Working in tandem with its unique pickup complement are the ingenious tonal and switching abilities of the Jazzmaster . As this guitar was intended to be Fender ’ s new top-of-the-line instrument ( with a sale price to match ), and it needed to attract the attention of players that were famously picky and difficult to impress , Leo really went above and beyond with the electronics . Though fairly easy to understand after a little experimentation and fooling around , many players remain confused by the Jazzmaster ’ s extra switching options . This extra layer of complexity puts off many players who may be more comfortable with Teles , Strats and Gibson guitars , but this need not be the case .
Basically , it works like this : when the little switch on the upper part of the pickguard is down , it is in the “ lead ” position . In this position , the three-way toggle on the lower part of the pickguard functions as you would expect , selecting the bridge pickup , neck pickup , or both pickups . These settings are governed by the single volume and tone knobs located in the standard spots below the bridge . Flick the little switch on the upper pickguard up , however , and you have accessed the “ rhythm ” circuit , in which only the neck pickup is activated . The lower pickguard controls are now bypassed completely , and a darker , jazzier tone is in play . Volume and tone for this circuit are governed by the black thumbwheels on the upper pickguard . Leo ’ s goal with this design was that , by flipping the little switch up , the player could access a pre-set rhythm tone . Most modern day rockers dislike this setting , but some use it as a handy kill-switch by rolling the volume thumbwheel all the way down .
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Working in tandem with its unique pickup complement are the ingenious tonal and switching abilities of the Jazzmaster . As this guitar was intended to be Fender ’ s new top-of-the-line instrument ( with a sale price to match ), and it needed to attract the attention of players that were famously picky and difficult to impress , Leo really went above and beyond with the electronics . Though fairly easy to understand after a little experimentation and fooling around , many players remain confused by the Jazzmaster ’ s extra switching options . This extra layer of complexity puts off many players who may be more comfortable with Teles , Strats and Gibson guitars , but this need not be the case .
Basically , it works like this : when the little switch on the upper part of the pickguard is down , it is in the “ lead ” position . In this position , the three-way toggle on the lower part of the pickguard functions as you would expect , selecting the bridge pickup , neck pickup , or both pickups . These settings are governed by the single volume and tone knobs located in the standard spots below the bridge . Flick the little switch on the upper pickguard up , however , and you have accessed the “ rhythm ” circuit , in which only the neck pickup is activated . The lower pickguard controls are now bypassed completely , and a darker , jazzier tone is in play . Volume and tone for this circuit are governed by the black thumbwheels on the upper pickguard . Leo ’ s goal with this design was that , by flipping the little switch up , the player could access a pre-set rhythm tone . Most modern day rockers dislike this setting , but some use it as a handy kill-switch by rolling the volume thumbwheel all the way down .