Fender Custom Shop Wildwood 10 1959 Jazzmaster – NOS

The Perfect 10

Years ago, we approached our friends at the Fender Custom Shop with a proposal: would they build us guitars that combined the mojo of a true-to-vintage reissue with modern handfeel and comfy modern ergonomics? They were enthused about the idea, and the Wildwood 10 was born. Thanks to the Custom Shop’s incredible craftsmanship and artistry, these guitars look gorgeous, sound killer, and play like butter.

Each of these Custom Shop creations features a thin fifties-style nitrocellulose finish, which allows the voice of the resonant hand-selected tonewoods to shine through. They also have hand-wound Custom Shop pickups that are sure to inspire you to reach new heights on your sonic journey. Wildwood 10s feel great in your hands, too. Their modern 10” radius is suitable for a wide variety of styles and techniques, and their 6105 narrow-tall frets allow you to expend less energy with your left hand, especially when bending strings. To top it all off, they come with a limited edition Dealer Select Wildwood 10 hardshell case and a certificate of authenticity.

Jazzmas-terrific

Though the Jazzmaster was originally designed to appeal to jazz guitarists, it has found a much broader appeal across many genres and eras. In everything from surf music to shoegaze to new wave to indie music, the Jazzmaster has formed the sonic backbone of many classic records, and its offset body is the picture of cool.

Our Wildwood 10 Jazzmasters from the Fender Custom Shop capture the inimitable vibe of their vintage forebears while providing incredible modern playability. They feature ridiculously resonant, high-quality tonewoods wearing fifties-style nitrocellulose lacquer finishes that allow the guitar to breathe and resonate like nobody's business. They also have pickups with real flatpole magnets to capture that classic Jazzmaster sound.

The wizard-like luthiers at the Fender Custom Shop have also outfitted these guitars with a Wildwood-exclusive 10" radius and narrow-tall 6105 frets, a configuration that facilitates just about every style and technique under the sun. So, these Wildwood 10 Jazzmasters blend comfortable ergonomics with vintage vibe in a truly inspiring way. We invite you to browse through our offset offerings and see what colors, neck shapes, and relic'd finishes inspire you. We're sure you'll find one that tickles your eardrums!

Jazzmaster Tone Explained, Once and For All

Let's address the elephant in the room: what exactly makes a Jazzmaster sound like a Jazzmaster? More importantly, why does the Wildwood 10 Jazzmaster provide such a sterling example of Jazzmaster tone? Well, it has to do with the inimitable alchemy between the floating vibrato and the oft-imitated, never-duplicated sound of the Jazzmaster's flagpole magnet pickups. Though they are often mistaken for P-90s or humbuckers, Jazzmaster pickups are a unique design. They have flat, wide poles with lots of surface area, which gives them a fatter bass response and a more robust midrange while maintaining the clarity and sparkle 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 bridge’s design. 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.

A Versatile Voice

Our friends at Fender equipped these Wildwood 10s with RSD bridges and Custom Shop flagpole magnet pickups to ensure they have this same combination of articulation and full harmonic response as a vintage example. This allows them to excel at everything from jangly dream pop to blissful fuzzed-out rock to reverb-laden surf to twangy country to screaming blues to warm jazz. Like the best vintage examples, they sing with a completely singular voice, yet they seldom sound out of place--a testament to the strength of the Jazzmaster's personality. How ironic: a guitar that was often cast as the black sheep of the Fender family finally managed to become a staple in American music precisely because it is so unique!

The fine craftspeople of the Fender Custom Shop have imbued these guitars with the same iconic sounds as the Jazzmasters of yore, and we know they will inspire you to create and innovate in ways you never thought possible. We invite you to take a walk on the wild side with the Wildwood 10 Jazzmaster--we know you'll see why they have achieved their legendary status within a couple of strums.