Fender Jazzmaster
The Jazzmaster is an electric guitar . It has been manufactured by the American musical instrument maker Fender since 1958 . Originally planned as the successor to the Stratocaster and top model of the guitar line, the Jazzmaster fell short of the high expectations of the company's boss and inventor Leo Fender . After falling sales and production cessation, the Jazzmaster has experienced a renaissance since the 1990s thanks to its popularity with musicians of grunge and alternative rock .
history
In the 1950s, the market for electric guitars grew rapidly. The still young company Fender , which had previously successfully launched the Telecaster and Stratocaster models , developed the Jazzmaster as the top model in the guitar line. It was the public in 1958 at the music fair NAMM ( National Association of Music Merchants ) in Anaheim ( California pictured). The Jazzmaster was elaborately constructed and, with its warm sound and name, aimed at the market of jazz musicians who until then still preferred the instruments made by the rival company Gibson . In contrast to Fender, these had a dark rosewood fingerboard and larger pickups, which Leo Fender quickly adopted for the Jazzmaster.
Despite massive marketing (Fender even used the Jazzmaster as a logo on official stationery), sales figures fell short of expectations. Established Fender players preferred the lighter-sounding Telecaster and Stratocaster models, jazz musicians mostly couldn't get used to the modernist design of the Jazzmaster and stayed with the traditional archtop and Les Paul models from Gibson. In contrast, however, the group from the surf and rock 'n' roll scene discovered the qualities of the instrument for themselves.
After the sales figures fell steadily, production was completely stopped in 1982 and the Jazzmaster disappeared from stores. At the end of the 1980s it was rediscovered by musicians from the grunge and alternative scene: in search of good, inexpensive instruments, the musicians roamed the second-hand shops and found an inexpensive way to play a real Fender in the almost forgotten Jazzmaster. The exotic design may also have contributed to its popularity in the alternative rock scene, as it was also possible to set yourself apart visually from the predominant rock and pop musicians.
With this new popularity, the Jazzmaster is now being produced again in significant numbers. The product range extends from cheap models made in China to complex custom-made products in Fender's custom shop. The production numbers are still far below those of the other models.
construction
The Jazzmaster follows as already the Telecaster and Stratocaster the fundamental design principle of the Fender company: At a massive body of alder - or ash wood is a neck from maple with a scale length screwed by 648 mm. The tuning machines are in a line on the upper side of the asymmetrical headstock . The electrical system is mounted on a pickguard, usually made of plastic, which is located under the strings on the body.
In contrast to the other models from Fender, the electronics of the Jazzmaster consist of two large single-coil pickups that are only used in the Jazzmaster and that produce a warm, bell-like sound. Switching is done via a toggle switch with three positions in which either the bridge, neck or both pickups are activated. The sound is controlled by a tone and volume knob. As a special feature, the Jazzmaster has another slide switch and two roller controls, with which a second sound for the neck pickup can be set. This is called up by the slide switch regardless of the normal sound setting. Originally, these alternative sounds were intended to be able to produce the dark, warm tone of jazz guitars at the push of a button. Since the adjustable timbres are actually rather dull and "queasy", only a few musicians use them in practice. Often one comes across instruments that are equipped with humbuckers . Almost without exception, these represent modifications by musicians in order to achieve an even more powerful tone. Since the millings of the pickups are very large, this modification is usually possible without complex woodwork. Occasional jazz masters with three single coil pickups are likely to represent subsequent modifications.
The tremolo unit consists of a bridge (bridge) and a separate tailpiece . The tailpiece consists of a base plate and an L-shaped metal sheet, which is rotatably mounted in the bend on a metal edge. The strings are suspended from the shorter side of the L-shaped sheet metal that protrudes from the base plate . The longer side is under the base plate, where a spring counteracts the tension of the strings. The tremolo arm is also inserted into a sleeve here. The bridge rests on two height-adjustable screws and is attached so that it can tilt when the tremolo is used ("swiveling action"). The strings themselves run over threaded sleeves. The tremolo of the Jazzmaster is relatively stable when set correctly, but allows only a small range of pitch changes (approx. +/- two semitones ). A disadvantage of the complex construction are rattling noises caused by vibrating metal parts of the tremolo or bridge. This is due to the insufficient pressure of the string on the bridge due to a kink angle of the string that is too flat. If you hit harder, there is also the risk that the strings (especially bass strings E and A) slip or jump off the bridge. Leo Fender had already planned this elaborate construction for the Stratocaster, but was convinced by his employees to take a simpler (and ultimately more successful) approach. A common modification (especially with the so-called signature models) is therefore to use the Mustang bridge, as it only has to be placed in the intended, identical brackets instead of the original bridge and is cheap compared to other solutions .
