went to the store, played around with it a bit, and brought it home. Here it is.
This is a Tagima TW-61. Sadly, it has P90s for pickups instead of Jazzmasters, but they sound ok. It also doesn't have the alternative circuit, but it does have an extra switch that changes the sound — I don't know if using different electronics or just applying some sort of predefined EQ configuration. The neck, the part I most care about — because sound you can easily change in a number of ways, but a wooden part is harder — is great: it has a 43mm nut in an, apparently, 9.5" radius. Its shape, in the back, is a bit chunkier than the Squier, but I have enough space for my fingers to move freely without much trouble. Now I just need to set it up with my favorite strings and adjust their height.
And I mean, c'mon, this thing is gorgeous, just look at that grain in sunburst. And if I'm not mistaken, the body seems to be a whole piece of wood, instead of two or more pieces glued together — something common at this price range. The electronics are working great too, and it feels like they create less noise than the Squier.
I can safely say that I won't be needing another guitar anytime soon. The only thing left for me to do now is to find a luthier to fix my classical guitar from the 70s that was badly stored by my family while I was in Europe...