Fender Jazzmaster
Encyclopedia
The Fender Jazzmaster is an electric guitar
designed as an upmarket sibling to the Fender Stratocaster. First introduced at the 1958 NAMM Show
, it was initially marketed at jazz guitarists, but found favor among surf rock guitarists in the early 1960s. It is frequently confused with the similar looking albeit tonally
different Jaguar
.
.
The body is larger than that of other Fender guitars, requiring a more spacious guitar case. The Jazzmaster had unique wide, white "soapbar" pickups that were unlike any other single coil. Jazzmaster pickups are often confused with Gibson's
P-90
pickups. Although they look similar, they are constructed differently. Whereas the polepieces of the JM pickups are magnets, the P-90 has its magnets placed underneath the coil. The JM coil is wound flat and wide (moreso than the P-90), in contrast to Fender's usual tall and thin coils. This gives them a warmer tone without losing their single coil clarity. The Jazzmaster has a mellower, jazzier tone than the Strat, although it was not widely embraced by jazz musicians. Instead, rock guitarists adopted it for surf rock. The Ventures
and The Fireballs
were prominent Jazzmaster users.
Fender recognized the need for a purpose-designed surf-guitar, and introduced the 24" scale Fender Jaguar
, with a shorter scale, built-in mute, chrome decorations and more Strat-like pickups. The main aspect that deterred jazz players was the Jazzmaster's tendency to produce feedback
, especially if the body cavity were left without magnetic shielding. More experimentally-minded rock artists like Sonic Youth
and My Bloody Valentine later embraced this as a new way to color their music. The Jazzmaster was also the first Fender guitar carrying a separate rosewood fingerboard with clay dot position inlays glued into a two-piece maple neck and a four-ply brown tortoise shell pickguard, although from 1958 to mid 1959 they came with a one-ply gold anodized pickguard.
Some early pre-production/prototype examples came with a one-piece maple neck, a rubber fingerboard and/or a black painted aluminum pickguard. Rosewood became a standard fretboard material on other Fender models around 1959. Binding was added to the Jazzmaster fretboard in 1965, and in 1966 the dot markings were replaced by pearloid blocks. An optional maple fingerboard with black binding and block inlays was briefly offered in the mid-1970s. Jazzmaster bodies have been constructed from ash, alder, and basswood over the years.
The Jazzmaster was officially discontinued in 1980. The Jazzmaster was re-introduced in 1984 as a 1962 reissue model from Fender's Japanese factory. The American Vintage Series version was introduced in 1999. In 2007 Fender announced plans for a 'thin skin' Jazzmaster reissue with vintage nitrocellulose
finish. The finish on the AVRI series is also nitro, but a 'thin skin' has a thinner nitro coat than usual.
One of Jazzmaster's characteristics is its string resonance, appearing at several fret positions.
alternative to the hollow body archtop guitars that were then ubiquitous among Jazz guitarists. As the Telecaster and Stratocaster had done in other popular musical genres, Fender hoped to initiate a revolution in Jazz guitar, at the expense of their arch-rival Gibson
. While the Jazzmaster never caught on among its intended audience, the Telecaster is now adopted by notable Jazz guitarists, such as Bill Frisell, as an alternative to the traditional fully hollow "Jazz boxes" of yore.
Jazzmasters were most successful in the burgeoning California-based surf music
and instrumental rock
scene of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Fender headquarters was located in Southern California, and Leo Fender himself actively solicited local players' input and guidance in designing the Jazzmaster's followup, the Jaguar.
Jazzmasters, along with Jaguars and their imitators, fell out of fashion among players during the 1970s largely due to their "old-fashioned" appearance and sonic characteristics. The 70s rock sound meant "fat" humbucker tone and lots of sustain, so guitarists gravitated toward the Gibson Les Paul
and its copies. The Jazzmaster's short sustain and warm piano-like tone was not favored. Fender continued to offer the Jazzmaster as part of its product line until 1980, however many collectors believe actual production ceased around 1976, with guitars sold after that period representing unsold inventory. Due to the unwanted, pawn-shop status of the guitars, young musicians were able to purchase the instruments very cheaply, obtaining the high quality guitars for little money.
Just as Fender discontinued the Jazzmaster, Tom Verlaine
of Television
and Elvis Costello
started giving the guitar a cult following. Thus, they were later embraced by the American indie rock
scene. Sonic Youth
are notorious for the hoard of Jazzmasters they acquired starting around 1985 while the guitars were still affordable, and for their unique customization jobs (e.g. Lee Ranaldo
's "Jazzblaster" with Fender Wide Range
pickups). Sonic Youth were also famous for playing on the strings below the tailed bridge
(near the tailpiece) to get church-bell-like tones; this is sometimes referred to as 3rd bridge
technique. Other bands, such as Yes
picked behind the nut to achieve similar sounds (on other guitar models), but in a Guitar World
interview, Sonic Youth rejected this practice as "art rock
". Ranaldo even has a pickup mounted behind the bridge on one of his guitars. With the increasing visibility of old Jazzmasters, and the prices of collectible Telecasters and Stratocasters soaring out of sight in the 1990s, Jazzmasters became highly valuable. Thefts of vintage Jazzmasters from Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr. and The Raveonettes in recent years illustrate this. Sonic Youth had nine Jazzmasters stolen from them in July 1999, along with dozens of other items.
