Fender '62 Reissue Jaguar

I own a CIJ Fender Jaguar reissue, in vintage white, which in my opinion is very nice. It has the standard jaguar set up: rhythm and lead circuit, floating trem, vintage style tuners and the infamous jaguar bridge. It has a very nice maple neck with rosewood fretboard, it is slim but not too slim, as i feel my fender highway one tele neck is. also uses standard stock pickups.
only problem i find is the tone and volume controls for the lead circuit pretty much cut all volume if turned a little off full.

the guitar has a wonderful clean sound that (personaly i find) cuts through any mix well. the pickups are well voiced and slightly hotter than other single coils. i find the best sound comes from using both bridge and neck pickups together, with the tone switch down. with this switch up, i cant personally find a usable tone, or sound, it cuts the bass, making the sound extremely thin and trebley

i bought this second hand so i cant comment on the factory set up. it was well set up when bought, but is very simple to do yourself anyway. unlike others i have found no problems with the stock bridge, no buzz, string slippage or tuning problems, even when excessive tremolo is used, i have it set up with 10 gauge strings. tuners stay stable also, are relativity smooth to use and require little readjustment. along with this the floating trem is simple to use and set up, although my bar would not sit tightly in the hole, to correct this i took it off of the guitar and used pliers to tighten it. as said above the volume and tone pots, are poor and cut much of the sound and may need re-wiring or correcting

this is a solid guitar, that seems like it will be usable for a good many years to come

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this guitar is superb! i highly recommend buying one, i can not comment on its comparison to the MIA jaguar, but is extremely good value for money and worth looking at for any style of music. i own a fender highway one tell and a epiphone ES-335 (dot)and have began using this jaguar as my main guitar as it sounds wonderful and feels like a nice compromise between the thick neck of the es335 and thin neck of the tele, along with a somewhat midway sound between the two.

I realize that this review contains both the Japanese and the American made Jaguars. I own an american made Jaguar but tried a japanese made in a music shop and let me tell you that the difference is huge!
So, we are voting for two different guitars in this forum but my opinions is for the USA Jaguar! (The CIJ Jag is a joke)

Sunburst with a splendid finish, no modifications at all, mute is still there.

This is THE guitar if you're into surf music, Beach Boys, Grunge (Nirvana ;-)).
It's very diverse and you can even play most rock tunes on it too. With the uppermost switch in the upper position, it produces a very jazzy sound and is perfect for both rhythm and solo play during jazz sections.
I've mostly played rockabilly and 50/60's pop/rock and roll on it and had on stage alot of times.
Since the sound is unique, it helps creating an odd sound for the band as a whole.
When I first bought it, I just played surf riffs but I discovered some new settings and nowadays I play even AC/DC on it :-)
I give it a 9 for a tremendous sound but it's lack of good sustain keeps it from a 10. (It's easilly solved with an extern compressor sustainer pedal)

It wasn't new when I bought it, but everything was extremely well set up. No hiss, buzzing strings or whatsoever. I've read alot about the problems with the jaguars but cannot understand what they mean ... until I played the CIJ Jag.

This axe is hard as a rock. It weights alot more than my strat, the mechanics is stable and solid. It's obviously not made of crap.

Never contacted because there's no need.

Playes guitar for 17 years, have owned about 15 guitars. I also have a Strat (Am. standard) and a Jag-Stang (CIJ) but this is the one I would save if the house was burning. I'd definitely buy one again if it was stolen.
I like its looks, finish, form and sound, but maybe most of all its short scale neck that is really playable. If I shall complain on something it will be the mute device. I guess it's there just because it is a reissue model. I've tried to use it but it's functionality is really really poor. Well, since I don't use it, I never think of it, it's just there.

Traded a busted up old hagstrom for this 2002 CIJ Jaguar. Knew virtually nothing about the jags besides who played them (Sonic Youth, My Bloody Valentine). Did a lot of research and people who love 'em REALLY love 'em. Thought I'd give it a whirl.

This particular one was Ocean Turquoise. Wasn't really a fan of the colour, particularly with the factory white pickguard. I replaced it with an aftermarket white pearloid and it made it a ****load more attractive.

Played this guitar for a few weeks and decided that the buzzing from the factory saddles needed addressing. Replaced them with a mustang's and that helped a bit.

also strung it with D'Addario EXL140s Extra Heavy gauge strings and that seemed to help as well. Never fully went away though and the guitar was painful to play acoustically whenever I just picked it up to noodle.

I would describe the single-coils in this a just average. Would have thought to replace with Fralins or Lollars.

Thought this guitar definitely had some character and grew to love some of the quirks, but overall it just didn't suit my style. I lean more to the overdriven humbucker sound of bands like Mogwai.

Currently I play through a mesa triple rectifier head run through a carvin legacy 2x12 (with celestion V30s). Found that the jag brought out too much of a treble sound out of the amp. Too piercing to be enjoyable no matter how much you tried to roll it off.

This guitar would be better suited to an AC30 for a more brit pop sort of tone or to the classics it was made for, SURF.

A nice guitar in it's own right but not versatile enough to be my main guitar.

The guitar was set up like shit but who knows what the previous owner did to it. Took it in to my shop of choice, Capsule Music in toronto, and added the mustang saddles and got it set up properly.

Rest assured though, once that was done it felt like a much better quality guitar. Was a real fan of the short-scale neck. It was highly playable.

My biggest complaint was that the tremolo system was super frustrating. I know they were trying to maintain the specs of the '62 but I think some kind of locking mechanism would have been a blessing. It continually fell out with any front to back motion.

This guitar never made it to my live show, which basically says what I think of it in this category.

I ended up trading this guitar in because it just didn't suit me. I think in the right player's hands it would be a much bigger threat. Far too jangly and thin.

It did help me figure out that I'm more of a humbucker guy. Thought back on my 26 years of playing and almost all of it has been spent playing Gibson SGs or SG copies. As I do love the feel of a Fender (particularly Jazzmasters) and decided to trade up for one: the reissue Tele Deluxe.

I think I made the right choice.

This is a fairly new Crafted in Japan Jaguar. Hard to tell exactly when it was produced because of the inconsequential information about serial numbers on Fender's site, but I'd guess 2005. Standard sunburst model; wanted a custom colour but was unwilling to pay more. Seems I can't get away from bloody sunburst even though I don't much care for it.

22 frets, short 24" scale which is nice for girly hands like mine, loads of controls, two singlecoils which are shockingly awful - microphonic and lacking any sort of decent drive tones even through a nice valve amp, passive electronics, medium-grade alder body, rosewood fingerboard with vintage-correct 7.25" camber which is great for chords, nitro finish, "offset waist" design which feels more comfortable than any other guitar I've played (sitting or standing), rattling bridge with threads that fall out, good quality Kluson copy tuners, weird tremolo system which is a bugger to set up but is more stable than a Strat if you do. I skipped on frills so it came only with a Mustang bridge already fitted, no case or lead or anything.

A lot of the features on Jaguars are, to be fair, very poorly implemented. One of those "it looks good on paper" situations that fails in the real world, but with some coercing the Jag can be turned into a beautifully versatile instrument. If you're faint-hearted and just want a reliable guitar off the bat, stick with one of the many permutations of the Strat or Tele. Me personally? I can't stand those guitars and was willing to tangle with Fender's "ensemble darkhorse" to get it up to code.

Even the American Vintage model I played some years ago reminded me of a voluptuous fresh-faced blonde; stunning to look at but absolute hell to live with. Unlike the blonde though, the Jag can be given certain personality upgrades that actually make it play and sound as good as it looks. And since it looks like a 50s hot rod (all that shining metal and switches galore) this is a wise choice for those who enjoy a bit of DIY and hours of research.

I had a Jag on loan before and it intrigued me. Even though it was weird I just had to stick with it because it made me not want to stop playing even when my hands were tired. And the things it made me play (between the bridge sinking and the trem sending the whole damn thing out of tune) were inspired things I just couldn't get from any other electric guitar. So over the course of a year I amassed as much knowledge as the internet had on it and went nuts chopping and changing things as money allowed. I now have a checklist of modifications I need to do for my own instrument (beyond the standard intonation/action setting stuff), many of which are already done.

Suffices to say, now it's modified it kicks ass, is stable and reliable not to mention VERSATILE AS HELL. I don't use anything else if I can help it. See below for a list of recommended alterations.

One thing I will add is that even with higher-output pickups a treble booster is always useful, but I say this about the majority of singlecoil instruments.

Craftsmanship on the woodwork (body, fretboard, routing etc) was impeccable - especially the frets which won't require levelling or crowning for years! Leo Fender's design and the bargain basement electronics inside though; not so much. Do the following modifications to dramatically improve the guitar:

* Change the bridge for a Mustang one which is a drop-in replacement, or at least use loctite or blu-tack (roll the saddle threads in it) to make the existing one stable. To stop it sinking to the body I replaced the threads with screws from the original bridge saddles. You can't adjust the action with allen keys now, but once it's set it stays there!

* Turn the lead circuit (3-switch diamond panel) around 180 degrees. Then if you knock all the switches down by accident it won't cut your sound mid-song at a gig, making you look like a moron!

* Replace the 1M pots on the lead circuit for 500k ones. Keep the rest of the wiring the same. Even with the stock pickups this will thicken up the tone noticably, and balances out the change between the rhythm and lead circuits.

* You don't NEED to use flatwounds, but using 11 or 12 gauge strings is highly recommended to keep the strings from popping out and ensures better tuning stability when using the tremolo system.

* Lubricate the tremolo system about once a month, ideally when changing strings. Remove the plate at the back and spray in lots of WD40. This'll stop the spring sticking, which once sent the whole guitar out by nearly a semitone when I used it live for the second time. And again, tuning stability after whammy dives is much better.

* Buzz Stops are something to consider. I don't think they make a huge difference once you've got the heavier strings on, but any rattles you can eliminate help. In my opinion also gives a very slight sustain increase; worth dealing with if you can live with the increased string tension.

* The trem arm as is doesn't give much range and often bangs on the controls. I had real trouble trying to strum and dip the bar until heating it and bending it upwards from the point where it curves. More downwards dive range as well. Taping part of the bottom of it (where it inserts into the plate) makes it sit higher and this is also a good move.

* Shim the neck; take off the neck and insert a thin piece of card long enough to cover the back two screw holes. This pitches it forward a few degrees allowing you to raise the bridge, making it more stable even if you don't do any of the other mods. You might find the pickups can't be raised further so those might need to be unscrewed and shimmed with cardboard themselves (place it underneath the rubber pads which are affixed to the bottom of the pickup claws).

* Removing the pickup claws can help with the tone, but they do increase RF interference in some cases. I seem to remember that this makes a difference but it's not as important as the other changes.

* Finally - and most crucially - get those stock pickups out of there! The Japanese made ones will scream like dying birds even with moderate gain, if you're playing at gig volumes. They have weedy tone too. I recommend the SJAG-3 Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounder for Jag set, matched pair for humbucking. They have a fat midrange sound that is reminiscent of P90s but with more sparkle (not piercing brightness like the stock ones) and the high-output design leads to some compression, smoothing out the Jaguar's huge attack while retaining the better aspects of the trademark tone it is known for.

Stock it's a complete piece of junk... or rather, it shows potential but falls down under pressure. After some changes it can be better than a Strat while doing a lot of the same tones, and many more besides (try getting truly awesome jazz tone out of a Strat; the Jag can get much closer). After lots of research combined with personal trial and error, I've found a combination of variables that works.

It's still high-maintenance though, to keep it in the very tiny sweet spot. But once you've hit that spot the guitar will outshine most any others, and I'm not talking about the reflections bouncing off of the metalwork under bright lights!

Fender Tech Support... meh. I've asked for feedback on all the changes I've made, I've tried to enquite about a custom shop model that is like mine but with a custom blue sparkle finish, and got nothing. I was polite too!

Screw it. I know a couple of good techs and THEY have good customer support.

I've been playing just over sixteen years, since I was just a little kid toying about with acoustics in the basement and stealing scotch from the decanter. I used to work in one of the better known Denmark Street stores so I've played thousands of guitars and owned a couple dozen of the best ones, and a handful of firewood piles masquarading as guitars.

I've come to the conclusion that the best modern production guitars (even if that modern production is making repros of half a century old designs) are coming out of Japan. It's a tightly-knit competitive market but those fellas are the best. Haven't played a bad one and actually prefer the Tokai-made Greco Les Paul's (late 70s) to real LP Standards of most any production era. This Jag is no exception and none of the two handfuls of other Jags have been different, though I have to say this one is the very best by just a whisker.

The Jaguar is a pain to set up but once it's there it will stay there and reward you with huge dynamic range, lots of tonal variations and the potential for "extended techniques" like behind the bridge bends and shimmers (strumming chords while dipping the whammy bar after applying lots of delay and reverb to your sound). It opened my eyes to a whole different approach to the guitar. When I want to bang out some power chords, it'll do it with authority. When I want to daisy-chain delays I can carve out some wonderful soundscapes. When I want to do multiple overdubs I don't need a whole fleet of different guitars to make each take fit into the mix; I just play with the switches and volume/tone controls. Where I go, it goes with me, and forces me to play the best I can time after time.

Having gushed for pages, it has to be mentioned: Nine out of ten players will hate this guitar, or at least should avoid it where possible. There's a chance one of them is reading this review now thinking about picking up that suspiciously cheap Jaguar they saw recently; my advice is forget about it. Be happy with your Strats and Teles and Les Pauls and SGs and Pacificas etc. (All good instruments, just not MY kind of good.)

But to the other 10%... perservere. You might just find the guitar you've been looking for for a long time, that has an off-kilter tone and comfortable playability that outstrips the initial horde of problems that have to be overcome. I did, and I'm pretty sure I'll be playing these kinds of Jaguars until I die.

Oh, one more thing. Don't be fooled by the HH Special models or any of the Classic Player ones. They changed the bridge, the radius and moved the trem plate forwarf, thereby robbing the Jag of a lot of uniqueness while still keeping a lot of the same flaws (the 1M pots on the lead circuit for example). My mods were tidying up loose ends; their mods were keeping the look while losing that special jangly tone.

Feel free to email me for more advice, or to pull my review apart ;)

The regular features (is an American-made, so whatever that entails)Early 2000's (used). Sort of a Tobacco Sunburst finish. Bridge pickup seems to have been replaced with seemingly older, ever-so-slightly larger, slightly yellowed Jag pickup (sounds great). All the switches, bells, whistles, etc, that you know and love. (Bridge cover and mute in the case - do not use). Very solid, unique and atractive guitar.

This was an impulse buy after years of heartbreak, in the wake of having my '65 Mustang stolen! I love the "Fender sound," but slightly prefer that extra grit, snarl, twang, scratch of the "other" Fenders (well, primarily the Jag and Mustang!). Is really great for indie rock and alternative because it has an edgy and unique tone that grabs the lister's attention. It achieve "rock-ness" without being all "badass," if you get me. A real left-field guitar with a limited audience, I'm sure. Not great for metal. Possibly great for stoner rock. Does have some twang that could appeal to a regular Tele or Strat fan, and honestly, the neck pickup and rhythm circuit settings are just as good as the neck pickup settings on any other Fender - possibly even Gibby's (to an extent!). I could easily picture jazz or blues on a Jag with a warmer setting (there's a great vid of Joe Pass playing one on YT to great effect!). Be aware that this guitar has idiosynchrasies that you have to decide how to handle. The strings are over the bridge at such a weak angle that it affects the sustain, attack and resonance that are at once part of the appeal for some and part of the problem for others. Allparts or StewMac has a device to aid this, and even knowing what I know, I'm not sure which way to go. I am thinking it would give me improved attack, which is the only thing the Mustang had over the Jag, but I do like the resonance of the Jag as is. Hmm. Is not a simple guitar, but is unique and does have the ability to grow and change with you, as there are a host of resources available to the Jag community out there!

Used, but the fit and finish from the factory are great. This is a guitar that is notorious for requiring attention, re: setup for each and every specific owner! As a result, I think this would frustrate the heck out of a young/new player. They'd be thinking, " this is a $1000 guitar and I'm having this much trouble getting the action/intonation/etc right! It also does work best with heavier gauge strings (.11's are great), which is not everyone's cup of tea. This is a "wirey" souding guitar that sort of "fights" with the player. The result is a great, unique sound. Not sure if a Jag is ever used on Television's Marquee Moon, but that sort of tough, difficult, brash, wiry sound is in there. It slightly results from a guitar that is more difficult to play than, say, a Jackson, Ernie Ball, Gibby, Ibanez or even a Strat. So be warned. This makes a Jag what it is, and adjustment can help, but this is not for everyone. Nirvana fans, please remember that Cobain put humbuckers in all his Fenders, ha ha!

Built Fender Tough!

Do not know.

I've been playing for 25 years and have had lot of guitars. Mostly Fenders, though also Rics, Burnses, Gibby's, Epiphones, etc. I'm addicted to Fender tone to a fault. I'm sure it makes no sense these days to fork out $1500 for a guitar, but once you become a fan of something, there's not much you can do! Just sell the guitar you're playing the least and move on the the next one! But the Mustang and Jaguar are the two guitars that gave me a sound I simply could not find anywhere else. It just has that character. For a run-of-the-mill guitar, a good Tele comes the closest. For something a little different, I suppose a Gretsch comes the closest (great guitar!) It's up to you whether you like the wiry, twangly sound of the Jag (and everything that comes with it!). If you never tried but are curious, you'd do well to give it a serious try-out before buying. If you already know you like it, well, all I can say is that the American reissues deliver on tradition. Love the tremolo, by the way.

My Jag is 2004 MIJ model in Sea Foam Green finish. I bought it from a guy down in Byron Bay a few years ago, and he had installed some sort of Seymour Duncan pickups in it, which I didn't really like. I had some gold Lace Sensors lying around in my garage from an old Strat, so I gave them a whirl instead. A bit unconventional, and odd looking, but it sounds brilliant. I did the standard Mustang bridge thing too.

I was a bit worried that the Lace Sensors would make it sound too "Stratty", but they definately came into their own. The rhythm circut can produce some really sweet mellow, almost jazzy sounds with the tone wheel rolled off about halfway. The lead circuit with both pickups active is just pure sparkle, and kick in the bass cut for some high-end sting.

I play early-Wilco-esque indie rock, and I generally don't use a lot of effects or distorition. I mostly play through the clean channel of a Mesa Boogie DC3 with a Tubescreamer and Memory Man when required, and this setup can do everything I need it to.

When I first bought it the truss rod was loose inside the neck causing some hardcore rattle (don't ask me how the hell that happened). Anyway, I got that all fixed up and she was right as rain.

The tuning on this thing is awesome, easily the best I've ever had in a guitar. I can get the tremolo arm and slam the hell out of it for five minutes straight without barely losing my tune.

In spite of a medium action, there are a few dead spots around the place when you give them a bend, but I hope to get a fret-dress done soon, which will hopefully alleiviate this.

I use it live regularly as my main guitar, and quite often as my only guitar. I haven't had anything wear out on me yet, except the tremolo arm, which is a bit loose in it's socket these days. But that's not a really critical issue anyway.

Never dealt with them.

Mine is a bit of a different Jag, but it still retains a lot of the unique nasaly tonal characteristics of a standard job. She's had some technical difficulties, but the tone is worth the hurdle. I used to be a Les Paul man for quite a while, but I got a taste for that crystaline Jag single-coil tone, and I just haven't been able to go back. If it were lost or stolen, I'd certainly put together a new one.

One of my favorite features of this guitar is the separate volume and tone rollers allowing you to have 2 different tone settings for the neck pickup, in addition to the independent pickup selection available on the lower part of the guitar.

I didn't think I would like the string mute, but I found I like some of the sounds it produces with distortion and other effects.

Also the ability to adjust the spacing of the strings is an interesting feature. I am considering adjusting the spacing of my G and B strings.

I haven't had any trouble with the tremelo. I added strap-locks.

The sound is great. Its slightly different from a Strat or Tele, but it's squarely in the fender family. No buzzing or feedback issues.

This is a very versatile guitar. I would argue THE MOST versatile you can get with only two pickups.

Action is great, I love the scale length. The finish is amazing. Mine was special order from Fender, so I saw it come out of the box and gleam! No flaws, frets looked great, everything was tight and what you'd expect.

It was also VERY well set-up. Intonation was dead on, strings were a low, comfortable height and did not rattle or buzz. I was worried that this was not going to be the case after reading some reviews, but Fender came through.

I have only had it for a month, but seems like its holding up great. Some people wrote that small bumps will mar the finish, but my clumsy playing hasn't left anything permanent on the finish.

dunno, hopefully never need to find out.

Honestly, this guitar seems better made than some les pauls i thought about purchasing for half the price.

Lots of reviews out there made me nervous to purchase this and I still bought it because it's so comfortable, I love the tone, its unique and I just kept coming back to them in the store.

I own a '62 US reissue made in 2007. It is ocean turquoise and very pretty. That whole 2 circuit thing is actually pretty sweet and i quite like the longish tremolo arm (i also own a fender mustang and that arm is too short)

I thing this guitar sounds quite lovely. I hear a lot of talk that the pickups are low output and not so good for the distortion and heavier music. I have seen this guitar melt faces when run through my aged big muff. You can get some sweet muddy stoner rock sounds out of this sucker. It is all in all the finest sounding 'tar i have ever played (though that isn't saying all that much). I think it can achieve quite a wide range of sounds and i actually like the ole "strangle" switch.

When i received this guitar the action wasn't as low as i would have liked (it was kinda high actually). I need not go on about the bridge (as it well know that it kinda sucks). I really only get the buzzing string problem on the low E (so all in all not too bad...it slips out of the saddle easily ...although i tend to hammer the crap out of it). It seems to be well made otherwise

so far so good mes amis.

never had to use their services.

I love this bastard.

The usual Jaguar features, I won't list them here again. This is for the CIJ reissue (if you have an original then you want another thread) and mine is sunburst. For a guitar there are lots of features and switches, if this is a good thing or not then it is a matter of debate.

The jaguar has a growling alt rock tone tone. It can be trebly, can be thin, but it's up to you to fix that with amps / effects. I love the sound because the pickups are nice and hot and the tone cuts through any mix. It's just what I want. Not the most versitile guitar (usless for metal or jazz) but ideal for surf, blues or alt rock.

There are a number of tonal options. The switch at the top of the guitar engages a rhythm circuit, which gives a muffled jazzy tone that is useless for anything unless you want jazz. There are two switches for each pick up and a "strangle" switch which makes the sound a bit more trebly, only it's so subtle it's kind of pointless.

Most people know that Jaguar / Jazzmaster bridges are awful. The strings pop out and the grub screws fall out. After one gig I replaced the stock bridge with a Mustang bridge and threw the original into the bin.

The guitar was well set up but buzzed on the bridge and wouldn't stay in tune. The guitar is shipped with 10 guage strings. The JAGUAR IS DESIGNED FOR HEAVY STRINGS (and the shorter scale allows greater playability with heavier strings). I replaced the strings with 11s and instantly all buzzes and problems vanished. If you can go up to 12s or 13s. It gives a better tone and controls the guitar.

The finish and action was lovely. The Body shape and shape of the neck make the jaguar one of the most playable guitars out there. The trem is nice and subtle and smooth to use, plus the arm is nice and long so you can strum chords and shimmer the tone up and down as in MBV.

