Fender announces Sonic Youth signature Jazzmasters
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Each SY Jazzmaster comes with a custom sticker sheet and a full-color, 24 page ‘zine that contains photos, set lists, tuning charts, illustrations, tech info and extensive interviews. Designed and laid out by Lee himself, this is the definitive insider’s guide to all things Jazzmaster in the world of Sonic Youth. Lee and Thurston’s guitars have mostly been handled by 4 crew techs since 1990, so the SY sound guy Aaron Mullan called techs Nic Close, Eric Baecht, Jim Vincent and Matt Zivich to ask about the evolution of their guitars over that time…
“When Fender came to us with an offer to make signature models of our Jazzmaster guitars we jumped at the chance. These are the guitars that have defined the sound of Sonic Youth for more than 20 years. Although we love all guitars, Jazzmasters are the ones we’ve modified and perfected for our uses over the years. With massive input from our great road crew we’ve come up with a Thurston Jazzmaster & Lee ‘Jazzblaster’ that fully reflect the current state of the guitars we play in 2009. In fact, we couldn’t wait to get our hands on these axes – the prototypes of our Fender models have already been thrust into action during the recording of our latest album, ‘The Eternal’, and have already begun to acquire the scrapes and scarz of live performance. These guitars rock Sonic style!”
Moore and Ranaldo have always modified their Jazzmaster guitars—removing all extraneous controls—simplifying and stripping them back to their essence, leaving just a three-way switch and volume knob. In many ways, these two instruments are similar, yet in almost every major way (pickups, bridges, frets) they are totally different. Both guitars have alder bodies, “C”-shaped maple necks with rosewood fingerboards, American Vintage Jazzmaster tremolos and black anodized aluminum pickguards. Moore’s Jazzmaster features Seymour Duncan® Antiquity II for Jazzmaster pickups, an Adjusto-Matic™ bridge and 21 jumbo frets, and is available in Forest Green Transparent satin nitrocellulose lacquer finish with satin black painted headstock. Ranaldo’s guitar features re-voiced wide range humbucking pickups, Mustang®-style bridge and 21 vintage frets, and is available in Sapphire Blue Transparent satin nitrocellulose lacquer finish with satin black painted headstock.
Each Sonic Youth Jazzmaster guitar comes with a custom sticker sheet and a full-color 24-page indie rock ’zine containing photos, set lists, tuning charts, illustrations, tech info and extensive interviews. Designed and laid out largely by Ranaldo himself, this is the definitive insider’s guide to all things Jazzmaster in the world of Sonic Youth.
“We were stoked to have the opportunity to create something together, and the resultant instruments are spot-on at evoking the essence of their unique styles and preferences,” said Justin Norvell, marketing director for Fender electric guitars. “These guitars went through pretty rigorous R&D—the guys and their techs were incredibly hands-on throughout the whole process. When they were home we took their original guitars apart, re-voiced pickups against their vintage guitars, and more. When they were out on tour, we traded countless late-night e-mails, making adjustments based on their road performance. In the end we are all extremely happy with the results, and we believe that Sonic Youth fans all over the world will be as well.”
For more information on the Sonic Youth guitars, the band and a free mp3 download of new single “Sacred Trickster,” visit www.fender.com/sonicyouth.
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