60th Anniversary 58 reissue Jazzmaster

[Embenny]

Still, I don't see why I should have to go to those lengths on a £1k guitar. Just disappointing that Fender cannot be bothered to address it.

I do wonder whether they use this as a way of pushing people up to the American Original line. I don't see a lot of difference between these two new lines other than the fretboard material to justify spending so much more.

Brazilian rosewood is endangered, so Fender is now instead using pau ferro on Mexican guitars, which is a lighter colour. Should the American Fenders switch instead? Or should Fender make the stuff go extinct?

I think what they're doing is reasonable, and it looks fine to me - just a bit different.

I think you're getting a little mixed up.

Brazilian Rosewood is vulnerable (not endangered) and has not been used in commercial-scale production of US guitars since the late 1960's, with CITES restricting its sale for nearly 3 decades now.

Indian Rosewood has recently joined BRW as a species restricted by CITES trade regulations, but not because it is as vulnerable a species. Smugglers have been passing off illegally harvested Madagascar and Brazilian Rosewood as Indian for many years, particularly when shipping to China.However, its harvesting is not nearly as restricted as BRW has been (where basically the only lumber that has been legally exported for over two decades has been stumpwood, where they go back and re-harvest the lower quality stumps of trees that were cut years ago).

For example, you'll notice that Squiers still feature IRW. That would seem like the first line you'd want to eliminate it from, if you were concerned about using high volumes of a vulnerable species of wood.

Also, the statement of "or should Fender make the stuff go extinct?" is simply misinformed. Guitar fingerboards are not in any way driving the global demand for IRW. You could stock an entire major US city's guitar stores with Rosewood-fingerboard guitars while using less lumber than a single dining set. Furniture is and always has been what has driven Rosewood species extinct. The size of the uniform, dark boards they need for furniture is what leads to so much waste and over-logging. You could easily make the world's supply of Rosewood fingerboards from the off-cuttings of the furniture industry, in terms of volume of wood, but nobody is interested in creating a centralized system for reclaiming and redistributing waste lumber like that, when they can much more easily order logs of a less restricted species and go about business as usual.

[zastruga]

I don't disagree on the why, but if they are trying to recreate the look of something from the past using it, it looks odd. My question was if there are ways to dye it, why aren't they doing that. it sticks out the way it is at present.

Because its not cost effective and most people won't care. Most of my guitar playing buddies barely even know what rosewood is and definitely wouldn't be able to tell you that the boards on these guitars AREN'T rosewood without being told first. I'll be very surprised if there's more than a handful of examples of people refusing to buy these because the fretboard is too light that otherwise would have bought one. Is that really worth Fender adding an entirely new step in their neck building process and all the additional resources that entails? Especially for a limited run guitar that isn't actually trying to be specific to any certain year, just Jazzmastery enough to be a Jazzmaster?

It's a bummer for the nerdiest of us that actually care about that sort of thing, but we are not the target market for a low-to-mid tier production line guitar that never claims to be a perfect representation.

[DavidG]

I don't disagree on the why, but if they are trying to recreate the look of something from the past using it, it looks odd. My question was if there are ways to dye it, why aren't they doing that. it sticks out the way it is at present.

Because its not cost effective and most people won't care. Most of my guitar playing buddies barely even know what rosewood is and definitely wouldn't be able to tell you that the boards on these guitars AREN'T rosewood without being told first. I'll be very surprised if there's more than a handful of examples of people refusing to buy these because the fretboard is too light that otherwise would have bought one. Is that really worth Fender adding an entirely new step in their neck building process and all the additional resources that entails? Especially for a limited run guitar that isn't actually trying to be specific to any certain year, just Jazzmastery enough to be a Jazzmaster?

It's a bummer for the nerdiest of us that actually care about that sort of thing, but we are not the target market for a low-to-mid tier production line guitar that never claims to be a perfect representation.

It is a bummer, because I really wanted one of these!

I'm sure they will be a success, however every forum I've seen these discussed on so far inevitably comments on the colour of the fretboard. Regardless of what wood it Is, it just looks off. On the american pro line I could have understood it as that is about a modern take on those guitars, and their venture into Pau Ferro would make sense there . They are marketing these as classic 60's at the end of the day, even if they are picking and choosing features from that era, I would have liked to see a darker fretboard that ties in with the rest of the good stuff they've done with them.

It reminds me of the Gibson baked maple necks. It wasn't the material which bothered most, it was the colour.

I really wish it didn't bother me, as they've done some amazing custom colours. I'll just have to stop complaining and stump up the extra cash for an American Original.

[zastruga]

I don't disagree on the why, but if they are trying to recreate the look of something from the past using it, it looks odd. My question was if there are ways to dye it, why aren't they doing that. it sticks out the way it is at present.

Because its not cost effective and most people won't care. Most of my guitar playing buddies barely even know what rosewood is and definitely wouldn't be able to tell you that the boards on these guitars AREN'T rosewood without being told first. I'll be very surprised if there's more than a handful of examples of people refusing to buy these because the fretboard is too light that otherwise would have bought one. Is that really worth Fender adding an entirely new step in their neck building process and all the additional resources that entails? Especially for a limited run guitar that isn't actually trying to be specific to any certain year, just Jazzmastery enough to be a Jazzmaster?

It's a bummer for the nerdiest of us that actually care about that sort of thing, but we are not the target market for a low-to-mid tier production line guitar that never claims to be a perfect representation.

It is a bummer, because I really wanted one of these!

I'm sure they will be a success, however every forum I've seen these discussed on so far inevitably comments on the colour of the fretboard. Regardless of what wood it Is, it just looks off. On the american pro line I could have understood it as that is about a modern take on those guitars, and their venture into Pau Ferro would make sense there . They are marketing these as classic 60's at the end of the day, even if they are picking and choosing features from that era, I would have liked to see a darker fretboard that ties in with the rest of the good stuff they've done with them.

It reminds me of the Gibson baked maple necks. It wasn't the material which bothered most, it was the colour.

I really wish it didn't bother me, as they've done some amazing custom colours. I'll just have to stop complaining and stump up the extra cash for an American Original.

Yeah, it's hard to fault Fender for it though. Regulations kind of forced their hand on the cheaper models. There's not much else out there that's both economical for the price point AND resembles rosewood. Anything darker is expensive (ebony being one of the pricier more traditional guitar woods, like 4 or 5 times more expensive than pau ferro). Luckily, a bit of lemon oil will make these boards look WAY better and only requires the occasional touch up. It might never be as good as rosewood, but they'll certainly look better than the stock photos with overly bright lighting.

[I've read there are other polishes and oils that work better than lemon, but I hesitate to suggest anything I haven't personally tried]

[Futuron]

I don't disagree on the why, but if they are trying to recreate the look of something from the past using it, it looks odd. My question was if there are ways to dye it, why aren't they doing that. it sticks out the way it is at present.

Makes sense, but if they did, people would probably still cry foul saying "you're trying to pass this cheap stuff off as real rosewood?"!

[Embenny]

Yeah, it's hard to fault Fender for it though. Regulations kind of forced their hand on the cheaper models. There's not much else out there that's both economical for the price point AND resembles rosewood. Anything darker is expensive (ebony being one of the pricier more traditional guitar woods, like 4 or 5 times more expensive than pau ferro). Luckily, a bit of lemon oil will make these boards look WAY better and only requires the occasional touch up. It might never be as good as rosewood, but they'll certainly look better than the stock photos with overly bright lighting.

[I've read there are other polishes and oils that work better than lemon, but I hesitate to suggest anything I haven't personally tried]

I don't quite understand the economics of the situation. My $150 Squiet Bullet was rosewood, as are the two identical guitars hanging in my local shop, but the $1000 60th anniversary Fender JMs aren't.

I have a hard time buying that it's a matter of cost. Their $200 guitars and $2000 guitars have Rosewood, but their $1000 ones don't.

[zastruga]

Yeah, it's hard to fault Fender for it though. Regulations kind of forced their hand on the cheaper models. There's not much else out there that's both economical for the price point AND resembles rosewood. Anything darker is expensive (ebony being one of the pricier more traditional guitar woods, like 4 or 5 times more expensive than pau ferro). Luckily, a bit of lemon oil will make these boards look WAY better and only requires the occasional touch up. It might never be as good as rosewood, but they'll certainly look better than the stock photos with overly bright lighting.

[I've read there are other polishes and oils that work better than lemon, but I hesitate to suggest anything I haven't personally tried]

I don't quite understand the economics of the situation. My $150 Squiet Bullet was rosewood, as are the two identical guitars hanging in my local shop, but the $1000 60th anniversary Fender JMs aren't.

I have a hard time buying that it's a matter of cost. Their $200 guitars and $2000 guitars have Rosewood, but their $1000 ones don't.

From what I've been able to ascertain, the change is coming to Squier too, though it will most likely be to a synthetic/composite faux rosewood rather than pau ferro. The CITES regulation allowed for pre-existing stock to be exempted so long as it didn't cross borders before being used, so Squier has just been using their pre-CITES stockpile. Estimates say they'll run out sometime this year. This is also why we saw new MIM guitars with rosewood well into 2017, even after the CITES changes were enacted. It seems the Mexican plant just ran out faster.

[sunburster]

From what I've been able to ascertain, the change is coming to Squier too, though it will most likely be to a synthetic/composite faux rosewood rather than pau ferro.

That makes sense, but man, when they switch to synthetic fretboards that will be a sad day for the Squier line.

[Embenny]

From what I've been able to ascertain, the change is coming to Squier too, though it will most likely be to a synthetic/composite faux rosewood rather than pau ferro.

That makes sense, but man, when they switch to synthetic fretboards that will be a sad day for the Squier line.

I guess the days of painting Squier headstocks and pretending you have an AVRI are over!

The richlite used on Martins for years is a fantastic material, though. Hope it's something like that.

[Embenny]

From what I've been able to ascertain, the change is coming to Squier too, though it will most likely be to a synthetic/composite faux rosewood rather than pau ferro.

That makes sense, but man, when they switch to synthetic fretboards that will be a sad day for the Squier line.

I guess the days of painting Squier headstocks and pretending you have an AVRI are over!

The richlite used on Martins for years is a fantastic material, though. Hope it's something like that.