If you are a beginner or are afraid of setting up your guitar then don't buy a jaguar. Once I made the adjustments above I have to regularly set up the intonation and bridge of the guitar. It's a lovely guitar, but high maintence.

The hardware and guitar itself are very durable but the switches are plastic. After carrying the guitar to a gig in a soft case the rhythm circuit was pushed inside the guitar and made the sound cut out. After another gig the singer bumped into me onstage and two of the three pick up switches snapped clean off. After this I ripped out all the circuitry and left it set to the bridge pick up permanently, with only the tone and volume knobs for control. It's much better now.

No opinion

I've been playing for 10 years, gigging for 8 and been gigging round the country for 3 years now. I use the Jag, or a Fender Tele with lots of effects.

The Jaguar is a unique guitar. It has personality and with it it has quirks that you don't get with a tele or strat. It's up to you if it suits your musical style, if you can be bothered to modify it to your standards and then maintain it. If you do you'll be rewarded with one of the most playable guitars out there. Jaguars have a cool look and feel that you just don't get anywhere else.

Crafted in Japan Guitar bought in 2003. It has a two tone sunburst finish. The features of this guitar have been covered extensively over this site already, so there's no need to go over them again. I have mod'd the guitar though (more about that later).

I like a broad range of music, but was looking specifically for a bright sounding single coil guitar to play REM, The Smiths, The Byrds and any jangly sixties orientated music. I have a humbucker loaded guitar which sounds great overdriven, so I was only interested in it's clean tones. When I tried this in the store I was impressed by the range of tones it offered. The bridge pick up was excellent for arpeggios. As well as some pretty unique tones, it had some that sounded like either a Strat or a Tele. Before I knew it I was playing Johnny Cash riffs! This doesn't often get remarked upon, but if you're recording at home with a portastudio, this guitar is a real asset, as it's pretty versatile.
Switch to the neck pick up and you have a good tone for Jazz and blues. I have overdriven it when I have my Nirvana moments, and it handles it pretty well, with a distinctive sound. However, if you're wanting a classic rock sound you'd be better off with a Strat.
I got fed up with the pick ups after a couple of months, as through my own amp they sounded too bright and there were too many ambient sounds (buzzing etc) coming from them. I fitted Seymour Duncan Jag pick ups to it, which accentuated all the best properties of the guitar, adding a little more bottom end and depth too. I absolutely love it now, and have been playing it clean with a little reverb to the virtual exclusion of all my other guitars (except for the odd lead line on my SG when I'm recording). I'd rate it seven for the original pick ups, but 9 now.

The action was fine, but the bridge was really poor. It's truly shocking that Fender still put out these guitars with that bridge hardware. I can't help but feel this is what puts a lot of folk off Jags.
I bought and fitted Mustang saddles and a buzzstopper, and the difference was amazing. As well as increasing the sustain, it changed the playing feel of the guitar. Due to the short scale and light bridge hardware, playing a Jag can often feel strange after playing a Tele or Strat. The strings feel flacid. However, following these mods the tension increased and it feels superb to play, in fact it's my favourite guitar for action and playability now.
The offset body is well designed, as when playing standing up it's not at all neck heavy. It seems to rest in a very comfortable playing position.
I'd note it as 6 for when I bought it, but given that it only took a small outlay and a couple of minutes work to sort it out, I'm being generous and marking it as it is now...........

As stated, the original bridge hardware was a joke. You couldn't play it for two minutes without the strings popping off the saddles. Now, after it's been modded, it's great. The tuning is rock solid, and you can rely on it for gigging, no problem. I think it's madness to even consider playing a gig without a back up. The strap buttons are solid. It would get 6 for the guitar stock, but again, I'm marking it for how it is now it's been modded.

I've never dealt with them, so I can't comment.

I've been playing since the eighties. I've had numerous Strats and Semi-Acoustics. My current guitars are a Vintage SG, a Fender MIM Tele, a Washburn 12 string, a Takamine electro acoustic, and a Squire Jazz Bass. I'm playing through a H and K Tubeman to a H and H amp, but mostly use a Tascam portastudio to record songs. I have a number of pedals too.
If you're thinking of buying one of these guitars, do some research first (there's lots of good advice on the internet) and buy the Mustang saddles and buzzstopper at the same time as the guitar.
I love this guitar. Given that it's regarded as a niche guitar, it suprised me with it's versatility and as I said earlier, it's a great recording tool. I've mostly been playing Indie stuff on it since I got it, but its great for other stuff too. I mainly regard it as a rythmn guitar, and with this and the SG for the odd lead line, I find I can cover most kinds of music. It has a unique look and feel, and if it were stolen I'd replace it in an instant. Again, the rating given is for the guitar after modification.

I have Japanese Jaguar ( Crafted In Japan ) in Antigua color. Some say strange color, some beautiful. I think there are other Fender guitars in that color like Strats and Teles. I like it.
It looks like regular Jaguar with all the switches, knobs, pots and pickups. I think its alder instead of basswood.

Now to the sound. For me, when I bought it, it sounded really nice. It has two single coil pick ups. Neck pickup is amasing for me, it has that jazz sound that I like a lot, deep, fat and clean. Bridge pickup is really bright, at some settings is too bright but that can be cool as well, possibly for some heavy distrotion noise. I played it so far with digitech delay ( digidelay), marshall distortion, flanger and reverb ( mostly on fender hot rod deluxe tube amp ) and it sounds amazing. People usually advise to change pickups to Seymore Duncan and that might be a good idea, depending on your style. I like this jazz warm tone of the neck pickup, but I am thinking to change the bridge pick up to humbacker (JB Junior or the other one ) to get also high output pickup for distortion parts and controlled feedback, because I like mixing jazz with sonic assaults. I think this guitar can make it, with a little setting.
One problem though, and I know people mentioned it before. Its the bridge and its buzz. Strings are falling off of it if you don't set it properly and there is a lot of buzz when you play. Buzz, in my case, is coming from the bridge, as strings vibrate on the metal and make that buzz sound. There is a solution fortunatelly, to change the bridge and there's even a buzz stop accessory specially made for this problem.

Action is really nice and fit for playing. Directly out of the box looks nice and sounds good ( beside this aforementioned problem with the bridge and buzz ). Pickups are nice, especially the neck pickup, i wouldn't change.
Pots and switches are really nice and working and I think even with some heavy use can stand it.
Bridge should be replaced and I think everyone should remember that and do it since its not done properly. Buzz stop is also a suggestion.

This guitar will withstand live playing a lot LOT. Its made for playing live. People played it million times before and I think there's a lot of variety in sound so if you like experimenting with sound, get this guitar. Jazzmaster is also nice guitar but I only played Jaguar so far.
Also, some musicians abused it a lot, with screwdrivers and drumsticks ( mentioning Thurston Moore? Right : ) so I think there's a little fashion to it as when it looks abused, its more sexy. But I keep it new as this antigua color just overwhelms me.

Had none from Fender. From shop where I bought this guitar ( Belgrade, Serbia ) was really nice.

When I bought this guitar, my dream came true, sort of. Ok, I always wished for original one, like USA from 60's. There is always a discussion about differences between original and Japanese, and I can't comment on that since I played original once and it was nice, but this Japanese I bought is better for me. That doesn't mean its better than all USA Jags, no no way. Every guitar is different, even guitars from the same year, same editions and same manufacturer. But, every guitar you set the way you like to so its the same with this guitar.

My '62 AVRI Jag is 9 months old, time for a review. Prior to purchase, I was set on getting a Jazzmaster when a buddy loaned me his '66 Jag. I was hooked, but he wouldn't sell for cheap. I got the 3TSB option. Gorgeous. Weight: 8.6 lbs.

Jags are a bright sounding guitar. Forunately, most of my amps are on the dark side. On my Teles and strats, I rarely use the tone knob. I like the response from dailing down on the Jag. The "rhythm" sound from upper "Lead/Rhythm" switch is mostly a joke, but I have used it few times.

Just awesome. It could've easily passed as a Custom Shop model.

I strung it with 12's almost immediately and adjusted the truss rod (clockwise) for the fatter strings and that's the way its staying.

A bit of a learning curve with bridge and trem system, but worth the effort! First I replaced both E saddles with two spares that come with a '52 AVRI Tele. They each have one string slot and spacing-wise, match up perfectly. Under hard picking/strumming, strings have never popped out.

The trem-lock was a great feature years ago when strings breakage was a problem but I havn't broken a string in ten years or more. So I wrapped some dental floss between the tremlock button and plate, in the unlocked position so it stays put during bends. Fixed.

Heavier strings seem to provide enough tension on the saddles, eliminating the need for readjusting saddle height.

Finally, I Iowered both pups to taste.

The center pup slide switch was DOA. Rather than trust it with a repair shop, I got one off ebay and replaced it myself.

Otherwise, N/A

First, I wanna agree with others who've said this guitar ain't for everyone. Don't buy if you're at all squeemish about doing setups/adjustments. Find a tech. Out of the box, you might not like it at all. Its a jaguar and not domestic at first. Gotta be tamed. Leo WAS a visionary!

I'm 57. The shorter scale makes for a great geezer's guitar, lol. I go back to full scale w/o problems. Coming off my P Bass, though...whoa! Takes a few moments to adjust! I use the Jag for instro/surf. Recording/Hobbyist here.

I love the clean sound of a Jag thru a '63 Reverb. They were (obviously) made for one another. The 24" scale seems to have less sustain than other Fenders and the results effect the tones in a good way.

I like the fact that most people would never consider owning a Jaguar. My other guitars, especially teles, have become dust collectors.

American Vintage '62 reissue Jaguar. Ocean Turquoise finish. 3-ply mint green pickguard. Vintage style floating tremolo, C-shaped maple neck with rosewood fingerboard. 22 frets.Fender/Gotoh vintage style tunnig machines. Came with a brown hardcase, a strap (which I don't really like), cables and some mist and wipe kit.

It suits my music style almost perfectly. Way better than Japanese Jaguars. I wanted to get a MIJ Jaguar or a second hand MIA vintage reissue'62 Jaguar, but there was a sale where this guitar was selling at 50% off. I got the last and only Jaguar on sale. I play a wide range of music,mainly grunge,alternative rock,hard rock,rock,metal and some mainstream rock. This guitar was definitely not meant for metal, I knew from the start, so I am okay with that. The neck pickup has a really fat sound that can produce a great Chili Peppers sound. The bridge pickup alone sounds really thin and crunchy with my BOSS DS-2 on Remote II. The single coils sound great, better than a lot of guitar with humbuckers that I've tried.

In Singapore, the cost of guitars are way higher than in most countries like USA. The 50% off the "first hand" Jaguar made me get this guitar and I am glad I did. I like guitars with low action, like my MIM strat. The Jag has a higher action than my strat but I am still okay with it, as long as the tension is not hurting my fingers. I am used to playing low, nearer the bridge pickup and hard, and the jaguar is forcing me to play a little higher, towards the neck, but I have no problems with that. The bridge is a little iritating for my playing style. I strum really hard and the strings (particularly the low E string) keeps moving out of the saddle, causing buzz. I'm playing more lightly now, and in the future I'm planning to change the bridge to a Mustang bridge, as I heard it is the best solution. No flaws apart from the bridge problem. The ocean turquoise finish looks amazing.

I think this guitar will withstand live playing. It's the bridge and the type of music that I play that worries me. I play quite a lot of heavy music and the bridge is a little unreliable. The hardware will last, as long as the guitar is kept in the hardcase. The finish should be good to last and looks amazing. I am planning on switching the strap buttons to strap locks in the future. I am confident that I can depend on it and will gig without a backup.

The Jaguar is under a lifetime warranty and nothing wrong happened to it so far, so I cannot comment about this section.

I have a MIM Fender Standard Strat HSS, and that guitar has 21 frets. I like the 22nd fret. There are more songs I can play with the jaguar and it has a different feel than the strat. The single-coil pickups in the jaguar are comparable to humbuckers too. I love the finish and colour. Action a little high but I'm ok with it. I wished it had high output humbuckers though, but it would not be a jaguar that way. I would leave the humbucker jobs to my strat. The tone on the guitar is amazing too. Considering the price cut I got, I think this guitar deserves a 10. Fantastic value, since in Singapore, all guitars have to be imported, hence the insanely high price. The three-hour queue for this guitar paid off well in my opinion.

American Vintage RI made in 2003.Ice blue metallic finish...
All the bells & wistles a guitarist might ever need.AMAZING tonal capabilities.Of course the BEST tremolo system ever made..

Sound KILLER ,in fact better than any MIJ ones I've ever palyed & better than many original 60s Jaguars too.
If you have a working brain there is no limit to what this axe can do...

The best made guitar Fender currently offers.
I don't know why (maybe cause they don't make too many of those as oposed to strats & teles?)
Tremendous attn to detail & finish.

Many people complain about rattles & bridge problems...get a grip of yourself...LEARN HOW TO SET THIS THING UP & you will have no problems.
Shim the neck & match the bridge saddles to the fretboard radius..

It is a Fender....

An amazing guitar!

I have nothing to add here that hasn't been mentioned elsewhere.

Don't judge 8 as bad just cos it's not a 10! This guitar has a great twangy jangly sound on the treble circuit which fills out well on the rythm. I don't use a heavily distorted sound. I play through a fender twin reverb, using a proco RAT 2 for light distortion when needed. The jag has a great slightly-thin-yet-edgy sound when used with light distortion on the treble. The treble circuit filter is a great way of backing off a bit on the distortion, cos using the volume darkens the sound hugely. I also use a maxon ad-999 analogue delay and a fulltone clyde deluxe wah. While not quite a one-trick pony, you'd really have to have played one lots with all the gear you're gonna use and decided that you were comfortable with the range of sounds it makes before deciding to buy it as the only electric guitar you're gonna buy. It will not produce the output to drive your amp the way humbuckers do. Just accept that the sound you make is okay with this.You won't have much fun running it through a pod! I use a Gibson 335 as well, which provides a completely different (fatter) distorted tone. The music I play ranges from the smiths, suede, elliott smith, pulp, velvet underground, the auteurs, rem, franz ferdinand and it suits me fine. While it may be slightly noisier than the 335, that's just down to using single coils. All my pedals have true bypass and are powered by a voodoo labs pedal power 2, and so have a well regulated and grounded power supply. My cables are all planet waves. You owe it to your setup to have something similar. I played a bunch of Jap Jags in music shops and the quality of the pickups in them were awful. The US Jags were miles ahead both in the quality of the pickups and the general feel of the guitar. This is just my own experience though.

I live in Ireland where the cost of US Jags is extortionate. I saved a grand by holidaying in the US and ordering one from musicians friend. It was setup reasonably, but after my luthier got his hands on it it was absolutely beautiful. The Jaguar is not a perfect guitar design. The bridge saddles are absolute muck. There is no way they can fail to annoy you, either with the rattle they make or the way the screws can fall out. The mustang saddles are a must. The fender mute is as useful as a sleep button on a smoke alarm. When setting it up, my luthier called me to say that the mute button apparatus were raising the action on the higher end of the fretboard and I haven't regretted telling him to get rid of it. I got a bone nut fitted and it helped the sustain and tone a lot. My Luthier wrapped copper wire around the bridge supports to stop the bridge "floating" - in my opinion, the "floating" creates more problems than it solves. Don't even get me started on the tremolo arm. It just won't stay in place! From what I've read, I'm not the only one that thinks this. Proper locking strap locks are a must on any guitar - get them fitted! I tried out the flatwound strings and found them a bit dead. D'addario '10s suit me fine. I don't think it needs '11s, but again, that's just my opinion. I've gotta say, the paint job (ice blue metallic) is beautiful. The frets were fine - i didn't see any flaws in the way it was made - the mods to the bridge, nut, action and mute were down to my personal taste. I mightn't like their spec but the guitar the factory turned out was perfectly put together. For that I give a 10.

I'm quite easy on my guitars & don't gig them more than once a month. This guitar hasn't let me down yet and I have it about 18 months. The buttons and knobs are all tight and won't be going anywhere they shouldn't be going. As I've said, I play a 335 as well. I'd never gig without a backup. Period.

Have had no contact with them. I have a great luthier who sets guitars up exactly as I want them. I haven't needed to talk to Fender. I've probably got no warranty in Europe, having bought in the US.

I've been playing 8 years, owned a Gibson Les Paul Standard, own a Gibson 335 and a Martin HD-28 acoustic. I've played all sorts of gear and am very happy with my current setup. I would not buy this guitar without owning another electric that can handle the sounds that this one can't, but the Jaguar is a beautiful-sounding and looking guitar. I don't know another guitar that makes the same sound - especially when given a little overdrive. I would never sell it. I have big hands but find the shorter scale neck extremely comfortable and easy to get around. The shape of the body suits me best of all the guitars I've owned. It's perfectly weighted - not too heavy & not too light. If you're comfortable with it's range of sounds, then don't hesitate to get one, but the American model is worth the extra cost.

Usa made reissue. I think it was made in 2002. you know the features from the other user. I can say that the controls are not easy to undertand, but after one day of playn you enjoy the guitar sounds, moore sounds that tele or stat.

I was searching a good sound, from Campilongo to Frisell. I like blues, country, folk, swing.
Now I can play what I like, really. Tha short scale is not a problem, but the best sound comes from 011 strings.
I had to raise the bridge pickup to hear a good blues sound and now the guitar has clear sound as well as dirty (I think the sound is on your hand...). Big noise when you cvlose all pickups.
If you select the upper switch (rithm) I have a fantastic jazz sound, as a serious arch top. But I like the other sounds with treble switch. I don't know if this may be the one and only guitar. But if you want swing, blues and 50' vibe this is the machine.

I don't like the old tremolo or the bolt on system. but theese are not a problems.
the finish on the neck and body is amazing

hardware is really solid.

I like Jaguar for the old vibe and special sound I have not found on tele or strat.
This my be a strnage guitar for the short scale or for the not simple controls.
But the sound you ear is amazing. Just raise the pickups and play with the switches.

Fender 62 Reissue Jaguar
made in USA
date : 2005 August
Ocean Turquoise finish with Mint Green pickguard
comes with brown Fender deluxe hard case and accessorys.
Good overview for pickups, knobs, tuners etc. you get in other reviews or Fender website.

My music style reminds something from The Seeds, Velvet Underground and The Smiths and Jaguar is extremely right guitar to play this kind of stuff.
Jaguar is more known as bright sound guitar.
But at this moment, it seems to me that my Jaguar
sounds almost like bass guitar: previously, I played six months with a Squier Telecaster and got used with its extremely bright sound. Jaguar is a VERY versatile guitar with many totally different (but all useful) settings and a cool tremolo. The only suspicious feature is Fender Mute as when one puts it on, the guitar goes a bit out of tune. However, played alone it produces nice muted sound. As to switches, I tend to use solo position more. Solo position gives more combinations, because three switches below strings worked only in solo system. Solo is on when single switch above strings is underside position. Rythm position (switch up) sound is quieter and foggy, but works better with an overdriven wah. Depending on the pedal usage, you will get aggressive and powerful sound, which, at the same time, is fully under your control. Many guitars with humbuckers go muddy before you get something really good out of them. My pedal gear consists of a Vintage ProCo Rat, Boss Blues Driver, Shin Ei Companion Fuzz(FY-2), Colorsound Tremolo (reissue), Dod FX-17 Volume/Wah and Toadwork Meat Booster. There is one thing I can promise: if you have ben playing a no-name cheap guitar for a long time, you won't believe how good a Jaguar can be.

Factory setup was not fully perfect and needs professional overadjustment. String action was too high and guitar?s tuning was incorrect. Ok, you will forget these problems immediately when you start to play, but for $1100 you probably want a best. Pickups and bridge adjustment was ok. The neck is very comfortable. The neck is not as straight as an arrow but don't be scared: as the manual says, it is necessary to get a lower action. All in all, forgiven little set up problems the guitar is flawless.

All features of the guitar are very classy; at the same time, the guitar is strongly and well made. The lifetime warranty is not a big overstatement. The reissue side is felicitous body-pickguard-pickup colour combinations, tuners feel, harsh sound and smell of nitrocellulouse laquer finish - all stuff is real 1962. The guitar is not noisy at all, no feedback, stays in tune with using tremolo and sounds excellent with different amps and pedals. Guitar and case (case is cool and well made!!) is balanced very well. OK, low E had a very little fretbuzz compared with other guitars, but its just Fender Jaguar's individuality and that's it. You won't hear it from an amp at all. I was playn' maybe 1000 lives and never had a backup guitar why I should now?

I have been playing guitar for 15 years. Right now I dont have any other gear, because I sold everything to buy this Jaguar. I must say one thing: I never put them on mustang bridge or saddles and I don't like 011 flatwounds at all. Don't underrate Jaguar's bridge, it is an
important part, on which the Jag's unconventional sound (clean with a bit of spice in it). Every little modification change sound. I tried 011 flatwound strings and the sound was boring. According to my taste a Jaguar with 010 roundwounds sounds much better. The lesser sustain of pickups is good because it gives you better control over the sound. But it is, of course, a question of individual taste. I must say that I love my Jaguar.

Review for a CIJ Jag, sunburst finish, dark shell pickguard.

So many more features and almost all of them useful. I won't go into detail because it's listed on the Fender site and other reviews. Suffice to say I use every setting on this. Not all in one song, mind you.

Now this is a modified Jaguar. I've got the Buzz Stop, Mustang saddles and I removed the pickup claws, which increases hum around monitors and TV sets but cuts down on excessive feedback. I also have it strung with Ernie Ball Power Slinkies (011s). If you are planning to use these guitars for anything other than what they were designed for (surf/ambient) these are ESSENTIAL upgrades. They're easy to fit and fairly cost effective, plus they increase sustain. The guitars stock, strung up with 009s, just won't cut it. I might upgrade the pickups for a set of vintage repros made by Curtis Novak.

It suits most everything I like to play. The clean sound on the bridge PU is sometimes a bit weedy, but with EQ this is balanced out well enough. The neck PU is a thing of beauty... really smooth and well-defined, definately my favourite neck PU sound on any guitar (close second is a Les Paul with tone rolled all the way down).

I use the bridge PU mostly, and I use a fair amount of heavy overdrive for rock-orientated stuff. The tone is pretty unique... I think gradually these instruments are coming back, partly because they give you a great sound on any setting, with lots of attack. Even with a lot of gain the character of the instrument is preserved rather well; you can still hear the Fender single coil snap and bite, and twang (if you have it EQ'd that way).

I've used this with two Laney amps (VC50 combo and GH100L halfstack, both of which I've gigged out with) and currently a Gallien-Krueger SS backline bass amp for home practice. Sounds great on all of these as long as I EQ right... I can't stress this enough, especially with the Japanese models, you have to work with the pickups to balance out the sound. Compared to the AVRI Jags I've played, which do have more balanced pickups.

I record with this a lot. It's a joy having a guitar I can use for almost anything, due to all the switching combinations. It layers upon itself well. The 'strangle' switch is especially good for those times when you need a solo to really cut through the mix.

