A Near Mint "Slab-Board" Jazzmaster

This Three-Tone Sunburst "slab-board" Jazzmaster weighs just 8.00 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, one-piece slightly "flamed" maple neck, and slab rosewood fretboard with 21 frets and inlaid clay dot position markers. Slightly "flamed" maple headstock with decal with Fender "spaghetti" logo in gold with black trim, "Jazzmaster" in black beside it, and "With Synchronized Floating Tremolo" and five patent numbers in black below it. "Offset Contour Body Pat. Pending" decal at the ball end of the headstock. Single "butterfly" string tree. Individual single-line Kluson Deluxe tuners with oval metal buttons (stamped on the inside "D-169400/PATENT NO"). Four-bolt neck plate with serial number ("71600") between the top two screws. The neck is dated "1-62" (January 1962). Two very hot Jazzmaster pickups (large white rectangular six-polepiece pickups) with outputs of 8.45k and 7.63k. Four-layer (tortoiseshell/white/black/white) celluloid pickguard (totally crack-free) with thirteen screws. Two controls (master volume, master tone) with white plastic knobs, plus three-way pickup selector switch and jack socket on the treble side of the pickguard, two roller knobs (volume, tone) plus two-way circuit selector (rhythm/lead) slide switch on the bass side of the pickguard. The pots are dated "304 6102" and "304 6152" (Stackpole January 1961 and December 1961). Jazzmaster bridge and integrated tailpiece and tremolo. This totally original guitar is in near mint (9.25) condition. The only minute playing wear is on the treble side of the neck by the first five frets where the varnish is very slightly worn away. Still, this is by far the cleanest example of a slab-board Jazzmaster that we have ever seen! Housed in its original Fender light brown Tolex case with brown leather ends and orange plush lining - the case is near fine but one of the catches is broken so we will only give it an (8.75) excellent plus rating. Complete with the original bridge cover, tremolo arm and Fender black leather shoulder strap.

"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.