The Fender Jazzmaster is a popular tool among the indie elite. Many guitarists, both young and old, have found that with a certain twiddling of the dials and wrenching of the strings, they can create otherworldly sounds and pitches. However, the guitar almost didn't get off the ground. No one would have thought that an instrument made by a tinkerer, which was a marketing disaster, would have become the icon it is today.
Leo Fender was not actually a guitar player, but instead fixed radios as his profession. He started making guitars purely by accident. He would sometimes fix or make PA systems for traveling bands, in addition to his radio repair service. However, after meeting a sales associate from Rickenbacker, Leo Fender was inspired to go into making guitars. Fender's company, despite making some incredibly iconic instruments, predates rock and roll by about a decade. The Jazzmaster was the fourth in the line of Fender instruments, right after the Telecaster, Precision Bass, and Stratocaster.
Manufactured from 1958-1980 and 1980 to the present, the Jazzmaster was originally intended for jazz guitarists (hence the name Jazzmaster). Unfortunately (and possible fortunately) for Leo Fender jazz guitarists just didn't like it. Despite the quality of Jazzmasters, it was never going to replace the big hollowbody guitars so many jazz players favored.
Yet, during the early 1960's many surf groups discovered that it suited their purposes quite well. It was the guitar's saving grace. Sales soared until the 1970's, and in 1980 the Fender company officially stopped making the guitar. Four years later production recommenced. As a result the guitar gained bargain basement status during the 1970's and 1980's. Its low price allowed many younger artists to get their hands on them. By the 1990's, in emulation of Nirvana, the Jazzmaster was the guitar of choice for many alternative rock groups. In 2008 Fender celebrated its 50th Anniversary of the Jazzmaster, and it's legacy continues as many new guitarists continue to discover the Jazzmaster.
In tribute to the Jazzmaster, I have chosen 9 songs by groups who have championed this instrument. Here's to 50 more years.
1. Teenage Riot-Sonic Youth
These guys are the face of the Jazzmaster. During the 1980's Thurston Moore and Lee Ronaldo were rumored to have the largest collections of Jazzmasters in the U.S. Tuning most of the Jazzmasters to alternate tunings, and setting off on tour, Sonic Youth unofficially gave the Jazzmaster the best promotion it had seen in years.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdeTQPgh9SE
2.Television-Marquee Moon
I could talk about what I love about Marquee Moon until my tongue became a big swollen mass of muscle in my mouth. But for the sake of the reader I'll keep it short and sweet. Marquee Moon was Television at it's best. It's what made them major players in the underground scene. Both Richard Hell and Tom Verlaine were disgusted with how bloated and narcissistic rock had become. Richard Hell bought a bass dirt cheap, as did Verlaine, which ended up being a Jazzmaster. Biting and bright, it would come to define Television's sound. Both Hell and Verlaine would part paths shortly after Marquee Moon, but that doesn't stop it from becoming a monument for aspiring musicians everywhere.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVFx3vaHxGk
3. The Ventures-Walk Don't Run
The Ventures were one of the first famous adopters of the Jazzmaster. Emulation of the Ventures may have been the singular reason the guitar became so popular among surf guitarists. The two guitarists, Bob Bogle and Don Wilson, first met when Bogle was buying a car from Wilson's father's used car lot. Finding they shared a common interest in guitars, the two formed a duo and began playing clubs around the Pacific Northwest. After finding Nokie Edwards (bass) and Howie Johnson (drums) the groups churned out single after single until 1962. Soon after that the Ventures lost their momentum, but "Walk Don't Run" is still popping up on mixtapes across the world.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1I0jy1H5qTo
4. Dinosaur Jr.-In A Jar
J. Mascis was one of the great guitarists of the 1980's alternative rock movement. Not enough people knew that though, because Mascis often hid his sound behind a wall of pedals. Contrary to the sharp clean notes of those that had come before him, Mascis liked the muddy sound the Jazzmaster got when heaps of pedals were used. Through this act, Mascis may have unofficially started the "shoegazer" movement. In 2007 Mascis was given his own signature model of the Jazzmaster guitar, but Mascis still plays his original sunburst model.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpf3KndnSN4
5. Elvis Costello-(I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea
Elvis Costello happened upon the Jazzmaster like many of the players happened upon one...by accident. "The first guitar I had was a Telecaster. It had a terrible action, the strings were so high in the factory setting, it was really hard to play, and I was so naive that I didn't realise they could be adjusted! The first sessions for 'My Aim Is True' were done with that guitar, then one day I was walking through Hounslow when I came across a Jazzmaster hanging in a shop window. I had never seen a guitar like it – I thought it was a Strat that somebody had cut a bit off! I went in and tried it out, and it certainly played better than the Telecaster I had, so I traded in my new guitar for this one that I had no idea about – it just seemed like an opportunity I shouldn't overlook."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMvI5OX6nUw
6. Pavement-Cut Your Hair
Picking up where J. Mascis and Dinosaur Jr. left off, Stephen Malkmus continued with the slacker vibe and noise pop. Coming late to the party, Malkmus was a much later adopter of the Jazzmaster guitar. Pavement being equal parts weed, wit, and noise, made lo-fi pop that seemed to dazzle the masses. Because of limited means Malkmus recorded very cheap and lo-fi, which slowly transformed itself into a style. Like Dinosaur Jr. and Husker Du before him, Malkmus had managed to find that balance where the melody is just barely visible under a wall of noise. Like a gorgeous fish swimming in the midst of a ten foot wave. Their legacy still lives on today in bands like Japandroids, Sebadoh, and Wolf Parade.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XO0lPdsI544
7. The Flaming Lips-She Don't Use Jelly
We can all agree that the Flaming Lips are weird right? I mean would we love them if they weren't. It's like if David Gilmour got a hold of a bunch of echo and fuzz pedals, and then did more drugs. Truly crazy. While many consider Wayne Coyne to be the showman and face of the group, Steven Drozd is the truly secret weapon of the group. And guess what type of guitar is his go to axe? He mainly alternates between a Gibson as well, but for those truly psychedelic moments he has his Jazzmaster in tow. With the Flaming Lips' most recent effort "Embryonic," it has shown that the Lips aren't afraid to visit the dark side of psychedelia every once in a while and indulge in a bad trip.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pASX2FaXCeo
8. My Bloody Valentine-Only Shallow
My Bloody Valentine are responsible for one of the best albums of the last 20 years. However, the group almost never got started. When Kevin Shields and Colm O Cosling formed the band, it was just guitars and drums. It wasn't until Bilinda Butcher joined the band that they were able to create their second proper album "Loveless." Universally adored by the press the album was a huge hit in the U.K. but never seemed to find root in America. The groups dream-like thick sound on the album largely stemmed from the use of Jazzmasters by both Shields and Butcher. Taking their cue from Dinosaur Jr. as many others on this list have, the group took the noise-pop shoegazer theme to it's logical conclusion. A beautiful, haunting, and sad conclusion.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyYMzEplnfU&feature=fvst
9. Wilco-Spiders (Kidsmoke)
Nels Cline joined Wilco later on in their career, and was a welcome addition to the band. To hear his effect on the band, you need only hear Wilco's "Kicking In Television: Live In Chicago." His brilliant tangential runs on the Jazzmaster give it an unbridled energy somewhere between precise machine and vicious beast. His playing is at times experimental, but can also serve the song as well. Whether he's letting lose or just playing along, Nels Cline is a credit to the list of Jazzmaster players.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tirwKb7q2s
Hope you've enjoyed my ramblings, and thanks for reading my first post.
P.S.-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBj1ShXN_gc&feature=related
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