God alone knows how this was setup from the factory, but when I got it it was appaling. I had to put in serious work. The bridge was a complete nightmare, the saddle threads were loose, rattling and sinking, as did the bridge itself. You can use loctite or wrap the parts in blu-tack, either works well. I replaced the bridge threads with screws from an old Squier Strat and now it never sinks. It does mean you have to slacken the strings and pull the bridge out to adjust, but once you have it set this is a rare occasion.

After doing this and adjusting the neck to give me a low action with minimal choking and buzzing, plus heavier strings, moving the PUs closer to the strings for more signal, it is very well adjusted.

The finish is flawless, or at least it was. It has some dings and scratches from playing live.

Now I have it set up to my preferance, it rarely goes out of tune and is as solid as any other Fender instrument. The hardware is good enough to last, sure, the electronics are a bit cheap but no problems as yet. The finish is poly I believe, and is harder than the standard Fender nitro finishes.

Strap buttons are average. I always fit those plastic straplocks just to be sure, more so as this guitar weighs a tonne (got to be made of basswood).

I do use it at gigs without a backup, as it's more or less the only guitar I've owned that fits me like a glove.

My experience with Fender has been complete crap. I asked for some information on their crappy serial number system and that was months ago... still waiting for a reply. Still waiting.

I have my own preferred luthiers for more complex jobs like levelling the frets.

I've been playing solidly since March 1996. I play other instruments including mandolin and harmonica. I've owned enough good Gibsons, Marshalls, Fenders, Voxes etc to know what I like.

I should hope it'll never get thieved. I keep a close eye on my stuff at all times.

This guitar is still for a select few ready to wrestle with the poorly executed designs present (or to change them). It's still unique looking and sounding, for the time being.

I wish Fender would devise a way to get four single coils on there, arranged like two humbuckers. Then they could make a switching system to move from standard Jag config to dual humbuckers, but all done with single coils. I also wish they'd start selling these with Buzz Stops and Mustang saddles as standard, maybe then they'd sell more of them.

My fender CAR CIJ.
22 fret,
S/S,
24" Scale,
Alder Body,
Maple Neck,
"Vintage" Pickups,
Chrome Hardwear,
Floating tremelo.
And of course the pickup selecting system is something special.
2 Circuits, along the bottom of the Jag we have 3 switches set in a chrome hexagonal plate, The Strangle, Bridge Pickup, Neck Pickup. 1 Volume, and 1 Tone knob besides that. The seperate circuit, on the upper switch plate; the rythym circuit, on the once activated, only the neck pickup is engaged, and volume/tone can only be controlled by the scrollers by the circuit switch, perfect for presetting so you can switch between two totally different sounds, just by flicking a switch.

I play anything from blues-classic rock.
Suits perfectly. I'm using an MG Marshall amp, not the greatest, but it still sounds amazing.
On high volumes/gain you can get some pretty annoying feedback if you're too near the amp.
It handles distortion wonderfully, will handle metal.
The neck pickup is very warm, it sounds as though the strings have melted together, sometimes a good thing, sometimes a bad thing.
Bridge pickup is beautifull, rich, full, bright, all of it. Creates a bit of twang on clean.

Apart from the bridge, it's fantastic quality and perfect.
But then, this is where the Jaguar quite famously lets itself down, the bridge. More specifaclly, the saddles. The screws fall out, low E slips out of place, it buzzes a hell of a lot, (Probably due to the loose screws.) of course, it's fixable, fitting mustang saddles and 12's should fix it right up. And people have mentioned putting grease on the bridge screws to give the thread more hold.
You're deffinately going to spend a few days getting the bridge sorted.
And the trem isn't too good, if the trem is falling out, you havent pushed it in far enough, it needs quite a bit of force to get it to lock in. It tends to knock strings out of tune every now and then, but I don't usually use it.
But how amazingly assembled the rest of the guitar is, makes up for the faults.

I think if you spent a few good weeks on fixing up the bridge, it will withstand live playing and be fit to gig without backup, hardware will last, finish will last, seems to take quite alot of knocking into things, strap buttons have never failed me.
I wouldn't quite depend on mine yet, once I modify it, it should be perfect.

Never dealt with them.

Wonderfull guitar, you're going to need a hell-of-alot of patience if you need this. No way a begginer guitar.

But I love it,

Like most of the others described here, this is a Japanese '62 Reissue Jag (not sure of manufacturing date). Therefore, it has all the features except the useless string mute (I tried one on a Jazzmaster and hated how it 'tuned' the guitar up -- it isn't even an accurate 'palm-mute' sound!). The color on the body is Lake Placid Blue (a kind of sparkly royal blue), although I am not sure of the wood used. I am sure that the neck is maple with a rosewood fretboard. And don't forget, this is the short-scale 24" neck -- perfect for those with small fingers (like myself). Although it can be harder to play past the 12th fret for some people (due to the short scale), the thin neck is one of the easiest I have ever played. The pickups are definately and acquired taste, although I was able to master them in about 5 minutes in the store. 3 on/off selectors below the strings (neck, bridge, treble boost, which all correspond to 1 volume and 1 tone knob near the output), 1 active/passive selector (with 1 volume and 1 tone roller above the strings). The two single coil pickups even look cool, with the metal "teeth" alongside of each of them. Like the pickups, the body shape is one-of-a-kind. I recall reading that some Fender honcho in the early 60's said it looked like a pregnant goose or something...who the hell cares it looks completely different and original, something that drew me to it(more on that later). The strap buttons are the tightest out of all the guitars I usually play with (Korean Epiphone ES-335, Mexican Squire Strat, Korean Danelectro 12-string). The bridge/tremolo system, while interesting and somewhat inovative, is also somewhat flawed and could have been improved on. I've noticed most people who have posted here have changed it to something different, but they just don't know how to 'work' it, I guess. The tremolo arm is definately a disappointment. With no threading on the arm, it just sits in its hole, meaning that if you lean forward even the tiniest bit, it falls out! Not good when playing high-energy shows. The only other drawback to the guitar is the tuning heads. The other problem with the bridge is that the screws sometimes come loose from the string saddles, occasionally falling out and making the saddle crooked. The crooked saddle in turn allows the string to slide out of its proper groove (this is deinately a problem with the low-E). The only solution I can find, which works fine, is to keep a set of those screws and a corresponding allen wrench in my case. I just make sure everything is set before a show, and I'm golden. You can get these screws from a Fender dealer (I got a set at the place where I originally bought my Jag...more on that later). While the knobs are perfectly fine, I've always had trouble with the heads where the string has to go down into a hole in the center (like bass guitar tuners). This makes for string changing a quite tedious and frustrating task for me. Based on how the guitar's features work for my purposes and the distractions from the last three features I mentioned, this Jag rates a 8.

I first became fully aware of Jaguars and Jazzmasters when I got into Television nearly 2 years ago. Tom Verlaine's sound was so unique (and he looked so cool with those guitars), that my interest was piqued, and barely 2 months later I bought the Jag, after trying out that and Jazzmasters. I believe I chose the Jag over the Jazz because its sound was closer to a Strat. Besides, my ES-335 could handle the sounds I got out of the Jazz. I started off playing it through my Fender Princeton Chorus amp, which in conjunction with the Jaguar makes beautiful ringing bell-like sounds (the distortion sounds best with the amp gain low). With the chorus sound, I can get some tones similar to that of Peter Buck's Rickenbacker on early REM records. At the time I bought the guitar, my band was playing a hybrid of Beach Boys-esque songs and more Strokes-like stuff (check out our website at www.thedemos.net). (It was also cool to know that Carl Wilson played a Jaguar too...which cemented my decision in purchasing it!) I have found the guitar works great for pretty much everything we've played and recorded, especially in conjunction with our rhythm guitarist playing my ES-335. When I started playing through a Vox Cambridge 30 amp 8 months ago, the Jag easily made the transision with me. The Vox amp is tube driven, and allows me to play more vintage overdriven sounds, and with the amp tremolo it is just as unique (but still unique from) the Jag-Princeton sound. (I have since switched back to the Princeton, but both sounds work great for different situations). The pickup choices also give the guitar a versatility within a single amp. There are 7 combinations of pickups on the Jag. Both the neck and bridge pickups work great for cutting leads. I never use the treble boost, however. Depending on which amp I am using, it just creates a thin, hollow, banjo-like sound. Both pickups have a great thick, but cutting, sound when both engaged. The real gem is the other pickup circuit, which gives a nice, mellow, jazzier sound. Really warm sounding! This comes quite in handy when I'm playing in jazz bands (At a competetion once, I got acknowledged my a judge for being able to so easily switch between a funk song and a jazz ballad. I neglected to tell them that one flick of a switch on the Jaguar made that possible!) I now play in a Velvet Underground-esque art-rock band too. When I run the guitar through my Behringer Blues Overdrive pedal, I get ridiculously squeeling bursts of feedback which are completely unpleasent to my other band's ears and the ears of most people. However, it works great for our noisier songs! It is also hard to get sustaining feedback, which would be nice to use on some more melodic leads. Since this works with pretty much all the sounds and situations I need (besides using the 12-string, which is obviously different, I switch to the Squire Strat for a thicker lead on a couple tunes), I'd rate this a 8, seeing as that 'banjo' sound and lack of sustaining distortion detracts!

The guitar itself and pickups seemed to be set-up fine when I bought it...but I don't recall much about buying it, other than the shop also did a set-up of it after I purchased it. I had to have them re-set it a couple weeks later when I found the problem with the screws on the string saddles (which I then found out doesn't happen too often...at most a couple months can go buy without me needing to do some major fixing). The guitar has worked like a charm since then. As I've stated, the neck is so easy to play. There's just no other way to say it! Those with larger hands may find it difficult, but it fits mine like a glove (pun not intended). Since the output jack is on the face of the guitar, I've found it's smartest to use an elbow shaped patch cable here, and feed the cable through my strap. This prevents the cable from wiggling around and loosening the jack (common sense solves all problems, and you can't fix stupid!) There were some flaws in the finish when I bought it, however. But if you know anything about the House of Guitars in Rochester, NY (where I bought it), you'll understand. Even between the day I purchased it and when I picked it up less than a week later, there were noticable dings and scratches on the body and head, including some mindless scratching on the pickguard, as if some 5 year old came in to try out a guitar for the first time and beat the hell out of it (which I am sure is the case!)!! This is not the fault of Fender though, so this will not affect my rating on a 10.

This guitar must be built like a tank! As much as I cherish it, I do play very heavily on it onstage. This is where I used to have a problem with the low-E string sliding out of its saddle, but like I also mentioned, I was able to easily remedy the problem. I've fallen over onstage many a time, and the guitar didn't sustain any damage at all (what a trooper!). The finish is thick and I don't have to worry about scratches or dings (unless it's inside that claustrophobic fire-hazard House of Guitars). Unfortunately, I've never been able to get those pickguard scratches off. Thankfully since the pickguard is white, it's only noticible when the light is angled correctly. The strap buttons are the most solid I've come across (as I've mentioned before). Also as I've stated, I've been able to solve most problems I've encountered, probably due to my love of this guitar and determination to keep it going! I've been through quite a lot with this guitar.

I've never dealt with Fender, and I've only had the guitar re-set up once. I don't recall if it was even under warranty...

I had been playing electric guitar for about 4 years when I got Rhonda (named so after the Beach Boys tune, since this guitar seems to be identified with surf music by my friends). This guitar is my best friend - I get frustrated with her occasionally, but she always pulls through for me! (Fortunately I never get that Kurt Cobain crap - I bought this because of Tom Verlaine and Carl Wilson - I hate Nirvana!!) This will probably be my main guitar for quite a while, until I can get enough money to buy a vintage hollow-body Vox Mark VI. I definately like how unique the guitar is -- I've yet to encounter another band on the Rochester circuit with a Jag or a Jazz -- it's allowed my own voice to come out. I'd recommend the guitar to anyone who digs clean tones, classic Fenders, Television, or indie rock. And I'd make sure to find another if it ever got stolen...after of course smashing the guitars of the band who stole it over their own heads...if any band ever steals it I know which one it will be...

I'm back with another review for my second Fender...the 62' Reissue Jaguar. While I'm sure you know the specifics, my particular axe differs just a little, however, the customizations only changed 2 or three characteristics, and added a few features....

-CIJ (Crafted In Japan)
-22 Vintage Frets
-Rhy/Lead Selector, Rhy Vol, Rhy Tone, Lead Vol, Lead Tone/Coil Split, Pickup On/Off X2, Strangle Switch (Low-Cut)
-Twin Seymour Duncan SCR-1 "Cool Rails" Pickups, Passive
-Alder Body, Maple Neck, Rosewood Fretboard
-3-Tone Sunburst Finish
-Jaguar routed Offset-Waisted Contoured body
-TOM In place of Rocker Bridge (I'm chaning that to stock, explain later)
-Floating Tremelo Tailpiece with nifty friction held bar and Trem-Lock feature
- Gotoh Kluson Style Tuning Machines
- 24" Scale, 7.25" Fretboard Radius, roughly 1.3" nut width
- Included Hardshell Case

Because of these features, this guitar is like a tonal candy store, there's hardly anything it does'nt have!

I bought this guitar as I had played an original 63' Jaguar years ago through a high gain Mesa amplifier turned to 11 and found a sound that I've been looking for for a real long time. All in all, Jaguars keep getting more expensive, so I decided to fix one up, however, I was met with some fairly pleasant surprises along the way....

I run this multi-faced monster through a Behringer V-Amp Pro rackmount processor straight into my computer for recording, and needless to say, anyone can tell when the Jaguar is laying down the tone...

Clean, the cool rails keep the original "Jaguar" tone, sort of like Abigail put a few too many turns around the bobbins in a stock vintage one. The tone is very warm due to the shorter scale length, yet very bright and sharp at the same time, with a nifty "thwack" to it that no other guitar can manage to get. The sound is kind of like a Bright Les Paul or a Darker Stratocaster, but not exactly, very much it's own tone all in all. Clean with a Blackface Twin setting on the V-Amp and the Reverb cranked brings about visions of surfboards, bikin's, and waves, like it was meant to. Kick out the Reverb and punch up the treble, and you get Ric Ocasek's "My Best Friend's Girl" tone nailed easily with both pickups on.

Overdrive brings out a rather good 70's Dino rock type tone with the Cool Rails (and even without if you happen to luck upon a good set of Jaguar pickups like that old 63' I played eons ago). I usually run with the Brit High Gain through a Standard 78' Cab, which pushes the Jaguar into sounding kind of like a Les Paul in the bridge position, with a few upper midrange frequencies cut off. It gives off a really snotty kind of growl usually reserved for Gretches and some LP's, which works great for rhythm as well as lead, and for lead it really packs a lot of punch without losing the lows, which in my minds eye, is a perfect lead tone.

Now time to crank it up. Put the V-Amp on Rectified Head with the defualt cabinet, turn everything to 10 except the mids, and you end up with it sounding like most other metal guitars, the "thwack" is augmented by the heavy distortion, leaving the guitar sounding like another humbucker equipped shred machine played through a rectifier with the mids scooped out. I've pretty much deducted this to me believing that just about anything with a bridge pickup and strings is good enough for metal.

Either way, I have not been able to find a sound that DOES'NT work on this guitar. I can't say it's the pickup swap because it sounds much like the old 63' I played, just without hum. I've come to the deduction that the Jaguar tone is not just the pickups, but the body, the neck, the hardware, and how each piece of the equation relates to itself. If someone CAN'T get a good sound out of one of these stock, then they just have not found out how to get it yet!

Never saw it when it came out of the factory so I can't really comment on that. When I got the guitar, the pickups were swapped out, the pickguard had been replaced with a brown tortishell with the provision for the string mute on it, and the bridge had been swaped out with a modified Gibson ABR Tune-O-Matic that someone tweaked for the Jaguar's fretboard radius. It was fairly well setup, but it still will never be perfect until the standard Rocker Bridge is put back in (either Mustang OR Jaguar iterations).

The Tremelo had been disabled, it took me about 5 minutes after removing the 12 Gauge strings from it to fix that little issue. I ran it with 3 different tremelo bars, the first one being washburn "Wonderbar" trem bar, then I installed one from a 62' Reissue stratocaster, then lucked out, went to Guitar Center, and there was a 62' Jaguar bar in the clearance bin. Bent it upward a little, and changed it up for my kinda trem "abuse".

My re-setup (Which I do routinley) lead to the guitar playing great afterward, however, my setup for Jaguar/JAzzmaster style stuff deviates from the normal version. First off, I strung it up with 009's, which is not a mistake as I use the bridge/neck angle to compensate, which now yields really good sustain with the light feel I like. Then I tightened the spring and bypassed the trem-lock button which is a tad bit unusual. However, this lead to three discoveries, 1.) The Jaguar actually has some decent Dive Bomb potential despite not having the ability to go lower than what would be an open A string on a bass, 2.) This has to be one DAMN good trem system as it stays in tune reliably, even with a Tune-O-Matic installed in place of the normal bridge, and 3.) The Trem Lock can act as a Quasi-D-Tuna type device. I just push the bar down, lock it, and can play in a lower key all of a sudden, talk about versitile.

My only complaint is the fretting out, which on Japanese Fender guitars I have deducted to having something to do with the frets on the top part of the neck not being inserted into their slots fully, a problem I'll be removing when I go to refret my axes soon, as plenty need it at this point. People say it's the neck radius...but if it was, then how is it a 63' Jaguar with equal action and equal fretwear can NOT "choke" when being bent.

This thing was MADE for the stage. It has all that flashy chrome, that angular body, a punchy, LOUD tone, what else do you need? I've sat down practically all day with this guitar several times recording and playing it, and it's given me less trouble than most of my stable (with my Jag-Stang being the only equal in the house).

The hardware leaves me with only two insecurites, one once get the rocker bridge. First off, I don't entirely trust a Tune-O-Matic on a Jaguar, even if Kurt did use one, he did not use the whammy bar like I do. Second, I I'm a little undecided on how safe doing downward trem tricks on a Surf inspired whammy system is, but so far it's held up beautifully, so I probably haven nothing to worry about. I've been using the Dynamic Vibrato on my Jag-Stang like a Floyd Rose for the last 8 years and it's held up incredibly well, and still stays in tune, the Jaguar should be infallable if nothing else.

The strap buttons were another reason I was set on this being the guitar for me, it came with Schaller Strap-Locks pre-installed! Those are about as solid as solid can be. I've used them religiously since 1999, and it's a standard tweak on ALL of my guitars.

As far as dependancy and gigging without a backup, why the hell not, but then, I like to keep the Jag-Stang around for the tunes that need more of that Humbucker girth to pull them along, so between me and those two, it should be an unstoppable team.

My experience with Fender is this, they are works of art, but they are also FRIGGIN workhorses! You can beat on em, and drag em' around, and put them in conditions that most glued together guitars can't bear. They are built like old Ford trucks, that's why I like them, they practically run forever even in the harshest environments.

However, I'm not as mean to my guitars as one might think, actually, they get pretty babied compared to lots of others I've seen.

I've never had to deal with em. Their stuff always works, and the designs are simple and reliable anyway, why bother.

I've been playing almost 11 years now, and this is my second Fender. I bought a Jag-Stang in 1999 and it's been probably the most reliable guitar I've ever owned. I also own a couple Kramers, scads of homebrews, and other stuff that would take miles to list.

If by some chance it were stolen, I'd be REALLY F***IN pissed. Since it took me THIS long to get a Jaguar. After 10 years of harassing music stores, parents, and other Jag/Jazz players with my so called "stupid" setup ideas and so on, It's finally paid off and I've got one. But then, nobody'd get far anyway, since I have the serial down, and it's pretty hard to miss a guitar I have with all the ID's on it, and even harder to get at it as I live with a good deal of useful and painful weapons that I know how to use in a moment's notice, as well as a cellphone on me 24/7, so needless to say, a perpetrator would have a hard time making off with my stuff.

THe only thing I wish for, is that people would quit pigeonholing guitars with a particular genre. So what, I shred on a Jag with what passes for a stock setup. That would be like me saying a Les Paul with P-90's and a Bigsby would not work for surf!

You know i just got a MIJ one of these; I give the sound a 7 only because I was inclined to change the pickups and after i put in SD antiquity pickups it was a clear 10. I dont know what everyone is talking about with the no metal thing but i have tuned it down to D and played many of the songs from my metal band ( i usually use a double cut les paul) and it sounds great. I was using it through a 65 bassman with a japanese Boss overdrive with both pickups together and it was amazing. I have even run it high gain through my 5150 and it totally screams. Wolftickets on no metal.

Review for a three-tone sunburst CIJ with turtoise pickguard, as far as I can tell it's a late 90s one (can't get an exact date). As the other reviews: very short scale 24" fretboard with an un-Fender-like 22 frets, hardwearing poly finish, rhythm/lead circuit. Guitar is all stock so 2 single coil pickups. Three-piece body, quite heavy so I'm thinking it has to be basswood.

Gotta love that offset waist and Strat-esque contour on the top; both of these factors make it a real joy to play when sitting, equally it balances well standing up. Unique and crazy bridge design shared with the Jazzmaster. Comes with Fender gig bag.

Unlike the original '62 models and the American Vintage reissues has no bridge cover or mute. Although these missing features aren't that useful to me, it is all part and parcel of the Jaguars mojo, so it loses a couple of marks.

So many well thought out features, easily more than double the 'standards' (I'm thinking Strat, Tele, Les Paul, SG etc here) and I find I use every control except the tone roller on the rhythm circuit. A more than balanced 8.

You're dealing with a real Gibson obsessed player here - I don't much like the Les Paul Standard for reasons I won't get onto here, but I own a Liberty ES-335 copy and Gibson Les Paul Special as well as loving the Flying V and ES-175, among others. So for me to give a grade this high to a Fender is heresy but sorry Gibson, this guitar is too damn good not to.

What do I play? Rock, punk, funk, blues, metal. Suits all but the latter style. A lot of players say these guitars sound bad with low to medium amounts of gain, well in my opinion they are WRONG.

Truth be told - and this is my opinion remember - this sounds amazing clean, great with blues/blues-rock levels of gain and pretty darn good with medium amounts. So yes it does work on a sliding scale BUT ONLY JUST. With that in mind it won't do metal unless you want to throw some fatter pickups in there - I don't, I have P90 and humbucker instruments already and don't require another.

I'll break down what I like into style catagories. I adore this for blues - it has that delightful single coil spank and bite when you dig in. The surfy background of this instrument makes it so very percussive - doing chord sweeps and mutes sound so rewarding I could do it all day, so this guitar is a real funk machine. Punk: I like it fairly trashy and this guitar will deliver. A lot of the great punk guitar sounds are single coils with plenty of bite and the Jaguar keeps up easily.

For rock, including the more contemporary sounds of Strat/Tele wielders like the Strokes, Franz Ferdinand and cream of the crop Bloc Party, any setting will work depending on what you want. Creamy and smooth chords and solos, rhythm circuit. I love playing stuff like 'Take Me Out' and 'Helicopter' with the lead circuit, using the bass cut and bridge pickup switches; nails that funky/cutting sound perfectly. In fact I think a lot of new bands going for that sort of sound would love the Jaguar. Also keeps up well for early Zeppelin albums too - I know Pagey used a Tele, but the Jag can do those sounds just as well, in its own brilliant way.

It can get noisy but this is only a problem if you're piling the gain on, and personally you're not going to be using single coils if you want lots of gain are you? Or are you. Those magnetic 'teeth' around the pickup seem to cut the noise down at the cost of losing some sustain.

