A Near Mint "Slab Board" Jazzmaster

This near mint "slab board" Jazzmaster weighs 8.30 lbs. and has a nut width of just under 1 11/16 inches and a scale length of 25 1/2 inches. Solid alder body, maple neck, and slab rosewood fretboard with 21 frets and inlaid clay dot position markers. Decal headstock logo with "Fender" in gold with black trim, "Jazzmaster" and "Offset Contour Body Pat. Pending" in black, and "With Synchronized Floating Tremolo" in black below. Single "butterfly" string tree. Individual Kluson Deluxe tuners with oval metal buttons. Two hot Jazzmaster pickups (large white rectangular six-polepiece pickups) with outputs of 7.60k and 8.03k. Four-layer (tortoiseshell/white/black/white) celluloid pickguard. Two controls (master volume, master tone) with white plastic knobs, plus three-way selector switch and jack socket on the treble side of the pickguard, two roller knobs (volume, tone) plus two-way slide switch on the bass side of the pickguard. Jazzmaster bridge and integrated tailpiece and tremolo. The pickguard has three tiny cracks, two of them by the tone roller control on the bass side, and the other by the top screw on the treble side. The absolute minimum of belt buckle wear on the back of the guitar, a few tiny chips on the edges, and some minor finish checking are all that keeps this guitar from being mint (there is no fret wear and no neck wear). A wonderful and totally original example -- the best we've ever seen! Housed in its original Fender light brown Tolex case with brown leather ends and orange plush lining (9.00).

"The Jazzmaster first appeared in Fender sales material during 1958, and at some $50 more than the Strat it became the new top-of-the-line model...Immediately striking to the electric guitarist of 1958 was the Jazzmaster's unusual offset-waist body shape...For the first time on a Fender, the Jazzmaster featured a separate rosewood fingerboard glued to the customary maple neck...The Jazzmaster's floating vibrato system was new, too, and had a tricky 'lock-off' facility aimed at preventing tuning problems if a string should break. The controls were certainly elaborate for the time…A small slide-switch selected between two individual circuits, offering player-preset rhythm and lead sounds. The idea was a good one: the ability to set up a rhythm sound and a lead sound, and switch between them. But the system seemed over-complicated to players brought up on straightforward volume and tone controls. The sound of the Jazzmaster was richer and warmer than players were used to from Fender. The name Jazzmaster had not been chosen at random, for Fender was aiming this different tone at jazz players, who at the time largely preferred hollowbody electrics, and principally those by Gibson. However, jazz guitarists found little appeal in this new, rather difficult solidbody guitar -- and mainstream Fender players largely stayed with their Stratocasters and Telecasters" (Tony Bacon, 50 Years of Fender, p. 26). Much to Fender's surprise, however, the Jazzmaster turned into the best surf guitar ever conceived.