Fender Jaguar Bass

I am an employee of a Fender-franchised music store; I got one of the first 25 red Jaguar Basses that were made. It is one of the few Japanese made instruments that are in Fender's arsenal. It is basically a suped-up Jazz Bass: 2 jazz p/u's, standard bridge, 1.50" at the nut, clover tuners, alder body, maple neck, rosewood fingerboard. The controls are unique: on/off neck p/u switch, on/off bridge p/u switch, active/passive switch, bass roller knob, treble roller knob, master volume, master tone. The matching red headstock is killer!

This is one of the few active/passive basses that I like better in passive mode. It has a great, punchy, yet warm natural tone. The active electronics seem too subtle and lacking in the low and high mids. This is definately a keeper for anyone who loves slapping, also.

The Jaguar Bass came in to my store absolutely flawless. The strings were set to exact (I measured it) Fender specs w/ no hint of any fret buzz. The thick, tinted lacquer on the neck made the playing VERY nice!

The durability appears to be the same as any other mid-priced Fender. The only factor that I worry about is the electronics. The strange setup will be hard to find parts for in the future.

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Since I was 12 years old (15 years ago), I have dreamed of asking Fender to make me a custom shop "Jaguar" Bass. They made my dream come true, and they did it in style!

Like previously mentioned, its really a active J-bass with a Jaguar Body and circut. Mine is balck, rosewood board, aged pearl block inlays, laquered neck, headstock. "70s" style tuners and decal.
I wouls say a 9 due to the many options via the jag circut.

I have been playing the bass for 3 weeks now, so its not really a "cristmas morning" type of review. The bass has a good range, again, think an active jazz bass. I play old-school metal, stoner rock and indie rock, suits me fine. Play through an ampeg SVT classic w/ 4x10 and 1x15 cabs. A bit noisy sitting, but nothing that a regular jazz would not make. Not perfect but damned close

Fender japan makes products that are at least equal to or better than Fender USA. I'm sorry, but "made in USA" is nice, buts its also an obsolete notion in this day and age. I have owned enough basses,drums and cars from Japan to say that. My jag bass is very very nice, as is my marcus miller and geddy lee basses.

Its a Fender, unless you lose it and heve it off the edge of the grand canyon, it will be functioning long after you will. Saying that, the tuners do seem a bit weak, but they are the same as the ones on my geddy lee bass, and those havent given me any trouble in 3 years, so maybee in 2098 when I'm long dead my grandson will need to replace them

Get work done locally if possible. Everyone can fix a Fender. its better than arguing with fender about it and having to ship it to and fro. I do belive it has a lifetme warranty, and wherever you purchased it from should take care is you.

Great bass, should suit most players sound wise, plus a has that funky look of the Jaguar guitar. NOT a boutique bass, meant to be played hard for a long time and never let you down.

If I may rant, I have never understood boutique basses anyway, yes they are often works of art and examples of the luthier's skill. But I cant see shelling out 8 grand for one just to look at it, and then you play it or gig with it, olnly to have it get damaged or stolen. A bass is a musical instrument, its supposed to be PLAYED! its not a status symbol, its a tool for your soul and mind to create, so grab ANY bass and plug in....where is my advil?....

New for 2006. Hot Rod Red. I own 12 Basses and this was just too cool and funky too pass up. The Jaguar look caught my eye right off and I had to picck it up. It took A bit of messing with it to figure out all the features. Basically, a Jazz bass that can go active or passive. The active/passive switch is in the top left corner. There are a pair of roll dials for volume and tone that seem only to work when in active mode. The three switches in the top right corner turn the two picckups on or off respectively and the third is the series/parallel switch. There are then overall volume and tone knobs that are traditional. All this seems goofy at first but works well and just fits with the quirky jag theme. I like it. Not really necessary but cool.

The sound is fabulous. I own many fender basses and find them to be quite variable. I would never buy one without trying it out myself. The sound of this Jag just blew me away. IT has a wide tonal palette. It covers the traditional jazz bass tones very well. It can also get quite funky with the active switch. I find the parallel setting gives a good thick tone. I do not find this bass overly bright which I think is a plus. Maybe it is the variability, but compared to the last reviewer, my pickups are not noisy at all. I absolutely love the sound.

I am a stickler about setup. I buy from a small high service shop (no mega store) where they actually set up each guitar. We could not believe that this bass was perfect right out of the box. The neck and action were amazing. A minor bridge intonation adjustment was all that was needed. I am impressed with the Japanese workmanship. This is my first non-American Fender and I am impressed with this one. To find some fault, there is a tiny bit of red color bleed over from the top of the head stock onto the side. It would take a discerning eye to notice this however. It did not stop me from buying the guitar.

Have not owned it long enough yet. but if it is like my 5 other Fenders, I expect no problems.
They are just good basic machines

Never used them

I have been playing almost 30 years and own basses from Ken Smith and Fodera to Fender and Ibanez. This is a great sounding, great playing, bass with all the quirkiness you could want in the Jaguar look. i just had to have it when I saw it. I have been impressed by the sound and the quality. It seems to sound thicker that the Japanese basses I have tried before.

This is a new model (JAB-90) from Fender Japan. The production was started around October 2005. Basically it shares the electronics with an active jazz bass, the only real differences are that it has a body of a jaguar guitar and the same circuit the guitar version features. Finish on mine is black with a white pickguard.

It has a fine sound, altough the pickups are noisy as in every low-priced japanese Fender. It can go from mellow, round bass to crunchier high end. You really won't get a heavy bass sound like Gibson basses, but then again, that's a Fender feature. The jaguar circuit also features a low-freq cut-off-switch. By groundwiring the bass becomes less noisy and it'll suit well in studio.

The bass is good quality, the finish is flawless.

I can imagine myself playing also without a backup, but whenever it's possible, I'll take a backup with me. Everything seems fine so far with this bass.

Haven't delt with them

I've been playing over 11 years bass in different bands. My other bass is a Gibson T-Bird. This gives a little more variety to my bass sound. I like the weird Jag circuit and of course the looks. I thought also about older Jazz basses, but the design on this will beat them whenever.