It can go from cutting and piercing to rich, warm and full with a flick of a switch and change of nuance. I find myself using all the controls on this, the volume controls are especially responsive when you have some overdrive cooking on your amp and you want to back it off. The tone control on the lead circuit is indispensible - if I want to go for full cutting treble on the bridge I'll leave it on 10, if I want less agressive bite I'll roll it off to around 2/3. Plenty of varied Fender single coil tones here, if I need more ballsy tones I'll switch to P90s or humbuckers.

Hmm. This is where this particular guitar falls flat on it's well-contoured arse. It is atrocious, and that is no understatement.

This guitar was loaned to me by a friend who bought it as a main intrument primarily because of it's looks. He is a great bass player and a beginner guitar player. As I found out, he couldn't get to grips with it because IT IS NOT A BEGINNERS GUITAR. It's just too damn high-maintenance for that, because when it's stock you have to wrestle to keep it playable.

I knew what I was getting into when I noted that Fender called the bridge/vibrato system a design failure. Every man and his dog hates those saddles - I mean, saddles should have one properly cut groove, not lots of shallow ones as this has. I've only had the low E come out once after a week of solid playing on it, but the chances of this happening live increase tenfold. Volume control is suffering from bad contacts. Truss rod requires some serious TLC as it's bowed and probably has been since my friend bought it. Gauge of strings is too thin I think. Pickups feed back easily, but I quickly learnt to make full use of this so now it only feeds back when I want it to, and how I want it to for the most part. Feedback can be musical.

It isn't all bad though. Tuning pegs do their job pretty well. The plastic nut didn't skip or jump after I'd put some graphite in the grooves. I don't find the switches too noisy although they are a little tough to change mid-song, however I like changing sounds mid-song so much I'm getting used to it. Although that tremolo system is flawed it does sound sweet for subtle wavers and flutters, I would say Bigsby but it's far easier to use!

This guitar has real potential. Some of the flaws are pretty easy to fix (cleaning the volume pot, adjusting the truss rod, fitting some 011 gauges instead of the 010s it currently has) while others are going to require upgrades. These are: fitting a Buzz Stop, changing stock saddles for Mustang ones (#1 most popular mod as voted for by Jaguar owners), possibly getting the pickups potted or changed (but not for humbuckers). These will improve tuning stability, sustain and general reliability and aren't too expensive to do.

The Jaguar could and would appeal to a wider range of players if it were more reliable; all Fender have to do is start fitting these with buzzstops and mustang saddles as standard, and perhaps do away with those magentic things round the pickups because they negatively affect sustain. It's a shame Fender haven't wised up to this else I predict they'd shift a hell of a lot more Jaguars, as opposed to it remaining a more cult kind of instrument as it currently is.

I can't trust this live. I haven't tried it and I am afraid to, what with the squealy pickups and wacky bridge/tremolo. I think I could keep it on best behaviour, but the thought alone worries me. I don't worry when I think about gigging with my other instruments.

The finish will last as it's rock hard polyurethane, the strap buttons are okay but I like to use those plastic straplocks to be sure. I think I could gig it as a main guitar and not worry if I did the mods I describe in the section above.

Well I'm unsure of the guitars exact year of making as the serial number doesn't correspond to those on the Fender website. I'm going to email them and I should hope they do a good job, considering the design flaws.

I have been playing eight and a half years. I've owned so much I won't both to list it all, though I've had the usual Les Pauls, Fender Twins, Marshall stacks, Vox AC30 etc etc and I have tried a wide range of equipment. My main amp is currently a Laney VC50 (which has awful stock speakers but that is another matter!).

If it were stolen or lost boy would I be in trouble as it isn't mine! I plan to get a used Jaguar at some point and mod it to perfection - I'll keep it as a single coil instrument though, I don't want another humbucking one.

What do I love? It's the sound of Fender without being just another Strat or Tele, which are great guitars but I am tired of those sounds they are not fresh any more. This guitar has it's own twist on the Fender sound and can approximate those others when needed. It can be refined and pretty or trashy and dirty. I love those switches and sliders and knobs for real control of the sound, very few guitars have such a big tone palette to choose from.

I hate the serious design problems this has. The guitars design is 43 years old and if Fender know it has design failures why doesn't it correct them? With a few simple changes the stock guitar could be as reliable as the other top Fender models... you shouldn't have to buy a $1200-1400 guitar then modify it because the company haven't changed the original design problems! Granted my model is a CIJ which is cheaper, but read some of the reviews below.

Still, despite all this crap the guitar is special. I cannot tell you how great it feels to have found a Fender I almost love after all these years of being a Gibson player. It has it's problems, but when you get past all those and down to business you can get some great things from it. It may not appeal to everyone (probably because you have to wrestle with it) but for some people it just feels right. I'm one of those people.

This guitar is a mid 90's jap reissue. Some really nice features about it compared to other guitars I've owned are:

1. Comfort- played sitting down, it's so-so, but standing up it's great, really well balanced and comfortable.
2. Neck- the shorter scale is great if you have small fingers (like me). Not too thick either.
3. Controls- The slider swithches are a great idea- why don't more guitars have these?? You can change pickups easily with much reduced risk of bashing off a toggle switch while playing. You also get a wide selection of pickup combinations

Biggest negative feature is that it's difficult to set up right- the truss rod is very inconvenientlly located, for example

The sound of these is an acquired taste, as the other reviewers here suggest. It's not a strat, and it's not a tele either. Personally, I love it, but don't expect a nice 'glassy' strat sound. It can be as 'bright' as you want, but personally I think the mids are a bit different. The clean sound of the bridge pickup alone is enough for me, but again it's all down to taste. Good for alt rock etc., which is why i bought it. If you're style is of the 'heavier' variety, change the stock pickups as they don't handle lots of distortion well. Personally, I've never had the feedback problems some other reviewers describe.
I use mine with a vox valvetronix, which I would recommend trying if you want to see what kinds of sounds these guitars are capable of.

Oh dear. The last guy who owned this left it in a state one guitar tech described as 'a mess'. This wasn't totally his fault however, as some amount of heartbreak is inevitable with one of these older jap reissues. Forget about fiddling with the existing bridge, simply change it for a mustang bridge or (heavily) modify it. Buzz on mine was appaling, with lots of dead frets. I've since had some modifications done to the bridge and tailpiece, but even so it's only 95% perfect. If i didn't love everything else so much I'd have sold it by now.

Firstly, I would not use this guitar on a gig without a backup. Prior to the bridge modifications, the low E popped out of it's saddle all the time. So if you're gigging yours with the original bridge, beware.
I really should stress though that aside from the bridge assembly, everything else about mine feels very solid. It's a pity Fender messed up with the original design.

Never dealt with Fender

I've been playing 10 years, and have owned and played a variety of guitars. If it was stolen or lost I would get another, although I'd go for a more recent US model. I love the jag primarily for it's comfort and playability- it really is one of the nicest guitars to just 'play' that I've ever owned, if not the nicest. As mentioned above, that unique sound compared to a strat also does it for me.
A word of caution though- if you get one, PLEASE pay to have the bridge changed/modified, and have it set up properly. It's worth it.

CIJ Jag, somewhere between 99 and 02 model going by the serial number. Alder body. Same specs as the rest. Switches for each pickup, for hi-pass and for rhythm/lead circuits.

When I first bought it, tuned it and plugged it in, I was a bit disappointed. I'd just moved up from an Epi Les Paul Goth, and the output on the Jag's single coils is quite low.

However, it has grown on me. I'm pretty much confirming what everyone else has said, but I'll say it again anyway...

-It's good for jangly strumming and arpeggios and such. The pickups are rather bright. You have been warned.

-It's -not- good for distortion, unless we're talking lo-fi "just a little bit" distortion a la Black Keys, which it isn't too bad at. But turn up the dist. a bit more and things get a bit muddy. Yes, the 'shimmer' is still there. Sonic Youth's 'Daydream Nation' will give you a good idea. Listen to the guitar carefully. That's what you'll get. I'm still a bit disappointed with it in that respect.

-Also, it's hard to get the EQ just right... I find that if I have it nice and jangly for the high 5 strings, my low E will be -far- too bassy compared to the rest. It's not quite as bad since I've upped to .11 strings, but still noticeable.

-I must confess, I bought one because Efrim from Godspeed You! Black Emperor plays one, and I too want to play epic post-rock stuff. But he has replaced the neck pickup with a (full size) humbucker, and I don't want to cut mine up so I'll just have to leave it as it is. I do miss humbuckers though.

The strings buzz, which is okay. But they also slip off the bridge, which isn't okay. Bash out a chord and, oops!, your low E has slipped right off and is now out of tune. One of the first things I did was get a Mustang bridge, and it's sooo much better. I recommend it.

Oh, and I am pretty short and have small hands, so this baby is just perfect for me in that regard... 24" scale and thin neck means I can play a bit faster than on the old Epi. Yay.

Overall it's good, but only if you add the Mustang bridge. The original bridge is just intolerable.

Hmm, don't gig with it, so hard to tell how long it's gonna last... seems to be pretty solid though. I reckon it would take a beating fine.

Bought second hand and don't have a warranty. Haven't had to deal with them anyway, should be fine.

I've been playing for about 8 years, and I'm never going to be great. But I think my new Jag suits me, just because of the short scale and thin neck basically. Very easy to play. Sound wise - I would prefer more grunt, but really, I should've known. Might go and buy another Les Paul as well, then I'll be set.

Hope this helped.

I've got a 1996 fender jaguar baritone custom from the USA, it's got 21 frets and a solid top. I just love the singel-coil pick-ups, and with the perfect controls makes it even better. it's a alder body with a Polyurethane finish. the neck is from maple with rosewood fingerboard. I've got a adjustao-matic brodge and it workes really fine. an i've got gotoh tuners.

I love the sound in combonation with a home made amp and a fender sidekick it sounds great. I use it with my boss me-50 and most of the time I set me amp on overdrive, or tight. in my style I can use jaguar pretty good. I play different types of music lik: ska, punk,classic rock.

my jaguar still and propably will always be perfect in my lifetime. I have that guitar for 4 years and it still works great in every way

this one of the best guitars I ever played. I've got a fender strat and a gibson les paul special and a martin d28 and je fender gt15. and my jaguar is really one of my favourite I've ever playd

All the features have been explained before. Mine is a 2003 CIJ re-issue and ive had it since new.

I play anything from blues to classic rock on this bad boy. People who say it can't handle blues should try playing it through a Boss DS-1 with the gain way down and the tone at 10 o'clock. It gets nice and bassy with a touch of rumble for that 'crappy blues amp' experience. Turn the gain up and/ or use a Big Muff Pi and this fella really sings, so distinctive. And clean it is so versatile you'll always find your sound. My only grumble is the low output of the pickups, I play through a line6 flextone III and it has to be set at least one notch higher on the master vol. to equal that of even a fairly cheap humbucker, but that's done in a second and then i can go back to sounding (not neccesarily playing) better than the other guitar.

Everyone moans about the buzzy bridge, but with good reason. I put a Buzz Stop in but that only lessened the problem, not fix it entirely and so i just put a mustang bridge in and it sorted itself out nicely. Other than that it's a superb guitar, so nice to play, you really feel like you can dig into the strings (I use 10's, you don't need to put 'at least 11's on' to get a decent strum/ tone out of this thing).

I would, and have played this guitar live without a backup. I would trust it with my life. After all, it's Fender built.

N/A

I've been playing almost 4 years now and have played a lot of guitars from metallers like mavericks to crappy old nameless ones from the sixties and i LOVE this guitar. One of the smoothest actions and it's a guitar with character in looks as well as tone. If it were stolen i would be forced to do something nasty to the guy that stole it, and then get it back. If you want a sweet playing, all singing, distinctive guitar. This is the one for you. (just get it set up properly or get a mustang bridge)

2003 American Vintage Jaguar.
You should know about the controls, wood, bridge, etc. If you don't check out fender.com for those specs.
It came with a brown tolex case, vintage style strap, vintage style cord, and cloth.

This suits my style(surf)perfectly. I'm using it with my '65 Fender Bandmaster and '64 Fender Reverb tank. The Jaguar pickups IMO are the best pickups Fender designed.
One of the great features of the Jaguar is the "thin" switch. it works great when playing with another guitarist. If I'm switching lead and rhythm parts I can just flip the switch.

The guitar was bought off ebay and was set up terribly with round wound 10s. Why do people even try these light strings??
The guitar is in PERFECT condition. All the Fender American Vintage guitars I have played have been of top quality. The nitro finish feels great on the neck and on the body. The frets were filed perfectly too. Also the AV had better stock electronics than the CIJ I reviewed just below this one. The nut is of better quality and was cut better on the AV as well. Also the Fender AV trem units are superior to the Japanese ones.

This guitar should with stand live playing. I haven't used it yet live, but I've used my CIJ numerous times. The AV is a more solid guitar. With the CIJ I had to use loctite on a lot of the bridge parts to keep them from buzzing and sliding around. This is not so with the AV.

I've been playing for awhile now, and you can read my review on the CIJ Jaguar below this one. I would recommend the AV over the CIJ if you wanted the traditional Jaguar sound. After all the mods I did to the CIJ, and getting a hardshell case it cost about the same as the AV. Just look for a used one on ebay.

2003 "Crafted in Japan" Fender Jaguar (this is one of the Musician's Friends limited edition models. This is supposed to have an alder body, and it has a poly finish.

You all know about the pickups, switches, and bridge.

I replaced the pickups with AV '62s and added a mute. The AV pickups sound better than the CIJs, however I really do like the stock CIJ pickups. So much that I recorded my bands first album with them. www.freewebs.com/reluctantaquanauts

For the tailpiece I did a slight mod. I sawed off about 1/16th of an inch from the actual arm(the part that goes into the body) and got much more dip out of it.

Suits my style(surf)perfect. I'm using it with a '65 Bandmaster and a '64 reverb tank, which blows the pants off any reissue tank.

The Jaguar's sound is classic for surf, it can be very bright when needed(bridge pickup), very mellow(both pickups on), or thunderous(neck pickup). When on the neck pickup it sounds great for "chunking" Astronauts rhythms. It also makes a great lead guitar. Check out some of Eddie Bertrand's stuff with Eddie and the Showmen.

You have to put 12s or 13s on the Jaguar to make it work right. Preferably flatwounds. Remember these were the strings Leo planned to go on this guitar.

I'm shocked with how well this guitar was put together. The paint looks great, the frets were nicely finished, and all the electronics worked.

I've used this as my only guitar for some gigs and had no problems. The tuners are of higher quality than those found on the MIJ reissues during the late 80s.

I've been playing for 12 years and have had my share of guitars. Strats, Jazzmasters, Les Pauls, Gretschs...and the Jaguar is my favorite. I like the Jaguar so much that I've recently ordered a American reissue and will follow with a review soon.

The short scale neck is great. I hear about guys with larger hands having trouble with it. I have average to slightly larger than average and I have no problem. The shorter scale means you can move around quicker.

olympic white it is fantastic. I have 10's on mine and a buzz stop which is a must and mustang saddles. I can't say enough GET A BUZZSTOP off ebay or allparts it turns it into a dream. hangs off the strap better than any les paul and no buzzing. trem arm might need a bit of sandpaper/tape to keep it from slipping but whe thats inside the hole you dont see it ad it doesnt swing. 10 out of ten all depts.

buzz stop and you can get it low as you like.

solid as a rock

been playing 18 years, this is the best easiest guitar ive had and ive had loads now, the only one that compares for ease of fingering is my 71 custom tele, but that's for another type of sound. they'd be hunted all over the planet for it if it was nicked. never goes out of tune either so my other guitar watches on from the stand.

Mine is an older crafted in Japan model. White, red tort guard. Normal Jag set up. Honestly Jags have more features than most guiars. Using all the variations in tone that the controls allow gives one seven (7) different basic tone settings - before you even touch the tone knobs. Pretty cool. I find all of the settings useful, myself.

I'd guess that my jag, which I got used, still had the Japanese pckups installed. I thought they were going to suck, and ordered a duncan replacment at the same time I bought the guiar, but honestly the Jap pickups aren't bad at all. I did some recording with them, and they really sound great. Fascinatingly edgy and aggressive overdriven and disorted tones - clear and thick clean sounds - bright cutting tones. The Jag is not quite as rich in the upper frequencies - the range that gives an instrument sparkle,as a strat or tele, but it makes up for it in personality. Althouh many of the Jag's features are weird - like the very cool low cut switch - which I adore, and are not for everyone, the jag does produce a broader range of sounds even than my strat. In that sense it is a very feature rich guitar.

I play in an indie/emo band that is relatively successful. We've opened for some big groups including Piebald, Coheed and Cambria, and The jealous sound.
I have wanted a Jag for years, but finaly got one only recently. I have read so many negative things about them that I was very apprehensive. As it turns out I think I was born to play this guitar. Not only is it visually attractive, comfortable and fun, but it sounds exactly the way I have always wished my strat would sound. The jag has this great, odd, chuncky sound that is appealing because it seems tailor made for quirky weird indie stuff. It's terrible for blues and hopeless for metal. This makes me happy. I can't even pretend to play metal on this thing. It's like the guitar it self has a sense of taste.

One of my favorite things about the jag is that you can really push the pickups. They respond better to picking dynamics than my American strats, producing this wonderful aggressive and saturated sound when picked hard. This effect is great with overdrive.

Contrary to what some people claim, the Jag, in my opinion,has a great distorted sound - with a unique aggressive bite that just rocks. The pickups are cleaner/ weaker and don't push overdrive the way my strat pups do, meaning to achieve similar levels of distortion I have to set the pedal's overdrive / distortion levels higher (I use a Full Drive II and a Big Muff). Even so, the jag loves overdrive and sounds fantastic with a Big Muff. It's not going to give you a slick classic rock/ metal whatever type distortion, but instead produces something interesting and odd, though I find the sound quite pleasing. And don't discredit the low cut switch. Although it does make the sound thiner, it can be great for things like lo fi guitar parts, unmuddying a distortion/ fuzz box, or creating sharp and shimery over dubs. In many ways the Jaguar is a recording guitarists dream, since it does so much on its own. Normally I might have to agressively eq a guitar to obtain an effect that the jag produces naturally. It's very handy that way.

Every one hates the bridge, and for a couple of reasons.
1. The strings behind the bridge buzz: While this is true, the buzzing is not noticable while playing amplified, so I don't really care. Even when playing clean the buzzing isn't noticable. To fix it get a buzz stop. Personaly I have learned to live with it, and it really isn't a big deal.

2. The strings slip in the saddles when played hard: In truth this doesn't happen to me, and I play in a loud band. Perhaps it's playing style, but I just don't have this problem. One needs to really slam the strings in order to make them skip, so I guess a lot of people play really hard. On the other hand, I, unlike most other people, like to set my jag up with lite guage strings. These may fit better in the bridge grooves, and so perhaps are less likely to slip. Don't believe the people who say that you have to put heavey strings on a jag. You can, and it's a cool thing, but you don't have to. I don't, and the sound makes me happy, plus it's really smooth playing.

3. The grub screws fall out of the bridge: This does happen. Solution - get lock tite, or put in some mustang saddles. That's what I did (put in the saddles I mean), mainly because so many people recommended it, but also because my used Jag had a slightly damaged/ neglected bridge. I could have used it as is though, with few issues.

4. The vibrato system puts the strings out of tune: Well, this is only true if you wank it. The vibrato in my opinion is great. So touch sensitive, and so capable of subtlety. Much more so than my Strat, which is noisy when you jiggle the bar. If you are putting the strings out of tune then you should play a different guitar - one with a floyd rose.

5. Iv'e never heard anyone have this problem before, but the strap on my jag makes noise which is audible through the amp. You can only hear it while you're not playing but it sounds as if the strap button where connected to the pickups. Perhaps this is part of the unsheilded nature of cheap jap pickups, or perhaps the previous owner did something weird to the guitar. Don't know.

The neck on this thing is where the guitar really shines. So comfortable, and it makes manuevers possible that I never thought I could do - having small hands.

This guitar holds tune better than my strat! Once it is set up well, it's like a rock, even when one uses the vibro bar.

The jag has lots of parts: sliders, knobs, little screws and lots of solder joints. It stands to reason that it has many vulnerabilites, yet mine has held its ground just fine. I wouldn't be surprised if the switches break some day, or if I loose a screw or two, but over all its very solid.

Here's the skiny. The jag is not for every one. Only buy one if you genuinely find it appealing, and if you try it out and then still like it. Read up on them, and be prepared for their ideosyncracies.

Do not buy a jag because you like curt cobain. His jag, which had a gibson bridge and a pair of cheap humbuckers was not a jag. Once you replace the pickups and the bridge, and disable the vibrato as some do, what you have left is just a cheap crapy guitar. It still looks cool, and has a nice neck, but basically you should have bought a les paul or an ibanez for that matter. The jag is not a power rocking, punk guitar. Cobain played one becase he liked the neck and because at the time they were the cheapest thing one could find. WAY TOO MANY pimply high school kids go out and buy jags only because they want to emulate cobain (which has ludacrously inflated the price). Don't be one of those. You won't like the guitar, or you'll have to spend three hundred dollars modifying it so that it is mutated into a pale representation of the guitar you should have bought - a les paul, or an SG, or some cheap ibanez humbucker thing. That's what you really want. Only buy a Jag if you love single coils, plan on making only functional modifications, and try the guitar out and still like it. Other-wise buy a tele - they sound great, are very cool, and will give single coil fans what they are after right off the bat.

The truth is that Jags are freakish, require a lot of love, and at best sound strange and unusual. Please, only buy one because you love it for what it is - a freak. They deserve an owner who can appreciate and not mar their uniqueness. For the right person the Jag feels like coming home - if this is you, then go fr it.

I got this one used, so I don't know what year it is, but its one of those Crafted in Japan '62 Reissues. I love teh body shape, it is so balanced and comfortable. I bought it without ever having played a Jaguar (though I had played a Jazzmaster). The pickups sound correct and the finish is what you would expect of a Fender guitar. I hated the Jaguar bridge, so I swapped it out with a Mustang bridge. I also added a Buzz Stop which was a massive improvement. The neck feels pretty small to me, but I have huge hands. Mine came with a wonderful black reissue tolex case.

I play blues, rock, and alternative. This is not a blues guitar, but playing blues on it has a pretty funky sound. Playing Chili Peppers songs on it is awesome. Strings do buzz a bit, but if you didn't want that, you should have bought a Strat.

Adjustment was all out of whack by the time I got it, but I got it used, so who knows what kind of hell it had been through. The nut has come loose on mine and needs to be reglued. You need some heavy strings on this guitar, too. I understand they were shipped with .010's, but unless you are girly, go for at least .011's!

Its a Fender, so you know the quality is there. This is a rock solid guitar I woul dbe proud to gig with. I don't gig without a backup guitar because I am a chronic string-breaker.

Oddly enough, I have owned many Fender guitars and have never needed any support.

