Gentlemen Prefer Blondes…

This near mint 'featherwight' see-through Blond "slab board" Jazzmaster weighs just 7.20 lbs. and has a nice fat nut width of just under 1 11/16 inches and a scale length of 25 1/2 inches. Solid ash 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 and "D-169400 PATENT NO." stamped on the inside. Two hot Jazzmaster pickups (large white rectangular six-polepiece pickups) with outputs of 9.47k and 8.10k. Four-layer (tortoiseshell/white/black/white) celluloid pickguard. Serial number "70867" 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 in pencil "1-62" The pots are dated "304 6150" and "304 6152" (Stackpole December 1961). Complete with it's original tremolo arm and bridge cover. Apart from a few very small surface marks on the edges of the body, this forty-four year old blond beauty is in near mint and totally original condition, with only some very slight surface wear to the varnish on the back of the neck. Housed in its original Fender light brown Tolex case with brown leather ends and orange plush lining (9.25). Also included is the original Fender 'hang-tag' with matching serial number.

"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.