1961 Fender Jazzmaster – Lake Placid Blue

The Fender Jazzmaster is an electric guitar designed as a sibling to the Fender Stratocaster. It was introduced at the 1958 NAMM Show. Though the Jazzmaster was intended for Jazz guitarists, the surf rock scene became known for favoring them in the early 1960s.

The guitar features a contoured “offset-waist” body which was designed for comfort while playing sitting down, as most Jazz artists often prefer. The solid body represents an alternative to the hollow body guitars that were so common among Jazz players. Other qualities of the Jazzmaster are a full 25½” scale length, lead and rhythm circuit switching the independent volume/tone controls, and a floating tremolo with a tremolo lock that can be manually activated to keep the guitar in tune should a string break. The construction of the bridge and tremolo is different from the Stratocaster and has a different resonance and less sustain (generally). This guitar has a larger body than other Fender guitars and requires a larger guitar case and was the first Fender to carry a rosewood fingerboard instead of a maple one. The Jazzmaster (along with all imitators) started to lose it’s ‘appeal’ in the 70’s due to its “old fashioned” appearance and  was officially discontinued in September 1980. Fender reintroduced it in 1984 as a 1962 reissue model from Japan- followed by the American Vintage Series verion in 1999.

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