If this guitar was stolen, I might consider getting another one if I didn't aleady own too many guitars. Other than that, it is a keeper!!

my jaguar is a 2003-2004 limited edition sonic blue reissue.it was made in japan but i love it anyway i don't see a difference between it and an american one. it has a lead circuit and a rythm circuit with a volume and tone knob for each.and the lead circuit has aboost selector which gives you amazing tone.i also love the 24 inch scale and offset body.best looking and sounding guitar i have played........seriously.

jesus, this guitar can go from a bassy rumble to a bright lead with the flick of a few knobs.it sounds like one thing, and that is a jaguar.i play allot of nirvana,sonic youth,mudhoney and white stripes.it suits all of them perfectly with a few flicks and twists.
my effects are a cool as hell electro harmonix polychorus and a big muff pi.

it is a known fact that jaguars are originally set up like shit.you must have it set up.now mine is smooth and fast.no flawsother than that minor offence.

shit yeah ,it is like a rock i have thrown mine and done thurston moore tricks with it and it didn't give a shit.my finish is fine no problem there.and no,i wouldn't gig without a backup because i use allot of wierd tunings.

a jaguar is a jaguar,dude.they rock all of the people who say it can't distort are being assholes,just hook it up to a big muff .it is the best.

Japanese (CIJ) reissue, made in about 1998, I think. It's sunburst with a red tortoishell pickguard. A couple of the switches were snapped off when I got it. I made a fuss and got the guitar for a steal.

These are very faithful remakes of the 60s American classics, and are comparable in every way to the American Vintage reissues (AVRI) - except in one well noted respect: the electronics. I'll come onto that later.

Features-wise: the (in)famous floating bridge, the locking trem, the MILLIONS of switches and knobs, the beautiful offset-waist body shape, the cool big headstock. So much to admire, so much to play with!

In short, there are VERY few guitars that offer the multitude of unique features that you get on a Jag.

I play noisy alt rock, and a little lo-fi country. The Jag is perfect for that. For a start, nothing sounds like a Jaguar! By using the "strangle" circuit (low-pass/high-pass filter, the switch for which is the one nearest the volume and tone controls), you can get a really jangly, bright tone, or alternatively a bassy plunk, and pretty much everything in between. You can also use both pickups at the same time, which I love.

I like to get an angular, edgy, cutting sound from my Jag. The high-pass filter is handy for the mellower country stuff, but I generally have it set to cut the bass out. It sounds like a panic attack. Gotta love that.

What this guitar isn't, is a Les Paul or a Strat. You want RAWK? Buy one of those, I say. You want humbuckers and sustain? Buy a guitar that has those as standard - don't mod a Jaguar! No matter what pickups you use (and I've even heard of some numbnuts putting a Seymour Duncan HotRails on a Jaguar - missing the point or what!?), you WON'T get long sustain out of a Jag. End of story.

I think a lot of people were deceived by the fact that Kurt Cobain often used a Jaguar. Well, I'm a huge Nirvana fan, so don't flame me for this, but Kurt didn't know a whole hell of a lot about guitars. He's not really the person to trust! The Nirvana sound is far more likely to be acheivable through a Mustang, which he also used (and used a lot more than a Jag).

One bitch: if you're buying a Japanese Jag, change the pickups - the Jap ones are weak and aren't wax-dipped, so they're horribly microphonic and WILL feedback with anything more than the most gentle distortion. Get AVRI Fenders from Angela.com if you can, or alternatively get Seymour Duncans. I've had my CIJ pups replaced with an SD Quarter Pound for Jaguar (bridge position) and an SD Vintage for Jaguar (neck position). I may change the capacitors and pots too, as the CIJ ones aren't as good as the AVRIs.

So, much as I love the sound of the Jag now it's been modded, I have to take marks off for the poor quality CIJ pickups.

This guitar was second hand, and the previous owner knew as much about how to look after his guitar as George W. Bush does about particle physics. The setup when I bought it was appalling, so I took it to my tech and he turned it into the best guitar I own (I own 5).

It also had a couple of dings. I don't care about dings - I'm a player, not a collector.

You'll hear a lot of bitching about the Jag bridge, and a lot of it's valid. However, you don't need to rip the thing out and replace it with a 'Stang bridge, like so many people - just get a Buzz Stop ($40 ish) and have the saddle screws treated with LocTite (a non-permanent glue which solves the problem of slippage). Those measures, together with a PRO setup will make this the guitar of your dreams.

A well set up Jag feels wonderful - none of that top-heaviness you get with a Gibson. It sits just right, and my fingers just glide over the fretboard.

One thing - get it strung with heavier gauge strings than normal. Use 11s at least, as the Jag's shorter scale will make anything lighter feel floppy and weird.

Anyway, I'm taking one mark off for the state the action was in when I got it, but otherwise it's perfect.

Lovely heavy beasts, Jaguars. They'll take all manner of shit, except for one thing: if you use the trem arm, TAKE IT OFF before storing the guitar in a hard case!

Can't comment on the strap buttons, as I immediately replaced them with Schaller strap locks.

The finish is hard as nails - polyurethane, rather than nitrocellulose - so you have to hit it pretty hard to ding it. Nitro's more "authentic", poly's harder.

Hardware's very reliable, but not high-quality as the AVRI stuff.

Second hand. Fender owe me nothing.

I love this guitar. The fact that the Les Paul brigade wouldn't like it is a badge of honour, as far as I'm concerned. It's for musicians who want to make a more individual sound, not just plug and chug.

I've invested nearly #200 over and above what I paid for it, just to do it up so the plugged-in sound does justice to how the thing plays. It's now my perfect instrument.

Japanese re-issue, 1994. 22 fret 24" shortscale neck, thin contour - suits more delicate playing. NOW! to sort out the controls... It seems that nobody but me knows how to work this baby!

1. the upper chrome bit...

This is the tone and volume control (in order from left to right looking at the guitar) for the neck pickup. The switch next to them selects the rhythm circuit (just neck pickup)when flicked up, and the secondary circuit (lead mainly) when flicked down. More of that later. (NOTE: when the switch is flicked down, playing with the rhythm controls will make no difference to the sound, as it is running through the lower controls)


The 3 switches...

again, in order from left to right looking at the guitar:
1) flicking this switch up will engage treble boost, and flicking it down will engage bass boost. Mine spends nearly all of its time up, because if I want bass I will just flick to the rhythm circuit with the upper switch.

2) Flicking this switch up will enable the bridge pickup. Again, I keep this switch up nearly all the time for the same reasons as before.

3)This switch is the only one I ever play with: It controls whether the neck pickup is enabled. Enabling the neck pickup and the bridge pickup gives a lovely punchy-midrangy sound which you can only imagine if you have heard it. (NOTE: On the stock Jap reissue, the two pickups do not hum cancel like on the american version - you can fix this with 8 inches of wiring and some skill with a soldering iron)

The 2 knobs left over are the volume and tone controls for the lead circuit. Got that?

All in all, this guitar is packed with features: 3-tone burst, tortoise guard, rosewood board, large headstock... and it just glistens with retro charm.

The Jaguar is a unique sounding instument. the neck pickup is inspired at reproducing retro, driving rhythm work, and at the flick of a switch it can turn into a beautiful, jangly lead machine (the reason for which is that the bridge pickup is not angled to pick up lower pitch harmonics further up the bass strings, like a strat). I play in a garage rock band and it suits me perfectly with its retro vibe both in its sound and in its appearance. I would say though, that if you want to play loud distortion and are not prepared to do a hum-cancel conversion, then DO NOT BUY THIS GUITAR. I have read peoples reviews about how great this guitar is overdriven: IT ISN'T, and if that is what you want out of an axe then buy an LP or BC Rich. This beauty does surf retro vibe, not metallica. That would be like marrying a beautiful woman to do the cleaning! It's just not right... having said that, if you plug it through an ORANGE amp on hum-cancel, you get an instrument with attitude and character. A class act.

Fit and finish were perfect, but the action was a little too high for me. I lowered the action and took to using a hard pick to regain the tone i had lost in doing so. But that is not fender's fault, simply personal preferance.

this guitar has withstood countless live performances without any suggestion of anything going wrong. I don't even bother with a backup any more, it is so dependable. I don't know if the finish is easy to wear off, I've always taken such good care of it... but I suppose it is if it's a mint condition ten year old guitar.

never needed to ask, but I've heard the stories.

don't think I am being proud or naive and giving it a 10 in everything because i would feel impolite insulting my guitar (?), it really is that good at what i want it to do AND I STRESS "AT WHAT I WANT IT TO DO". Because it is an acquired taste; and that it does what it does, and what it does is indescribeable; i would strongly reccomend that you do not buy this guitar over the internet, or without properly playing it first. In all my years as a guitar player I have never come across an instrument so unique. And I love it.

I am reviewing a 1998 Fender Jaguar '62 Reissue, Made in Japan. I actually just got it two days ago, but it was never played (still had the tags and protective sheeting). Came with OHSC (also with tags and plastic), which included Tremelo Arm, Documentation. As everyone else's '62 Jag reissue, this has 24 Frets. Mine is Sunburst w/ Red tortoise shell pickguard and Rosewood Neck. Aesthetically, this is gorgeous.

I had a '91 Mustang Reissue (Japanese) that was, for all intents and purposes, a giant piece of shit. The body might as well have been made of styrofoam. Since it was functionally retarded (but great looking), I kept it in beautiful shape (because I never used it). I was reluctant to trade one Japanese Re-ish for the other. But, it turns out, this Jag re-ish is a different story. Nice Alder body, great woodworking under the pickguard. Solid as they come.

I actually have a 1966 Jaguar, and this competes. Same body weight. Furthermore, The two blocks of wood the body's made from are joined in exactly the same spot. Aside from the color (my '66 is white), and a few accoutrements (such as the neck binding on the '66), these guitars are almost identical.

Plays great.

Sounds like a Jaguar. Let me say this to those who feel like the Jag is a twangy, weaker sounding guitar: Try playing the Mustang reissue. This thing sounds like a Les Paul in comaprison.

But, the type stuff that my band plays is a very loud and aggressive and noisy rock (think Big Black, old Engine Down, Slint). I don't exactly need a lot of versatility in tone, which the jaguar offers TONS of. what i do need is something that can punish people's ears. my primary guitar for the past year has been a solidbody Gretsch SparkleJet.

But, I have to admit: I am partial to Fenders. And since we have a lot of shows now, I feel kind of like an unfaithful husband when I play the Gretsch. That's why I got the Jaguar.

But, it needs some help to compete with the Gretsch, which I decided to give it. I'm going to rip out the bridge position pick up, route out some wood and drop in a giant humbucker. Then, I'm going to install a microphonic pickup between the tremelo and the bridge.*

*the last review i read for this gat was from a kid who seemed to love the guitar, but was a bit perplexed from some clanking or ringing he heard when his hand hit a few places. both of my jags make these weird ethereal, haunted house type noises when you play them unplugged. or when you knock them a certain way. my theory is that the generous amount of string between the trem and bridge (and the trem hardware itself) is responsible. problem is, it gets covered up when you amplify it. so, like i said, a nice and dirty microphonic job ought to do the trick.

i'm giving it a 9 for its versatility. when people see how i transform this thing, they'll think i did it because i'm not happy with the sound. but that's really not the case. this jaguar sounds like a dream (now to make it sound like a nightmare!).

Perfect Finish. Action and Intonation was spot on. But then, the neck position pickup was sunk absurdly low. it took all of 8 seconds to fix that. but it was still weird. why did they do that?

Will this guitar withstand live playing? Great question. I am very confident I can assault the guitar pretty regularly and it will take it. The only thing I am very concerned about are the saddles. I had previously used my '66 Jag at a few shows, and tried to be tame. Still, the strings don't like staying on those saddles. (I strum laughably hard - technique is something I lack completely.) I predict I may have a similar issue. But, then, the '66 has had almost 40 years of wear. These saddles' grooves may be deeper and hold better.

The strap knobs are fine.

I can't play a show without a backup. But, that's no indication of mistrust.

it has a limited lifetime warranty. the last kid said it perfectly: if you break it, you're screwed. if it falls apart, they'll pay.

here's my problem with Fender support, and this has nothing to do with the Jag: Ever try to find stuff out by going to FenderUSA.com? it's like chasing your shadow: you always remain one link away! i just went there and in 4 clicks, their site popped 4 DIFFERENT sites, the last two saying "we are in no way related to the Fender corporation." Well then why the hell is Fender linking to you? Quite honestly, aside from warranty issues (which my modifications are going to complicate), just find a good, small shop with someone you trust, and have them work on it. or learn it yourself.

I'm confident that this guitar can become my primary guitar...at least for shows. When I record, I like to bring out the thinline for one track, and the switch over to the Gretsch, or even the old Jag, just to get a real full range. But with the mods, you never know.

If this guitar were stolen, I'd be pissed because I traded and paid cash for it AND i invested in mods. but, at least i'll devalue the thing so much that if some jag-off (get it?) stole it, they wouldn't get much money for it. what was the question? oh yeah...i'd replace it.

i just want to say that the jaguar is one of the most visually beautiful guitars ever made. this re-issue is really faithful to everything about it.

2003 made in the US reissue '62 Jaguar. A pretty acurate reproduction of the original Jaguar. 22 frets on a short 24" scale neck makes this guitar playability a dream. I've heard alot of people say that short scale guitars are only good for people with small hands, and let me tell you, I have large hands and the smaller scale isn't that much of a deal until you realise you can reach an extra fret up then with a regular scale guitar. Short scale means less tension, less tension means thicker gauge strings, thicker gauge means fatter sound. I like that.

The pickups are vintage single coils, so they do have that Fender twang, and hum is a problem, but they are wraped in that weird claw thing which brings the hum down a bit but not completley.

Here's where the guitar gets weird, the pickup switching. Four switches and four knobs. There's two sections, a rhythm section and a lead section, this is controled by the switch on top. When the rythm section is engaged, only the neck pickup is activated and the tone and volume knob on the bottom become inactive and roller knobs on top become the volume and tone knob. When the lead circuit is on, the three switches on the bottom horn of the guitar become active and the volume and tone are controlled by the knobs on the bottom. I use this all the time because it's more configurable. I leave the volume of on the rhythm circuit and use it as a cut of switch.

My one complaint is that switching pickups in the middle of a song can be annoying, definetly not as easy as flicking a toggle switch.

I play mostly rock, Weezer, Green Day, a lot punk stuff, some Metallica (badly). I like surf music when I'm bored, and as we know, this a THEE surf guitar.

Curently I have it setup through a Boss tu-2, Boss os-2, Crybaby and a Boss ch-1 into a Marshall Jcm 900. It sounds amazing. Luckily my amp has built-in reverb so I can get some pretty warm and shimmering clean tones out of it.

Since it is a single coil guitar, the distortion isn't insane, but it's decent. Enough to get some good chunky palm mutes and some distorted chords, but there's no way Pantera's gonna come out of this guitar with out some pedals or a change in pickups.

Is it noisy? Well, it's a single coil, so there's something to be said about that, but it's not as noisy as a standard single coil. But, it's there.

Like I said, Weezer is probably my favorite band, and I can get there clean tone pretty spot on, but I'm really not trying to copy any type of tone, just something that I like.

The action was a little high when I got if so I had to lower it just a smidge, which is not easy. First you have remove all the strings from the guitar, take out the bridge (which is setup somewhat similar to a Tune-o-Matic) and on the bridge post are two tiny screws which you loosen or tighten depending if you want it higher or lower, which sucks because you're pretty much guessing if it's even, right height and what not.

The finish on the guitar is absolutley incredible. Shine, shine, shine! Not a scratch on it.

The only odd thing about it is that when I touch the strings or a chrome part on the guitar it makes a clicking sound through the amp. I'm gonna take it in to see whats up with that.

In my opinion, this guitar was built to last. This is a guitar that I could give to my kids and they could give to theirs. It's all quality parts so I'm really worried about anything falling off.

I replaced the standard strap buttons with Dunlop Straplocks, but the standars one were just fine.

I could definetly depend on it, although it does scare me sometimes when I have a switch turned off and I don't realise it, that always leads to looks of confusion and thought. I don't think I'd need a backup because I can't picture anything going wrong with it except a string breaking.

I've never head to deal with Fender so I couldn't tell you. The warranty is a limited lifetime, which means if you break it, tough luck. But if it just falls apart or something that's Fender's fault then they'll fix.

I've been playing for over 8 years and own some fairly crappy to high quality guitars and this one is definetly my favorite. I've got a Fender 50's Strat. An Epiphone Les Paul and a couple acoustic guitars. And since getting the Jag it's been my main guitar. I love it. I would definetly try to get it back if it were stolen, if not then I'd buy a new one.

I love the neck, it's small, fast and just feels good in my hand, and it's sounds nice too. I could really live with out the bridge vibrato system. Because of the distance from the tail piece to the bridge is so far, that the section between the two actually rings sometimes. It's sort of like picking behind the nut. But it's not that big of a deal.

I don't believe in being perfect so I'll give it a 9. Highly worth the price.

This si a 62' Jaguar re-issue (american) that i got around 94
24 frets. Has a really nice body and just overall feels nice.
The only thin i still cant figure out (yeah i know.. 10 years and i still dont know) are wtf allt he switches are for haha. Like.. It has 2 tone knobs, 2 volume sliders, a pickup selector, and then... 3 magical switches that do random shit when hit.

The neck on this guitar tho is what really really drew me to it. It has the best nech i have ever played on. I have a 2000 Gibson SG standard, 1990 American Fender Strat, a 98 parker fly classic and out of all of them.. the jaguars nech out plays them all.
I cant stress how good the nech of this guitar is.. so fast, so comfortable oh... ohh... so... good...

it gets a 9 overal cause well.. no knows wtf those switches are for.

It has a really really good tone, its a little on the twangy sound but then again, its a fender.
you go from a really twangy surf guitar sound to a nice rich blend of bass and treble
only thing i dont like is the amount of feedback you can get from this guitar on its treble pickup.

When i got the guitar the floating bridge well.. wasnt floating haha. so i had to fix it myself but not too big of a deal. The problem was that if you put too much pressure on the bridge, she would sing and then youd have to stop and re-adjust the fucker. well... its because they left too much room in the area where the bridge screws down. IT ran me 30 to fix it but ever since iv never had to touch it agian and that was 4 years ago.
Treble pickups are a little npoisey with the feedback but other than that no problem.
it gets a 8 because the bridge ordeal pissed me off.

Iv beat the shit out of this guitar and it still sounds and plays great. My friend offered me a gibson les paul standard for it and his chello and yeah.. i still got it. This guitar (in its current state) wont let me down.
gets a 8 cause i fear if the bridge would somehow go down again.

Umm.. fender hasnt really given me a problem.
it was really easy to repair the bridge, ran 30
no shake.

Im going to keep this guitar forever. She will be burred with me.
If you get the chance to get a jaguar, jump on it.

This is a 2003 CIJ Three-Tone Sunburst Jaguar. And I want to sex it up.
Twenty-two frets (the short scale neck is hardly noticeable to look at and play with at first, but you'll soon see the difference). I'm sure you all know the controls, so I won't bother with that here.

Pickups are pretty damn good. The only gripe here is the lack of sustain. The power's fine, you want muddy overdrive, just sort out your amp. The guitar's fine, just leave it!

I'm pretty sure its Alder body, rosewood neck, dot-inlay. Annoys me that i saw the trapezoid inlay neck just after i bought this, Gah! Still pretty, though.

In my opinion, only three-tone sunburst, and custom colours work on the Jag. Red makes it look cheap, and white just puts me off.

This, however is beautiful

Ooooh, the sound. When you want trebly, fuck, you GET trebly. Same with bassy, and mid-tone. The amount of tonal capability this guitar has is unbelievable.

'62 Jag >>> Digitech Whammy >>> Dan-O-Wah >>> Danelectro French Toast >>> Marshall G80RCD.

Since the amp I've got is for more moderny things, i don't think it TOTALLY does it justice, but hell, it's good enough! typically, it's a janglyish guitar, nice for Smiths, Joy Division possibly, but if you twiddle and alter the tones and pickups, you can get boomy bass. I've heard people moan that you can't get distortion from the Jaguar.

Agh! Shut up! are you deaf?!

Well...when i got it, it was pretty poorly set up. the action was awful, and a tiny screw for the bridge popped out. I don't really get along with the bridge at all. If you're playing something with particular force, chances are the low E will pop out. All you've gotta do is pop it back, but it's a little annoying. Pickups were fine.

Finish is ab fab, but sorta delicate. Took it out 2 days after i had it, slight ding with the Whammy pedal i own and viola! big crack in the finish, dented the wood. GAHHH.

Looks beautiful, and the dent was my own fault, so i'll give it high high high marks.

Will it withstand live playing? Hell, yes.

Look at it. Out of the guitars I own, this looks the most durable, and, looks aside, it probably is. If i were to thrash it about, it would probably dent a lot, but the electrics, neck, tuners et cetera seem fine.

(One thing, on mine, the volume on the rhythm circuit is dodgy. If you leave it on one position, it just plays static. Touch the volume dial, and it works fine again. Odd)

Not a clue. Never dealt with em.

Do you own one? Good, good.

Do you NOT own one? Why? Go out, get one now. The sound is so versatile, its amazing. I could get Mudhoney and Sonic Youth out of it in the morning, and Radiohead and New Order in the afternoon!

More powerful than my strat,
More tones than my Jagmaster

its the perfect balance between!!!

It looks amazing, it's definitely an eye-catcher, and you feel so great just holding the damn thing!

I own a 2002, 1962 reissue fender jaguar, in candy apple red. There are a hell of a lot of features on this thing.. Most strikingly the way it looks. It has the looks that kill. When i bring it out to an audience you can see the pure adoration, it wins them over. And it always will. Definitely my choice for photo/video shoots and other promotional activity.

It's packed with so many features, endless supplies of tone, you got a switch to change pickups between the bridge and neck, both single coils, on the bridge you have three switches to change that tone and a volume and tone knob, and you have two dials to edit volume and tone.
So you get a big choice of tone, and them some...

Everyone knows the body style of the jaguar. It's famous for its looks. It's got one of those regular fender necks, so well glossed, smooth and thin. Plays like a dream.

Quite heavy but is no disadvantage to me.

Now let me get one thing straight. This thing has its own sound. If you want the sound of a fender jaguar, you buy this guitar. If you don't want the sound of a fender jaguar, you don't want this guitar.

Now I have got that straight, I can explain exactly what the sound is. It has the fender twang, it's got a low sustain, it's got low output single coil pickups, and the action buzzes in a lot of positions so you will have to find one that is right for you.

In other words, this guitar has a weak sound, that sounds terrible for riffs. But where this guitar shines, is in its use for arpeggio's, and clean sounding precise note picking. It's got its own sound and to be honest, arpeggio's don't sound better on any other guitar in the world. If you want a guitar that does this, then there we go... you got it.

If you want to use it for riffs, your going to have to put a lot of overdrive into it because of its low output pickups, but it has a brilliant clean tone, great for surf guitar riffs, And its got a distinct sound. But if you want a guitar with a similar sound, that sounds heavier for rock and metal, I would advise you look at Fender Telecaster or Stratocaster. This doesn't have the output for metal. It is not a metal guitar, that isn't what it was built for. If you know what it was built for and know its what you want, then this is your perfect guitar.

If you are really desperate for a heavier sound with this guitar, fit it with heavier pickups, possibly humbuckers (to fit single coil size). But warning, nothing you do can replace the lack of sustain that this thing has.

