This 1961 Fender Jazzmaster was one of the cleanest vintage Fender guitars to ever come through the shop. The Jazzmaster was introduced in late 1958 and was intended to surpass the Stratocaster in popularity. While that never actually happened, the Jazzmaster is still an iconic design that was way beyond its time. This Fender Jazzmaster from 1961 is one of the nicest I've had, but it was also a spectacular playing example. It was the total package.
As a Fender guitar collector, I'm always on the hunt for Fender Jazzmaster guitars made in the late 1950s and 1960s. I'm especially looking for the custom color Jazzmaster like Fiesta Red, Lake Placid Blue, Black, etc. If you've inherited a Fender Jazzmaster and would like to know what year it was made, check out Fender Serial Number lookup. Or if you're curious about how much I would value your Jazzmaster you can contact me here: sell a Fender.
Fender Jazzmaster 1961
By 1961, the Jazzmaster model was in its fourth year of production and was Fender's top of the line solid body electric guitar model. It would be knocked off its pedestal by a new model during the following year: the Jaguar. Both of these new models featured the new offset waist body style; it intended to be more comfortable to the player, but the sight of it was also sure to appeal to the buyer. Fender was likely eyeing Gibson's hold on the jazz guitarist market, but the burgeoning surf rock players were more likely to adopt the new style.
1961 is one of the best years for the Fender Jazzmaster because of the slab Rosewood fretboard, early build quality, and beautiful aesthetic of the early finishes. The thick slab Rosewood fretboard debuted in 1958 along with the Jazzmaster but was updated to the thinner veneer style in 1962. The quality of the late 1950s and very early 1960s is top notch with fine features. The finishes were still very thin, but the Sunburst now had a brighter band of red which resisted fading much better than earlier three tone sunbursts.
The Jazzmaster's proprietary offset style bridge requires a skilled technician to set dial it in correctly. Without a proper setup, Jazzmasters tend to be buzzy and don't play correctly. The pickups too were a new design that yielded a mellower tone with a wider range of response. Guitar players seemed to value the Telecaster and Stratocaster's simple design and brighter pickups throughout the years. The Jazzmaster and Jaguar were relegated to niche audiences such as the surf scene in the 1960s and the punk scene in the 1990s. These offset guitars have enjoyed a resurgence in popularity in the last decade. We are excited about the fresh take on these vintage offsets and hope to get more in the future. Here are some other vintage Fender offset guitars we've had:
1962 Fender Jazzmaster Lake Placid Blue
Fender Jazzmaster values
The value of a Fender Jazzmaster has always been far less than a comparable Stratocaster or Telecaster, but it has increased in value much faster than the others in the past decade. You can contact me here if you're curious about how much I would value your vintage Fender Jazzmaster: sell a Fender. It's possible that the unconventional bridge style and rotting pickup height foam are the reasons why prior generations didn't gravitate towards the Jazzmaster. The offset bridge and tremolo requires some special set up considerations in order to play nicely with 10-46 gauge strings. Unlike the Stratocaster or Telecaster, the Jazzmaster's pickups are mounted to springy foam which shrinks and hardens over time. This makes the pickup height too far away from the strings yielding a thin and lifeless tone.
Like other vintage guitars, the value of a Jazzmaster is heavily dependent on the year it was made, finish color, condition, and originality. The most valuable year for the Jazzmaster is its introductory year: 1958. The value of following years usually trails the prior year, but there is a significant difference in those prior to 1965 compared to those made during and after. 1965 is the year the Fender company was sold to CBS who was responsible for vastly increasing output and, at least in guitar collectors' minds, decreasing the quality.
Fender Jazzmaster guitars, like the company's other models, came in a standard color but were also offered in custom colors. Custom colors will almost always be more desirable to Fender guitar collectors when compared to the Sunburst finish guitars. This Fender Jazzmaster 1962 Blue is a great example of rare custom color Jazzmaster. Other desirable colors include Fiesta Red, Blond, and Black.
Original parts and condition are also significant factors which affect the value of a Fender Jazzmaster. The most important part of a Fender guitar is its finish. Many players in the 1960s and 1970s enjoyed customizing and refinishing their Fender guitars before the guitars became valuable collectibles. Most Fender guitar collectors consider refinished guitars to be worth about 50% less than comparable examples with their original finish.
