BIOGRAPHICAL DETAILS
Description: Instrument, String, Manufacturer, USA
Known For: The Fender Jazzmaster is an electric guitar.
Instruments: Guitar
Location: United States of America
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BIOGRAPHICAL PROFILE
Fender Jazzmaster
The Fender Jazzmaster is an electric guitar that was first introduced at the 1958 NAMM Show and was designed as a more upmarket instrument than the Fender Stratocaster, which was originally to replace the Telecaster model.
As its name indicates, it was initially marketed at jazz guitarists but was more commonly played by surf rock guitarists in the early 1960s and, more recently, by indie rock artists. It is frequently confused with the similar looking albeit tonally different Jaguar.
Manufacturer Fender
Period 1958 — 1980; 1986 — present
Construction
Body type Solid
Neck joint Bolt-on
Scale 25.5″
Woods
Body Alder or Basswood or Ash
Neck Maple
Fretboard Rosewood or Maple
Hardware
Bridge “Floating” Tremolo
Pickup(s) 2 Single-coil
Colors available
(American Vintage Series, as of 2005) 3-Tone Sunburst, Olympic White, Black, Ocean Turquoise, Surf Green, Ice Blue Metallic (other colors may be available)
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 25-1/2” 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 arm.
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 P90 pickups although their construction is similar but not identical.
The Jazzmaster has a mellower, jazzier tone than the Strat, although it wasn’t embraced by jazz musicians. (Joe Pass, however, used one during his stay at Synanon.) Instead, rock guitarists used the instrument, especially for surf rock. The Ventures and The Fireballs were prominent Jazzmaster users.
The Jazzmaster also played a part in the Indorock scene, with guitarist Andy Tielman creating a 10-string Jazzmaster using a red-hot nail to burn holes for the extra tuning pegs in his Jazzmaster’s headstock.
Where Jazzmasters were most successful was in the burgeoning California-based surf music and instrumental rock scene of the late 1950s and early 1960s.
Just as Fender discontinued the Jazzmaster, Tom Verlaine of Television and Elvis Costello started giving the guitar a cult following.
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
Apple Candy Red
Black (post CBS)
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:[citation needed]
3-Color Sunburst
Olympic White
Black
Ocean Turquoise
Surf Green
Ice Blue Metallic
Colors of the signature editions:
J. Mascis – Purple sparkle
Elvis Costello – Natural Brown
Lee Ranaldo – Transparent Blue
Thurston Moore – Transparent Green.