I love this guitar personally, its got more character than any other guitar i've ever played.

You'll want to replace the bridge, The strings don't stay in place in the saddle when you play them, and will move around and end up going out of tune. I advise you replace it with a mustang bridge, which has a much better saddle for the strings to rest in, which means they are 100 times less likely to pop out!

I never played the factory set up much but i know that you will need to set the action for whichever string guage you want to use! All of them have a buzzing on different actions, and have to be moved to make it sound better.. no one wants a guitar that sounds like a sitar do they? (or do they huh?).

The tremolo arm is magnetised into the body, and can be taken out easily. Maybe too easily for my liking, it seems to pop out and the magnet isn't strong enough but maybe its just the one off with my guitar? I'd definitely reccomend to fender to Make that magnet stronger!

Okay, this is a 1962 reissue, so you get everything that was on the 62 model (bar the bridge cover but who wants that?)... Along with the reissue you get the flawed 60's technology.... Of applying the strings.. Oh dear it is a nightmare, and can take a whole day depending on how much patience you have. the machineheads are replacable yeah, but apart from that, it stays in tune a lot.

I needn't say a thing about the finish, its the best I've ever seen. Candy apple red is beautiful, and the shine of the metal... ooooh lovely.

Well it suffers the whole 'action expanding with heat' thing you get with all guitars to some extent, but due to being a jaguar it tends to move around a bit, The action dropped down to the string during a gig once when i was playing it, and the string hit the fret and made no sound, so you can imagine the disadvantage of that... But other than that, and the tremolo arm popping out all the time.. Its very reliable and great.

(Of course you'll have to deal with the saddle too if you don't replace the bridge)

I deal with the dealer that sold me it (sound control UK) so i've had no problems here.

One of my fave guitars, fits perfectly in my collection as the antithesis of a gibson les paul, You got a great variation of tones in this thign and its perfect for when you want some new and different sounds in a song, and to break the cycle of high output humbucker METAL sound that every band seems to have right now.

Dave
http://www.thechaossociety.com

This is a Sunburst 1993 MIJ "62 reissue Jaguar" with the red pickguard.
For the rest it is the usuall as decribed by all the other reviewers, only this guitar has an Alder body instead of the usuall Basswood body and it got the propper brass shielding as found in the originals.

It sounds like a Jaguar, although a bit thin, but this is due the Japanese pick ups, which i hope to replace soon with AV RI pups. I will also swap the MIJ vol. and Tone post with the propper CTS pots.
So far I used it on my home amp, but it will be coupled on a 72 SF Bandmaster reverb and a 60ties Farfisa F/AR reverb unit, since i'm deeply into surf, and that's where this guitar was made for.

I like the sound already, but it NEEDS 0.11 or 0.12 strings at least.
The lead circuit souns nice, with the neck and bridge played seperatly or together and the Thin switch is usable as well if you want to cut the bass a bit. The rythem circuit (which only uses the neck pick up) sounds more warm and fuzzy, good for Jazzy tones.
I like it so far, but I will like it more once it got the propper pick ups and tone and Vol pots and a good input jack.

I bought it used and it was very, very badly set up. But I understand that most Jaguars and Jazzmasters are badly set up. You can easely do this your self, check out Mr. Gearhead and the various Jaguar and Jazzmaster Pages. Check out Mel Waldorfs page for sure!
I also shimmed the neck with a 0.60 Jim Dunlop Pick cut in Half,which did great things to the playability of this guitar.

The bridge ain't that bad, once set up correctly, so is the tailpiece. I filed out slots on the bridge saddles, so the strings wouldn't slip anymore, this did it!

I don't understand why they aren't set up as they should at the factory.

the rest of the guitar is good (IMHO) The tuners stay in tune and the guitar doesn't rattle anymore. So I'm a happy player.

I also got a CIJ Jazzmaster which I used without backup numerous times, I'm sure the Jag will do the same. Tough build!

Been playing for a while, I bought the Jaguar to back my Jazzmaster up, since of the different tones it produces. I studied this guitar for a while and played over an hour on it before I purchased it. I do my own set ups and repair, since most of the guitar techs are NOT familiar with the Jaguar or the Jazzmaster. It is in NO way a Stratocaster. So here is my advice, check out the sites I mentioned and give it a go yourself, you'd be amazed how much better your instrument will perform after a good setup.

And as mentioned before, DO NOT BUTCHER A VINTAGE JAGUAR OR JAZZMASTER for your Cobain/Sonic Youth mods, get a CIJ or MIJ instead and leave the treassures alone. Also the Jaguar is NOT by any means a METAL guitar when stock, so if you are looking for a schredder, look elsewhere! Or mod a CIJ/MIJ one with whatever humbuckers you want to put in and swap the tone and vol pots with the right values. (The Jag comes with 1 Meg audio post, while most Humbuckers need only 500 K or 250 K)

Mine is an American Vintage Series '62 Reissue Jaguar. Made in California. I decided to avoid the problems associated with Japanese versions...and buy the real deal. It has an Ice Blue Metallic finish, with Mint pickguard. Brown vintage case, with yellowish lining included in purchase price. This is completely built to vintage specs. Even the cheesy "Fender Mute" is present, as is the bridge cover. Also included: flatwound strings, vintage style 1/4" cable, strap, and tremolo bar. The Jaguar's switching system is the absolute best. You'd be hard pressed to find this many options elsewhere.

The sound is amazing. I have always preferred my strat or my sparklejet to any other guitars. But when I played the Jag for the first time, I was blown away. In my opinion, nothing else sounds this good. The American Vintage single coils, combined with the switching system, allow you to achieve a number of different sounds. You can get a shimmery single coil sound, or you can get a more full, rounded sound...but the thing with the Jaguar, no matter which pickup(s) you use, it always seems to "shimmer." It's really a beautiful sounding guitar. The pickups seem fairly balanced in output. Thanks to the high-pass switch you can even get a thin sound out of the neck pickup, or minimize the highs with the bridge pickup.

A common complaint with the Jag has always been that it can't get a good distorted sound. To comment on this, let me first say that I play indie-rock, the majority of which is distorted. Now of course you will not get the same sort of high-gain sound from a Jag as you would, say, an SG, but you CAN achieve a very nice distorted sound. But, the "shimmer" I mentioned before is still present...adding distortion doesn't stop the Jag from sounding how it sounds. By using a high quality tube amp you can get a saturated sound, but the unique character of the guitar will always be there. When I read reviews saying how something "sucks for metal" it always makes me laugh. Yes, this guitar will suck for metal...but that's just another reason for me to love it more!

To summarize all this, the Jaguar has a very unique and specific sound. The American series pickups are fantastic. Simply put, this is the best sounding guitar I've ever had the pleasure of playing (and I have 12 other guitars, all of which are now neglected).

This guitar was on the wall at Guitar Center for a few months. I used to go in, and see it, but didn't want to play it because I knew I didn't have the $1300. Once I had that kind of money lying around, I went back, and it was still there. However, months of being on the shelf had taken their toll. There were 2 minor scuffs on the finish (nothing major) and it was missing a string. I used this to my advantage in haggling the price down. The folks at Guitar Center set the guitar up and cleaned it up for me before I took it home. The setup is fantastic...the action is nice and low, but not buzzing. I cannot comment on Fender's initial setup, because the guitar was subjected to Guitar Center for months.

This guitar is very solid. As always, straplocks are advised. The finish is a vintage finish, not super glossy like newer finishes, and NOT very resitant to aging. Fender included a card that explains the finish. However, like it or not, it's HISTORICALLY ACCURATE.

Never had to deal with Fender.

This is a beautiful guitar...the sound is amazing, the small historical touches are great, and the quality of an American made Fender is hard to beat. I will be keeping it 100% stock...something this good just needs to be left alone and enjoyed. This is the kind of guitar you'll own for the rest of your life.

American Reissue
inca silver
floating tremolo
rhythm and lead setting
mute switch
hardshell case

i'm not one of those guitar nerds who feels the need to swap out all the parts of a new guitar, it's all stock baby.

i play indie-rock, 60's garage-psych and some punk and shoegaze. this guitar is fantastic for all. the rhythm setting gives you a nice warm sound, and the solo setting gives you a wide range of settings to play with, from ultra-thin high range, to a nice, well balanced jangley sound. it matches my fender twin reverb niceley (and RAT + tubescreamer). i love the sound it gives over all other axes i've played.

this is my first realy nice guitar and playing it is very enjoyable. and after playing it a couple of months, i can't even go back to my lower-budget guitars that are missing that "magic" that comes from the excellent action and feel of my jag. "fits" great, has nice inca silver finish.

i play out about twice a month and practice about 3 times a week. this guitar has that quality fender make, but i still baby it. after the first week of owning it, the sholder strap fell a little to easy, so i replace the strap buttons with strap locks. i really won't mind if the finish wears, since fenders look even better worn in a little. since the guitar comes with a bunch of switches, i could see those needing replacement after heavy usage.

the vintage case is kind of crappy.

never dealt with fender
came with "limited/lifetime" warranty. whatever that means.

Even thoght it was a bit pricey, I love this guitar with all my heart. Would love to get it's sister, the jazzmaster some day as well.

MIJ, Mid-90s; CAR w/matching headstock.

I play surf, so obviously, this was the choice. I've heard better things about the Jag pickup design than the Jazzmaster's flat-bobbin pickups, but the Jazzmaster is a fine surf guitar and it's reissue model has deeper pup bobbins. For my small hands, the Jag neck is a better fit than the Jazzmaster, so, it's my personal pick.
I play it straight thru a modded Fender '62 reissue reverb tank into a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe Amp. The combo is a little trebly...I'd prefer it through a Fender Deluxe Reverb amp, myself. Still, the ultimate in surf tone.

I bought it used. The setup was fine, once I adjusted the new graphtech bridge saddles, fixed the tremelo lock to work properly, and replaced the original strings with 11 flatwounds, as God and Fender intended.

Complaints about string buzz and strings skipping out of saddles can be addressed with new GraphTech bridge barrels for Jazzmaster/Jag/Mustang, a very easy mod that cures the problems immediately. Also, you should use heavy strings, 11s or 12s.

This guitar is bombproof.

Haven't dealt with Fender. No problems in need of factory intervention.

I've been playing nearly one year, and wanted to get into the surf guitar sound. I also own a Line 6 Variax, a reissue 50s Strat, and a ES-335 clone. I like this guitar, perfect for surf. It is more growly and sinister than my Strat, and the shorter scale suits me perfectly. The tone controls and tremelo are not suited to post-Hendrix guitar playing, but work perfectly as intended (light whammy use, a "twangy" 50s/early 60s sound). I don't know if the pickups are as bad as people complain, but hope to replace mine with Seymour-Duncans for Jag, just to see for myself.

This guitar review submited by someone who has played for along time. knows good stuff but unfortunately doesn't know really all the bits and what their called so bear with me. Ahhhh my Jag,..... Japanese Reissue 22 frets (i think) rythm - volume, tone (rollers) lead - volume, tone, (Neck pick up, Bridge pick up, Low-end Filter) switches in solid finish, a "countour body" and "floating Tremalo" Pointless tremelo arm. Vintage White finish

Okay, Like hundreds of nirvana fans this would be the guitar to get right, WRONG. This sounds really really cool when clean but when you hit that stomp box the sound is grainy and crappy. BUT.... if you have a digital effects pedal this can get rid of it. I use a zoom 505II and I haven't used that for a long time since my old guitar had humbuckers and sounded really smart using the stomp box. This is easily changeable though by purchasing a Seymour Duncan Hot for Jaguar. Special pick ups that are made to get rid of the grainyness and give off the cool sound

This was excellent. Only problem was the tremalo thing. I dont use them stupid arm things in anycase and it just loosely hangs down hanging on the edge of ure cable. oh well, whatever floats your boat as its removable so no loss to me

Its solid. really solid. I could depend on it like a guide dog. I could strap wheels to it and use it as a skateboard.

Havent bothered.

Well it kicks arse. I'm looking forward to getting the pickup changed so at last I can gig with it and batter the hell out of it knowing that it still will look kick ass in the end

This is one of the Japanese Reissue Jaguars, actually one of the first lot of Japanese Jags - made in 1993 rather than 2002. Anyway, you know the score: short scale length (24"), 2 single-coil pickups, vibrato with "floating bridge", rosewood fretboard, 3-piece solid wood body (Swamp Ash, I think...) and unnecessarily complicated pickup switching system that has separate controls for "rhythm" (actually neck pickup) and "lead" (switchable combination of either or both p/us) sounds.

I mainly bought it for the short scale length, as I find that much more comfortable than the usual length. The vibrato I don't use, ever, and I almost never use the neck p/u so the switching system isn't much use to me either. In fact the switching is a bit inconvenient because it's easy to accidentally hit the rhythm/lead switch while strumming. The floating bridge is also a pain because it means the whole thing can go out of tune if you hit the bridge - I've effectively locked the bridge in place by getting some brass collars made to fit around the bridge posts.

OK, in essence this guitar sounds horrible, but it sounds horrible in a way I quite like. Because the strings don't pass through the body or anything, and also because the floating bridge isn't really anchored into the body, the guitar has very little sustain. Also, the bridge pickup sound quite "trashy", although because it's only a short scale length it doesn't have the really cutting treble of, say, a Telecaster or Danelectro. However, all of this really suits my playing, which is quite percussive and angular. I play lo-fi indie stuff (think The Breeders, Sleater-Kinney), and it does that well, plus it'll do a good surf guitar sound. This is all through a Fender solid-state amp, so that probably emphasises it's trebliness.

It can be quite noisy, being single-coil, and is particularly susceptible to feeding back at unwanted moments, sometimes even on a clean sound (esp. if you're using a bit of compression). You get very good at learning to mute the strings between notes!

Another thing - with such a short scale length, it really NEEDS heavy strings. I use Power Slinkys (.011" on the top E), and I reckon anything less sounds pretty poky.

I actually can't remember how the factory set-up was, because I like to set guitars up my own way and did that almost as soon as I got it.

The manufacturing is as good as Fender Japan usually is, i.e. flawless. Everything was routed properly etc etc. You can see the join between the pieces of wood in the body if you look carefully - mine's sunburst so the finish is semi-transparent. That sort of thing doesn't bother me though. The jack socket has a tendency to come loose, but that's a design flaw rather than a manufacturing flaw, and isn't unique to this guitar anyway (it's not as bad as my Tele). I also found the rear strap button has a tendency to unscrew itself, oddly, though it happens over a course of months so not a huge problem.

What can I say - like most Fenders, neither the body nor the neck are going to break particularly easily. The finish is quite hardwearing, but I have knocked it about a fair bit and cracks have appeared in the finish where it's hit things. The chrome-steel hardware is starting to rust, possibly because I sweat a lot when I play live. The frets are going to need stoning soon, but they're no less hardwearing than on any other guitar I've owned.

One good thing, especially if you use heavy strings, is that you don't get many string breaks, as the break angle over the bridge is very small. By the same token, though, if you hit the strings really hard then they'll pop out of the bridge. It goes out of tune quite easily too, and it's got those vintage tuning pegs with a vertical hole going down the peg rather than a horizontal hole going through it - I've never had to, but I wouldn't want to change strings in a hurry, especially the top E which has a tendency to pull out while being tuned.

Never dealt with them.

Basically, I love it to death, and if it were broken or stolen I'd get another. Having said that, as soon as I bought another I'd have to get the floating bridge locked down like it is on mine, as that makes it far more useable.

As I mention, by most people's standards of what a guitar sounds like, it's awful - no sustain, trashy, trebly sound, not much output from the pickups, tendency to feedback and go out of tune. But I hate the sort of midrangey, Gibson-and-Marshall sound - to me it sounds pompous - and the Jag instead sounds nervous, awkward and angular, which perfectly suits the sort of music I play. And it's got a short-scale neck and well-balanced body, so for me it's very easy to play.

a 2002 62' reissue fender jaguar. made in the good ol' US of A, in california to be precise. this guitar is not a remake like the japanese reissue, it is an exact replica. fender has said that they have paid, "strict adherence to the original methods of fabrication- methods which predated today's more sophisticated machinery". that may sound corney to you. but infact i can confirm that the guitar is exactly the same as one that was made in 1962-68! and that the only thing that is different is the machine heads. they look almost identical, but on further inspection they are not kluson, they are 'modern recreations of the originals'. i don't know why fender didn't just buy the kluson ones, as the company is still going and making exactly the same line of machine heads. fender calls them 'vintage fender gotoh tuners'. the guitar is a solid body made form alder, with a 24" scale maple neck with a brazilian rosewood (maybe) fretboard that has clay dots. the body and neck are finished in nitrocellulose laquer, which is nowhere near as hard as the polyurithines that they use nowadays. 2 jaguar single coil pickups, bridge has raised polopieces. floating tremolo, rocking bridge with adustable spacing, adjustable height and individual adjustable saddle height, fender mute. all metal plates are chromed. 3 ply scratchplate. guitar comes with a jazzmaster tolex hardshell case, also comes with strap, lead, allen key and a fender duster!

is great for that clean chorus twangy surf sound from the 60's. most people will tell you thats all it can do and they are partly correct. but because i have a good quality fx pedal i can get a bigger range of sounds out of it. neck pickup sounds very muffled on its own, bridge pickup is exactly the opposite and is extremely bright. so i have both of them on at all times and turn the tone dail down about 30-40% and that is perfect. if i want to do noticable lead parts, or sythesized stuff that needs a really clear input, then i'll use the bridge pickup. the dials and switch on the chrome plate at the top of the guitar is completely unused with me.

sometimes i like to put the mute on, set the fx pedal to clean chorus, put some intense reverb on and pretend i'm a beach boy living in the 60's!!! i may even buy a vox amp or something like that to really get that noise. so i've given it 10 just for the perfect twangy noise and not for anything else.

to be honest no. the guitar was not set up correctly, at least for me. and i'm afraid to say the craftsmanship is not as good as the japanese ones. not that there were any major faults with it. it is just things like you can actually see some glue near where the frets have been put in. and behind the nut there is an area (a couple of mm square) which has no laquer on. i'm being fussy really, don't worry, this guitar has no real defects or anything. its just you expect it to be perfect for 1200 quid.

finish will eventually come off and look like one of those real vintage fenders that you see on ebay, but that will only add to how good it looks i think. yes, a solid guitar. the frets are already looking worn in places (i've had it 5 months max) but that can't be helped as i play it so much.

a little leaflet that came with the guitar says it has a 'limited lifetime warranty', which sounds like a contradiction to me. i don't really think i'll need to deal with fender

been playing for well over 7 years now, have several other guitars but none as good as the jag. if it were to be lost or stolen i may go and buy a vintage one. i love everything about the guitar, apart from possibly its size. if they made a smaller scale body version that would be cool! yeah thats right, with a 22" scale neck as well.

I was looking for something a little different then a strat. I mostly play Les Pauls and assorted hollowbodys but I love the fender sound. In particular I love the neck pickup sound and the tele twang sound but like I said strats and teles, feel-wise, just put up too much of a fight. But the Jag is very unique and I love the sound.

I dont like repeating something someone said in a review and berating it but I have to say something about the previose reviewers comments.

The people who said they had a problem with the bridge of the Jag are not wrong and they shouldnt go look for another instrument. Its not like the Jaguar fell down from the heavens and then it was there. Take it or leave it. It was designed by human beings who dont always necacerally do a great job. A better design couldve been isued to the Jag back when it was invented and itd be an even greater guitar. Fenders design team called the saddles a "design failure." You cant argue with the creater. I dont bash the guitar or play like Im a grunge rocker on speed but in a real live context the flaws of the bridge can be a real pain. Its something that I overlook becouse I love the instrument and the action is so good. More akin to a gibson then a fender.

The thing is the grooves on the saddles need to be cut deeper. The strings can come out of the groove with heavy playing. And its not about learning to play better. Every great player in every style bashes the guitar from time to time. Its called being dynamic and playing strait from your emotions. If someones a robot and always has an even tempered attack and plays with the same dynamic all the time. Well. Id say theres not much hope for them. And hell, if Im playing quitly and I accidentally bang my hand against the saddles, the string(s) pops out and now Im slightly out of tune.

Also there is a problem with buzzing due to the angle of the strings cutting over the saddles. Guitar manufacturers today would never creat such a breaking angle over the bridge. Why? Among other reasons it doesnt put enouph pressure on the sadles so they actually vibrate underneath the strings at times. But this is a vintage reissue and you couldnt call it that unless it was true to the origional. Unfortunately The only way to battle this is to use higher gauge strings. Like 11 or 12. It puts more pressure on the saddles. The thing is the average player in the 60s used a size 11 or 12 gauge and the average player today uses 9 or 10. So the breaking angle and groove size arent a complete disaster. if that were true they never would have produced it. Its mixing modern players with vintage designs. Sometimes you have to meet half way.

I hate when people make blanket statements like "this is what its for and if you want something different from it, dont use it." Thats not what the electric guitar heritage has tought us. If that were true there wouldnt even be an electric guitar. Why change something becouse you want it to function a little differently for you? Its called individuality. And improvement. And evolution. If EVH or James Hatfield chose the Jag instead of whatever they played, ther not wrong. Its what they liked and they may not like certain things about it.

I like the Jag. I have a few problems with it that I want other people to know about so theyre more informed when they try one. I like the sound and the feel of a Jag so if I were to agree with what the previouse reviewer said and say, Im gonna go get something else becouse the bridge is a bitch, what else am I gonna get? A strat or Tele. I dont like the feel. A Les Paul? Although I play them theyre a COMPLETELY diferent beast. So I have to play a Jag and report what I dont like. In this case the bridge and saddles. And theres nothing wrong with that. Hell Fender agrees with me!!

I will say the problem with going out of tune with any extreme use of the vibrato is nothing unique to the Jag. Its true of almost any vibrato guitar thats not fitted with a floyd rose. So I cant say thats a flaw of the jags.

other then that I think the action and fit of a Jag is great.

People who bitch about these guitars shouldn't be fooling with them in the first place (see the last section of this review). Thisis a fine instrument. This is a '62 re-issue Jaguar, but Made in Japan,discontinued. I had and regretfully sold a '62 reissue Japanese Tele - beautiful guitar!. These Japanese made Fenders are really nice instruments and this is every bit comparable to the American made reissue Jags that cost $1200! Buy one used if you can find it, like i did! not one of the newer American made ones. I didn't try to date this, but it's probably early 90s. You either like these things or hate them - there's not much room in between. They are not versatile guitars in the same way, say, a Strat or Les Paul is versatile, but what they do, they do very well. Nice neck, compact feel, easy to play, comfortable to hold. It's a faithful re-issue:maple neck, rosewood fingerboard, re-issue tuners, 2 pickups with those weird metal teeth around them to cut hum, same semi-crappy bridge and tremelo Jags were known for, etc. Virtually indistinguishable from an original Jaguar or the newer American made reissues. I'm not giving much more detail because this is a legendary guitar and i'll bet anything that if you are reading this you already know what the guitar is, what it looks like, etc. These didn't come with options other than custom colors, so, with the exception of the vintage things, one Jag is pretty much the same as another. Because i bought it used it came with nothing - no case, nothing, but the guitar was all intact in terms of controls, parts, knobs, etc., no modifications. One semi-complaint is the control setup which Fender thought made this thing extremely versatile - it does, if you play like i do and have time to anticipate control changes and can flip switches, etc quickly. But if you are someone who wants to go from a warm chord to screaming shred with one pickup flick, you'll want something else and the control layout will piss you off

Like i said, it's love it or hate it. This thing will NEVER be the main choice for metal shredders, jazz nuts, country pickers and others who look for specific sounds. But that doesn't mean it sounds bad. It sounds great - quieter than most single pickup guitars. Not as Twangy as a Tele, not as big a range as a Strat but DEFINITELY a Fender sound all the way. Front pickup is warm without being muddy, bridge pickup is sharp without biting and both are balanced and not muddy or uneven, though the neck pickup can get muddy real fast if you start turning up bass/turning down treble. I use this in several ways, with my Line6 Flextone Amp, through my POD for recording, or through my Mesa Boogie Subway Rocket. It's most at home and at its best when you use it to get a warm, 60s sound for folky electric chord strums, psychedelic stuff or - the best - SURF MUSIC. However, in my band, Forever Einstein, i rely on a guitar to give me a sound that is clean and warm and this does it very well.

