Fender Jazzmaster, 1958

Introduced as Fender’s deluxe solidbody model in 1958, the Jazzmaster boasted improved features like individual volume and tone knobs for each pickup and a “floating” vibrato-bridge unit that kept the guitar in tune if a string broke. The pickups were wrapped in single, fat coils of wire, producing a warmer sound, with less sustain and attack than other Fender models. In this design Leo Fender had steered away from a sharp, punchy sound because he was trying to appeal to jazz musicians, who favored a mellower tone that would blend more easily in an ensemble. 

Though never as popular as the Telecaster or Stratocaster, the Jazzmaster still won its share of fans in the 1960s, but not the guitarists Fender had hoped for. Jazz musicians stuck primarily with their more traditional hollowbody guitars. It was the Surf rockers and Garage Punks that favored this guitar’s rich tones, including such varied bands and musicians as the Beach Boys, Dick Dale, Dinosaur Jr. and Sonic Youth.