Ugly Ducklings

What makes a Fender Stratocaster worth more than a lap steel guitar? Why do people pay more for a Tele or a Strat, than for the 'higher quality' Jazzmaster? Heck.. the headstock is even painted the same color as on the body sometimes... but to no avail. Even Elvis Costello could not really kick-start a Jazzmaster craze. Was it the 'Jazz' part of 'Jazzmaster' that was a turn-off? Not really a rock-n-roll name for sure. Possibly too many buttons... too much to work out? More likely though... the answer lies in two areas; maybe not as attractive to the eye, and the shape is not as good for great tone. Piffle you say! Ah... not so. Go watch 3:10 to Yuma, and tell me that the Colt Peacemaker is not the most attractive pistol ever made. Well you are looking at the same magical designing skills that came into play with the Strat, the Tele, and the Les Paul. The Jazzmaster has it's many followers, but is still sort of an ugly duckling in the Fender family, the one not going to the prom. (I will catch flak on this, and beauty IS in the eye of the beholder, so keep reading please). Now to how the Jazzmaster (and Jaguar) sound... in an private EMail to me, a well-known and now highly sucessful guitar manufacturer admitted that whenever he made 'J' Style Guitars he just couldn't get them to sound any good. He said it was easy (for him) to get the 'T' Style and the 'S' Style to sound great, but he hated making the 'J' Style guitars. Whether it was in the shape of the wood, or in the electronics, they just didn't sound as good. Ugly duckling lovers forgive me... and Elvis Costello, you still made your's sound great, but I'll choose a Tele or a Strat first.