Fender '63 Jazzmaster

My Jazzmaster was manufactured in 1963 in Fullerton CA. I purchased it in the summer of that year, and it was a very happy moment in my life, as I had never owned a guitar of this status before. It is truly a special instrument, not only because of its unique design and construction, but more so because, unlike the Strat, it has not been copied and redesigned a thousand times by Fender and every other guitar manufacurer on the planet. What's special about the guitar? Not the neck, headstock,or tuners, all of which are somewhat generic. But the body is, or was, unique, giving the guitar a classic shape all its own 'til the Jaguar came along. The pickups, with their broad shallow windings, are single coils with a fuller sound than stock Strat pickups, and with the selector switch in the middle position, they produce a rather unique, pleasing, jangly, spongy sound unlike any I have ever heard in any other guitar. The bridge looks like it was crafted in uncle bill's machine shop, with its threaded rod saddles, and a bunch of little screws to adjust intonation and saddle height. The strings rise gently to this bridge and then just as gently descend straight into a simple tail piece which is part of the vibrato. I cannot ever remember breaking a string with the Jazzmaster, although I'm sure I have, but it's a rarity. The vibrato is housed in the tail piece and produces a soft, sweeping pitch change which is much more pleasant to me than the abrupt action of the Strat's design. You have to play a Jazzmaster for awhile to appreciate it. But many who have played this fine guitar were apparently not impressed. That's why the guitar is so uncopied and so special. It is like a jewel that has been overlooked for years and years, and I hope it will not be widely discovered any time soon. Many complain about the bridge design and use a device to clamp the strings down over the saddles. That has not been necessary for me, but I have been setting up my own guitars for years and have found that a few careful adjustments can overcome these problems. If you are, however, a real physical, punishing guitar player, than the classy Jazzmaster is not for you, any more than a classy woman would be if that's how you make love.

The original pickups are somewhat weak at the present time. I guess even magnets lose strength after forty three years. I replaced them some time ago with Seymour Duncan Hot Jazzmaster pickups which sounded as good if not better that the originals ever did. I recently reinstalled the original pickups and have retired the old Jazzmaster. It now resides quietly in its case along with the original leather strap, bridge cover, labels, etc., all of which I have kept through the years. A good part of the vibe of the Jazzmaster is its sound. It has a airy, trebly timbre, and the neck pickup has real pleasing depth to it. I can't say that the bridge pickup is much different than that of a Strat as far as sound goes. Maybe a little stronger and mid-leaning. I am, however, a big fan of the middle position. Here there are some great rhythm sounds, and a solo played in this position has a special character, setting this guitar apart from the others.

Here's where I think the vintage guitar fanatics are all wet. This old Jazzmaster is not made any better than todays higher end guitars. Indeed, it has some manufacturing flaws that would have sent the snobby reviewers at Guitar Player Magazine trotting for the men's room. The tuners are real dogs compared to what even cheap guitars of today are sporting. The pickguard, even when new, did not completely cover the body routing on the front of the guitar. Now the nitro based polymer pickguard has shrunk so that the pickguard screws are all angled inward, and I've had to enlarge the shrinking openings surrounding the pickups so the pickups will move up and down for adjustment. The sunburst finish has checked and sloughed off of portions of the body (I'll excuse that after all this time). All in all, anyone who says this guitar is special because of the superior quality of workmanship and manufacture is living in vintage guitar Lala land! I'm not denegrating the guitar, but people have got to get real! The mystique of the Jazzmaster resides in a combination of sound, design and history, not in superior craftsmanship.

I just retired this old guitar last year after playing it through the '60's and then again through the '90's at gigs. If one can beleive what one sees on eBay, it is too valuable now to take out on the road. It was reliable and durable, and if you are not a hopelessly incapable nerd, you should be able to fix whatever goes wrong with this guitar. When I first got the Jazzmaster in 1963 I was using flat wound Gibson light gauge strings which had a whimpy wound G string. I pulled the pickups out of the guitar and pushed the G pole pieces up through the wax in the windings to get the magnet closer to the string. Looking back on that, I'm amazed the pickups still work. Fender guitars, if anything, are tough.

Would not expect to get the time of day from Fender, but have never tried.

I've owned lots of guitars, played 'em for awhile, and then the old creeping dissatisfaction comes into play. The other guitar just doesn't cut it feel-wise, sound-wise, appearance-wise, Etc., etc. The old Jazzmaster always calls me back, and now I've given in to it. I got a new CIJ Jazzmaster, set it up like the old original, which I placed into permanent retirement, and now I'm happy. (Tried a new AVS Jazzmaster first, but the paint was falling off it when I got it from Zzounds.com, so back it went.) Anyway, if a whole lifetime of guitar playing culminates in commitment to a single model of guitar, what more is there to say. For me, the Jazzmaster is at the top of the heap.

