Get jazzed about Fender’s new line of Jazzmasters

Fender recently released the Fender American Professional II Jazzmaster guitar and their Twin Reverb Blonde Amplifier. I’ve played around with this combo for a couple of weeks now and I am absolutely blown away. While I have played mostly a combination of Telecasters in my time, I was thrilled to get the opportunity to try out the famous Jazzmaster.

My first thought was how big it was. This is one big chunk of wood for certain. Not only that, but there are noticeably more features on the Jazzmaster than the Telecasters that I am used to. 

The Jazzmaster may have been originally designed for jazz, however, over the years this masterpiece has been adopted by nearly every genre and sub-genre. Most years the Jazzmaster has received little upgrade tweaks here and there. This year, Fender decided to take it up a notch. Right away when I grabbed this guitar I noticed the redesigned neck. The “C” shape is an absolute delight to play, allowing for less fatigue and more reach. There is also a big focus on creating a better reach to the higher frets. I can hit much higher frets than I ever have been able to on my Telecasters.

The tremolo bridge is remarkably smooth, something that even my added Bigsby B5 on my old Telecaster Modern Player cannot match. This is something that Fender obviously paid a lot of attention to in this model’s redesign. The angles have been reworked allowing for longer sustain and more overall tone control. While playing the guitar I have loved this minor adjustment. There is a noticeable ability to stay in tune even between playing and storing in the roadcase.

I also love the additional rhythm/lead switch with the bonus tone control. Having the two unique sounds with the flip of a switch has been incredible to play around with. Every time I pick up my Jazzmaster, I start with a new batch of settings and I have yet to find a tone I don’t enjoy. 

Whether you are a long time musician or someone who picked up a new hobby during our worldwide pandemic, the Jazzmaster is a phenomenal guitar purchase. The wide range of sounds, incredible playability, and its remarkable versatility, elevate the Jazzmaster to the iconic status of the Telecaster and Stratocaster.