Fender American Jazzmaster Special makes a return

A Jazzmaster sneaks its way back into the lineup as a limited Fender run.

What you see above is a guitar that I honestly thought was gone, the Fender American Jazzmaster Special. This had a short-lived run in the Fender lineup and then disappeared...

...but now it's back as a limited run with a walnut finish.

This is exactly what it looks like, a simplified hardtail Jazzmaster. No vibrato system present here. Just a stop piece, a Fender Adjust-O-Matic bridge, no rhythm circuit, a pair of Fender American Vintage '65 Jazzmaster pickups, one volume, one tone, one 3-way toggle.

Also atypical is the fact this Jazzmaster has sealed tuners and two "roller" string guides instead of just one.

The neck is the familiar Fender Modern C shape with a 9.5" fretboard radius and jumbo frets.

Is this a good Jazzmaster?

This Fender is arguably the most friendly Jazzmaster you could buy. The guitar was intentionally built to be a very easy player.

You might be wondering why you should even bother with this when the Squier Deluxe Jazzmaster ST is a very similar guitar and you get the rhythm circuit, all for a whopping $900 less.

This is one of those instances where I think the Fender is the better buy. The AV '65 pickups are amazing (truly, they are), and for a hardtail guitar, the sealed tuners do a better job for keeping the guitar in tune compared to slotted.

In other words, the Fender in this instance will have better overall stability. For a hardtail Jazzmaster, it definitely is the best one to get. It has the proper Jazzmaster tone, excellent stability and is a guitar that can definitely take a beating and be played like it should be.

Published 2017 May 24