I bought a 63 JM from ebay. The neck and the body are original. Although somebody tried to adjust a whole lot of stuff, the neck has a couple of holes that shouldn't be there. There were seymour duncan humbuckers in it. I replaced them with antiquitie JM pickups. The sound with the humbuckers was very radiohead. With the antiquities it varies from very country, twangy to dark jazzy on the neck.
It has the brazilian rosewood neck, which I truly fell in love with.
I just had it fretted. The guy who fretted it (Heins gitaar atelier in Sneek, Netherlands: the best!) did a super job on it. He also changed the bridge with jaguar saddles, and put a buzz stop on the trem. This because of the low E- string running constantly out of the saddle. Now it's perfect, and guess what, the famous hum of the pups is far less than it was.
Features are simple, but the sounds are great. The sound responds great to the tone knob.

I'm using it with the reissue 59 bassman 4 times 10 (1990)I us two bluesbreakers in line and a black cat for more output (solo's). I use a line 6 mm4. The JM loves effects. It sokes every little frequency right up. It's not a high gain guitar, but I don't like that stuff anyway. And with a crunch from the blusbreaker it can sound evil. But it's always a very rich and full sound. It amazes me every time I play it. I play in a rock band and use the JM for all the songs that are a little different.

After Heins did the fret job and the change of bridge, the action is great. I'm not a very technical player, but use brute force to make the guitar do what I want it to. There is now a little problem, probably caused by the new bridge which is probably a little wider than a JM bridge. Sometimes when I hit the high E (very uncontrolled) it slides of the neck.
The neck plays incredible now. It's a very easy neck.

This guitar is 9 years older than me and will probably outlive me. I can depend on it and don't use a backup.
See, they don't make guitars like this anymore. Pre CBS is really something else.

Never had to deal with the fender company.

I have been playing since I was about 9 or 10. But I'm a lazy, sloppy bastard. Could have been a lot better than that time implies.
I own a 63 JM, a 73 Strat, a fake 65 Strat which sounds incredible (with fralin pups), and some other junk I don't need to mention. I play a bassman amp and have a guyatone jazz reverb (a fake super reverb) which I truly love.
I'm starting to discover the JM. I think it's a beautiful, special guitar. Like Jeff Tweedy says: every guitar has it's own songs hidden in it.

USA made 1963 Fender Jazzmaster.
21 frets, brazillian rosewood fingerboard, maple neck and alder? body.
100% original except for a bad nut replacement and a well done refinish many years ago. Original white no logo case which is beautifully and barely holding up after 40 years of abuse. I bought it off of ebay (will I ever do this again?) and the descripition was a little off...needed a new nut, new frets (which i've yet to replace) and a new bridge.

I guess I play several different styles, from country to psychadellic and new wave/punk, jazz and r&b. This is probably the most versatile guitar i've ever owned that still brings its own personality to whatever is being played. The sound is fantastic. I play out of a 70's twin reverb and a 60's guild thunder I reverb, and with the JM alone i can get a very clean indie sound, a fantastic thick but twangy country sound, and a 'classic' jazz sound. You get a very dynamic range of tones with the JM, and I find that each note rings true. With pedals like a big muff or mxr flanger, the JM is nothing short of amazing. Very, very noisy. Be careful of what amps you use with the JM, however, as some amps make this guitar sound way too bright and crunchy. A warm tube amp should do you right...

Like I said, I bought this off of Ebay and, well, it had some problems. Someone decided to replace the nut and did such a bad job that the strings were hitting the end of the neck. Also, the same person dumped some crap into the bridge screws (probably to stop them from slipping out) and left the bridge useless. I'm going to try to get it out of there, but we'll see...the frets were also leveled, flat. So, after replacing the nut and bridge its now playable and plays pretty great. I imagine that a great refret would make this guitar absolutely amazing. Be careful of these old jazzmasters as people love to mess with them, changing parts and rewiring and such. Fortunately for me, the JM electronics were untouched and the neck was in great shape. So, with a few relatively small repairs, its quickly becoming my favorite guitar to play.

This 40 year old guitar is nothing short of amazing. It is extremely durable and was obviously made with quality standards that aren't in place today (for a price you can afford!) The rosewood fingerboard is the best i've ever played and the maple neck plays fast and smooth. I would and do depend on this guitar.

