[MUSIC]
Hi folks, how are you today?
My name is Al, I'm in the Fender Hollywood office, and
today I'd like to show you the new 60th Anniversary 58 Jazzmaster.
[MUSIC]
Okay, so here's the case for the Jazzmaster, a nice tweed case,
when you open it up it's got a beautiful plush interior.
One of the cool touches of the case is this 60th anniversary logo that we've
embroidered on the inside.
The matching logo is on the neck plate.
So here we are looking at a closeup of the guitar.
The Jazzmaster was released in 1958, it was designed to appeal to jazz musicians.
One of the hallmarks of the design of this guitar is its beautiful offset shape.
And that shape was actually purposeful, it was designed so that when you sit and
play it's very comfortable in the sitting position.
Some other cool features about the 58 that we have here is, the way it looks.
Shortly afterwards the aesthetic changed a little bit.
On this, this is kind of like the prototype that had black pick up covers
and tele knobs and a gold guard.
Shortly after the guard was switched to tortoise shell,
the pick up covers become white and the knobs become Strat knobs.
Another interesting thing about the Jazzmaster, it was the first production
model that Fender released with a rosewood board as standard.
[MUSIC]
Another very unique feature is the bridge and
tremolo system that accompany the Jazzmaster.
This function's a lot different than the Strat trem.
You have a bridge piece here with these threaded saddles,
very vintage correct, and then the floating tremolo assembly down here.
When you put the arm in, and we'll demonstrate this in a little bit, and
use the tremolo,
it lends itself to less extreme tremolo action when compared to a Strat.
It's a very unique sound and it become very popular, obviously,
later on in the 60s with the surf guys.
[MUSIC]
We make a lot of Jazzmaster models now that do different things
with the controls than a vintage guitar would have.
Or sometimes the controls from a vintage guitar are completely missing on some
of our models.
I'm going to talk about the way a vintage Jazzmaster works.
Basically, what you have here is a lead and rhythm circuit set up.
So this switch here allows you to choose whether you're in lead or rhythm modes.
When the switch is down, that is the lead mode and
that means all these controls down here are activated.
Basically, that's a three way toggle which allows you to choose the pick ups.
Bridge pick up, both pick ups on, neck pick up only.
So you can choose what pick ups you want with the switch and
then this is a master volume and master tone.
When you switch up into the rhythm position it activates
the neck pickup only, and that's often referred to as the rhythm pickup so
that's why it's called the the rhythm circuit.
And it's a little darker than it would be if you were in the lead position, so
it's a little darker neck pickup.
And then these wheels activate as the volume and tone, okay?
[MUSIC]
So the with volume all the way off.
[MUSIC]
These controls down here are inactive when you're in rhythm position.
So lead and rhythm, lead controls, master volume, master tone,
pick up selector switch, rhythm controls,
you just get the neck pickup and a volume wheel and a tone wheel.
Jazzmasters don't just look unique, they also have a very unique sound.
They're often associated with surf music.
A lot of that is due to the unique design of the pick-ups.
These pick-ups are single coils that are much flatter and
wider than a normal single coil.
So now I'm going to play some stuff and switch between all the different pickup
positions, so you can hear what it sounds like.
I'm going to start just using the lead circuit, so that means these controls, and
I'm going to switch between the pickups.
[MUSIC]
So let's hear what it sounds like when you switch between the lead and
rhythm circuits and you're on the neck pick up.
[MUSIC]
So you'll notice that even though I haven't touched any controls,
when you switch between the lead and rhythm circuit,
the neck pick up gets a little darker in the rhythm up position.
[MUSIC]
And that's called rhythm because a lot of times people
like a darker kind of more mellow sound for the rhythm.
[MUSIC]
And then if I roll off all the tone,
[MUSIC]
It gets very, very jazzy.
[MUSIC]
Okay, the last thing I'd like to talk about control wise is what this little
lock button does.
The tremolo system has a little button that you can slide back or forth and
that is really designed to save your tuning if your string breaks.
When its unlocked you can use the tremolo and
detune your strings or pull up, okay?
If you break a string, the tension that's being exerted by the string totally
changes and all the other strings go out of tune.
If you then lock the tremolo, it allows you to get your other strings in tune and
you can still actually use the tremolo when it's locked.
You just can't pull up, you can only push down.
So the lock doesn't really lock the trem from working, the lock locks the plate
inside so that you can regain your tuning if you break a string.
[MUSIC]
A couple other features I'd like to point out are that this guitar is completely
painted in lacquer, it's a two-tone sunburst over ash.
You can see the well defined grain of that ash body.
And also, there is a 60th anniversary neck plate, and
it's got the same logo that was embroidered on the inside of the case.
[MUSIC]
So thanks for checking out the 60th Anniversary 58th Jazzmaster with me.
If you have any further questions,
or if there are other guitars you'd like to learn more about,
please leave a comment below, and we'll make sure that we get to it for you.
Thanks a lot.
[MUSIC]