Fender Jaguar Bass

These basses are all Japan made. I personally got the Red one because I loved the color and it had the matching headstock which looks awsome on it. Mine turnedout to be an '06 or '07, not sure due to the serial number starting with the letter S, and S being a serial number on MIJ Fenders between years 2006 and 2007. The instrument has the standard 20 frets and 4 strings. This bass has a bit of both worlds: it can be active or passive. I'm not much of a fan of active, but it doesn't sound too bad as an active. A bit noisy on the static, but that's just how all active basses sound. The passive mode is my favorite though, and there's a ton of features between the two single neck and bridge J pickups. There's the Volume knob, the tone knob, then you have the on/off switches on the left bottom side: bridge pickup, neck pickup, and a series switch which allows for a boosted tone which cuts through really nice. The active mode has 2 additional wheels at the top left, which control the bass and treble of the tone. I'm not 100% positive, but I believe Maple is one of the main material woods of this bass. Feels very soft and light. Usually maple feels like such. Neck is not painted, but has a tinted look to it with a coat of clear coating to give it the laminated shine. I believe the bass also comes in Black, White and Sunburst, but those finishes do not have a painted headstock like the Red one does. The scale is the standard 34" with a rosewood neck and jumbo frets. Although this bass has a Jazz bass neck, the body has a hint of jazz, but for the most part the bass is it's own kind of animal. This bass is not string-thru body.

I'd say this bass is very similar in tone to a Rickenbacker 4003 bass, very warm and mellow, yet has a nice groove to it's low end notes. I played it through several fender amps, Hartke Amps, my crate practice amp, and my Line6 Lowdown 110 amp. Also tried it through Ampeg BA112 and BA115, sounds great on all, but surprisingly Ampeg and Line6 turned out to be my favorites for tonal range. I didn't really try too many settings on the fender amps as these were only small amps that I only used to test out the tuning @ the store. Line6 has a few effects on it including the vintage ampeg sound, a full range of distortion/overdrive, a bit amp sound, and a synth bass sound. Sounds very good on all 4 settings. This bass is great all around live or for practice. It is not a P bass, nor is it a Musicman stingray. So don't expect either sharp bright tone or super mellow round low end, it's got the jazzy mellow warm sound. Sounds more like a vintage sound than the modern clear sound. I really don't have any dislikes other than the fact that Fender in general is retarded in terms of not making a full 24 fret neck and adding the 5 string as an optional model. Some of us do like the wider scale range.

Before I got my bass, it was owned by a collector, who hasn't really played this bass at all. Even had some dust on it from displaying it. No dents or signs of wear at all. Flawless finish. The owner said he never adjusted anything because he only played it to make sure everything was in a good functional condition. So everything on it sounded great the way it came from the factory. The only thing I was itching to change were the tuning pes and the bridge, as they were the only cheaply made parts. Well I fixed that problem by adding adding Hipshot pegs with one D-tuner key in black and a black Hipshot bridge. Looks really cool on a Red bass. The action of this bass is very comfortable, good for picking, slapping, popping, and tapping.

This bass seems very durable. Any active bass is not 100% prone to battery failure, but hey, you can save yourself with this one by simply switching to passive mode. The hardware is fine, but cheap, tuners are imprecise when downtuning at first. Swap them for nice Hipshot tuners, and you solved the problem. So far the finish is fine on my bass adn it's at least 2 years old. Strap buttons are solid. This bass does not have any flaws nor is there anything wrong with it's hardware or it's durability. It is a very dependable bass, if it was my only bass I'd use it all the time, but since I have a bass that's more beat up, I'd rather keep this one clear of accidents. Like I said, the tuners are about the only thing that you may find yourself complaining a bit about, but they do keep their tuning fine once tuned. I highly doubt you'll have any problems with this bass, so playing with this bass live shouldn't require any backups unless you need a wider scale range (ie. 5 string, more frets...)

Never had to deal with them, as my instruments are all tested and adjusted before I decide to keep them. I don't even know if this thing is warrantied. I never got a certificate for it, and never asked the previous owner if there is a warranty for it. All I know is what I heard about Fender's customer service from many music store dealers, and they all say, Fender is a pain in the ass, they are hard to get through to begin with. That is all I know. But I wouldn't deal with them either way as all the parts that would need, I can find on ebay or elsewhere online, and in worst case scenario just go to my local music store and ask them to get me a certain part/accessory.

