Holiday Gear Guide: Fender Classic Player Jazzmaster

Fender Classic Player Jazzmaster
List Price: $1,099

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been a huge fan of Fender’s off-set guitar models. The Mustang, Jazzmaster, and Jaguar (to name just a few) have always held a unique, and in my humble opinion, frequently under-appreciated position in the Fender family for most guitar players. So when I was given the chance to review this guitar out on the road for a string of shows, I jumped on it. Over a three week tour of the Southeast, this guitar was used nightly, facing the perils of the road and the stage, making for a truly hands-on demo experience.

Right out of the case, I was surprised by the build quality of this Mexican-made Classic Player Jazzmaster. Not unlike its older brother, the American-made Fender 62’ Jazzmaster, this guitar sports an alder body paired with a Maple neck, making for a solid and reliable construction. The sunburst finish was done very well, delivering a very natural three tone dark to light finish. The good folks at Fender made some key changes to this Classic Player model for the modern player, which I personally loved. The upgrade to a more modern and more structured bridge was of noticeable improvement right off the bat. It allows for a more structured string spacing. The medium jumbo frets are another modern touch to a classic model that allow for better sustain and defined navigating along the fret board for the left hand.

The Special Design Hot Jazzmaster pickups were very versatile. When clean they provided nice round warm tones, but with just a touch of overdrive, this thing was prepared to replicate some full-fledged Sonic Youth at their most primal. After dialing in the rhythm and lead circuits (which just takes a little fun experimenting on the part of the player) and dropping in the trem bar, I was thoroughly impressed with the performance of this guitar. For my needs, I really liked the rhythm circuit with the pickup selector set to both bridge and neck pickups. It made for full body chords while maintaining clarity and note definition. Cutting through the mix while maintaining you’re desired tone can be tricky (especially in a 6-piece like Apache) but this Classic Player delivered.

If I’m honest, I embarrassingly had somewhat meager expectations for this guitar, being that it was Mexican made (the inner gear snob coming out in me). Much to my surprise, I got served some serious and much needed humble pie and found this Jazzmaster to be an all around great guitar – not just for a mexi-made guitar – just a great instrument period. It held up great on the road and far surpassed my expectations. The Classic Player Jazzmaster comes with a deluxe gig back, but do the right thing and buy a hard case for this guy. It’s well worth it.

Ben Ford is the guitarist for The Apache Relay.

 

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