April saw Fender launch the Jim Root Jazzmaster V4 — the latest collaboration between the iconic brand and the Slipknot guitarist.
In a new interview with Guitar.com, Jim Root talked about his relationship with the Fender Jazzmaster guitar, which he was originally introduced back in 2014. In the interview, Root revealed that he was initially unsure about the guitar, because of it’s affiliation with acts like Nirvana and Dinosaur Jr.
“Alex Perez sent me the first Jazzmaster – a white one with a maple fretboard – but I was reluctant to really play with it,” Root revealed.
“It made me think of Dinosaur Jr, Nirvana, and stuff like that, and that’s not really my vibe. I appreciate those bands – they write great songs, But that’s just not really me.
“But then when I was in Stone Sour, we were doing rehearsals and getting ready to record [2010’s] Audio Secrecy and I was like, ‘You know what? I’m just going to grab that guitar and play it during rehearsals, and maybe it’ll give me something different?'”
Root revealed that it didn’t take much for him to subscribe to the chapel of the Fender Jazzmaster.
“When we played the first song, I was immediately blown away by how well balanced it was. I was like, ‘Man, regardless of how it looks, this guitar feels so good hanging off my shoulder’. I fell in love almost instantaneously.
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“I feel like I can move around fluidly and my guitar just stays put, you know? Also, I’m 6’6” [1.95m], so the bigger the guitar, the more normal I look on stage!
“I always thought SGs were really big guitars, watching [AC/DC guitarist] Angus Young play them. Then I bought one online, it arrived at my house and I was like, ‘Oh my god, this guitar is tiny!’ Angus Young must be very small. They look like jazz-boxes on him!”
Check out Jim Root playing through his signature Jazzmaster
In a recent interview with Loudwire, Jim Root revealed that isolation had given him the freedom to chip away at his own music.
“Now that we have this bananas insane pandemic thing going on,” he began, “I’ve been trying to force myself to write. I’ve had a lot of people ask me about doing a solo project. I think now I have a little bit of extra time to dedicate to that, so I’ve been writing some stuff that maybe wouldn’t slide in with the Slipknot world.”
In addition to the solo material he’s cooking up, Root revealed that Slipknot have opened a dialogue about a new record. “There’s a lot of different philosophies and ideas and things we’re throwing around with Slipknot for another record, things like that.”
“It’s easy for me to write Slipknot arrangements and ideas. They come kinda naturally to me just because I spent so much time with Paul [Gray, former bassist]. As much as I’ve written on the last two records I don’t have to think about that too much.”