I've been playing for almost 11 years now, and I've owned 10 basses so far, starting with a Dean Edge 1 back in '98, then moving on to Ibanez EDC705 in 2000, a Rick 4003 in '02, giving away the Dean, trading the ibanez and Ric for a Warwick Vampyre SN 5 string in '04, getting the vampyre stolen by my ex-gf, getting an ESP F255 in '06, then moving onto warwick corvette 5 string in '07, selling the ESP. Earlier this year obtaining an Ibanez BTB405, trading my warwick corvette for a '91 Musicman Stingray5 early this year ('09), then selling the IbanezBTB, and purchasing a Fender P-bass, which I later gave as a gift to my student. And earlier in April purchased a Fender Jaguar bass. So currently I own only 2 basses a '91 Musicman Stingray5 and a Fender Jaguar which I play though my Line6 Lowdown 110 amp. I also own and play 2 synths: Roland XP10 and Roland XP80.
Some of my previous gear I do regret trading/losing (Ric4003 and Warwick Vampyre), but I probably would've never looked at a fender if it wasn't for the loss of my then favorite bass the Warwick Vampyre whcih led me through a series of temp basses (esp, warwick corvette, ibanezbtb), which turned into a trade offer for a Musicman, and I was skeptic about this bass, but I do remember bassists bragging about it's sound, so I agreed to it, and what do you know, turns out it's one of my favorite basses so far, I then discovered it was started by Leo Fender, and then decided to give Fender A try with the Fender P bass, which totally blew my mind when I played it. A Jaguar was a more natural approach as it grabbed my attention when I was looking through fender basses. And if the Jag is ever stolen, I'd buy the same exact one, new and tested. They're very affordable now too. like under $600 for a made in Japan Fender, that's unheard of. I hope they're not discontinuing them. It's a very good bass. My musicman on the other hand is another bass I'd replace, but in a different color option and maybe with the extra bridge pickup. If there was one thing I'd add to the Jaguar bass, it would be a p-bass pickup in between the J bridge and J neck. Well a 5th string wouldn't hurt as well as a few more frets, but I guess that's like pulling teeth, when asking fender to make something like this in a standard package not made in Korea or mexico.

Great features if they worked

Just received this instrument this morning from Sam Ash
direct. I had tested one out about a year and a half ago,
and thought it was pretty cool. It is in looks and finish.

I have already packed mine for a return as it has more snap,
crackle, pop than a bowl of Rice Crispies. The pre amp
switch does not work at all. I tried a new battery and a "fix"
I found online were you wedge the battery for more contact ...
it didn't work.

The pickups sounded fine and the action great, but other than that
I am surprised they let this one out of the factory.

No arguments from Sam Ash

I researched it a year or so ago. Wish I would have
checked it out again.

Made in Japan, very nice neck rosewood with block inlays, no binding which is very nice. Active passive switch. Sunburst.

I am a p bass guy. I have several my fav is a modded '77 p bass that i have toured across the US and Canada with for over 10 years. I play a pretty broad range of music in a cover band as well as in a Clapton tribute band. It covers all of them very well. Nice warm sound and with the active preamp engaged lots of punch. I play alot of chords under the guitar solos and the active switch really cuts through.
The electronics are a bit noisy but no more than one of my other j basses.

I have been playing for so long no matter what bass I buy there is a whole list of mods I need to do to it to make it gig ready. so the factory set up "which was fine" needed to be all redone by me anyway. I did not see any flaws looked and played great.
only suggestions would be a better quality bridge "baddass will be added" and better machines they felt a little cheep, also the battery door seems a bit flimsy but easy to get to so we will see how it holds up

the fender japan basses are pretty bad ass, the hardware could be better, finish seems like a thick poly strong finish. Seems pretty dependable fender ussually is. I always bring a back up.

Fender is always great and always stands behind there products! no need for then yet

I have been playing for 18 years, I own several vintage fender basses ampeg svt, mark bass set up and ampeg b15. I would buy another one of these if it were stolen I may buy one in whit just because. I love the look, feel and tone. The first gig I did with the bass a had a line of people who wanted to know what it was and commented on the tone being awesome. I do not know if it will replace my number one p bass we will see but for now I have been grabbing it first! can not beat it for the money

I love my black Fender Jaguar bass! Was great right off the wall, caught my eye when I least expected it and I walked out of the store with it after running it thru and amp and putting it thru its paces...i was definitely taken by its sound and playability, especially in a shop thats not terribly renowned for its set ups right out of the box

