It is currently Mon Mar 16, 2020 5:04 pm

All times are UTC - 7 hours



Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 7 posts ] 
Author Message
Post subject: Jag and jmaster originally intended for which music styles?
Posted: Sat Jan 02, 2010 10:22 pm
Offline
Roadie
Roadie

Joined: Fri Aug 10, 2007 7:12 am
Posts: 212
I have always played strats but am starting to get into jags and jmasters. For Which types of music were they originally intended? I guess jazz for jmasters, but what about the jags?


Top
Profile
Fender Play Winter Sale 2020
Post subject:
Posted: Sun Jan 03, 2010 4:13 am
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician

Joined: Mon Aug 27, 2007 8:11 am
Posts: 415
Location: Romania
Surf music I suppose; anyway it was the genre the Jag got most associated with at the time of its release.


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Sun Jan 03, 2010 8:53 am
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician
User avatar

Joined: Wed Sep 02, 2009 12:48 am
Posts: 732
Location: SW Oklahoma
But remember guys like Luther Perkins (of Johnny Cash fame) were playing them early on too.

Check this video out of Luther and his Jaguar when Johnny steps out of the way...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8mXz23BkfU

_________________
Old age and treachery will win every time over youth and enthusiasm.

"You can never have too many Tele's." A quote from my Sweetwater Sales Engineer


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Tue Jan 05, 2010 7:31 am
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician
User avatar

Joined: Thu Mar 20, 2008 7:59 pm
Posts: 472
Location: New York
They were intended for jazz, but got adopted by surf guitarists mostly. I still think they sound great for jazz in spite of what all the "Fenderology" books will tell you. Look for the YouTube video of Joe Pass playing a Jaguar.


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Tue Jan 05, 2010 10:41 am
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Sat Aug 30, 2008 4:28 pm
Posts: 50
Location: West Allis, WI
The Jazzmaster was intended to compete with the tonal sound of the hollow body arch top, but never really caught on. The Jaguar was another version of the Jazz but with a shorter scale. I'm not quite sure why these guitars became associated with surf music, but I know in the mid-late '70s these were desirable for the Fender name and quality but at discount prices, which is why Elvis Costello became associated with the Jazz.


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Fri Jan 08, 2010 10:09 am
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist
User avatar

Joined: Wed Jul 29, 2009 1:37 pm
Posts: 46
Location: Long Island
Originally they were supposed to replace the Stratocaster and Telecaster altogether, and though in their initial years of release the Jmaster/Jaguar were the highest selling Fender guitars, they never caught on with jazz players and surf music lost a lot of popularity going into the late 60s. There is a sweet picture of Hendrix playing a Jazzmaster while he was in the Isley Brothers somewhere

More importantly, as was mentioned above, the two guitars have since been adopted by lots of post-punk acts of the late 70s, like Television. Elvis Costello is famous for using a Jazzmaster, as are the guys from Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr, Johnny Marr of The Smiths has a bunch of amazing vintage Jaguars.

So though they were originally intended to play jazz and surf music, they are much better known for alternative rock.

_________________
1992 MIJ 70s RI Stratocaster Natural w/CS69s
1996 CIJ Jazzmaster Sunburst w/Jason Lollars
2001 Hot Rod Deluxe
2008 Mustang Bass CIJ
2008 Precision Bass FSR Natural Ash w/DiMarzios
2009 Telecaster, Callaham bridge & Bare Knuckle Pickups


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Sat Jan 23, 2010 6:54 pm
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician
User avatar

Joined: Fri Jan 30, 2009 11:30 pm
Posts: 378
Location: melbourne 'rock city' australia
You're right, the Jazzmaster was an attempt to take a share of that market from Gibson. It was introduced in '58 as Fender's top of the line, highest priced guitar. Remember there were a lot of working Jazz guys at that time, it was a big market, and people still thought rock n roll was a fad that could fizzle out any day.
Obviously the Jazz crowd didn't warm to the Jazzmaster, but by the early 60's the new surf bands loved it. That's when Fender decided to capitalise on that and make a guitar perfect for surf. That was the short scale Jaguar, introduced in '62 right when surf music was peaking (if you'll pardon the pun).

_________________
"...Compared to the flowers and the birds and the trees, I am an Apeman."


Top
Profile
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 7 posts ] 

All times are UTC - 7 hours

Fender Play Winter Sale 2020

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum

Search for:
Jump to: