Fender Gold Foil Jazzmaster 2023

[vistavision]

Alamo Music Center posted these.

Per Fender's boilerplate:
"Inspired by the garage rock bands of the sixties and the cult classic guitars they played, the Gold Foil Collection combines timeless Fender designs with the dazzling style of a bygone era.

Fender's Gold Foil Jazzmaster comes equipped with a bound ebony fingerboard, pearloid block inlays, mahogany body, Bigsby B50 vibrato and three Gold Foil mini-humbuckers. Other features include a matching painted headstock, vintage-style tuners with white buttons, 21 Narrow Tall frets and a Fender Jaguar-inspired switch plate."

Made in Mexico. Priced at $1399.


Specs below
..

NECK:
HEADSTOCK: Jazzmaster
NECK MATERIAL: Maple
NECK FINISH: Satin Urethane with Matched Headcap
NECK SHAPE: '60s "C"
NECK CONSTRUCTION: 4-Bolt Standard
FINGERBOARD RADIUS: 9.5" (241 mm)
FINGERBOARD MATERIAL: Ebony
POSITION INLAYS: White Pearloid Block
SIDE DOTS: Black
NUMBER OF FRETS21
TRUSS ROD: Head Adjust
TRUSS ROD NUT: 3/16" Hex Adjustment
STRING NUT: Synthetic Bone
NUT WIDTH: 1.650" (42 mm)
NUT MATERIAL: Synthetic Bone

BODY:
BODY: Mahogany
BODY FINISH: Gloss Polyester
BODY SHAPE: Jazzmaster
BODY MATERIAL: Mahogany

HARDWARE:
BRIDGE: Jazzmaster Bridge with Mustang Saddles
BRIDGE COVER/TAILPIECE: Bigsby-Licensed B50 Vibrato
PICKGUARD: 4-Ply Tortoiseshell
PICKUP COVERS: Gold Foil Covers with Chrome Surrounds
CONTROL KNOBS: Aged White "Witch Hat"
HARDWARE FINISH: Nickel/Chrome
TUNING MACHINES: Vintage-Style with White Buttons
STRING TREES: Butterfly
STRINGS: Fender USA 250R Nickel Plated Steel (.010-.046 Gauges), PN 0730250406
TREMOLO ARM: Bigsby Flat Handle
NECK PLATE: 4-Bolt with "F" Logo
STRAP BUTTONS: Vintage-Style

ELECTRONICS:
BRIDGE PICKUP: Gold Foil Mini-Humbucker
MIDDLE PICKUP: Gold Foil Mini-Humbucker
NECK PICKUP: Gold Foil Mini-Humbucker
PICKUP CONFIGURATION: HHH
CONTROLS: Master Volume, Master Tone
SWITCHING: 3-On/Off Slide Switches (One for Each Pickup)

MEAUSUREMENTS:
DIMENSIONS: 4.50x15.20x42.20 IN
FRET SIZE: Narrow Tall
SCALE LENGTH: 25.5" (64.77 cm)

[JSett]

I was hyped as I scrolled down until I saw the Bigsby

[Pacafeliz]

Fucking narrow tall frets
Otherwise pretty cool, somehow

[GreenKnee]

Gold foil mini humbuckers aren't traditional gold foil pickups, so they're gold foil in appearance only (technically the originals are as well but rubberised magnets etc are what set them apart)
I'm a huge fan of gold foil pickups and I'm actually about to add a third, Firebird/mini-humbucker sized one in the middle position to my favourite Jag.

I agree with Johnny, why the bigsby?
I guess they're going for the Teisco look, the sunburst one especially hearkens back to those guitars, but even the originals didn't use bigsbys.

Cool that they're trying something different but they've missed the mark in my opinion.


They must be trying to compete with the Harmony guitars that have been around for a few years

[Jaguar018]

How quickly is someone going to route that thing out for a regular trem system?

[dinosaurkale->]

just get a bobkat

[MKR]

Reminds me of this silvertone.




I think the silvertone looks cooler, but ultimately I would rather have a nice jazz master with a JM trem and proper pickup configuration.

[marginwalker]

Yep they lost me with the bigsby

[sholkham]

I love the look of it, I just hope it has some nasty pickups.

[RIORIO]

Love the gold one minus the bigsby

[marqueemoon]

Thanks. I hate it.

[eskmsaul]

Would’ve been so much cooler with a normal JM tremolo, love the color of the burst though. Kind of reminds me of a Schecter Ultra III:

[Downsman]

I've tried watching a bunch of video demos, and explanations of Gold Foil pickups, and I'm not any closer to figuring out what they are. It seems that the only thing they all have in common is the cover is a gold coloured grill. Which as far as I can tell has no tonal impact. One guy said they're basically a way for pickup companies to experiment.

Or do I have this wrong and there is indeed a particular Gold Foil tone that people would expect a guitar like this to have? And if so, any links to a guitar being demoed that has that?

[tequila_in_teacups]

Blocky headstock logo is cool. Everything else is meh.

[bessieboporbach]

I'm fascinated that they call that bridge a "Jazzmaster bridge with Mustang saddles."

The Player Jag parts sheet calls that a Mustang bridge assembly, full stop.

If you look at the parts sheet for a Vintera JM or Jag it calls that bridge a "Mustang bridge with threaded saddles."

So if it has Mustang saddles it's a Jazzmaster bridge.

If it has Jazzmaster saddles it's a Mustang bridge.