This might get me into a bit of trouble if a purist was to read this lol...I like the wierd and wonderful and I'm sure that played a big part in my buying this instrument. I immediately wanted to make it into my own with what would definitely be considered a major mod. I took it to my tech, got him to notch out the nut (which i am replacing with a high quality bone nut this week) so I could string it up with the low 4 strings of a 5 string set, Rotosounds of course (130,105,80,65) and its tuned BEAD. This bass is punishing with that setup! I'm not a big fan of 5 strings just because of the string spacing but I'm definitely a fan of that low B lol The fact that I can play a fretted low E note is a definitely a plus and on this bass its super fat. Because of my mod I always use the active setting with a db cut on my rig. I'm playing it thru an SVT pro3 into and svt 8x10 cab by the way and i shook a clock off the wall at my house gig a couple of weeks back! Now that was COOL lol I honestly can't say enough about the sound of this thing, its deeper than hell itself but at the same time it has a really nice transparency to it. I'm seriously considering buying another one just to have as a standard 4 string in the very near future.... one thing i should mention is altho it doesnt have a hum per se, it seems to have a shielding problem as mentioned by other reviewers in this forum

Like I said this guitar felt great the second i picked it up, love the neck! It is heavy tho lol

I replaced the strap buttons with Jim Dunlop strap locks immediately as i do with all my basses...Finish is great but I wouldn't consider the red one, I'm not a big fan of the matching headstock but thats a personal preference

I'm a pro player and have been for the past 27 years, a few basses have passed thru these hands lol my main bass is a 1990 Mexican Jazz thats been heavily modded, the only stock parts are the tone and volume knobs lol I have a 3 night a week house gig playing blues, rock, funk and country with some of the best musicians my city has to offer. Thats certainly not meant to be boastful, rather its more to convey the point that instrument and gear quality is top notch among these players. I'm what could be considered an aggressive player so I do demand a lot from my gear.
Like I mentioned before I absolutely love this bass and when I pull it out of its case, the reactions are nothing but positive both on its look and definitely on its sound, with my Ampeg and this bass i"ve been seriously shaking my pant legs...I've been told by a few young people that its rad lol, that kinda seals it dont ya think?

2008 Fender Jaguar Bass (Japan)
Alder body, Rosewood Neck, Pearloid Block in-lays.
Active/Passive electronics circuit
Neck/Bridge Pickup Switches
Series Switch

This bass has some really good features however some features could use an improvement. I really like the use of the series switches and the pickup switches. I think Fender Japan did an excellent job with that. I also like that the bass also has a passive/active switch and also the incorporation of a tone knob that you can also use even in active mode. However, I was highly disappointed with both the volume and tone pots. They are cheap, and I would highly suggest replacing them. Also, the bass and treble roll adjustments are pathetic. It is either all bass or no bass.....no in between. You have to toy with the controls to get the bass and treble just right. The tuners are ok, but this is another area that if I had kept the bass....I would've replaced as well. The bridge is standard.....had I kept the bass I would have went with a Gotoh bridge or something along those lines. Because of the cheapness of the pots and the almost unusable eq roller knobs and par tuners I'm giving this bass a 6.

This bass can pull out a plethora of sounds. I think the bright spot of this bass is the passive side though. The active eq could use some work....to me it just sounds boomy and muddy when I use the bass eq. It does have some brightness that is pretty good for slap though. In a live performance though.....my bass got lost in the mix. So again I will not give a high rating for the sound. Let's not talk about the loud buzzing sound that I get from the bass. I'm like this....if I faulk out money for instrument I should not have to have it put in the shop to be shielded or anything else. Again I'll give this bass a 6.

Now....this has got to be the best part of this bass. The action, fit, and finish of this bass was awesome!! Straight from the factory to the store the setup was excellent. Low action, fast neck, beautiful finish, nice body.....this was what made me buy the bass in the first place. Best four stringer I've laid my hands around. I just wished the features and the sound would have matched.

I'm sure this bass would be reliable....but I would not use this bass on a gig without a backup. With it having cheap parts, I would question whether this bass would hold up on its own.

N/A

Overall....I love the concept of this bass. I think if they made these in the US and maybe took their time to make a good instrument with good quality parts, they would sell millions of these basses. It would be awesome to see the Fender Custom Shop make these basses. If they correct some of the problems such as the busted eq controls, the horrible shielding and loud buzz, and adjust the bass frequency of the eq and make it more musical Fender could have something. Needless to say....I played this bass in store, laid it away, paid for it brought it home and was shocked at how terrible the bass was. I gave it a fair shake, but when I took it on a performance and played it.....it just did not cut it.....my Mexican Jazz bass blew it straight up....and my Mex has no mods what so ever. Good news is that I took it back and got a full refund for the bass in which I used that money to order a American Vintage Series 75' reissue Jazz Bass. I'm sure that my 75 reissue will perform well. I have had and owned a number of Fender's....and this one rates very low on my list.