Greg Camp
(formerly of Smash Mouth
) uses a Jazzmaster, while Robert Smith of The Cure
used two Jazzmasters (which he named Black Torty & White Torty) for the majority of his band's early work. J Mascis
of Dinosaur Jr. is a noted Jazzmaster devotee, and as of 2007 Fender produces a signature J Mascis Jazzmaster model. Mascis uses a Tune-o-matic
bridge, however. The stock Jazzmaster continues to have a cultlike following in the shoegaze and dream pop
community, which values the buzzing, otherworldly sounds made possible by Leo's bridge design. Kevin Shields
of My Bloody Valentine uses them as his main guitars, and bandmate Bilinda Butcher
used them in addition to her Jaguars. A closeup picture of a Jazzmaster is featured as the cover of their critically acclaimed album, Loveless
(1991). One is also depicted on the cover of Band of Susans
' Blessing And Curse EP (1987), although the band is more noted for their use of G&L
guitars. Ira Kaplan of Yo La Tengo
favors a Jazzmaster as well as other vintage Fender guitars, often playing behind-the-back solos in concert. Nels Cline
, solo artist and lead guitarist of Wilco
since 2004, uses the Jazzmaster as his main guitar. Thom Yorke
of Radiohead
(on occasion) uses his vintage Jazzmasters for live performances and the studio recordings of "Airbag" and "Weird Fishes/Arpeggi". Steven Drozd
of The Flaming Lips
uses a '67 Jazzmaster. Stephen Malkmus
, solo artist (formerly of the highly influential 90s indie rock group Pavement
), has used his vintage Jazzmaster as a main guitar throughout his career. J Mascis
, Nels Cline
, Tom Verlaine
, Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo (of Sonic Youth
) all performed at the "Jazzmaster 50th Anniversary Concert" at the Knitting Factory
in New York on September 12, 2008. Luther Perkins
was one of the first Jazzmaster players, owning an early white version.
Frank Zappa
briefly owned a Jazzmaster very early in his career (prior to his joining The Mothers). John Lennon
was photographed playing a white Jazzmaster (belonging to Jacky Spelter) during an Austrian hotel lounge jam with The Beatles
in March 1965.
Fender's Japanese facility is noted for the high quality of its offset-waist guitars. These MIJ or CIJ (Made or Crafted In Japan) reissues have been sporadically available outside Japan since the late 1980s, either from Japanese dealers willing to ship overseas, or from US dealers who have imported them. However, these Japanese-made Jazzmasters, except for those with JV-prefix serial numbers, are often criticized for essentially having narrow Stratocaster pickups inside the wide soapbar Jazzmaster housings, thus giving the guitar a Strat/Jaguar "honk" rather than the classic, mellow Jazzmaster sound. Since 1996, its Squier offshoot has manufactured a budget version called the Jagmaster, though its humbucker
pickups and Stratocaster-style bridge give it a much different, "hard rock" sound.
In May 2008 Fender introduced the Classic Player Series Jazzmaster, which is made in Mexico. Fender have made numerous changes to the original design, replacing the bridge with a Tune-o-matic type, giving it a 9.5" fretboard radius, moving the tremolo plate closer to the bridge and installing special designed P-90
-type high-output single-coil pickups with a bar magnet at the base instead of the more Strat-like magnetized polepieces of the original pickups.http://www.fender.com/products//view_specs.php?full_partno=0141600&name=Classic+Player+Jazzmaster%26reg%3B+Special
September 2010 saw the introduction of the Mexican-made Black Top Jazzmaster HS. This guitar sports a Duncan Designed
single-coil Jazzmaster neck pickup and a hot vintage alnico humbucking bridge pickup, with other distinctive touches including skirted black amp knobs, a Jazzmaster tremolo tailpiece and a three-way toggle switch. Other features include an alder body, maple neck with 9.5”-radius rosewood fretboard, 21 medium-jumbo frets, gloss polyester finish and chrome hardware.
signature Jazzmaster, in honour of the Dinosaur Jr
frontman. This model is much the same as previous Jazzmaster models aside from its Adjust-o-matic bridge (the Fender equivalent of the Gibson
Tune-o-matic
bridge), and its unusual purple sparkle finish. It is currently the only model of Jazzmaster in production with a matching headstock. In the past, a Nokie Edwards
(of The Ventures
) signature model was produced in Japan, without rhythm circuit.
