1960 Fender Jazzmaster Olympic White
1960 Fender Jazzmaster Olympic White
Here’s a real nice 1960 Fender Jazzmaster with early ‘slab’ rosewood fingerboard in Olympic White finish. The guitar was made at the original Fender factory in Fullerton California, USA in 1960.
The original owner bought the guitar new from his local music store. Apparently there was some component in the electrical harness that was continually causing the guitar to cut in and out. After repeatedly taking the guitar back to his local music store to complain about said issue, the store sent the guitar back to the Fender factory in early 1962. At that time Fender replaced the Volume and Tone potentiometers. The date codes that are on those parts are mid to late 1961, which corroborates with his story. The original owner claimed that the white finish that is on the guitar now is also the white finish that was on the guitar when he bought it new. Someone at the factory scratched in the R & R notation in the neck slot. Fender used the R & R nomenclature for guitars that were returned to the factory for repairs, part replacement and refinishing services. The finish appears to be original-it has the typical wandering linear checking associates with the nitrocellulose lacquer used at the time and it has toned to a beautiful cream hue-with advanced toning underneath the pickguard-a typical reaction to the “gassing” of electronics.
It certainly has been on the guitar a very long time-and wood grain shrinkage is even visible through the finish; as would be expected at this age. It also features the correct nail-holes in the right spots.
Everything other than the aforementioned potentiometers is for sure 1960 Fender Jazzmaster.
The body has nice deep contours. As previously mentioned, the white finish has mellowed and toned to a beautiful cream color. The Pickguard has a couple of stress lines near the input jack but it is not broken. The Pickguard also has a little bit of cupping, but fits really nicely. The pickguard is a perfect example of the beautiful cellulose tortoiseshell that pre-CBS Fender guitars are known for. The neck slot is solid, and an excellent fit. The neck is one of the best I’ve ever felt on a Jazzmaster. It is very nice and slim, smooth and straight as an arrow. The neck profile is best described as a slim-C and measures .779” deep at the first fret and .976” deep at the 12th fret. The tuners our original, of course, and they all function smoothly. The guitar stays in tune and it’s a great player. The head stock and logo display Excellent. The pre-CBS “spaghetti” logo has no patent numbers, which verifies it’s 1960 vintage (patent numbers begin showing up on the logo in mid-1961).
Guitar has been set up with a low action for an easy and fast playing experience. Of course, the bridge is fully adjustable so you can raise it if you prefer a higher action. Currently the string height is .010” at the first fret, and .058” at the 12th fret.
The Jazzmaster plays great all up and down the fingerboard with no dead spots. The beautiful Brazilian rosewood fingerboard is clean and has a nice smooth and soft feel. The frets are clean and in good condition with minimal wear-see photos. The original clay dot position markers are in excellent condition. Both pickups have a great signal with the bridge providing the classic Fender bell-chime tone and thicker smooth full-sound in the neck position. The bridge pickup measures 8.85 ohms in the neck pickup measures 8.75 ohms. All of the controls function smoothly. The bridge and tremolo are in excellent condition and they both work well. As previously mentioned, the Pickguard itself is an era correct Fender piece-but not original to this guitar. This offset is very striking, and it feels as good as it looks. It’s very well balanced and extremely light weight-it only weighs 7.62 pounds! The original Fender hardcase is included. It is an early brown version with gold interior.