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Hi Michael,
Interesting post. You might want to change the subject line when you
reply to a digest though! :-)
On to your comments:
> I noticed in one post someone made a distinction
> between surf music and Ventures records.
Yes. I think that The Ventures inspired the early surf bands, and they
themselves jumped on the bandwagon and helped popularize it even more.
The Ventures did a lot of stuff before and after surf that you would
not call surf. Guitar instrumentals is more of a tag for them.
>
> With the Jazzmaster, it's obvious even from the name what market
> Leo was aiming for, but likewise never caught on in that market.
>
> By the time the Jaguar came out, Leo probably realized who was actually
> buying his Strats and Jazzmasters, and what kind of music they were using
> it for (because of the mute on the Jaguar), but the short scale length
> seems to
> be one more attempt to lure the jazz guitarists who would be used to
> the shorter scale on Gibsons, but hedging his bets on the potential
> market with
> a more neutral name.
I don't think so. The Jaguar didn't come out until 1962, which means
Fender was probably designing it in 60 or 61 (I obviously don't know
how long it really took). The surf scene was really in it's infancy at
this time and I would not think that was a factor. There were other
guitars of that era that had mutes. The adoption of the Jazzmaster and
Jaguar by the surf crowd was probably a total surprise to Fender.
> Sales to surf musicians must've been a big factor keeping Fender
> prospering
> so musicians in other styles would have a chance to try 'em, like 'em,
> and buy 'em.
> There is probably no other style in which Fender instruments are so
> completely
> dominant.
I would agree here although I have no hard numbers on that. It is
certainly true that surf guys, and guys like the Ventures, snapped up
Fender guitars and amps. Fender amps especially were the top of the
line equipment of the day.
>
> Am I getting a handle on the basic history of it all?
Well it wasn't just the Ventures. Guys like Paul Johnson will tell you
that they loved the instrumental rock-n-roll sounds of not only The
Ventures, but Link Wray, Duane Eddy, The Fireballs, The Champs, The
Revels, etc. I think what happened was that these early bands were
just mimicking their heroes. Their audience at the time just happened
to be surfers, so the phrase "surf music" was born. Pretty soon you
started getting song titles that related back to surf, and then guys
like Dick Dale, The Belairs, The Chantays, etc, etc, began adding
their take (or in Dick Dale's case, dominating the sound) to the music
and suddenly surf music started having the "idioms" that we all know
and love: the reverb, the glissandos, the muted and damped guitar
lines, exotic melodies, etc. Slowly a sound began to take shape that
you could recognize as the "surf sound". In the beginning you had Mr.
Moto and Let's Go Trippin', both great songs, but they don't have a
lot of the ingredients that we now associate with surf...those came a
bit later. Well let me take that back, they had the basic ingredients
(Mr Moto was pretty exotic sounding), just not the flourishes that
would later instantly peg you in the surf category.
BN