April 2008 saw the introduction of the Elvis Costello Jazzmaster, the second signature Jazzmaster model made at the Corona facility - a faithful replication of Elvis Costello
's 1960s Jazzmaster used during his 1977 debut album, My Aim is True
. This signature Jazzmaster guitar features a solid walnut-stain finished alder body and a modified tremolo bridge for Costello's trademark "spy movie" sound. The Elvis Costello
signature model has a natural brown finish and was released in 2008.
In June 2009, Fender announced Lee Ranaldo
and Thurston Moore
signature Jazzmasters, in honour of the guitarists of Sonic Youth
. These models were released on July 1, 2009. Both editions are stripped down to have only one volume knob and a pickup switch that goes side to side and have a black headstock. The difference lies in the pickup, bridge, colour, and the relative placement of the volume knob to the jack input. Ranaldo's instrument has a Sapphire Blue finish and features dual Fender Wide Range
humbucking pickups that are re-spec'd to Ranaldo's specifications and a Mustang
bridge. Moore's version features a Forest Green finish, a pair of Seymour Duncan
Antiquity II Jazzmaster single-coil pickups and a Tune-o-matic bridge. Users include Alex Turner
of the Arctic Monkeys
Additionally, but NOT limited to the following:
Vintage Jazzmasters have been seen in most of the common Fender Custom Colors of the era, and as Fender would sometimes paint guitars in any shade the owner requested, one cannot list the full range of colors made.
The American Vintage Re-Issue (AVRI) Jazzmaster was produced in the following colors:
Their pickguards come in Mint Green or Brown Shell colors.
Jazzmasters featured bound necks with block pearloid inlays from 1966 until the end of their original run in 1977; the headstocks were also larger ("CBS-style") in this era.
They have featured matching headstocks (headstocks painted the same color as the body) at several points throughout the guitar's history. Matched-headstock versions generally fetch a higher price and are currently not in production, except for the special J. Mascis edition.
Colors of the signature editions:
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
designed as an upmarket sibling to the Fender Stratocaster. First introduced at the 1958 NAMM Show
NAMM Show
The NAMM Show is one of the largest music product trade shows in the world, founded in 1901. It is held every January in Anaheim, California, USA, at the Anaheim Convention Center...
, it was initially marketed at jazz guitarists, but found favor among surf rock guitarists in the early 1960s. It is frequently confused with the similar looking albeit tonally
Timbre
In music, timbre is the quality of a musical note or sound or tone that distinguishes different types of sound production, such as voices and musical instruments, such as string instruments, wind instruments, and percussion instruments. The physical characteristics of sound that determine the...
different Jaguar
Fender Jaguar
The Fender Jaguar is an electric guitar introduced in 1962. A descendant of the Jazzmaster, the Jaguar quickly caught on in the emerging Surf music scene...
.
Features
The contoured "offset-waist" body was designed for comfort while playing the guitar in a seated position, as many jazz and blues artists prefer to do. A full 25½” scale length, lead and rhythm circuit switching with independent volume and tone controls, and a floating tremolo with tremolo lock, were other keys to the Jazzmaster's character. The tremolo lock can be manually activated to keep the entire guitar from going out of tune if one string breaks. The Jazzmaster also had an extra-long tremolo armTremolo arm
A whammy bar, tremolo arm/bar, or vibrato arm/bar is a component of a guitar, used to add vibrato to the sound by changing the tension of the strings, typically at the bridge or tailpiece...
.
The body is larger than that of other Fender guitars, requiring a more spacious guitar case. The Jazzmaster had unique wide, white "soapbar" pickups that were unlike any other single coil. Jazzmaster pickups are often confused with Gibson's
Gibson Guitar Corporation
The Gibson Guitar Corporation, formerly of Kalamazoo, Michigan and currently of Nashville, Tennessee, manufactures guitars and other instruments which sell under a variety of brand names...
P-90
P-90
The P-90 is a single coil electric guitar pickup produced by Gibson since 1946. Having a more complex architecture and larger dimensions than Fender's single coils, it is occasionally mistaken for a humbucker.- History :...
pickups. Although they look similar, they are constructed differently. Whereas the polepieces of the JM pickups are magnets, the P-90 has its magnets placed underneath the coil. The JM coil is wound flat and wide (moreso than the P-90), in contrast to Fender's usual tall and thin coils. This gives them a warmer tone without losing their single coil clarity. The Jazzmaster has a mellower, jazzier tone than the Strat, although it was not widely embraced by jazz musicians. Instead, rock guitarists adopted it for surf rock. The Ventures
The Ventures
The Ventures is an American instrumental rock band formed in 1958 in Tacoma, Washington. Founded by Don Wilson and Bob Bogle, the group in its various incarnations has had an enduring impact on the development of music worldwide. With over 100 million records sold, the group is the best-selling...
and The Fireballs
The Fireballs
The Fireballs, sometimes billed as Jimmy Gilmer and the Fireballs, is an American rock and roll group, particularly popular at the end of the 1950s and in the early 1960s...
were prominent Jazzmaster users.
