Re: J’s equipment

[Chicago_Fog]

Guitar: 1965 Fender Jazzmaster
In 1958, Fender introduced the Jazzmaster. This guitar was designed to provide an upgrade from the Stratocaster. It had a new offset waist body to increase comfort and guitar balance, a new "floating" tremolo that had smoother motion over a shorter travel than the Stratocaster tremolo, and new wide field pickups that gave the guitar a warmer, slightly mellower "jazz" tone than the other Fender guitars. Also, it had a novel dual circuit design which allowed the player to set different volume and tone levels for rhythm and lead playing, and to switch between the two tones with the flick of a switch. Additionally, the Jazzmaster introduced a rosewood fretboard to the Fender line. This feature was soon adopted across the model line.

Although never popular among Jazz players, the Jazzmaster quickly found a home among rock and roll musicians, especially those in the growing field of instrumental rock. In particular, the Seattle based Ventures were avid users of Fender products, and used Jazzmasters on many of their early records. As the surf music craze started in southern California, many young players sought out the guitars.