« The last Jazzmaster before they were discontinued »

The 1975 Jazzmaster is the last of the "early" Jazzmasters to be made before the line was (sadly) discontinued. This was a crime to end all crimes, but that's a whole debate in and of itself. The Jazzmaster, at this point, was still made in the USA, which means that it predates Fender's Asian outsourcing (and subsequent lapse in quality). The guitar has two single-coil pickups (large, white rectangular ones), and has a selector switch that is similar to a Gibson Les Paul's (three-way). There are unique volume dials that are mostly within the body of the guitar, on the higher part of the guitar. These are rollers that are strange at first but eventually you get used to them. Other features include the Rosewood fingerboard, the alder body, the floating bridge (a really cool feature that is not replicated on many of Fender's other guitars).

This guitar plays really well. It's fantastic for smooth rhythm playing as well as leads. I have not really ever had a problem getting a good sound from it. It has more low end and "oomph" to it than most other Fenders do, which is nice. Leads play smoothly and crisply, I have greatly enjoyed using this guitar in that respect. It's a little heavier than most Fenders but it's not as much of a burden as the Les Paul or a bigger arch-top hollowbody. It's got a strange design too, but you'll get used to that quickly.

The Jazzmaster doesn't have the bright, shimmering high end attack of a Strat, or the tough versatility of a Telecaster, but it does have a really unique sound of it's own. Rocking out is actually easier to do on this guitar, as it's more capable of getting saturated, heavier tones than the other Fenders, but it also maintains a high clarity more than a heavy guitar with humbuckers (like a Les Paul) does. It also is a great choice for people who really like to get crazy with effects, as it will feedback but not in an overly harsh way.

I like the sound of this guitar the best. I'm also a big fan of the floating bridge, the tremolo bar gives you much more control over the vibrato than most other tremolo systems do. I hate overdoing whammy bar bends, and this system tends to prevent that for the most part. It's expensive to get an original Jazzmaster, and some of the reissues are ok, but in my opinion they aren't as excellent as the originals are. I'd definitely go with an older, American version of this guitar than a later one, as they don't exactly hold up as well. Highly recommended.