Why do builders keep creating Jazzmaster/Telecaster hybrids?

[bterry]

I’m not fishing or trolling for negative comments, I’ve just seen an unprecedented amount of new Tele/Jazzmaster hybrid guitars on the market in the past year or two and wondered what’s driving it? These seem to be coming from both the big F and smaller boutique builders...

I love Jazzmasters and Telecasters so I have nothing but love for variations on the theme, but I’m curious what your favorites are? Most seem to have a JM body with some combination of Telecaster bridge or pickups, but I’ve seen some with JM pickups as well - maple or rosewood necks with Tele headstocks.

Anyway - do people here own and play them? If so, what do you like about them and what’s better/different?

cheers!
bt

 

[schmee]

Because they see all us gearheads modifying our guitars and want to get in on the game. Let's face it, if they dont, they have nothing new to sell!
Some of the new Fender offerings are pretty cool. My local store has a bunch of them, as you describe, Tele's with JM pickups, Strats with Tele bridges, and other things. They seem to all be very nicely done, unlike some of the Squier "pawn shop" stuff over the years. But they are pricing them at high prices too so....

 

[RoCkstAr256]

Its always too see something new but keep the one original. I would love too see Stagemaster one time, 7 string with low B. Gibson / Epiphone makes 7 strings. Fender should too. I like the meteora honestly but preffer Tele and Strat

 

[jman72]

Because they're cool! Teles and offsets are the "new" cool guitars, so a cross between the two of them is even better.

 

[bterry]

I’ve seen the new ‘parallel universe’ Fender guitars and that seems to be a theme these days but it also seems the JM/Tele mash up came first by many years...

 

[bterry]

Because they're cool! Teles and offsets are the "new" cool guitars, so a cross between the two of them is even better.

So it’s just aesthetics? I agree that some of them look really nice!

 

[Old Tele man]

Darwin's 'Evolutionary Progress' applied to guitars: Tweak a little here, tweak a little there, constantly trying new things for improvement, usually mostly involving their profit, however. (Wink,wink).

 

[jrblue]

Just churning the marketplace, reflecting rather than setting trends, "having it both ways" (vintage forms, just remixed), copying from individual builders... same as it ever was.

 

[Snfoilhat]

I like Fender's (FEIC) design and aesthetic and history, but don't have any emotional attachment to any of the corporations that have owned the Fender trademarks since the 60s. And in a cool parallel, Fender guitars were designed to be highly copy-able, easily mix-and-matchable, and so it makes a lot of sense that home builders and kit makers and boutique/custom builders to have their own lengthy history of mashing up the brand's older and best ideas.

For me, the tele bridge and bridge pickup are the most distinctive sonically. The jazzmaster is my favorite body shape visually and ergonomically. I prefer 25.5" scale to 24". I prefer small strat headstock to any of the alternatives. After a tone quest I settled on the best sounding neck pickup for the music I want to play, and it fit with the theme of my guitar. No surprise Warmoth has been selling this body shape for years and now FMIC has a few similar offerings. The only things I could say I want more out of a guitar are slightly different control routes (neither Warmoth nor Fender offer exactly what I'd like -- Jaguar volume and tone and output jack locations), and some kind of smart paint that can change colors.

 

[ppg677]

I’m not fishing or trolling for negative comments, I’ve just seen an unprecedented amount of new Tele/Jazzmaster hybrid guitars on the market in the past year or two and wondered what’s driving it? These seem to be coming from both the big F and smaller boutique builders...

I love Jazzmasters and Telecasters so I have nothing but love for variations on the theme, but I’m curious what your favorites are? Most seem to have a JM body with some combination of Telecaster bridge or pickups, but I’ve seen some with JM pickups as well - maple or rosewood necks with Tele headstocks.

Anyway - do people here own and play them? If so, what do you like about them and what’s better/different?

cheers!
bt

At least a couple people I know say they think the Jazzmaster has the most appealing body shape.

 

[schmee]

 

[Fearnot]

Fender puts their own name on most of the pawn shop/mash-up designs.

 

[Treynor]

I really enjoy my hybrid! The JM pickup in the neck is much more articulate than the standard tele neck pickup. And with the Bill Lawrence 5 way switching I installed, there are a variety of superb useable sounds available.

 

[ac15]

I’m not fishing or trolling for negative comments, I’ve just seen an unprecedented amount of new Tele/Jazzmaster hybrid guitars on the market in the past year or two and wondered what’s driving it? These seem to be coming from both the big F and smaller boutique builders...

I love Jazzmasters and Telecasters so I have nothing but love for variations on the theme, but I’m curious what your favorites are? Most seem to have a JM body with some combination of Telecaster bridge or pickups, but I’ve seen some with JM pickups as well - maple or rosewood necks with Tele headstocks.

Anyway - do people here own and play them? If so, what do you like about them and what’s better/different?

cheers!
bt

I don’t know.

For the record I own a Jazzmaster and a Tele.

I love them both.

I think the awesome looks of the Jazzmaster, paired with the classic, iconic sound of the Tele is a win-win design.

Funny that this thread came up now, because just earlier today, I commented to a friend that the next guitar I buy will probably be a Telemaster of some sort.

I’m actually surprised people weren’t making them a long time ago.

 

[bterry]

I can definitely vouch for the appeal of the JM body shape - if it were me and I was putting one together I’d take the JM body + the Tele bridge pickup and Jazzmaster neck pickup, I think!

It would be cool to try that setup with both the Tele and JM bridge designs to see what sounds best...

 

[perttime]

So it’s just aesthetics? I agree that some of them look really nice!

In my case, the hybrid is a strat shaped guitar with tele hardware. I figured that the tele hardware gives me sounds that I was looking for - and the strat shape gives me the balance and comfort of a strat. Works for me.

 

[bo]

Ergonomics?

 

[bravescoob]

I see a lot of these custom jobs too. Fender historically has only released offset teles in relatively small batches at affordable prices- the most recent being the limited mim and mij runs in 2018. Seems this is a big reason is has become so popular for custom builds. In the case of a used mim tele or jm you can find the Fender versions cheap, but offset teles still have retained most/all of their original value because of limited production.

 

[bullfrogblues]

I like making them! I like how they feel and how they sound!

 

[Mekhem]

Well - Maybe a couple of answers here depending on which type of hybrid:

Tele body with Jazzmaster pickups - I different sound but with a classic, i.e. non-confrontational, body style

Offset body with Tele pickups - a gateway into offsets for people who dont like change?

I am a big fan of offsets and jazzmaster pickups (actual jazzmaster pickups, not p-90's or humbuckers in a jazzmaster shell) so I like a lot of these mash-ups. Part of me is super tempted by the "Parallel Universe" model that was the tele with Jazzmaster pickups and tremelo. That would be an interesting bird no doubt...