Fender recognized the need for a purpose-designed surf-guitar, and introduced the 24" scale Fender Jaguar
Fender Jaguar
The Fender Jaguar is an electric guitar introduced in 1962. A descendant of the Jazzmaster, the Jaguar quickly caught on in the emerging Surf music scene...
, with a shorter scale, built-in mute, chrome decorations and more Strat-like pickups. The main aspect that deterred jazz players was the Jazzmaster's tendency to produce feedback
Audio feedback
Audio feedback is a special kind of positive feedback which occurs when a sound loop exists between an audio input and an audio output...
, especially if the body cavity were left without magnetic shielding. More experimentally-minded rock artists like Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...
and My Bloody Valentine later embraced this as a new way to color their music. The Jazzmaster was also the first Fender guitar carrying a separate rosewood fingerboard with clay dot position inlays glued into a two-piece maple neck and a four-ply brown tortoise shell pickguard, although from 1958 to mid 1959 they came with a one-ply gold anodized pickguard.
Some early pre-production/prototype examples came with a one-piece maple neck, a rubber fingerboard and/or a black painted aluminum pickguard. Rosewood became a standard fretboard material on other Fender models around 1959. Binding was added to the Jazzmaster fretboard in 1965, and in 1966 the dot markings were replaced by pearloid blocks. An optional maple fingerboard with black binding and block inlays was briefly offered in the mid-1970s. Jazzmaster bodies have been constructed from ash, alder, and basswood over the years.
The Jazzmaster was officially discontinued in 1980. The Jazzmaster was re-introduced in 1984 as a 1962 reissue model from Fender's Japanese factory. The American Vintage Series version was introduced in 1999. In 2007 Fender announced plans for a 'thin skin' Jazzmaster reissue with vintage nitrocellulose
Nitrocellulose
Nitrocellulose is a highly flammable compound formed by nitrating cellulose through exposure to nitric acid or another powerful nitrating agent. When used as a propellant or low-order explosive, it is also known as guncotton...
finish. The finish on the AVRI series is also nitro, but a 'thin skin' has a thinner nitro coat than usual.
One of Jazzmaster's characteristics is its string resonance, appearing at several fret positions.
Influence
Fender intended the Jazzmaster to represent a solid bodySolid body
A solid-body instrument is a string instrument such as a guitar, bass or violin built without its normal sound box and relying on an electric pickup system to directly receive the vibrations of the strings....
alternative to the hollow body archtop guitars that were then ubiquitous among Jazz guitarists. As the Telecaster and Stratocaster had done in other popular musical genres, Fender hoped to initiate a revolution in Jazz guitar, at the expense of their arch-rival Gibson
Gibson
Gibson may refer to:* Gibson Amphitheatre* Gibson Appliance* Gibson Girl* Gibson Guitar Corporation* Gibson * Gibson Generating Station-Places:In the United States:* Gibson, Arkansas* Gibson, Georgia* Gibson, Iowa* Gibson, Louisiana...
. While the Jazzmaster never caught on among its intended audience, the Telecaster is now adopted by notable Jazz guitarists, such as Bill Frisell, as an alternative to the traditional fully hollow "Jazz boxes" of yore.
Jazzmasters were most successful in the burgeoning California-based surf music
Surf music
Surf music is a genre of popular music associated with surf culture, particularly as found in Orange County and other areas of Southern California. It was particularly popular between 1961 and 1965, has subsequently been revived and was highly influential on subsequent rock music...
and instrumental rock
Instrumental rock
Instrumental rock is a type of rock music which emphasizes musical instruments, and which features very little or no singing.Examples of instrumental rock can be found in practically every subgenre of rock, often from musicians who specialize in the style, most notably Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Link...
scene of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Fender headquarters was located in Southern California, and Leo Fender himself actively solicited local players' input and guidance in designing the Jazzmaster's followup, the Jaguar.
Jazzmasters, along with Jaguars and their imitators, fell out of fashion among players during the 1970s largely due to their "old-fashioned" appearance and sonic characteristics. The 70s rock sound meant "fat" humbucker tone and lots of sustain, so guitarists gravitated toward the Gibson Les Paul
Gibson Les Paul
The Gibson Les Paul was the result of a design collaboration between Gibson Guitar Corporation and the late jazz guitarist and electronics inventor Les Paul. In 1950, with the introduction of the Fender Telecaster to the musical market, electric guitars became a public craze. In reaction, Gibson...
and its copies. The Jazzmaster's short sustain and warm piano-like tone was not favored. Fender continued to offer the Jazzmaster as part of its product line until 1980, however many collectors believe actual production ceased around 1976, with guitars sold after that period representing unsold inventory. Due to the unwanted, pawn-shop status of the guitars, young musicians were able to purchase the instruments very cheaply, obtaining the high quality guitars for little money.