You all know the features...but mine's a red one!!! I bought this because it is sooo different from my Warwick Streamer Jazzman 5 - variety is the spice of life.

Hot signal but what about that buzz/battery pops/cutouts etc. Started just after I bought it. After sending this bass to FOUR guitar techs (including Fender) the fix is A PIECE OF DOUBLE SIDED TAPE ON THE INSIDE OF THE BATTERY COMPARTMENT LID TO PUSH THE BATTERY TIGHTER AGAINST THE CONTACTS!!! Since doing this frankly ludicrous repair the bass has been perfectly well behaved. I hope Fender is reading this so they can rectify this issue in the factory. I almost stopped loving this bass but can now see a long and passionate relationship (it is red remember). The sound was a 2 but now it's an...

Overall this bass is well built and finished. Action is great and paint is RED!!! Did I mention that before? Typically high quality Japanese product.

I have owned for this for 6 months. 5 months chasing the buzz. Possibly unfair to judge reliability just yet... Have done 20 0dd gigs and still looks new. Only damage caused by one of the guitar techs...Dragged a pickup screw across the (red) finish.

To paraphrase the Fender tech, "We have checked this bass against others in our factory and the buzz you hear is normal for this pickup set up.." Fender has dropped the ball on this one - I'm very disappointed with this attitude especially after the incredibly simple fix. (Thanks Hindy - you know who you are).

Now the probs are fixed it is great. This rating will be higher in 6months time I'm sure.

2006 Fender Jaguar Bass made in Japan in Hot Rod Red w/ matching headstock. Two jazz bass pickups and two fairly intuitive modes of operation: Active mode with bass and treble controls and passive mode with pickup selection, parallel/series selection and a master volume and tone control. Gloss maple neck with pre-aged rosewood fingerboard complete with 70s-era block inlays.

Tons of tonal options on this bass. It ended up replacing my Geddy Lee Jazz bass primarily due to its ability to nail the jazz tone with a few other tricks up its sleeve. I didn't use the active circuit much, but it was nice on gigs where I had to run direct or through an in-ear setup. The active mode is simple, turn it on and it gives whatever pickups are selected a boost of bass and treble via two sliding controls. A nice way to add gain to the signal or boost things overall when needed. That said, I primarily ran the bass in passive mode. The series option is nice and a fairly standard mod (think S-1 switch).

The build quality of the bass were great as I have come to expect from Fender Japan. The pre-aged look is nice and the finish both on the body and headstock was very nice. As is the case with these gloss finishes from the vintage series, the finish chips fairly easily. A couple of cymbal bumps in a cramped rehearsal space put a couple of dings in the headstock, so I learned that lesson quickly. The only construction issue was a loud popping that would come up when the battery compartment was bumped. It would pop or even cut the signal if bumped and I tend to move a bit when I play, so this quickly became an issue. I did have the bass repaired on Fender's dime, but the problem persisted. I believe mine was the only one to have this problem and it only affected the active mode, so I simply removed the battery and never used the active mode after the trip into the shop. The low rating is not on the construction side, but due to the persisting electronic popping.

The only durability issue was the aforementioned active circuit problem. Since I stopped using the active mode, it stopped being an issue and withheld live playing. That said, if you are a strong slapper or would plan to use the active circuit a ton, make sure that contact with the battery door doesn't produce the pops and cracks that mine did.

Fender makes warranty work easy with their large network of service shops. I was able to take care of the Jag bass and a tube Deluxe Reverb of theirs in one trip. They also answer their phones if you know the numbers to call.

This is a very solid bass and a great player. It's tone is very jazzy with a voice of its own. It became the signature tone on a single from an electro-pop session that I played on, so it sounds good to producers and audiences alike. The looks, playability, and tone come together better than some of Fender's other offers. A great way to play a Fender without having to play the "same old" jazz or precision.

I swore that if my band ever went on tour I would buy an Ernie Ball Bongo bass. It's the one I always wanted. I really enjoy active pickups and when my band got booked I went out to buy the Bongo... until I played the jag.

I have to admit that I wanted something American made, but this Japanese axe is built really well-- it sounds as good as the bongo but plays better! Most of all, this guitar is really versatile with the ability to turn off pickups, run series and parallel and turn off the active feature.