The tremolo has a sliding button with which you can - assuming the optimal setting - lock it in the starting position without detuning. This is particularly useful if there is frequent retuning on stage or if a string breaks during a concert: Under normal circumstances, the changed string tension would lose the entire tuning, as the system of string tension and return spring is out of balance. This can be effectively prevented by blocking.
The jazz masters in music
The Jazzmaster was preferred in the beginning in the rock 'n' roll or surf scene . The Jazzmaster is able to produce the clear, bell-like clean sound (called " Twang ") preferred in these musical styles . The tremolo can also be used to add a typical “shimmer” to the tone, which is also suitable for these styles. Well-known guitarists who used the Jazzmaster in this context included Bob Bogle ( The Ventures ) and Carl Wilson ( The Beach Boys ), but Luther Perkins ( Johnny Cash 's Tennessee Three ) also used Jazzmasters for a long time.
In later years the grunge and alternative scene discovered the guitar for itself. Well-known musicians who used and are using the Jazzmaster include Elvis Costello , Robert Smith ( The Cure ), Patrick Walden (Ex- Babyshambles ), Lee Ranaldo , Thurston Moore (both Sonic Youth ), J. Mascis ( Dinosaur Jr. ) , Nels Cline (from Wilco ) and Kevin Shields and Bilinda Butcher (both My Bloody Valentine ). In order to achieve the sometimes very experimental sounds that these bands need / use, the instruments were often heavily modified. In Germany, Jazzmasters are used by the bands Tocotronic and Tomte , among others .
Other special features
- Although musicians particularly appreciate the comfort of the Fender Jazzmaster and its successor, the Jaguar, while standing, Leo Fender has optimized the asymmetrical body with an offset waist especially for playing while seated. Fender believed that “real” musicians (where “right” particularly meant classical music and jazz ) play while seated. Leo Fender didn't care that rock musicians , who were Fender's main customers, were on stage: he didn't like rock. In fact, a sketch can be seen on the patent applications of the Jazzmaster, in which a man uses the guitar in the classic playing position (sitting, the guitar on the raised left knee). Fender employees report that Leo Fender maintained this view well into the 1980s.
- At the same time as the introduction of the Jazzmaster, the Fender company began working with the paint and varnish manufacturer DuPont . At the time, it was primarily known for its brightly colored car paints . This made it possible to paint instruments not only in traditional wood colors but also in all other colors that were known from cars. This may be the reason why the Jazzmaster in particular appears in a multitude of color variants and combinations.
- With the introduction of the Jazzmaster, Fender offered necks with fingerboards made of rosewood for the first time . Older Strat and Tele models all had necks made from one piece of maple ("one-piece-maple-neck") without an extra glued-on fingerboard. For economic reasons, Fender switched neck production completely to rosewood fingerboards so that two different necks did not have to be produced. Before that, Leo Fender experimented with different materials that could be used as a fingerboard. A rare prototype of the Jazzmaster is known from 1957, which has a black plastic fingerboard .
- When bands like the Beatles , Byrds, and The Ventures made the sound of twelve-string guitars popular in the 1960s , some guitarists added two to three extra strings to their jazz masters. These were mostly used to double the high strings (G, B, and e) and thus imitate the sound of twelve strings. The additional tuning machines were attached to the right side of the headstock. Similar modifications are also known from the Stratocaster, whose headstock also offers space for further tuning mechanisms.
literature
- Tony Bacon, Dave Hunter: Totally Guitar. The definitive guide . Zweiausendeins-Verlag, Frankfurt / M. 2004, ISBN 3-86150-732-3
- Tony Bacon: guitars. All models and manufacturers . Zsolnay, Vienna 1995, ISBN 3-552-05073-6
- George Gruhn, Walter Carter: Electric Guitars & Basses. The history of electric guitars and basses . PPV, Bergkirchen 1999, ISBN 3-932275-04-7
- Heinz Rebellius : Why is the Strat the Strat? In: Guitar & Bass , 2004, October edition, pp. 98–102
- Peter Bertges: The Fender Reference , Bomots Saarbrücken, 2008
Web links
- Official website of the Fender company
- Patent specification for the body shape of the Jazzmaster (United States Patent and Trademark Office, English)
- Fan site for the instruments Jaguar and Jazzmaster with sound samples and simulations