Just as Fender discontinued the Jazzmaster, Tom Verlaine
Tom Verlaine
Tom Verlaine is a singer, songwriter and guitarist, best known as the frontman for the New York rock band Television.-Biography:...
of Television
Television (band)
Television was an American rock band, formed in New York City in 1973. They are best known for the album Marquee Moon and widely regarded as one of the founders of "punk" and New Wave music. Television was part of the early 1970s New York underground rock scene, along with bands like the Patti...
and Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...
started giving the guitar a cult following. Thus, they were later embraced by the American indie rock
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
scene. Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...
are notorious for the hoard of Jazzmasters they acquired starting around 1985 while the guitars were still affordable, and for their unique customization jobs (e.g. Lee Ranaldo
Lee Ranaldo
Lee M. Ranaldo is an American singer, guitarist, writer, record producer, and visual artist, best known as a co-founder of the alternative rock band Sonic Youth...
's "Jazzblaster" with Fender Wide Range
Fender Wide Range
The Fender Wide Range Humbucker is a humbucker guitar pickup, designed by Seth Lover for Fender in the early 1970s. This pickup was intended to break Fender's image as a "single coil guitar company", and to gain a foothold in the humbucker guitar market dominated by Gibson.The pickups enjoyed some...
pickups). Sonic Youth were also famous for playing on the strings below the tailed bridge
Tailed bridge guitar
Some electric guitars have an extended bridge for their tremolo system, named a tailed bridge guitar because of its shape. Most of these tailed bridge guitars were designed in the sixties and used in surf music....
(near the tailpiece) to get church-bell-like tones; this is sometimes referred to as 3rd bridge
3rd Bridge
The 3rd bridge is an extended playing technique used on some string instruments , that allows a musician to produce distinctive timbres and overtones that are unavailable on a conventional string instrument with two bridges...
technique. Other bands, such as Yes
Yes (band)
Yes are an English rock band who achieved worldwide success with their progressive, art, and symphonic style of rock music. Regarded as one of the pioneers of the progressive genre, Yes are known for their lengthy songs, mystical lyrics, elaborate album art, and live stage sets...
picked behind the nut to achieve similar sounds (on other guitar models), but in a Guitar World
Guitar World
Guitar World is a monthly music magazine devoted to guitarists. It contains original interviews, album and gear reviews and guitar and bass tablature of approximately five songs each month. The magazine is published 13 times per year...
interview, Sonic Youth rejected this practice as "art rock
Art rock
Art rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom in the 1960s, with influences from art, avant-garde, and classical music. The first usage of the term, according to Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, was in 1968. Influenced by the work of The Beatles, most notably their Sgt...
". Ranaldo even has a pickup mounted behind the bridge on one of his guitars. With the increasing visibility of old Jazzmasters, and the prices of collectible Telecasters and Stratocasters soaring out of sight in the 1990s, Jazzmasters became highly valuable. Thefts of vintage Jazzmasters from Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr. and The Raveonettes in recent years illustrate this. Sonic Youth had nine Jazzmasters stolen from them in July 1999, along with dozens of other items.
Greg Camp
Greg Camp
Greg Camp , is an American Grammy Award-nominated songwriter, guitarist and vocalist. He is best known as the founding guitarist and songwriter for the rock band, Smash Mouth...
(formerly of Smash Mouth
Smash Mouth
Smash Mouth is an American rock band from San Jose, California. The band was formed in 1994, and was originally composed of Steve Harwell, Greg Camp, Paul De Lisle and Kevin Coleman as lead vocals, guitar, bass and drums respectively...
) uses a Jazzmaster, while Robert Smith of The Cure
The Cure
The Cure are an English rock band formed in Crawley, West Sussex in 1976. The band has experienced several line-up changes, with frontman, vocalist, guitarist and principal songwriter Robert Smith being the only constant member...
used two Jazzmasters (which he named Black Torty & White Torty) for the majority of his band's early work. J Mascis
J Mascis
J Mascis is an American musician, best known as the singer, guitarist and songwriter for Dinosaur Jr.. In 2011, he was ranked in Rolling Stone's list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time.- Biography :...
of Dinosaur Jr. is a noted Jazzmaster devotee, and as of 2007 Fender produces a signature J Mascis Jazzmaster model. Mascis uses a Tune-o-matic
Tune-o-matic
Tune-o-matic is a name of fixed bridge design for electric guitars. It was designed by Ted McCarty and introduced in the Gibson Les Paul Custom guitar in 1954. In 1955, it was used on the Gibson Les Paul Gold Top...
bridge, however. The stock Jazzmaster continues to have a cultlike following in the shoegaze and dream pop
Dream pop
Dream pop is a subgenre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom in the mid-1980s, when bands like The Passions, Dif Juz, Lowlife and A.R. Kane began fusing post-punk and ethereal experiments with bittersweet pop melodies into dreamy, sensual soundscapes. The term was almost...
community, which values the buzzing, otherworldly sounds made possible by Leo's bridge design. Kevin Shields
Kevin Shields
Kevin Patrick Shields is an American-born, Irish vocalist, guitarist, and producer of alternative rock band My Bloody Valentine....
of My Bloody Valentine uses them as his main guitars, and bandmate Bilinda Butcher
Bilinda Butcher
Bilinda Jayne Butcher is a vocalist/guitarist for the rock band My Bloody Valentine.-Biography:Butcher was raised in London and then Derbyshire. She went on to study dance at Laban College in London, but she dropped out after a year due to developing a case of cystitis...
used them in addition to her Jaguars. A closeup picture of a Jazzmaster is featured as the cover of their critically acclaimed album, Loveless
Loveless (album)
Loveless is the second studio album by alternative rock band My Bloody Valentine. Released on 4 November 1991, Loveless was recorded over a two-year period between 1989 and 1991 in nineteen recording studios...