You already know the features from the other posts. Here are my favorite:

Green-tinted pickguard-- follows the faded color of the original jag bass pickguard.

Matching headstock (for the red bass)

Active EQ-- the two wheels on the top of the guitar shape the bass and treb tone of the guitar when in active mode. You can switch on the fly and not suffer any pops or buzzes-- cool feature!

The reason I decided to write a review was to talk about the buzzing. Yes, the Jag buzzes. When I plugged it in once I bought it the buzz was HORRIBLE. I reduced about 80% of the buzz by grounding my amp-- no one's talked about this yet on the forums. There's still some buzzing and I'm sure that when I take it to get set up by a pro he will take care of the rest. It doesn't buzz as bad as my old Jazz V, though, and it has the same pickups.

Out of the Guitar Center it played really well... odd, I know. It was by far the best playing bass I played for under $1500. Some vintage basses had a better feel but none had the versatile sound of the jag. I'm planning to get it set up by a pro, so it can only get better.

I give it a 9 because there ARE better playing basses out there-- just not for the price.

I cage fight on an every-other-saturday basis. Usually my opponents come with baseball bats... I come with my jag and beat them to a pulp.

n/a

I just started playing bass again after playing guitar in my band for 6 years. I had been playing my Mexican Jazz V for the past month (since it was the bass I played when I first picked up bass guitar 10 years ago) and it sounded like crap at a gig . I needed a guitar quick for another gig, so I played virtually every guitar at multiple stores and chains.

I really didn't want to buy the jag because it was japanese, looked funny and had the same pups as my jazz V. After dozens of try outs, though, I realized that every bass I played was being compared to the smooth feel of the jag; I couldnt get it out of my head. So I bought it and loved it.

This bass is loaded with features. The most notable feature for me is the sheer variety of tones you can get out of the Jaguar. It has great Jazz-like tones when in passive mode and crank some serious bass and treble when in active mode, with a whole range of tones in between.

Not only does the bass sound great but it looks amazing as well. I went with the hot rod red with matching headstock. As far as "look" goes, what really hooked me are the aged pearl block inlays on the neck, it has a great vintage look to it.

If there were one "feature" I would complain about it would be the lack of a free gig bag with the purchase. You would think Fender could throw in a $20 bag with the bass.

I guess I already went over the sound in the features section. To sum it up, great tone. I was deciding between the Jaguar and a traditional Jazz bass. The Jaguar, just has so many different voices it is great.

I had read reviews that the Jaguar had problems with a humming noise. I haven't witnessed anything like this on mine. Perhaps Fender has since fixed the problem.

My Jag didn't need any adjustments out of the box, besides a slight tuning.

I was coming from playing an Ibanez Roadgear which has really fast action on it. For a Fender the Jaguar is comparible. I've tried a few Jazz basses and the action was a little high for my liking. The Jaguar is much closer to what I'm used to, I hardly noticed a difference.

The only flaw I could find in the finish was a bit of varnish on the side of the nut. You can tell it was in place before the next was varnished. There were no other flaws besides that.

If I had one improvement to suggest would be to use a satin finish for the next instead of high gloss. I find the satin finish a lot faster and not as sticky as a high gloss finish, but that is personal preference.

The Jaguar is a solid instrument, as solid as any other Fender. I seems like it will hold up well, even considering the vast amount of electronics in it.

I have never needed to make any adjustments to it and all the parts seem to handle the everyday wear and tear of playing.

I don't think I would be foolish enough to play a gig with only one instrument, but I think the Jaguar could do the job if required to.

NA

This is a great Fender bass, at a very reasonable price. Fender lists the bass at $999 CDN. I managed to find it (when the Canadian dollar was at a high mark) for $589. It was definately a steal.

You can't go wrong with a Fender, and the Jaguar continues that legacy.

This bass is pretty awesome! if it wasn't for the stupid hum, I'd give it a ten.

Neck feels good, finished just right. I could play this bass for hours!

It hums. It only hums when it's sitting there and you're not playing - if you want one of these better get yourself a gate and use that.

The bass sounds awesome other than the hum. You can get fat sound, thin, whatever it is that you're looking for.

Set up was great! No problems, everything was perfect.

Gigged with this bass, I would use it in a heartbeat.

I did replace the bridge with a leo quan, and added dunlop straplocks.

I would (and have) used this bass without a backup.

Haven't ever dealt with fender support.

Been playing about 5 years. Love this bass!

I most of all like the sound (except the hum).

I love it, and if it were stolen I'd replace it right away!