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Jazzmaster Guitars

1962 Fender Jazzmaster

Color: Olympic White, Rating: 9.00, Sold (ID# 00454)
Call to Inquire: (818) 222-4113


Olympic White Slab-Board Jazzmaster

This exceptionally fine Olympic White "slab board" Jazzmaster weighs just 8.20 lbs. and has a nut width of just over 1 5/8 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 and four patent numbers and a design number. Single "butterfly" string tree with metal spacer. Individual Kluson Deluxe tuners with oval metal buttons (patent no. D-169400 stamped on inside). Two beautifully balanced Jazzmaster pickups (large white rectangular six-polepiece pickups) with outputs of 7.76k and 7.78k. Four-layer (tortoiseshell/white/black/white) celluloid pickguard. Serial number "63225" on neck-plate. Two controls (master volume, master tone) with white plastic knobs and gold lettering and numerals, plus three-way selector switch and jack socket on the treble side of the pickguard, two roller knobs (volume and tone) plus two-way slide switch on the bass side of the pickguard. Jazzmaster bridge and integrated tailpiece and tremolo.

The neck is dated "7/61." The tremolo cavity is dated in pencil "5-62". In the cavity under the neck pickup is a piece of white tape with "O - White / 1 5 - 620" in pencil (matching the writing in the tremolo cavity). The pots are dated "304 6042", "304 6101" and "304 6112" (Oct 1960, Jan 1961 and Mar 1961). There is some belt buckle wear on the back of the body and a few very small chips on the edges, but overall this wonderful and early example is in exemplary condition. Complete with it's original tremolo arm and bridge cover. Housed in its original Fender light brown Tolex case with brown leather ends and orange plush lining (9.25).

Fender didn't always use clear coats on many custom colors. For example, this fully original 1962 Olympic White Jazzmaster was not clear coated. How do we know? No yellowing of the finish. We've also seen Olympic White Stratocasters that were clear coated, and hence very yellowed (mostly in 1964 and later years). This provides some confusion because people try and tell you the guitar is Blond, not Olympic White. This is because the yellowed white does look similar to every late 60’s Blond Tele on the planet. But this is easy to argue since we all know that Fender Blond finishes are somewhat transparent showing the wood grain, and they are always over ash bodies, not alder.

"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.

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