Like I said, the Japanese did a great job on this. I own some vintage Gibsons from the 1960s and i appreciate vintage guitars, but if you think an original Jaguar or an American made one is significantly better than one of these you're nuts, in my opinion. Everything on this guitar is both faithful to an original and well made. The finish is gorgeous and deep and flawless, the neck is straight with no intonation problems (other than it being a Fender, ahem). This one is candy apple red and i love it. The pickups sound good, the controls are quiet and smooth, I find nothing to complain about with this guitar other than the things EVERYBODY complains about with ANY Jaguar from ANY year: bridge and tremelo

Well, i bought it second hand and it clearly had been used because some paint was chipped off in a few places and it was dirty as hell. But after a cleanup and new strings, perfect. So in that regard I'd say this is a reliable instrument because whoever had it before me clearly didn't baby it and it held up just fine. My experience with Japanese guitars in general is that they are of high quality and without flaws. I am using this as one of my main guitars and have no complaints.

like i said, i bought it used so warranty support/repair was never an option. however, it had no owner's manual and because i am mildly dyslexic (honest) the controls were confusing me, so i went to the Fender website and found a download for a copy of the owner's manual and bingo! problem solved. I printed it out, too. So I'd say for that reason customer support was good. On the other hand, I wanted to put on a reissue red tortoiseshell pickguard and it costs $50! Come on, it's PLASTIC and the Strat ones are twenty bucks cheaper. Screw supply and demand Fender, make it affordable, huh?

Like i said, i think people who complain about this guitar shouldn't be messing with it because it's not the kind of guitar that will do 5 completely different things like a Strat or Les Paul, both of which you see being used for blues, reggae, fusion, metal, country, blues and more. The bridge is not the best idea Fender ever had BUT!!!!...if you pick lightly or cleanly, it won't give you big problems. If you slam chords or dig into the strings with a heavy pick, you're going to need to work on the bridge or change it to keep the strings from popping out of the grooves. Also, the whammy bar is NOT meant to do Steve Vai type gymnastics. It's meant to touch lightly and gently to give a subtle wavy bendy quality to the sound, not a radical pitch change. If you like to go nuts with a whammy bar, you'll hate the one that comes with this guitar. Also, it's got single coil pickups, and whether you have an original or reissue, these single coild pickups are not hot, high output pickups and, again, if you want a guitar to give you clean, smooth distortion or crunch, you won't get it. You also will get a thinner, more 60s sound if you use stomp boxes. SO why buy it? Because as i said, it does what it does very well. I've been playing guitar since '63, I own a '63 Harmony Rocket, a '63 Gibson J-50, a '64 Gibson ES-120 (SOOOOO underated), an '87 Ibanez Artstar like Scofield's, a '96 modified Epiphone Emperor, a '93 American Standard Tele, a '99 Epiphone Les Paul Classic, an'02 Mexican Fender Strat (SOOOOOO underated), a Jerry Jones electic sitar, a 1919 May Bell tenor Banjo, a Steinberger guitar and matching bass and a Danelectro Innuendo Baritone and over the years i've had other stuff come and go. I picked this guitar because I wanted someting that sounded like a classic, 1960s Fender single pickup guitar but without the Twang factor of the Tele and more comfortable than a Strat. I've always found Strats a bit uncomfortable, that's me. The scale of this guitar and the shape, radius etc of the neck/fingerboard are great - easy action, nice compact feel, suits my playing style well (lots of arpegios, scales, runs).

I got this '62 Jap Jaguar reissue in '97 or '98. It is the burst finish with a red pickguard(I actually like the look of the Japanese version better than the American because of this red pickguard). The finish is flawless and very pretty to look at.

Okay. First of all the stock pickups on the Jap Jaguars SUCK. I replaced them with Seymour Duncans(hot jag at neck,quarter pound at bridge). Man did that do the trick!!! When I'm playing dirty I use the neck pickup and it sounds very thick, buttery, and warm with great harmonics. For a great clean sound I use both pickups. I play through a Boss compressor into a Fender Hot Rof Deville 410.

The guitar was flawless. I had it set up by a professional when I had the pickups replaced, which wasn't long after I got it.

Everything is solid except the tuners. They suck. I imagine this isn't a problem on the American version, and I plan to replace them with Grovers.

I have been playing for thirteen years. If it were stolen I would buy an American version if I could afford it. I love the sound of this guitar. I use it mostly to record rhythm parts. I will be replacing the bridge and tremolo to the higher quality versions like what is on the American. But other than that and the pickup replacement this is a great alternative to standard guitars. This guitar is not for everyine, but anyone who is thinking about owning a Jaguar already knows that and that is why they want one. The bottom line is that I love my modified Jaguar, and it looks damn cool on stage.

This was a 1999 (or 98) USA made reissue of a 62 Jaguar. The one I got was the one they had hung up at the NAMM show when they introduced the new AMERICAN Reissues. The hardware is OK, not perfect. When Leo Fender designed the hardware he must of been smoking something. For the most part, he did alright... The pickups are mounted right on the wood so you get an extra bite with the tone, the placement of the switches and knobs are their appropriatte (sp) spot. They should of put better tuners on this thing because its so damn expensive. My biggest complaint is the bridge. Its really flawed, the saddle design is flawed and unreliable. Some people put Gibson Tune O Matics on here, and I can see why. The angle/distance between the tailpiece and the bridge is all screwed up, you get a lot of string/bridge/tail buzz (A lot worse/louder than fret buzz) but with a little fixin' its aite. The neck is beautiful. Gorgeous finish on the neck, and the 24" scale makes it play like a dream. The black finish on the body looks flawed (as if "rushed" to get completed by trade show? my mistake....basterds)
The case (ugly brown/orange tolex crap) came with a bunch of stuff I'll never use, crappy cheap strap, bunch of "Certicates" and other needless junk (crappy cable, etc..)

The sound isn't versatile at all. Its not for everyone, you have to want this sound.
Very twangy, very happy in the MIDS, not full at all, colorful but not "full", For the most part, because it is single coil pickups, its very noisy.
You can take advantage of this guitar's specific sound capabilites.. listen to Sonic Youth.
A 10 because it is a usefful sound if your looking for it.

Factory set up sucked.
The pickups were poorly adjusted.
The body of the guitar has a wood "knot" visible thru the "flawed" black finish. ("flawed" because it looks like somebody at Fender didn't buff it right).
This guitar, even brand new needed a lot of TLC. Bad Fender.. bad $1400? I dont think so

I do believe this guitar can withstand playing live. I've had great experience with Fender guitars surviving the worst.
The hardware looks like Ill replace in a a year or two because it sucks, and its outdated (remember this is A REISSUE, not an improved model, a REISSUED model.. no computers then to calculate things for appropriatte settings and what not)
Will I use on a gig without a backup? ... hell no, it can last years, but not without a little TLC

Hmm... This is a tough one. Right off the bat I had problems with it (these necks are mostly all flawed because of the actual lenght and positioning of the truss rod).. and the finish was all screwed up.
Fender was nice on the telephone even though they gave me outdated information (fender authorized repair centers that were out of business), they don't really help out much, even though they did talk friendly.
The repair center they referred me to was terrible. My guitar sat there for 3 weeks and they didn't do anything, so I took my guitar back home respectively (the guy told me "tomorow night, itll be done"// bullsh$t

a 2 because atleast the guy on the phone at Fender was friendly

Man.. the neck feels good, and the guitar looks awesome BUT...

as a guitar it sucks. crappy sounds, really unreliable hardware, needs a lot of constant, pricey "Tweaking" every other month... You be the judge

2002 Fender 62' Re-Issue Jaguar, USA made, Ocean Turqouise. You guys got all the specs. Jaguars really do come with a HOST of features, I think more so than any other guitar currently on the market. So with that in mind I gave it the 10 considering I can't think of anything that has more than jags. Unless you're buying one of those guitars with built in effects.....????

The Sound (or for this guitar I should say soundS) is amazing. I'm playing an agressive style of melodic rock right now and it suits it perfectly. I mean you really do have a very colorfull spectrum of sounds to work with on this guitar. Literally with the flick of a switch you've got all of the cliche tones we've discussed, crashing surf rock, classic rock cleans, and with the right amps some crazy disto tones, classic british rock, and despite what alot of people have said (although I'd never use it) a really nice metal tone. Just use the neck pick-up to make it nice and fat, then bring up the presence and treble on your amp. Very thick and cutting. Overall the sound of my may jag, both of my jags, is just pristine. And I do not find much if any tonal differences in my jap or my USA model. I'm curretnly running a JCM2000 DSL100 head an 87' Marshall 100/100 Silver Jubilee head, and 2 1960 lead cabs, an A and a B. No effects, I have it rigged to switch heads like channels, Silver Jubilee for a vintage blusey gain, and the JCM2000 for my clean and lead.

Factory Set-Up--- Crap-o-la. Have a pro (and man, no insult, but you are probably not (inclusing me) a pro) re-adjust the neck, put 10 gauge strings on it, fool with the pick-ups to fit your preferance, and for the love of christ put a bozz-stopper on it! Unless you are a crazy sonic youth type band doing artsy behind the bridge strumming, buzzstoppers are SOOOO nessicary, the eliminate unwanted buzzes, pops, and other nioses, and the help hold the strings on the bridge saddles for us hard strummers, they also give the guitar faster, tighter action. $65, can install yourself, no drilling. Worth every penny. No flaws in the brisge routing, or fret-wire, saddles pick-ups etc. etc. but I guess that all comes down to luck. The Ocean turqouise is gorgeous! I had it sent to a licensed fender custom shop guitar building, and he painted the head-stock the same color and put a new decal on it and it just looks amazing. I love Fender Finishes. And this Ocean Turqouise is great with a matching headstock. The action is great, well, after I got it adjusted, that is another matter of preferance. Finish is a matter of opinion I suppose, but there were no flaws with it, or guitar parts, so since this particular jag is flawless I have to give it a 10

OK reliability. To me, I am always cautious with this guitar, I'm really not to into being rough with my guitars (especially ones that cost me $1400, not counting new parts and paint), and this guitar is KIND OF big and a bit heavy in comparison with most popular axes today. This guitar can be used live without a back-up no problem though, cause if you did dent it, the guitar would still play just as great but have a nice little battle scar that hurts little hearts like mine, nothing will fail you onstage either. I have non-factory strap locks on this guitar which I recommend with jags because of their weight and it you move around any onstage, chances are good the guitar will come loose from the stock strap buttons and fall to the ground. As far as the finish, I mean, it's a Fender finish, 10-20 years down the line, it's going to start fading, and very likely into a totally differnt color. (look at 10-20-30 year old fenders, blue to green, white to yellow etc). But the hardware will last you the long run. So only because of Fender's Reputation for wearing finishes, I have to give this section an 8

I've dealt with Fender Smart Parts to get my buzz-stoppers and I've dealt with 2 lisenced Fender Custom Shop builders, both were well informed, curtious, and exspidtious (quick). But, not cheap... At all... So for that, I'll go with another 8.

I've been playing for 8 years. This is my second Jag, and besides for maybe the wood quality,(although I belive they are both alder) I have seen/heard no real signifigant difference between my new USA jag and my Jap jag. So don't feel bad if you don't want to sring the cash for the new USA Jags, you'll be just as happy with a used Jap. If it was lost or stolen, I'd buy another in a heart-beat. They are my favorite guitars, and I have played TONS, even very obscure high and low end guitars while touring with my band. I have not found an axe I like better. It's a comfortable guitar, great sounding guitar, great looking guitar, it's just great. But, it is a VERY expensive guitar in my opinion. jap Jags used to go for $550, these go for $1329-$1389, and I think in comparision to the japs these guitars should be going for around $750-$800. But, don't go out and buy one, cause whenever I play mine I always stand out, if you get one I won't stand out anymore! =*( haha... just kidding guys. I'm going to give it a 9, the only things preventing the 10 are the price, and Fender's rep for fading finishes

50th anniversary 62' Japenese reissue Jaguar. (#537) White finish. 2 volume controls, 3 way selector, 2 tone switches.the usual trimmings except for a slightly different saddle (no plate over top of string rests).

The guitar suits the type of music i play very well (emo-core). I'm using a Laney TF300 amp with the guitar, Marshall stompers, Boss stompers, Charlie stringers wah pedal. Ive always had a problem with gettin the right sound out of the amp but the guitar does it justice and with the effects the guitar sounds perfect. The range of tone and sounds is just amazing with just the 3 way switch system on the guitar. If u play around i doubt u wudnt find a sound you wud like. The only thing i dont like is the deeper tones produced by the guitar but thats just a personal preference

When the guitar arrived and i played it the first time the action was just perfect and spot on for playability it offers a non effort way of playing. The pickups were set up just fine and there was no imperfections with the guitar itself asthetically.

I've giged the guitar once now and i had absolute no problems with it at all. The hardware seems to perform well and i dont expect ill have to change any of it within my life time. theres is one blemish in the guitar from carelessness but the finish is excellent and can be cleaned easily. The strap buttons havent come loose yet. overall a very dependable guitar ide be surprised if i had a problem with it at a gig or just playing.

i wudnt no its a fender i doubt ill need to use it!

Ive been playing for about 4 years and this guitar is a beauty to play i dont think i would ever buy anything but a Fender excellent quality and worth the money.

I got a candy apple red Fender Reissue Jaguar on one lucky run to my local music shop to pick up some strings...well it was a larger purchase than just strings that day my friend! you know the features....im not gonna waste my time. let's just say it's the ultimate in shizznit-ness. It was a diamond in the rough....the last genius who had it completely fucked it up. it was still stock tho.

Before i go on...check out this site....www.jag-stang.com. fucking brilliant jag site. do their mods.

ok...i'm a punk band. sex pistols? no. ramones? no. Clash? fuck off. Death By Stereo? Yes. Refused? Oh yeh. Strike ANywhere/ANti-Flag? Fuck yes. The pickups didn't cut it. They are way rad for surf and clean slightly distorted guitar work. i'll give em a ten because THAT's WHY JAGUARS WERE MADE! if youre gonna play metal do as others have said and buy a METAL guitar. I also have a RG570 and if you play metal BUY THAT!! Please! Anyways I bought a new black pickguard and put a cool rails in the neck and a duncan jb full size humbucker...now it is one of THE best guitars ive ever heard.

dunno bout the factory setup but the store set-up sucked fucking ass. i quickly changed the strings from 9's to 13's. The neck didnt even bow a bit. Like i said tough. Finish is nice...really high quality. guitar can handle major punishment. The bridge sucks tho. you need A MUSTANG bridge....it fits perfect no drilling or anything just drop the mustang bridge right in.

thsi sthing is tough. my drummer dropped it on his drums one day and it didnt even have a scratch. Its a fender tank.

dunno...hope ill never have to find out.

i own a ibanez rg570 and this. i sold all my other guitars. do some mods to this and youll never really need another guitar if youre like me...fat, lonely, and broke. i play this through a mesa boogie markiv thru a marshall 4x12. kicking setup eh? buy a fucking jaguar!

i havve an orginal 62 jag with every thing. i love te way it sounds and the way it plays. i play it way more than my les paul or my mustang. my jaguar kinda reminds me of my bronco. but it has a diff. sound. the guy that oned it before me was Clark Ross. he was a old colored blues player. in the case witch is also fender it had a pic of Jimmi Hendrix and him both playing jaguars. it was also autographed by him. on the back of the guitar on the plate it has GLARK ROSS stamped into it and also on the case to. i use a Peavy amp and the gutar sounds really cool. i would never get rid of it.

i play rock and it just wails with incredible sounds esp. with my jimmi hendrix fuzz wha.

like i said my jag is prfect. it has some paint missing from scratches but it is cool. it is the same exact color as Kurt Cobains white jag. it was set up perfectly and nothing is wrong with it.

i play with my band and i am only 14 but this guitar rulz. everything is mounted hard and solid. i would take a diff. guitar plus my jag cause i might want a diff. sound

not a problem yet

i have been playing for 1 year .if it were stolen i would cry and never play agian

Well it's a 2001 USA Vintage serie Jaguar. Large headstock, off-set waist body, flo-tremolo system, 24 1/2 scale rosewood fretboard, 2 vintage single coil pick'ups.tortisose pickgard. You can read it all in the Fender catalouge anyway...The guiatr came with the original vintage case(Brown, and very cool inside looks!, vintage strap, cable bridge cover etc.. all very nice. The guitar has 2 circuits, which allows you to set different volumes on he guitar, this can be very usefull. I give it a 9, because notning is perfect.....But the Jag comes very close!

I Play The Jaguar trough a marshall JCM 900 100w hi gain dual reverb head with a marshall 1960 4*12 cab. I like the sound a great deal, it's not very "heavy metal", but has got a real vintage rock tone. This is not the guitar for mordern humbucker-crack-heads, this is a real guitar with real guitar tone. I play moderate rock, and it suits this very well. You can create a very "Bass" sound on this guiatar, and and you can also create a "jingly jangly" sound, you know what i meen...That's one thing i really like about the Jaguar. I can get the Nirvana tone, and the perfect Beatles tone.But again 9, cause nothin' perfect.

The factory set-up was a little low for me. so i raise the strings, and adjustet the pick-ups a little, and the guitar relly sang...
The finish is a real good job. The sunburst finish is relly nice, and the neck is a rel beauty, reel glossy like the rest of the guitar. The metal plates is relly nive a shinny too. All this combined with the killer looks of this makes it perfect!!!

I have never had any problems with the guitar. I have used it live as main guitar, along with my Us Tele, without any problems. The trem system is infact the best ever by Fender, that relly works, and you van get that surf sound, i dig that....Only problem with the guitar is the 3 control knobs that control the lead cirtuit. when the two first knobs are down, both pick-ups are swith off, whic meen that know sound come trough. You can accedently turn those swithes off when you pick the string hard. This happend first time live.......

Never contactet Fender.

I own a 62 resissue Jaguar and a 94 tele us.standrd, a marshall amp a some effects. The Jag is my favorite guitar, it got the sound, and looks....I am sellig my Tele, and i thik i will get a 70'strat reissue. But the Jaguar is mine forever.........I at least think so at the moment

Made in Japan. 50th anniversary edition. 22 frets, not too big, not too thin. Solid basswood body, so it's very light. Seperate volume and tone controls for each pickup (2 stock passive single-coils). 2-way selector switch and then there are 3 slider switches that manipulate the tone. Maple neck with rosewood fingerboard. Candy Apple Red with matching painted headstock. Very cool. Floating tremolo bridge with Fender's take on a tunomatic. Vintage style tuners. Quite good actually. 24" neck, so it's great for tuning down, but sooooooooo different feeling coming off of a 25.5" scale neck. Comes with a hardshell case now, but mine is MIJ and used, so I got none of that stuff.

It suits my style well. I play everything - hard rock, surf, punk, you name it - I play it. For my music I play a lot of clean stuff that goes into high-gain stuff. It suits it very well. The clean is unbelievable! So indescribably cool! Unique. Distortion sounds a little thin on the bridge, but very usable. The neck sound is cool for distorted stuff, but don't use distortion with wreckless abandon, it wasn't made for that. It can do hard rock, punk, but I wouldn't use it for Metallica stuff too much. Please don't buy this guitar and then put in hot rails, get a Squire Jagmaster if you're gonna do that.

Set-up from factory - not too cool. Set-up from store - pretty damn cool. Pickup adjustments - great. Everything seems well assembled. Love the finish and matching headstock. Especially the headstock. It's unique.

Ummmmmmmmmm......Yup. This is your basic Fender. Near indestructable. The tremolo isn't like Floyd Rose or Kahler, even though it looks pretty heavy duty. Good enough though.

Been playin' for about 5 years, but really know my stuff. Everything is what I expected and more. I think I wrote the word unique like 100 times in this review, and that's really the only word that describes this guitar. I love it, and it's really just been growing on me ever since I bought it.

This is a 2001 American made '62 Reissue Jaguar in the now discontinued Sherwood Metallic Green (Beautiful colour!)

The guitar has a nice complicated system for working out your tones, but I'd rather play with the knobs on the guitar than the knobs on the amp. Originally I was more used to have just simple 3-way switches and single volume and tone knobs on my guitars, but the different sounds you can get out of this are amazing on the lead and rhythm circuits, though I mostly use the lead, as I usually play (perhaps too overly) bright, the rhythm circuit is quite muddy.

Other cookies to play with: the Fender tremolo, which in default setup has a nice mild vibrato sound to it, I've heard that other people modify it to get more of a dive from it, but I like it the way it is. Also has the Fender mute (used on the Jaguar only). Neat idea, doesn't replace palm damping in the slightest, I think this was for surf, which I don't play, so it can stay there. It changes the key slightly when you turn it on, so you pretty much have to tune it to the damper to get any use out of it, switching it on mid song will really mess things up.

I play I suppose variations on British alternative/rock/pop (Cure, Bunnymen, Feeder, Placebo), it works great as a different sound, usually used for cleanish sounds, maybe slightly overdriven. A heavy range of Boss effects (Compressor, Overdrive, Chorus, Flanger, Delay) go between it and my amp (at the moment a Fender Roc Pro 1000 Combo but I'm getting something to help with the clean side soon).

The single coils do hum a bit, you need to hold the guitar to keep the amp from screaming at you, if you're not holding it (why would you want to do that?), turn the volume down.

Using mainly the lead circuit, the sound is quite bright, the bridge pickup is fighting with the Telecaster on brightness really, just not as twangy, but with the neck pickup joining in or alone it can warm things up a bit. The rhythm circuit is slighly muddier, but I'm sure useful to someone, the idea is that you can switch from different volume and tone settings with the flick of a switch assuming your other setting would only use the neck pickup, so I leave the tone slightly down on the rhythm circuit for the difference should I wish to use it.

It plays clea greatly, distortion when playing rhythm (talking style now, not circuits) is a mid depthless, but distortion works great on lead. Modulation effects don't actually suit this guitar that well, except for Flanger, the tone of the guitar generally overpowers the chorus or phaser - well the levels I use, I don't drench my sound with effects - I use them, not they use me.

The bass cut really isn't that noticable, just takes a bit of the bass away on the EQ, not quite as tic-tac as you might expect. Yet again, probably something for surf.

