The Sonic Youth co-founder’s signature offset pairs a Seymour Duncan JB bridge humbucker with a Jazzmaster neck pickup, finished in Olympic White.
Sonic Youth co-founder Kim Gordon now has a Jazzmaster of her own. The Limited Edition Kim Gordon Jazzmaster puts a Seymour Duncan JB humbucker in the bridge of an Olympic White offset, pushing the guitar’s open voice into heavier territory.
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Gordon is best known as one of rock’s most original bass players, but she has kept coming back to guitar on stage and in the studio, from Sonic Youth through to her solo records. Her 2019 debut No Home Record was followed by 2024’s The Collective, which picked up Grammy nominations for Best Alternative Music Album and for Best Alternative Music Performance with “BYE BYE”. Her third album, PLAY ME, came out through Matador in March. The new guitar also puts her alongside former bandmates Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo, who each got a signature Jazzmaster from Fender back in 2009.
For Gordon, a good Jazzmaster doesn’t need much help from a pedalboard. “One thing that’s great about the Jazzmaster, if you have a guitar that sounds good by just plugging it into an amplifier, it doesn’t need effects,” she said. “That’s really satisfying…I just really like the sound…Electricity in the guitar is the gateway to losing yourself.”
The body is alder, finished in Olympic White with a matching headcap. It’s paired with a Modern C maple neck and a 9.5-inch radius rosewood fingerboard with rolled edges and white pearloid block inlays. A Player Series Alnico V Jazzmaster pickup in the neck position covers the cleaner, chiming end of things. The high-output JB TB-4 in the bridge handles the noisier sounds that suit Gordon’s dissonant, textural approach to the instrument.
The vintage-style floating tremolo stays, working with a Jazzmaster bridge fitted with Mustang saddles to keep intonation in check. ClassicGear tuners with an 18:1 ratio round out the hardware.
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