N/A

I love this guitar. Its by far the best guitar i've owned/played. The pre-cbs fenders are the best. I can't really compare it to other guitars as it is very unique. Just make sure you know what you're getting into as far as the specs are concerned. Do your homework and ask questions before buying...these guitars are sometimes very expensive ($2500-$3500) so know what you're looking at. If you can find an original one in good shape for less than $1500, I think you'll be very happy.

1963 [Dec 04 63] on heel.

Standard Issue.


We all love the 'bridge too far" design of the Jazzmaster.
The Jaguar is truly no match. Body contours are delicious,
'injection molded' future-past look.

3 way switch, upper toggle for additional volume & tone.

Cool!

While not widely used in the sixties, Hendrix is pictured
playing one upside down, he liked the wammy better, but missed
strat pick-ups, and, Relf? The Yardbirds rhythm guitarist used one.

Cut to the late 70's, i believe Elvis Costello is probably most
influential in the others who take up the Jazzmaster. All of these
are rhythm guitarist & singers, etc.

Elvis Costello - often played thru a hybrd Music Man Amp
Danny Elfman - Oingo Boingo's frontman plays on ALL the songs-LOUD
Ric Oka[sic] - Cars. That "clicking" rhythm on EVERY hit.

I use mine stock. Many times you'll see someone take advantage
of a Gibson floating bridge , they fit. This improves intonation
only with tremelo LOCKED.

Jazzmaster uses pickups with fewer winds than any other fender,
the result is the full 'country' kind of tone, Middle setting 3way is
humbucking w/front & back

The sound is different, and better at lower volume, where
dynamic strumming makes up for lack of harmonics, thanks to
trapeze bridge.

Alder--whatever mine is it is LIGHT.

Some Sunbursts are 'hotter' than others, more yellow
less black. Pick guard so large most of my sunburst
is enjoyed on BACK of guitar.

It is now a custom color-nitro black. perfect & identical
....from the front. lol

Soft body takes abuse, but is forever marked,
as you would be...inside.

Can't imagine.

Evryone who plays it , wants it.
The tone controls are fun, the
necks are best of the day...
and now, today.

Some say the 80's MIJ are superior, and they are _for the road_
you can buy a few and set & forget. Good luck getting a few
old Jazzmasters with the same cash...you cannot. The MIJapan
version may have improved electronics, but they would be
different sounding, perhaps voiced for todays buyer.

Made in US in 1963, dark rosewood neck, nicely worn sunburst finish with a little overspray, all original electronics and a recent refret with jumbo wires. Strung with 9's. Tone, Volume Pots and Klusons.

The Jazzmaster has a large range of sounds. From a bright twangy surfie sound through to a muddier almost humbucking sound. Although not as a crystal clear as my strats it has a beautiful distinctive full sound, especially when the the neck pickup is selected.

As this guitar is older then me by ten years, I don't know what the factory settings would have been like.

However having owned it for a while, it really needed to be reset and refretted. I got everything adjusted and since I got it back 3 months ago, I haven't been able to put it down! With Jumbo frets raising the pickups and lowering the action has made this into an absolutely beautiful instrument.

This guitar has been a work horse, it is well used and well played, with the top 3 frets forming scollops where its been played, the finish is ok, but there is a bit of damage through to the wood on the base. It light bodied and evenly weighted.

Since its workover it has become very reliable, my only concern is causing any more damage to the body. Taking it out to play often makes me a little nervous, its better to be used in a studio or at home.

Never had to deal with Fender

I've been playing since I was a teenager, I love my instuments, I own this Jazzmaster, a 1970 Stratocaster (last of the 4 bolt necks), a very early 1972 Strat (First of the 3bolt necks), a 1965 Fender Mustang and an Ibanez Full Bodied Jazz guitar.

With this Jazzmaster, I would have liked to have got the OHSC, as I was alot younger I didn't really know, and have never been able to locate one out here for a reasonable amount of $.

My favorite part of this guitar is its neck, this is the feature that made me buy it in the first place. It is the smoothest and fastest neck of any guitar I've ever played. Most the laquer has worn off so you play right up against the wood, its a very thin and fine neck allowing your fingers and palm to move quickly and easily. Perfect for blues licks etc...

I would be very upset if it were lost or stolen, I think today that these guitars are reaching a point where they are out of reach by anyone who loves guitars and loves to play. In Australia, the prices have gone up to reflect prices in the US, with the Aus$ worth about .50c US, this means that an average priced $2000US guitar is actually $4000Aus, an absurd amount to pay for a guitar new or used.