1960 faded 'two tone', slab board Fender Jazzmaster...

The combination of tortoiseshell and sunburst really set Fender's premium offset guitars apart from their older siblings as the company went into the 60s. This went quite a way too giving the instruments a more refined look especially with the more prominent chrome accoutrements. 

This one has the desired 'two tone' sunburst finish which is actually a three tone with virtually all the red faded. This is common to see and only happened during 1959 - early 1961.

This is a guitar that has lived! There are numerous chips, scratches, and dents, and overall the finish (particularly the red) has faded a reasonable amount. On the back of the guitar a large portion of the finish has been more or less scratched off, signs of a well gigged instrument. None of this detracts from the guitar in any way, and we're big fans of the genuine road worn look.

The neck is in decent shape and has not faded too badly. The lacquer has worn nicely on the back of the neck, making for a very smooth and effortless playing experience. The fretboard is in generally good condition but as with the rest of the guitar there are signs of heavy playing, mostly in ht form of some divots around the first few frets. The frets are original and still have some decent life left in them.

One of the issues with this period is often the pickguard which has a tendency to shrink substantially and either crack or simply deform. In this case, you only have a little around the lower bout and the pickups but areas such as around the bridge have survived very well. This is important as the warping of the guard can impede the bridge and make it difficult to set the action. The hardware is very well preserved with only a little vague corrosion on the bridge. The vibrato unit is still splendid.

Electronically everything looks to be undisturbed, the pots date to 1960 and the pickups work perfectly.

The guitar comes with a fairly authentic looking but non original Brown Tolex case.

This guitar definitely delivers the classic Jazzmaster sound. The rhythm circuit is dark enough without being lost and the lead circuit cuts through and gives that perception of lifting the sound. The neck pickup has a nice smoothness whilst still retaining the clarity. The bridge pickup has a nice snarl to it without being too brittle.

Jazzmasters can easily be misunderstood. Many guitarists have stories of the guitars that didn’t sustain and sounded bad. Guitars like this one prove that this misconception is unfounded. Don’t let this guitar get away...