Fender American Vintage II 1966 Jazzmaster

Jazzmas-teriffic!

Wildwoodians, it's no secret that we love Jazzmasters the way the protagonist of the Percy Sledge song "When a Man Loves a Woman:" fervently, and with our whole hearts. That's why we're so excited to present the American Vintage II 1966 Jazzmaster, a guitar that exhibits the Jazzmaster's many sonic and aesthetic delights in spades.

Speaking of which, let's address the elephant in the room: what exactly makes a Jazzmaster sound like a Jazzmaster, and why does this American Vintage II '66 Jazzmaster sound so good? Well, it has to do with the inimitable alchemy between the floating vibrato and the oft-imitated, never-duplicated sound of the Jazzmaster's soapbar pickups. Though they are often mistaken for P-90s or humbuckers, Jazzmaster pickups are a completely unique design. They have flat, wide poles with lots of surface area, which gives them fatter bass response and more robust midrange while maintaining the clarity that Fender single-coils are known for--which makes sense, given that they were originally designed to be used for jazz!

This thick frequency response interacts in an inspiring way with the sonic idiosyncrasies caused by the design of the bridge. The Jazzmaster bridge was originally built to give players maximum percussiveness, clarity, and articulation on the front end of their notes. It accomplished this in spades, but the geometry of the bridge also caused the guitar to lose a little bit of body at the beginning of the note. So, Jazzmasters have a clear, focused, bright initial tone that thickens up and becomes lush and full almost immediately as the note sustains and blooms.

This '66 Jazzmaster comes equipped with Pure Vintage '66 Jazzmaster single-coil pickups and a Pure Vintage Jazzmaster bridge to ensure that they have this same combination of articulation and full harmonic response. This allows them to excel at everything from funk to anthemic rock to jangly dream pop to blissful fuzzed-out rock to reverb-laden surf to warm jazz.

So, tonally, these guitars are absolute monsters, no doubt. But they also deliver an exceptional vintage playing experience, and they nail the vintage details. The 1966 C neck profile is a joy to play, and the 7.25" radius allows for easy chording up and down the neck while the vintage tall frets allow you to bend strings 'til your heart's content. It also has all the classic appointments: rhythm and lead circuits, single-line Fender Deluxe tuners, matching painted headstocks (on custom colors), white fingerboard binding, and pearl block inlays. To quote Deion Sanders, "If you look good, you feel good. If you feel good, you play good." No doubt, you'll look good and feel good when you pick this Jazzmaster up!

So, there you have it: according to Prime Time himself, you'll play good when you pick this American Vintage II 1966 Jazzmaster up. Facetiousness aside, this guitar will allow you to experience the joy of a vintage Jazzmaster, and we have no doubt it will inspire you to embark on all sorts of exciting fretboard adventures!