Fender Jazzmaster
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Fender Jazzmaster | |
 |
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| Manufacturer | Fender |
| Period | 1958 — 1977; 1999 — present |
| Construction | |
| Body type | Solid |
| Neck joint | Bolt-on |
| Woods | |
| Body | Alder |
| Neck | Maple |
| Fretboard | Rosewood |
| Hardware | |
| Bridge | "Floating" Tremolo |
| Pickup(s) | 2 wide Single-coil, specially designed |
| Colors available | |
| (American Vintage Series, as of 2005) 3-Color Sunburst, Olympic White, Black, Ocean Turquoise, Surf Green, Ice Blue Metallic (other colors may be available) | |
Contents |
[edit] Introduction
The Fender Jazzmaster electric guitar 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 current Telecaster model. As its name indicates, it was initially marketed at jazz guitarists.
[edit] Innovation
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 to facilitate note-bending. The body is larger than that of other Fender guitars, necessitating a more spacious guitar case. The Jazzmaster had distinctively wide, white "soapbar" pickups modelled after P-90s. These gave it 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. (Fender introduced a limited-edition Ventures Jazzmaster in 1996.) Fender then recognized the need for a purpose-designed surf-guitar, and introduced the 24" scale Fender Jaguar, with chrome decorations and more Strat-like pickups. The main thing that put off jazz players was the Jazzmaster's tendency to produce feedback, especially if the body cavity were left without magnetic shielding. However, noise-savvy artists like Sonic Youth and My Bloody Valentine later embraced this as a new way to color their music.
[edit] Influence
Offset-waist guitars fell out of fashion during the 1970s. 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. In any event, Jazzmasters made after the early 70s are exceedingly rare. Ironically, 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 grunge and indie rock scene. Sonic Youth are notorious for their hoarding of Jazzmasters, and for their unique customization jobs (e.g. Lee Ranaldo's "Jazzblaster" with Telecaster pickups). S.Y. were also famous for playing on the strings below the bridge (near the tailpiece) to get church-bell-like tones; this is sometimes referred to as 3rd Bridge technique. Ranaldo even has a pickup mounted in this unorthodox position on one of his guitars. Sonic Youth had nine Jazzmasters stolen from them in July 1999, along with dozens of other items. Robert Smith of The Cure used two Jazzmasters (which he named Black Torty & White Torty) for the majority of his band's work. J Mascis of Dinosaur Jr is a noted Jazzmaster icon, having purchased his first one after painting a neighbor's house one summer. He says that he wanted a worn-in Stratocaster but could not afford one, so he purchased a Jazzmaster and loved it. The Jazzmaster continues to have a cultlike following in the "shoegaze"/ "dream pop" community. Kevin Shields of My Bloody Valentine used them as his main guitars, and bandmate Bilinda Butcher used them in addition to her Jaguars. A closeup picture of a Jazzmaster is featured on the cover of their critically-acclaimed album, Loveless (1991). One is also used as the cover of Band of Susans' Blessing And Curse EP (1987). Steven Page of Barenaked Ladies used a reissued Jazzmaster during the period of the band's second album, Maybe You Should Drive, and still occasionally uses it in studio.
Ira Kaplan of Yo La Tengo has always used a Jazzmaster as his main axe, often playing behind-the-back solos on it in concert. Nels Cline, solo artist and new lead guitarist of Wilco, has also used the Jazzmaster as his main guitar for decades. Peter Koppes of The Church used a white one, particularly for the chiming sound on "Shadow Cabinet" and in the music video for international hit "Under The Milky Way"; he was primarily a Strat player, though. Jazzmasters are popular with many other alternative and indie rock bands - Adam Franklin of Swervedriver, Emma Anderson of Lush, Mave Hinricks of For Against, Wayne Coyne and Steven Drozd of The Flaming Lips, Nick Salomon of The Bevis Frond, Russell Senior of Pulp, Shelby Cinca of Frodus, Takaakira "Taka" Goto of Mono, Sune Rose Wagner of The Raveonettes, Jason Martin of Starflyer 59, Thom Yorke of Radiohead, Mike Einziger of Incubus, J Mascis of Dinosaur Jr, Paul Dempsey of Something For Kate, Tabuchi Hisako of Number Girl, and Roger Lavallee of The Curtain Society all favor the Jazzmaster.
