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Fender is hosting a show in New York for the 50th anniversary of the Jazzmaster, featuring J Mascis, Thurston Moore, Tom Verlaine and Nels Cline. Thought some of you might be interested:

Anniversary Show

Ha, kinda awesome. I think the JM is finally getting the respect it initially deserved. These players really stand out, and they still sound great with other guitars, but they've made some really great recordings with the guitar.

This is a bit odd really. Having a concert dedicted to a guitar, and no surf acts either? Its a novel idea to say the least.

Most of the "big names" of surf actually played Mosrites, Stratocasters, or Jaguars. The Ventures, yeah, but Dick Dale has a signature Stratocaster.

All four of them live in or around NYC (Northampton is less than 2 hours away when traffic is good), so that might explain why they're on the bill and not a bunch of surf legends. Plus, I think this bill will be a really big draw. I'll certainly try to go.

Yeah that makes sense, that and fender is trying to get more folks to buy a guitar, so may aswell get "hipper" acts. That said, I love sonic youth, and Dinosaur Jr. I'm just jealous that I cant go!

Youse guys will all hate me for this, but I can't play my Jazzmaster live anymore because of all the alt-rock baggage. It just feels a bit... icky.

timhulio wrote:Youse guys will all hate me for this, but I can't play my Jazzmaster live anymore because of all the alt-rock baggage. It just feels a bit... icky.

If you live in NYC or any other metro place like that it's the most cliche guitar you can play.

not around here. telecasters through silverface amps are way popular.

Not playing a guitar you like the sound of and enjoy playing because of any associations you think it has is retarded. Just stop trying so hard and get on with what you really like.

I'm sure the audience has no sodding clue what guitar you're playing anyway, and much less cares about it.

Mike wrote:I'm sure the audience has no sodding clue what guitar you're playing anyway, and much less cares about it.

like every fender guitar has some stigma associated with it.

strat: white man blues wankery
tele: is now the indie hipster guitar of choice
jazzy/jag: alt rock cliche
mustang: teh kurdtzchs

just get over it and play what you like. the truth is, there already was a popular perception of these guitars before thurston or anyone else picked one up. they were thought of as surf rock guitars. totally, uncool. thurston and all those other dudes didn't care though, they made that guitar their own despite people's previous biases and perceptions.

The 'problem' is that Fender guitars are typically less of a "blank canvas" than something like a Les Paul, which can be used for any genre of music. Jazzmasters really seem to work best with a specific type of sound/tone/setup, and does not handle certain genres of music that well (eg high gain metal). A Les Paul works just fine through any type of amp or gain setting and does not have the same type of "baggage" and associations that something as niche as a JM has.

This is not a knock against the JM, far from it since I actually play one. But when you hear that a band uses them, it conjures up a certain style/image/sound.

I also don't really care about the associations that much, but it is kind of a bummer when every local band around you sounds the same. For awhile, everyone was playing those Telecaster Deluxes through Marshalls and sounded essentially the same, and I'm sure with the release of the MIM offsets and more artist associations they will become even more popular and less of a rarity. It shouldn't bother me, but it kinda does in a way. I'll just continue to write more esoteric music and try to avoid cliched playing...

Only guitarists are going to care what you're playing, and if they're going "look at the pretentious twat playing a jazzmatser", they're more of a pretentious twat for judging you by your guitar and you really don't need fans like that.

Aeon that's bollocks, Les Pauls are just as cliched as strats.

ElCapitan wrote:Aeon that's bollocks, Les Pauls are just as cliched as strats.

the typical les paul players:

Jimmy Page, sure, but then you have a lot of hard rock and metal players like Adam Jones (Tool) or Cantrell (Alice in Chains). And plenty of punk guitarists play them, as do blues and funk players.

Cherry red Les Pauls ARE cliche, but you can find them in just about every genre, moreso than a Jazzmaster.

Mike wrote:Not playing a guitar you like the sound of and enjoy playing because of any associations you think it has is retarded. Just stop trying so hard and get on with what you really like.

Nothing wrong with a cliche either, but people should stop acting like OMGZ, the Jazzmaster is so unheralded cause really it's not in a lot of places.

Right, but in comparison to SGs, Les Pauls, ES335s, Strats, Teles, and a slew of other popular models, Jazzmasters are rarely seen. If you are part of or listen to mostly the indie/shoegaze/alternative scene, sure, just about every few bands you see will be toting an offset, but go outside of that minority and they become far more scarce. Whether or not the "hipness" of the guitars is valid, it's a factor to many that play them -- in some ways it does set you apart from sounding like a bunch of other guitarists, even those that play the more conventional Fenders.

Ok, I get the cliche thing, but I own, amongst others, a cherry burst LP, a Jazzmaster, a Mustang and a Tele Deluxe.

Does that mean I cover all those cliches? Playing my alt rock indie hipster teh kurtz hard rock music on them?

I would consider the Jazzmaster infinitely more "cliched" than the strat, tele, les paul, SG, or 335, but then, I know what "cliche" means.

The latter guitars are more common, I guess. But they're also a lot more versatile and used by a wider dynamic range of artists.

When I see jazzmasters i think of grunge, alt-rock/indie, etc... bands like Sonic Youth, Dino Jr... a scene.

But of course, being a fair man, I am also open to the concept of a secret underground society of nuclear war-scarred dudes in cloaks who are holding back the Fender Jazzmaster's current public reputation for personal reasons... wouldn't want to come off TOTALLY closed-minded here, going about sticking up for all guitars except one.