(1991). One is also depicted on the cover of Band of Susans
Band of Susans
Band of Susans was a noise rock band formed in New York City in 1986. It originally consisted of Robert Poss , Susan Stenger , Ron Spitzer , with Susan Lyall , Susan Tallman , and Alva Rogers . However, the band would undergo several permutations over the years, usually involving guitarists...
' Blessing And Curse EP (1987), although the band is more noted for their use of G&L
G&L
G&L is a guitar design and production company founded by Leo Fender, George Fullerton, and Dale Hyatt in the late 1970s. Fender sold his company named Fender in 1965. He designed and produced instruments for Music Man in the 1970s through his company CLF Research. When relations with Music Man...
guitars. Ira Kaplan of Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo, sometimes abbreviated as YLT, is an American alternative rock band formed in Hoboken, New Jersey in 1984. Since 1992, the lineup has consisted of Ira Kaplan , Georgia Hubley , and James McNew .Despite achieving limited mainstream success, Yo La Tengo has been called "the quintessential...
favors a Jazzmaster as well as other vintage Fender guitars, often playing behind-the-back solos in concert. Nels Cline
Nels Cline
Nels Cline is an American guitarist and composer, currently the lead guitarist of alternative rock band Wilco. David Carr of the New York Times describes Cline as "one of the best guitarists in any genre."-Career:...
, solo artist and lead guitarist of Wilco
Wilco
Wilco is an American alternative rock band based in Chicago, Illinois. The band was formed in 1994 by the remaining members of alternative country group Uncle Tupelo following singer Jay Farrar's departure. Wilco's lineup has changed frequently, with only singer Jeff Tweedy and bassist John...
since 2004, uses the Jazzmaster as his main guitar. Thom Yorke
Thom Yorke
Thomas "Thom" Edward Yorke is an English musician who is the lead vocalist and principal songwriter for Radiohead. He mainly plays guitar and piano, but he has also played drums and bass guitar...
of Radiohead
Radiohead
Radiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke , Jonny Greenwood , Ed O'Brien , Colin Greenwood and Phil Selway .Radiohead released their debut single "Creep" in 1992...
(on occasion) uses his vintage Jazzmasters for live performances and the studio recordings of "Airbag" and "Weird Fishes/Arpeggi". Steven Drozd
Steven Drozd
Steven Gregory Drozd is an American musician. He is a multi-instrumentalist and lead guitarist for The Flaming Lips.-Early life:...
of The Flaming Lips
The Flaming Lips
The Flaming Lips are an American alternative rock band, formed in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in 1983.Melodically, their sound contains lush, multi-layered, psychedelic rock arrangements, but lyrically their compositions show elements of space rock, including unusual song and album titles—such as "What...
uses a '67 Jazzmaster. Stephen Malkmus
Stephen Malkmus
Stephen Joseph Malkmus is an indie rock musician and icon, and a member of the band Pavement. He currently performs with Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks.-Early years:...
, solo artist (formerly of the highly influential 90s indie rock group Pavement
Pavement (band)
Pavement is an American alternative rock band that formed in Stockton, California in 1989. In their career, they achieved a significant cult following, and they were called the best band of the 1990s by prominent music critics Robert Christgau and Stephen Thomas Erlewine...
), has used his vintage Jazzmaster as a main guitar throughout his career. J Mascis
J Mascis
J Mascis is an American musician, best known as the singer, guitarist and songwriter for Dinosaur Jr.. In 2011, he was ranked in Rolling Stone's list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time.- Biography :...
, Nels Cline
Nels Cline
Nels Cline is an American guitarist and composer, currently the lead guitarist of alternative rock band Wilco. David Carr of the New York Times describes Cline as "one of the best guitarists in any genre."-Career:...
, Tom Verlaine
Tom Verlaine
Tom Verlaine is a singer, songwriter and guitarist, best known as the frontman for the New York rock band Television.-Biography:...
, Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo (of Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...
) all performed at the "Jazzmaster 50th Anniversary Concert" at the Knitting Factory
Knitting Factory
The Knitting Factory is a music venue and concert house with locations in Brooklyn, Boise, Reno, and Spokane. The club originally specialized in jazz and experimental music and has expanded to showcasing all genres of music, performing arts and comedy....
in New York on September 12, 2008. Luther Perkins
Luther Perkins
Luther Monroe Perkins was an American country music guitarist and a member of the Tennessee Three, the backup band for singer Johnny Cash. Perkins was an iconic figure in what would become known as rockabilly music...
was one of the first Jazzmaster players, owning an early white version.
Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...
briefly owned a Jazzmaster very early in his career (prior to his joining The Mothers). John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
was photographed playing a white Jazzmaster (belonging to Jacky Spelter) during an Austrian hotel lounge jam with The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
in March 1965.
Imitations and reissues
There are a wide array of budget-priced overseas Jazzmaster imitations, particularly from the 1960s and '70s. Dillion, Yamaha, Framus, Teisco, Aria, Jansen, Harmony, National and Demel are some of the companies who indulged, mainly to capitalize on the surf rock sound of the 1960s. Many of the modern copies replace the Jazzmaster's bridge and tremolo setup with a Stratocaster-derived assembly, altering the character of the guitar considerably but making it more palatable to players used to the Strat. The vintage copies are rising in price, with guitars costing under $100 as little as 5 years ago now selling for as much as $600. Fender eventually got the offset-waist body shape patented, putting an end to the 'copy era'.Fender's Japanese facility is noted for the high quality of its offset-waist guitars. These MIJ or CIJ (Made or Crafted In Japan) reissues have been sporadically available outside Japan since the late 1980s, either from Japanese dealers willing to ship overseas, or from US dealers who have imported them. However, these Japanese-made Jazzmasters, except for those with JV-prefix serial numbers, are often criticized for essentially having narrow Stratocaster pickups inside the wide soapbar Jazzmaster housings, thus giving the guitar a Strat/Jaguar "honk" rather than the classic, mellow Jazzmaster sound. Since 1996, its Squier offshoot has manufactured a budget version called the Jagmaster, though its humbucker
Humbucker
A humbucker is a type of electric guitar pickup, first patented by Seth Lover and the Gibson company, that uses two coils, both generating string signal. Humbuckers have higher output than a single coil pickup since both coils are connected in series...
pickups and Stratocaster-style bridge give it a much different, "hard rock" sound.
In May 2008 Fender introduced the Classic Player Series Jazzmaster, which is made in Mexico. Fender have made numerous changes to the original design, replacing the bridge with a Tune-o-matic type, giving it a 9.5" fretboard radius, moving the tremolo plate closer to the bridge and installing special designed P-90
P-90
The P-90 is a single coil electric guitar pickup produced by Gibson since 1946. Having a more complex architecture and larger dimensions than Fender's single coils, it is occasionally mistaken for a humbucker.- History :...
-type high-output single-coil pickups with a bar magnet at the base instead of the more Strat-like magnetized polepieces of the original pickups.http://www.fender.com/products//view_specs.php?full_partno=0141600&name=Classic+Player+Jazzmaster%26reg%3B+Special
September 2010 saw the introduction of the Mexican-made Black Top Jazzmaster HS. This guitar sports a Duncan Designed
Seymour Duncan
Seymour Duncan is a company that is best known for manufacturing of guitar pickups, and currently has a line of effects pedals. The company was founded in 1976 by guitarist and luthier Seymour W. Duncan and his then-wife Cathy Carter Duncan in Goleta, California, USA...
single-coil Jazzmaster neck pickup and a hot vintage alnico humbucking bridge pickup, with other distinctive touches including skirted black amp knobs, a Jazzmaster tremolo tailpiece and a three-way toggle switch. Other features include an alder body, maple neck with 9.5”-radius rosewood fretboard, 21 medium-jumbo frets, gloss polyester finish and chrome hardware.
Signature editions
In July 2007, Fender released the J MascisJ Mascis
J Mascis is an American musician, best known as the singer, guitarist and songwriter for Dinosaur Jr.. In 2011, he was ranked in Rolling Stone's list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time.- Biography :...
signature Jazzmaster, in honour of the Dinosaur Jr
Dinosaur Jr
Dinosaur Jr. is an American alternative rock band formed in Amherst, Massachusetts in 1984. Originally called Dinosaur, prior to legal issues that forced the group to change their name, the band disbanded in 1997 until reuniting in 2005...
frontman. This model is much the same as previous Jazzmaster models aside from its Adjust-o-matic bridge (the Fender equivalent of the Gibson
Gibson Guitar Corporation
The Gibson Guitar Corporation, formerly of Kalamazoo, Michigan and currently of Nashville, Tennessee, manufactures guitars and other instruments which sell under a variety of brand names...
Tune-o-matic
Tune-o-matic
Tune-o-matic is a name of fixed bridge design for electric guitars. It was designed by Ted McCarty and introduced in the Gibson Les Paul Custom guitar in 1954. In 1955, it was used on the Gibson Les Paul Gold Top...
bridge), and its unusual purple sparkle finish. It is currently the only model of Jazzmaster in production with a matching headstock. In the past, a Nokie Edwards
Nokie Edwards
Nokie Edwards is an American musician and member of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He is primarily a guitarist, best known for his work with The Ventures...
