Fender is introducing three new artist signature models at this year’s NAMM show, the Kurt Cobain Jaguar, the Troy Van Leeuwan Jazzmaster, and the Jim Root Jazzmaster. Here is the press release announcing the new models:
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (January 23, 2014) — Fender is proud to announce its latest offering of artist signature models, including the Kurt Cobain Jaguar®, Jim Root Jazzmaster® and Troy Van Leeuwan Jazzmaster guitars.
Fender’s Kurt Cobain Jaguar is a new-looking version of the battered and highly unusual 1965 Jaguar that Cobain wielded during the heady early-’90s era when Nirvana ruled rock and led a musically stunning and culturally subversive movement. Features include an alder body, bound fingerboard with pearloid dot markers, Stratocaster® headstock shape with 1950s-style “spaghetti” logo, DiMarzio®humbucking DP103 PAF 36th Anniversary neck pickup and DP100 Super Distortion bridge pickup, triple knurled “chrome-dome” knob configuration (volume, volume, tone), three-position toggle switch, black chrome Adjusto-Matic™ bridge and Gotoh® sealed tuners. Available in right- and left-handed versions. Accessories include a black textured vinyl hard-shell case and an exclusive Fender Kurt Cobain book with photos and commentary by Charles Peterson and an insightful interview with Nirvana guitar tech Earnie Bailey.
Stark, dark and menacing, the Jim Root Jazzmaster has got to be the most distinctively minimalist version of the instrument ever devised in the model’s entire half-century history. At the behest of the towering Slipknot/Stone Sour guitarist, gone are the dual tone circuits and barrage of controls. Gone are the fret position markers and enormous chrome bridge. Gone, in fact, is pretty much everything typical of a Jazzmaster guitar, replaced only by fearsome EMG® 60 (neck) and 81 (bridge) humbucking pickups with brushed nickel covers, a single three-way switch, a single volume knob and a hard-tail Stratocaster bridge.
The Jim Root Jazzmaster also features a mahogany body with a comfortable contoured neck heel, satin-finish maple neck with “modern C” profile and large headstock, compound-radius ebony fingerboard (12”-16”) with 22 jumbo frets and no position markers, staggered deluxe locking tuners, black hardware and pickup bezels, and an austere Flat Black satin-nitro lacquer finish. Includes black tweed case with red plush interior, strap and strap locks, cable and polishing cloth.
Well back into the 1990s and right up to this day, Troy Van Leeuwen has contributed deftly textural guitar work and atmospherics to some of alt-heavy rock’s most acclaimed and forward-thinking bands. From the influential ’90s alternative of Failure to A Perfect Circle, Queens of the Stone Age, Eagles of Death Metal, Puscifer and others, Van Leeuwen’s multi-instrumental expertise has given great color and power to a great deal of very creative rock music.
The Troy Van Leeuwen Jazzmaster is as distinctive as the sounds he wrings from it. Its gloss Oxblood finish with a four-ply red tortoiseshell pickguard is darkly alluring, with the interestingly contrasting touch of two white “witch hat” control knobs. The dual tone circuits (lead, rhythm) use a two-way toggle switch on the upper horn rather than the customary slider switch, and the brass-saddle Mustang®bridge is combined with a Jazzmaster tailpiece. Other features include a maple neck with “C”-shaped profile and heel-end truss rod adjustment, 7.25”-radius bound rosewood fingerboard with 21 vintage-style frets and pearloid block inlays, two American Vintage ’65 Jazzmaster single-coil pickups with three-way toggle switching, and vintage-style tuners. Hard-shell case included.
For more information, go to www.fender.com.
I think the Troy Van Leeuwan Jazzmaster is pretty interesting, but the Jim Root Jazzmaster is perhaps the most radical of the new models.
Kurt Cobain Jaguar:
Jim Root Jazzmaster:
Troy Van Leeuwan Jazzmaster:
