Beginning April on a good note. I actually purchased this one two weeks ago, was in no hurry to update. Gave it a good go before saying something. Well, it's time to say something.
This guitar is the Fender American Performer Jazzmaster. This pinkish, burgundy-ish finish here is called penny. Whatever it is, it's a welcomed variation. As you've known by now, the American Performer is new for 2019 & we are glad to see the instruments from this range available by the first quarter this year. I remember waiting for a new release by a certain manufacturer to only be available here after eight months into the year. That was bad.
This is how the rear looks like- that back plate cover is so Strat-ish. I have always wanted a JM without the traditional JM bridge appointments. In addition to having limited replacement spares out there for that type of bridge, I feel that the entire design somehow inhibits resonance. The whammy is a wobbler instead of manifesting wide vibrato changes. I'd rather not have it there, I'm willing to settle for any efficient alternative. I nearly bought an American Special version that featured a tune-o-matic type assembly but on that fateful day when I set out to buy it, it was sold off.
So come late 2018 when Fender announced this addition to the American Performer series, I had set my mind on buying it after a very close G&L Doheny consideration- it's about the price.
Performance notes:
- The guitar is slightly heavier than the Strat owing to that offset design. Wonderful sustain from this one.
- With reference to my other JM (the Chinese Modern Player), the neck here feels a little slimmer & fast runs are a joy. It might be down to the fact that the American Performer has a thinner satin finish as opposed to the Modern Player's glossed out affair.
- The pickups- these are the highlight. The Yosemite models fitted in all American Performer series, are new. You'd expect the Texas Special to be brought over from the American Special but hey, that wouldn't justify the slight price hike here, would it? Regardless of the 'upgrade' politics, these Yosemites aren't vintage but sure as heck could be dialled to sound like it; an overwound-ish type of vintage take which is definitely awesome sounding. I also like the fact that they can handle gobs of gain/ distortion without sounding muffled. Cleans, it might be due to the wider JM pickup dimensions, things sound fat & warm. This might allude to why it's called a Jazzmaster to begin with. Thank you, Fender, for excluding those excessive, semi-confusing JM control circuits. It's a straight up 3-way selector here ala Gibson.
- The not so pleasant encounter remains to be the protruding action adjustment screws at the string saddles. This is expected as the bridge in its entirety is the traditional type, no modern niceties to address comfort. It might not bother those of us who exercise demure right hand movements but personally, in black metal mode, the right palm suffers.
To end it all folks, let's take a look at the evolution of things in this segment of the Fender camp. What started as the sub-$1K H1 series are now the $1.5K-ish AP series. In the course of about 15 years, prices went up this much. On the manufacturer's end, they justify the price difference by saying upgrades happened along the way & that involved more money which were then passed on to the buyers. At our end, we see the changes that happened, some were uncalled for & defied the spirit of affordability. Mind you, the series started as Fender's affordable take on an American made version. As time passes, affordability here is subjective & slowly being removed from the series' marketing philosophy.
In any case, I'd like to say that the American Performer series are good instrument after playing them in person. The price-feature worthiness remain personal.