(of The Ventures
The Ventures
The Ventures is an American instrumental rock band formed in 1958 in Tacoma, Washington. Founded by Don Wilson and Bob Bogle, the group in its various incarnations has had an enduring impact on the development of music worldwide. With over 100 million records sold, the group is the best-selling...
) signature model was produced in Japan, without rhythm circuit.
April 2008 saw the introduction of the Elvis Costello Jazzmaster, the second signature Jazzmaster model made at the Corona facility - a faithful replication of Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...
's 1960s Jazzmaster used during his 1977 debut album, My Aim is True
My Aim Is True
My Aim Is True is the debut album by Elvis Costello.The album was recorded at Pathway Studios in Holloway, London Borough of Islington, over the course of 1976 during late-night studio sessions, in a total of twenty-four hours...
. This signature Jazzmaster guitar features a solid walnut-stain finished alder body and a modified tremolo bridge for Costello's trademark "spy movie" sound. The Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...
signature model has a natural brown finish and was released in 2008.
In June 2009, Fender announced Lee Ranaldo
Lee Ranaldo
Lee M. Ranaldo is an American singer, guitarist, writer, record producer, and visual artist, best known as a co-founder of the alternative rock band Sonic Youth...
and Thurston Moore
Thurston Moore
Thurston Joseph Moore is an American musician best known as a singer, songwriter and guitarist of Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside of Sonic Youth, as well as running the Ecstatic Peace! record label...
signature Jazzmasters, in honour of the guitarists of Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...
. These models were released on July 1, 2009. Both editions are stripped down to have only one volume knob and a pickup switch that goes side to side and have a black headstock. The difference lies in the pickup, bridge, colour, and the relative placement of the volume knob to the jack input. Ranaldo's instrument has a Sapphire Blue finish and features dual Fender Wide Range
Fender Wide Range
The Fender Wide Range Humbucker is a humbucker guitar pickup, designed by Seth Lover for Fender in the early 1970s. This pickup was intended to break Fender's image as a "single coil guitar company", and to gain a foothold in the humbucker guitar market dominated by Gibson.The pickups enjoyed some...
humbucking pickups that are re-spec'd to Ranaldo's specifications and a Mustang
Fender Mustang
The Fender Mustang is an electric guitar by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation, introduced in 1964 as the basis of a major redesign of Fender's student models then consisting of the Musicmaster and Duo-Sonic. It was produced until 1982 and reissued in 1990.In the 1960s, it was used in Surf...
bridge. Moore's version features a Forest Green finish, a pair of Seymour Duncan
Seymour Duncan
Seymour Duncan is a company that is best known for manufacturing of guitar pickups, and currently has a line of effects pedals. The company was founded in 1976 by guitarist and luthier Seymour W. Duncan and his then-wife Cathy Carter Duncan in Goleta, California, USA...
Antiquity II Jazzmaster single-coil pickups and a Tune-o-matic bridge. Users include Alex Turner
Alex Turner (musician)
Alexander David Turner is an English musician, best known as the lead vocalist, guitarist and main songwriter of the English rock band Arctic Monkeys...
of the Arctic Monkeys
Arctic Monkeys
Arctic Monkeys are an English indie rock band. Formed in 2002 in High Green, a suburb of Sheffield, the band currently consists of Alex Turner , Jamie Cook , Nick O'Malley and Matt Helders...
Colors
The vintage Jazzmasters (Original series) were produced in the following colors:- 3-Color Sunburst as standard
Additionally, but NOT limited to the following:
- Olympic White
- Lake Placid Blue
- Candy Apple Red
- Black
- semi-transparent blonde
Vintage Jazzmasters have been seen in most of the common Fender Custom Colors of the era, and as Fender would sometimes paint guitars in any shade the owner requested, one cannot list the full range of colors made.
The American Vintage Re-Issue (AVRI) Jazzmaster was produced in the following colors:
- 3-Color Sunburst
- Olympic White
- Black
- Ocean Turquoise
- Surf Green
- Ice Blue Metallic
Their pickguards come in Mint Green or Brown Shell colors.
Jazzmasters featured bound necks with block pearloid inlays from 1966 until the end of their original run in 1977; the headstocks were also larger ("CBS-style") in this era.
They have featured matching headstocks (headstocks painted the same color as the body) at several points throughout the guitar's history. Matched-headstock versions generally fetch a higher price and are currently not in production, except for the special J. Mascis edition.
Colors of the signature editions:
- J. Mascis - Purple sparkle
- Elvis Costello - Natural Brown
- Lee Ranaldo - Transparent Blue
- Thurston Moore - Transparent Green.
Resources
- Fender: The Golden Age 1946–1970 by Martin Kelly, Terry Foster, Paul Kelly. London & New York: Cassell (2010) ISBN 1-844-03666-9