Ric Ocasek of The Cars played a distinctive pink 1974 model. Jimi Hendrix regularly played a Jazzmaster in blues bands before becoming famous, and on his hit "Fire"; this guitar is now owned by actor Steven Seagal.
[edit] Imitation
With the increasing popularity of old Jazzmasters, and the prices of old Telecasters and Stratocasters soaring out of sight in the 1980s, Jazzmasters became highly valuable. Thefts of vintage Jazzmasters from Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr, and The Raveonettes in recent years illustrate this. There are a wide array of budget-priced overseas Jazzmaster imitations, particularly from the 1960s and '70s. Dillion, Yamaha, Framus, Aria, Jansen, Harmony, National, and Demel are some of the companies who did this, mainly to capitalize on the surf-rock movement, and later on the alternative rock trend. Kevin Shields was a paid endorsee of his own signature model copy of the Jazzmaster, made by Yamaha, in the early 1990s. Fender eventually got the offset-waist body shape patented. Fender has sporadically reissued the Jazzmaster during the last 20 years. Its Japanese facility is noted for the high quality of its offset-waist guitars. However, the "M.I.J." Jazzmasters 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 give it a much different, "hard rock" sound.
[edit] Improvement
Many guitar players find fault with the design of the original Jazzmaster bridge, which features saddles that have many grooves cut into them (similar to screw threads). The idea behind this design was that you could space your strings to best suit your needs. In reality, the strings would jump out of the grooves while playing with any sort of force. As a solution, many Jazzmaster players replace the Jazzmaster bridge with a Fender Mustang bridge, which has one string groove per saddle. A cheaper and equally effective solution is simply to deepen the saddles with a file. More issue is found with the rocking bridge design, which can pivot forward and backward and can occasionally get knocked in one direction or another. This is similar in concept to a modern roller bridge and works well in concept, but many players fix the bridge by wrapping its posts with electrical tape, however tuning can suffer when the trem is used. Another common Jazzmaster modification is the addition of a "Buzz Stop," a bar that mounts above the tremolo system and increases the angle of the strings behind the bridge, supposedly increasing sustain while decreasing string buzz (another common problem with the original Jazzmaster bridge). Some however claim that such implements are not necessary, forcing the bridge forward on some examples, and the trem can often bind on the buzzstop. Bridge buzz can be minimized, however, with a good setup. The most effective way is to raise the bridge, which will increase the break-angle of the strings, thus providing more downward force on the bridge. Jazzmasters featured bound necks with pearloid inlays from 1966 until the end of their original run in 1977; the headstocks were also larger ("CBS-style") in this era.
[edit] Colors
The Jazzmaster is produced in the following colors:
- Sunburst and red pickguard
- Candy Apple Red with matching headstock and white pickguard
- Sonic blue with matching headstock and white pickguard
- White with matching headstock and red pickguard
- Blonde with ivory pickguard
- Black with white pickguard
They have featured matched headstocks (headstocks painted the same color as the body) at several points, on and off, throughout the guitar's history. Matched-headstock versions generally fetch a higher price.
[edit] Information
- The Higher Evolution Of Offset Waist Guitars
- Offset Guitars a discussion forum dedicated to Fender Jazzmasters, Jaguars, Bass VIs and other offset-waist guitars
- Jim Shine's Jazzmaster site on the evolution of the guitar from prototype stages through the minor tweaks in its design
- Guitar rigs of noteworthy Jazzmaster users at GuitarGeek
