Fender’s iconic offset design is as elegant as it is recognisable. Both the Jaguar and Jazzmaster share this shape, so what’s the difference? Like identical twins – they might look similar but their personalities are vastly different.
Fender Vintera Series Jazzmaster (Left) & Fender Player Series Jaguar (Right)
Fender Jazzmaster
Introduced at the NAMM show in 1958, the Jazzmaster was the very first offset electric guitar. Before it became the go-to Axe for alternative guitarists, the Jazzmaster – you guessed it – was meant to be a Jazz guitar.
Upon its release, the Jazzmaster was advertised as Fender’s premier, top of the line guitar – which a price tag that reflected it, costing significantly more than a Telecaster or Stratocaster. It was the first guitar in Fender’s line to use a Rosewood fingerboard, which was seen as a premium feature compared to Maple. It was also the first Fender guitar to offer custom colours, such as Olympic White, Surf Green, and Candy Apple Red.
Whilst developing both the Strat and Tele, Leo Fender was putting prototypes in the hands of guitarists to get their feedback. This wasn’t the case with the Jazzmaster, which completely flopped upon it’s release. Big Jazz-box hollow-body guitars are still favoured to this day by Jazz cats – Fender had made a solid-body guitar for a market that never asked for it.
Quite surprisingly, instead of ending up in New York clubs, the Jazzmaster found popularity in the California Surf scene, for it’s bright, jangly tone and smooth tremolo system – perfect for reverb-soaked strumming.
Throughout the ‘70s, music was dominated by rock – with Gibson Les Pauls and SGs the flavour of the decade. It wasn’t until the end of the ‘70s that Jazzmasters reclaimed some popularity, thanks to the “New Wave”. Players like Elvis Costello made the Jazzmaster cool again as the anti-mainstream guitar.
The Jazzmaster has found continued success owing to My Bloody Valentines’ Kevin Shields, Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore and Lee Renaldo, and more recently Dinosaur Jr’s J Mascis. Despite being designed as a Jazz guitar, the Fender Jazzmaster has somehow become the go-to for Indie and Alternative music.
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