Squier Paranormal Jazzmaster XII Review

Will Squier’s latest quirky release live up to the hype and provide the coveted 12 string jangle I crave?

Sometimes I feel like this website is built off Squier guitar reviews. Things like the Paranormal Super Sonic, Classic Vibe Jazzmaster, or Contemporary Stratocaster are some of my most viewed articles ever. That’s not a problem with me, as I’ve made my love of Squier guitars pretty obvious.

Keeping up with that trend, the Paranormal Jazzmaster XII is going to get more high praise from me. Like I’ve said so many time before, this guitar has the most important aspect of them all; fun.

Most of the spec sheet is going to look familiar. It’s a gloss poly finish, a C-shaped neck, and the same Alnico single coil pickups found the Classic Vibe Jazzmaster. Which to my knowledge aren’t perfect Jazzmaster-style pickups in construction, but I’d argue this guitar deserves a pickup upgrade at some point. That’s because everything else on the Paranormal Jazzmaster XII is quite comfortable. Maybe unremarkable in many ways, but functional and familiar enough that I plugged right in and to to playing with ease.

It instantly brought a lot of songs in my back catalog to life, and subjectively I thought it was just a huge addition to my rig. While you may have noticed by now I also gave it a more objective positive review on UG, I can’t emphasize enough how much I’ve connected with this guitar in a short time. In fact, I much prefer this to most regular Jazzmasters.

This pedal definitely sounds bright, clean, and chimey. But it is hard to disentangle if that’s from the JM-style pickups or the fact that all twelve strings sound like that. It’s not a perfectly clean tone, as you’ll surely get more clarity from a pricey Rickenbacker, but it’s 90% of the way there for a lot less of the cost.

It’s definitely fun messing around with drives, fuzzes, and phasers on this, as the pickups create a nice clean palette for you to build on. I can only imagine what a nice pair of upgraded Fender true JM pickups would do.

You’re definitely gonna want this guitar once you pick it up and try it. It’s just an easy player that adds some diversity to almost any rig, unless you have an enviable 12-string collection already. But seriously, this is a great guitar that I bet I’ll see on stages of all sounds in the coming years. It’s beginner and pro friendly, with solid bones to build off of if needed.

This was my heavy favorite of the new releases before I got my hands on any, and I would be shocked if it’s not still my favorite after I’ve tried them all. A great guitar, at a great price, that can serve a variety of needs. And please, don’t be afraid to throw some pedals on and try to use this thing like a regular six string, it’s pretty fun!

As always, this is another great Squier worth buying and I’m giving it my stamp of approval so far.

Go grab your own via Sweetwater