The Rowdy Cousin

As the latest addition to the Acoustasonic family, this Jazzmaster pushed the design team in “different and interesting directions”. Fender’s Tim Shaw talks us through its creation

- Dave Burrluck

Breaking the rules is a key part of the design of the American Acoustasonic platform. It’s a concept that really shouldn’t work, but with the release of this Jazzmaster, the third version, it clearly does. It was just as much a surprise as the original Telecaster model when it was unveiled at the NAMM Show back in January 2019.

“You kept pretty quiet about this one,” we say as we settle into our chat with Tim Shaw, although we’re surprised by his response: “Originally, we thought the Jazzmaster would come before the Strat. I forget what the reasoning was, but, obviously, we did the Strat first.”

One reason for that potential switch could well have been the larger body size of the Jazzmaster. Despite the solidbody shape, these Acoustasonics are acoustic guitars first and proving that could work was fundamental to the concept originally imagined by Brian Swerdfeger, Fender’s VP of research and design. “I had the idea three years ago and enlisted Tim Shaw and Larry Fishman to help bring it to life,” Brian told us in 2019. The key lay in the sound port – originally referred to as the ‘Stringed Instrument Resonance System’ (SIRS) – the lightly braced top and, of course, the mainly hollow body. “The design, size, location and depth [of the port] all contribute to the voicing of the instrument,” said Brian, “and give it a fuller voice on your lap. This voicing, in concert with the movement of the top, are major components of what you hear when the guitar is plugged in. What you hear from the output jack is 55 per cent from the guitar and analogue circuit, and 45 per cent shaped by the electronics.”

Back to today and Tim Shaw joins us from his Nashville base to go deeper into the new Jazzmaster concept.

Did you find that the Jazzmaster was tricky to voice in regard to its body size and resonance?