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Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo show off their Jazz Blasters
Tomorrow, Fender Musical Instruments will release two Sonic Youth models, designed to the exacting requirements of the band’s ultra-influential guitarists Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo. Known for taking dozens of vintage guitars on tour, in order to play songs in a variety of alternate tunings, there will now be a few brand new ones in the mix! Congratulations to Fender, Lee and Thurston for this great partnership. “Concert tuning” now has a whole new meaning.
Sonic Youth live in Chicago this week:
I am proud that Fender is producing Sonic Youth guitars, as the intersection between two disparate parts of my career in music is now complete. When I started promoting Sonic Youth in 1990, I was very connected with the instrument scene through my work the previous summer with Steve Morse. While I worked Morse’s many relationships in the equipment world (Peavey, Ernie Ball-Music Man, DiMarzio) on behalf of Sonic Youth, the string-maker Ernie Ball was the one both parties were excited about.
It’s possible Ernie Ball did it to impress the rising Nirvana (they offered to create just their third lefty guitar for him, the first two being made for Sir Paul — Kurt declined), but when SY left for their ill-fated tour with Neil Young, they had placed an order for 36 different gauges, in quantity. Their album Dirty included a thank you to Ernie Ball, and the connection was one I mentioned to Jas Obrecht of Guitar Player backstage at the Cow Palace. Guitar Player was one of the first mainstream music magazines of any type to put Sonic Youth on their cover.
“New Rage: The Rad, The Bad and the Funky (August 1991)”
The new guitars come out tomorrow, and I hope you have saved up a bit!
Lee Ranaldo talks about the Jazzmaster
The aforementioned Bible (now GuitarPlayer.com) recently featured Thurston and Lee in an interview which also gives a detailed description of the Sonic Youth Jazzmaster Jazz Blaster’s features:
“When Fender came to us with an offer to make signature models of our Jazzmaster guitars we jumped at the chance,” Moore and Ranaldo said. “These are the guitars that have defined the sound of Sonic Youth for more than 20 years. Although we love all guitars, Jazzmasters are the ones we’ve modified and perfected for our uses over the years. With massive input from our great road crew, we’ve come up with a Thurston Jazzmaster and Lee ‘Jazzblaster’ that fully reflect the current state of the guitars we play in 2009. In fact, we couldn’t wait to get our hands on these axes—the prototypes of our Fender models have already been thrust into action during the recording of our latest album, The Eternal, and have already begun to acquire the scrapes and scars of live performance. These guitars rock Sonic style!”
Moore and Ranaldo have always modified their Jazzmaster guitars—removing all extraneous controls—simplifying and stripping them back to their essence, leaving just a three-way switch and volume knob. In many ways, these two instruments are similar, yet in almost every major way (pickups, bridges, frets) they are totally different. Both guitars have alder bodies, “C”-shape maple necks with rosewood fingerboards, American Vintage Jazzmaster tremolos and Black anodized aluminum pickguards. Moore’s Jazzmaster features Seymour Duncan Antiquity II for Jazzmaster pickups, an Adjusto-Matic™ bridge and 21 jumbo frets, and is available in Forest Green Transparent satin nitrocellulose lacquer finish with satin black painted headstock. Ranaldo’s guitar features revoiced Wide Range humbucking pickups, Mustang-style bridge and 21 vintage frets, and is available in Sapphire Blue Transparent satin nitrocellulose lacquer finish with satin black painted headstock.
Each Sonic Youth Jazzmaster guitar comes with a custom sticker sheet and a full-color 24-page indie rock ‘zine containing photos, set lists, tuning charts, illustrations, tech info and extensive interviews. Designed and laid out largely by Ranaldo himself, this is the definitive insider’s guide to all things Jazzmaster in the world of Sonic Youth.
Sonic Youth came together in 1981 and quickly became a fixture in New York City’s No Wave art and music scene. Over the years, they have released several monumental albums, including Sonic Youth (1982), Daydream Nation (1988), Goo (1990), Dirty (1992) and Murray Street (2002), and have influenced legions of bands all over the world. Known as much for their hardcore ethos and DIY work ethic as their signature lo-fi noise explorations and radical playing styles and techniques, they have been able to achieve recognition and success, all while staying true to their original values and vision.
“We were stoked to have the opportunity to create something together, and the resultant instruments are spot-on at evoking the essence of their unique styles and preferences,” said Justin Norvell, marketing director for Fender electric guitars. “These guitars went through pretty rigorous R&D—the guys and their techs were incredibly hands-on throughout the whole process. When they were home we took their original guitars apart, re-voiced pickups against their vintage guitars, and more … when they were out on tour we traded countless late-night e-mails, making adjustments based on their road performance. In the end we are all extremely happy with the results, and we believe that Sonic Youth fans all over the world will be as well.”
For more information on the Sonic Youth guitars and a free download from the new album “The Eternal,” please visit www.fender.com/sonicyouth/ or the band’s own site www.sonicyouth.com.
As Lee Ranaldo told Earbender.com exclusively, “they came out really cool – very stoked about this.”