These things are setup again when they get to the UK (well they'd better be) as the US factory finish is unlikely to have survived the ocean trip, the set-up on this is fine, nice and easy to play, the pickups are unadjustable anyway, the tremolo was setup fine, no adjustments needed.

The finish is a beautiful Sherwood Green, no noticable grain marks or anything on this deep coat. The knobs have twice come loose (once each for the volume and tone). Not a problem though as long as you don't lose them, just fix them back in with the key.

It feels solid, but also not so. Certainly not as convincingly solid as my Telecaster or Silhouette. I don't feel like even wanting to mistreat it. If you're good to it, I'm sure it will last, look how many of the 60's ones are still around, assuming this really is made as well as them (haven't played one to compare).

The finish seems strong, may have lightly bounced it against an object once or twice and panicked greatly to check to see any marks, thankfully not. It's never fallen of my strap, it's got very big strap holders anyway compared to those tiny Schaller Straplocks on my Rickenbacker and Tele, the may be good for those with the Straplock kit but not us ordinary strap users.

Not gigged with it yet, would backup anyway, but think I could go without one, I trust it enough.

Lifetime warranty. Not spoken to them.

Been playing actively about 2-3 years, started 10yrs ago. I also guitars from Rickenbacker, Musicman, Gibson and a Fender Telecaster. Varied effects and the Fender Roc Pro amp. This is my favourite guitar out of ones I own, not that I dislike any of them, there is nothing I regret not checking out before getting this guitar.

If it was stolen (or lost? do people really 'lose' guitars!), i'd be very annoyed that I'd have to start thinking about what finish to get cos the green's gone, but yes, I'd be chasing one down straight away.

I love the sound, it looks great too, I like the shorter scale neck - I quite like smaller guitars anyway, I know some people dislike the 24" scale and so go for the Jazzmaster instead, not me. I wish I didn't have to keep buffing that all that chrome to keep it beautiful.

My guitar is a Japanese re-issue bought in '92 new. I'm not going to bother going into all the features because it's all been mentioned before and, besides, does anybody really know what all those switches are for and how to use them? Besides, none of mine work, but will discuss that a little later.

Everything is still standard for the time being, but will probably change the PU's to humbuckers for a little more growl and low end.

I play in 2 bands right now, both of them totally different. One is a Goth/Industrial band and the other is more of a straight ahead rock n' roll thing. I gotta tell ya, this guitar handles both very well.
This guitar is actually ideal if you are really into dropped tunings because is has a shorter scale length (24" i think). Because of that, you can use a heavier gauge string and it will retain clarity without making your fingers bleed from the added tension, even when detuning as much as 1 1/2 steps below standard. Right now, I'm tuned down a whole step from standard and have it set up with 12's and it feels like I'm playing with 9's or 10's at the most.
And yeah, it's single coil and all that, but this thing has some decent tone and is extremely playable. I just wish it had a little more low end to it and that's why I'm gonna do the Kurt Cobain thing and put some humbuckers on it. I know that will upset a lot of you Jag enthusiasts and what can i say except, I DON'T CARE! You and your jag can go and play surf music somewhere. Me and mine wanna rock and we need 'buckers to do it!

Everything was in pretty good order when I got it. It's been almost 10 years so it's hard to remember. The thing that attracted me most to it was how incredibly thin the neck was; almost nonexistent. And if you have smaller fingers like I do, it's a blessing. I've let some of these EVH shredder types check it out and they were amazed at how fast the neck was and HOW GOOD IT SOUNDED in comparison to their shred machines.
As far as action and all that stuff, I'm always changing it depending on which band I'm playing with and how heavy my strings are.
The finish is another story. Read on.

Like I mentioned, I've had this guitar quite awhile and only recently started taking a backup on tour with me (a reissue '70 strat) and only to get some different sounds. I've never worried about it not being dependable.
This guitar has been thru a lot, including a few drunken episodes involving fire and whittling sessions. Needless to say, I have the most unique and, in my opinion as well as anyone who's ever laid eyes on my baby, the COOLEST looking Jag you can imagine.
The finish on the back and around the edges was charred pretty bad so i just sanded it down a little and feels fine.
The only thing bad that happened was that the electronics got fried in the process and the only thing that works now is the volume knob and the neck PU. The funny thing is, it sounds even better than it did before I set it on fire. Wood will do some amazing things when a little heat is added and as far as my guitar goes, it changed the sound for the better, giving it a nice warm sound (no pun intended). This guitar will last through anything.

Never used it. Besides, what are they gonna recommend for fire damage and a few wood-working sessions that got a little out of hand.

I've been playing for a while but only got serious with it about 3 1/2 years ago. I'm playing through a Soldano Lucky 13 head (awesome) and a Genz Benz G-Flex 2X12 cab and a slew of effects (mostly Boss). If my guitar was stolen, I'd be pretty pissed. I would definately replace it with another but would be hard pressed to duplicate what i've got now. You can only get lucky so many times when you throw lighter fluid into the equation.
The thing I love most about this guitar is the neck and the shorter scale length. A very playable guitar right out of the box.

This is the AMERICAN reissue Jaguar, it has two single coil pick-ups, lead/rythem controls,in phase/out of phase;treble boost switches, floating tremolo w/lock....lots of stuff to fiddle with...[ tower... are we clear fo take off?....]

First off i've heard a lot of crying about the sound,ie;...i can't play my metallica riff's....korn riff's just don't sound the....i don't know how kurt was able to get a decent....THIS IS A SINGLE COIL GUITAR! You don't go buy a Jackson to play the blues....it's DESIGNED for metal/thrash/dead core....This guitar does what it should,clean sounds are focused, tight, and just plain sweet. If you want to use low gauge strings this is not your guitar, it likes the heavy ga. strings. You do get the single hum [to be expected]but the 'real' clean sound, can't be beat. Over-drive settings take alittle get use to, but a slight bit of tweaking and it was there. It "will crunch",[heavier ga. strings, again..], with the right setting, back off the lead 'tone' knob, alittle. Running it through a MESA Maverick, with an mxr Micro Amp, is what it's all about. You can... "hit a note,and go for a bite,......still be hearin' that one.." Great guitar for what it does.....best.....I give it a nine, because nothings perfect...just close

The guitar, the way i got it, was set up real nice, again, HEAVIER gauge strings are the trick, for better tuning stability!! {which i hear alot of complaints on as well}, not a problem here! The tremolo is smooth, and if set up properly, you can wammy with no problems. The parts and pots seem solid enough, we'll see..I got the FIESTA RED finish, it looks great. The nitro-cellulose finish coat has already started to settle, like on vintage guitars, not as durable as the polyester, but cooler looking.

Ive been gigging with it for a short period now, it is my ONLY guitar at the moment for live [my '52 es 125 stays at the house]! So far so good...I havent changed out the strap buttons yet, cause i haven't needed to..but i probably will for safety. The hardware looks great and seems thus far to be real solid, doesnt go out of tune easily, so the tuners are definately good, and as mentioned earlier, with the proper set-up the trem WILL stay in tune.

Haven't had to deal with them, but then again, it's a U.S. made AMERICAN VINTAGE SERIES guitar, the parts and workman-ship are far superior than the jap knock-off's

I've been playing for about 20 year's, this is my first FENDER guitar, although i've had plenty of their amps. I've mostly played Gibson guitars [hollow-bodies p-90's], but know i'm into the Fender clean. If your looking for saturation and gain, and no tone...get an Ibanez or Jackson. If you want to here what your actual playing sounds like [with-out all the cover-up hums give you], get a single coil, and work with the pickup, not just covering it with some noise. I would get anther one of these if it were stolen, i think it's that good

A lot of features. Each PU has its on volume and tone and a bunch of other stuff. I really havent figured everything out yet.

I love the sound this guitar has, but im gonna change the PU to Duncan Hot Rails to get e much warmer humbucker sound. I cant stand the shitty stock PU. When the guitar isnt pluged it its sounds so bright because of the wood its made of. I mostly use it with a Sustain Punch Creamy Dreamer to give a a good punch.

Action is out right know, i still have to get it setup. I love the neck on this thing its not to thick and not to skinny, just right. It is also balanced perfectly so when you play standing up the guitar doesnt move.

Tought as a rock. I will have it for a long time to come

I dont know. havent delt with them yet.

Ive only owned the guitar for a week and i love it. i play it everyday for atleast 2 hours and i feel like ive played it for years.

features are damn cool....with all its wiring to the pickup...out of phase kind...can get up to 6 different tones with 2 pickups...
but trem very loose....falls off all the time...when whamp..goes out of tune...well a common problem for floating bridge...but its trem produces surf kind of twangy sound..nice feel for neck ..rosewood fret w/ fast fret...kick ass.......look is damn cool & unique.....classic sunburst...

sound is awesome when i change both PU to seymour duncan JB jr....kickass, damn powerful & silent....no hum...(duncan hum cancellation), stock PU...damn dirty & noisy & weak....guess its own preferences...use .009 gauge...to get its so call banjo sound but with seymour duncan...it becomes sweet at 2 of the settings...good for me when playing blues, jazz & funk....on the neck setting...heavy metal, on 1 of the bridge setting, rock n roll, KICKASS man....
can get all different tones i wanted for diff kind of music...but problem is tend to go out of tune......
setup with jaguar > boss CS3 compressor/sustainer > ibanez TS7 tubescreamer > Zoom driver 5000 > boss BF2 flanger > zoom choir 5050 > fender bronco / tube works amp....
simply ROCKS....

JAPANese guitar....action is not too bad...but if lower it tends to buzz...maybe need to adjust trust rod....fret with fast fret applied...& .009 SIT string....damn good feel & playability, ...outlook finishing is gorgeous.....but internal wiring SUCKS....grounding & wire used are totally crap...reissue of the nineties with vintage lousy wiring...apart ffrom that....it just looks so damn unique & beautiful

so far so good except for the grounding problem, switch problem due to its vintage setup.....which i need to service it all the time...
tremolo is another problem that gets the guitar out of tune all the time...maybe a sperzel lock should do the work....

??...bought used from someone who import it from US

love the looks, tone & feel....just some flaw in finishing internally

I was born in 1944 while my Father was helping you British Bastards and when I was 5 years Old, my old Drunk Uncle taugt me Guitar Chords and lead runs. I think it is a shame for anyone to say anything bad about a Fender Jaguar. It is simply the best musical instrument ever made. I have played Guld, Mosrite, Alverez,and and a pristine 1959 Stratocaster, and Samick Silvertone and the New '62 Fender Jaguar is simply the best ever. Please respect it and do not modify. It is fine as at comes from the factory.Butch Bowman, 56 year old Guitar Picker from North Georgia, USA!

a 62 Jaguar is real swoopy on tremelo and does not make it go out of tune.

only the best!

A Guitar is like a beautiful woman. you should not abuse ir. I will have to admit however I always carry my Father's Old Martin D-28 as a Backup.

no problems.

Please listen to the Ventures Christmas Album. It was Orginally made with Mosrite Instuments. The New reissue Fender Jaguar is BETTTER!

My guitar is a 1998 (Japan) model in candy apple red w/ matching headstock. for those who dont know: we have 2 guitars on one body here. the lead circuit like a standard guitar, pickup selection, tone and volume, also a bass-reduction switch. then, there is the rythm circuit, with tone and volume controls operating on the neck p/u only. this feature, i have found, is most useful when switching between neck and bridge p/u sounds. the jag body is *THE* most desirable guitar shape. after royal blue and emerald green metallic paints, this is my favourite guitar look. and it still looks fantastic. ive had it now for slightly over 2 years.

i bought this guitar after only a few months of playing, while i was still fairly inexperienced in guitar tone etc. as my experience developed in time, the more i disliked the thin sound of the single coil bridge p/u. so about a year after buying it i had a seymour duncan JB put in the bridge postion which sounds very phat indeed. kind of like a gibson SG, but the clean sound is much brighter and cleaner than that. i have always been happy with the neck p/u, which sounds very dark and quite powerful. when i got the JB fitted i got a string retainer fitted on the tail-side of the bridge. this achieves a dual purpose of holding the strings in the saddle and improved sustain a bit (sustain is a weak point on the standard guitar).

when i got it the action was a bit too low and buzzed. fortuneatly its only 2 screws to adjust which took all of about 20 seconds to put right. otherwise all was well, apart from a coupla very small knocks which i think it sustained in the shop. so much for new!! but never mind. the finish was otherwise perfect, and looked fantastic.

ive done half a gig with this guitar- using it another for heavier songs in the set. seems to me that this guitar would take a heavy beating and still go like stink. no backup guitar required, but only a sucker gigs without a setup out back.

never spoke to fender, dont know if thats possible here in the UK. upgrades were made thru Bonecat Music (Middleton, Manchester, UK) who r friendly, and mostly fairly helpful.

If i hadnt bought this guitar, I probably wouldnt do today (if that makes any sense). i think, being a metal-lovin kinda guy, an SG would have been more appropriate. but the Jag looks so good!! the SG has its flaws, predominatly in is clean sound, but this sounds so good clean, with either p/u. i love it. it is my baby. i love it (her?) more than anything else in the world.

This be a follow-up for me. I originally reviewed my Jag two years ago when I first got it, under the name Zane, email rotgorilla@aol.com, about 2/3 down this page.

You know the basic specs, so.... on to the variances! Mine is candy apple red, but seems to be more of a metallic dark red color. Pickguard was white, but was replaced with a black one (looks amazingly sexy on red and chrome!). A "buzz buster" was added to the bridge. It is basically a roller bar that angles the strings right after the bridge so they are more secure. Lastly, I replaced the bridge pickup with a SD Hotrail to add even more sonic diversity! Oh, and did I mention it looks like one bad mutha?

Originally there was the thin sounding bridge pickup in the thing, which wasn't so great. It was perfect for 60's surf, but that was about it. So I slapped in a Hotrail, and looked what happened! The Jaguar became a total badass of sonic goodness! With the right settings it could still pull off the surf, but now I am able to play virtaully anything with more meat to it. Hey, I even played in a metal band (real metal) with it and it was perfect. By the way, my own musical style is all over the place but centering on hard rock(like maybe the Toadies or Nirvana or Rage)
The original neck pickup is beautiful, so warm sounding....mmmmm. When both pickups are on, you get the craziest bouncy sound. I've really never heard any other guitar replicate that hot bounce, really wierd but cool.
For those who own Jaguars, you might notice there is all sorts of wierd things like that you don't see on other guitars!

Finish - Freaking beautiful! Even after being slightly dinged up from the last 2 years of live use. With the black pickups, pickguard, and red body and chrome, the thing looks like one mean hot-rodded beeotch.
Action&Fit - I have no problems with buzz, tuning, or anything. A quirk in this area is that when strings ever go out of tune, they get sharp! Maybe it's the funky bridge, but it happens. Other than that, I get nothing but greatness from it.

VERY durable. I very rarely have to whip out the backup guitar when playing shows within the last 2 years. Nonetheless, never play a gig without a backup. Murphy's Law, man.
Really my only complaint is that once and a while my wildly moving right hand will bump the circuit selector on the top horn. Wish it was moved maybe a tad bit more up the horn.

Nope.

The Jaguar is a truly one of a kind piece of work, there is really nothing out there like it made by anyone else. The sounds you can get out of it are eclectic enough, but with a bit of customization, a person can add to that pallatte. I have never been so completely satisfied with any other guitar I have owned. I can safely say that I would never sell this guitar, even if I really needed the money. The Jag may not be for everyone, but for me it is the perfect beast, even 2 years later!

juat want to make a few points about jaguars. 1) The reason some people think they sound like banjos is because they are using 9 guage strings on a guitar who's neck is 1 1/2 inches shorter than usual, and this will decrease the string tension. using 9's on a jag is like using 7's on a strat, and who the fuck would even consider that? you need to use AT LEAST 11's, preferably 12's. if this sounds crazy, remember that this is only the same as 9's or 10's on a strat.

2) the guitar comes wiht low output single coils, so of course it's not going to suit metal. seymour duncan make very good hot (about the level of a texas special) and quarter pounder (about the level of a p90, but more punchy) replacement pickups. if you want to play rock or punk, i'd reccomend using these (i like a hot in the neck and a quarter pound in the bridge). if you want to play metal, you really should be looking at a different guitar. get an ibanez or something.

3) the tremelo system has to be properly set up, especially if you change the string gauges. get a professional to do this and the trem will work fine.

4) to stop the strings sliding off the bridge, file small grooves in the saddles. you can also use a string break, whihc goes onto the trem plate, and increases the angle of stringes over the bridge. this can also be achieved by raising the bridge. you can do this wihtout raising the action by putting a shim, such as a plectrum, between the neck and body. heavier string guages will also help.

I hope this helps.

Japanese "crafted" Jaguar reissue in 3 tone sunburst. 22 frets, short scale (24") 2 single coils, with 2 separate circuits so you can access two totally different sounds at the flick of a switch.
I think the neck is maple with a rosewood fretboard, but i'm not sure. Basswood body, possibly? check out the Fender site for the low down.
freaky bridge/tailpiece, with like 4" between the bridge and and tailpiece, allowing for lotsa cool experimentation. one drawback with this is that all this string vibrates if you say, stab out a chord- you'll get a sorta ringing sound, noticable with distortion, but barely when clean. but i like this 'fault' for some reason.. i guess i just like the unconventional.....
the neck is very similar to Fender's Mustang/Jagstang's, feels a little bit thicker tho- i think the Jag and the Jazzmaster share the same neck.
I got a nice Fender softcase with it, a lil' allen key for bridge tweaking, and erm a Fender box full of that poppy bubblewrap. Tres fun.

Pickups are thicker sounding than i expecting, having been told they "sound like a banjo or something".. but then again, i use a 120w head thru a 4x12" cabinet, so low end's not usually in short supply...
I've used this with my amp's distortion, a Boss DS-2, Polychorus, Boss PS-3, Danelectro Fabtone and a George Dennis Wah. Sounded great with all but the Fabtone, coz the pedal has too much treble for this kinda guitar.
I play pretty much anything nowadays, but mainly revolving around surf, punkrock, 'grunge' and experimental lo-fi. Dick Dale on a date with Kurt Cobain and Thurston Moore. Eww, what a thought..
With the bride pickup on with the bass cut off, whack yer amp's reverb dial up and grab yr boogie board- pure surf that dear ol' Dick Dale would be proud of. The neck p/u is alot bassier, very smooth, nice for mellow moments. They do squeal a fair bit with distortion, but since these pickups are fairly hot, you can turn down with gain a bit without losing that crunch.
For some reason the rhythm circuit (neck p/u only) sounds bassier than the lead setting with just the neck p/u selected.. strange, but also cool, so you can have a deep rhythm tone, and flick to a brighter sound for lead that won't be boomy.
I totally love the sounds, a fair bit of variety- 6 primary sounds on tap, more with good use of the volume and tone knobs. It's got some great sounds for my style of music, so i'm a happy bunny.

I got this straight from the manufacturers (Fender Japan) so i didn't expect to get an amazing well setup guitar. But, I was wrong- it plays great- a lil' bit of buzz from the low E and A strings, but with some 11's on there, it should go. All adjustments (pickups etc) we great, only the circuit selector screws were loose, but nothing a mad dash for a screwdriver 'n quick tighten couldn't fix.
Only slight thing was that the the two middle saddle screws (where you raise the action) came loose, so lowered the action of the D & G strings and made 'em buzz. I tightened them up again, and just checked the others. I play to stick some of that Lock Seal stuff on them to keep em steady. I've heard about the bridge being really buzzy, but personally, have no complaints to make about it, aside from the saddle screw problem.
One other thing- the way you put the trem arm is really weird- I thought I had been given the wrong bar because it didn't have a screwthread on it-it's just totally plain... i later found out all you have to is push it in hard, and it stays, turning it round a couple o' times to take it out again. Seems kinda primal- I'm kinda worried about pushing down too far and screwing up the bridge, but I guess I'll live...

With a good tightening of the screws all round, the hardware seems very stable and well-designed. The strap buttons are bigger than the stock ones on my Jagstang, and the guitar hasn't fallen off the strap once. I'll probably get straplocks, just to put my mind at ease when I'm jumping around the stage like a madman. Better safe than totally screwed with two halves of a guitar, eh? I always take backup to gigs incase the gremlins set to work while I'm onstage. I reckon I could depend on this guitar as if feels solid and is very comfy to play. I just gotta remember to sort out those saddles before I play another gig- i don't really wanna spend half an hour searching the floor of a dark, crowded club for a couple of tiny screws...

Never dealt with Fender- if I've got a beef I'll speak to the guys I bought it from. But, as I said, I bought this straight from Fender Japan, so any problems could be a complete buttfuck to sort out... I ain't paying 200 squid to send this to Japan and back...
Didn't have a warantee (not sure, though) because of the circumstances mentioned.
The guys at Fender Japan seem friendly and answered any questions I had to ask. Ordering it was kinda long winded- first you've got to email them all yr credit card details apart from the card number, wait until they recieve that and reply, then FAX them your card number.. kinda pissed me off, but it's because they don't have a secure server, so if you sent them all yr details, you might as well phone up every hacker you know and tell them all yr card details.

I love this thing- I've wanted a single coil-based guitar for a while now, but didn't want a Strat or Tele. It's goddamn nice to look at, all that shiny chrome n stuff.
The clean sounds are better than the heavily distorted ones, but they rule too. Nice n fuzzy, like Weezer or Grandaddy. mmm.
I paid waaaay more than I wanted for this, due to VAT, shipping, Custom and Excise fees and stuff. but I still think it's worth it. It's a nice piece of wood n metal. DOn't think i'm gonna whack a humbucker, or even singlecoil sized 'bucker in this thing, i love the surf and lo-fi sounds.. POSSIBLY stick a Seymour Duncan Jag pickup in the bridge, but hey, I'll see how I get on with the stock stuff.

i am pretty sure this guiatr was made in japan- but don't quote me on that. it's got 22 frets and a 24 inch scale. 2 single coils, rythem circuit (neck pickup on) with volume/tone, lead circuit with switches for pickups on/off, bass cut, and volume/tone. neck is maple witha rosewood fretboard. sunburst finish. came with a gig bag.

i play the who, beatles, the kinks, blues, radiohead, punk (real punk), anything noisy and indie, like sonic youth and ...trail of dead. i play thru an extremely loud marshall vs265r amplifier and the guitar sounded great clean. it had absolutely horrible feed-back, it was high pitched and made my dog howl. the hard part was getting the guitar to feed back; it was silent as hell unless you were right next to the amp and had lots of volume and distortion. sounded full on rythem stting when it was clean. with both pickups on it was too bright and brittle. distortion was ok on rythem setting. bridge definately needs to be replaced or the strings will slip. not much of a sound variety with the stock pickups. i liked the clean sound a lot and the distortion sound wasn't half bad, it just wasn't wild enough.

my girlfriend got it used and i borrowed it for abotu a week and a half. the action was great and the set-up was good. pickups needed to be adjusted. bridge sucks ass and needs to be replaced.got it cheap cause the body finish was cracked and there was a little finish flaw in the neck. also, the strings don't line up directly over the polepieces of the pickups- this don't not help the guitar's sound. also, the rythem/lead switch was loose but i fixed it.

this guitar probably could with stand a lot. it is solid and heavily built. the hardware might need replacing if you are rough with it. the finish seems thick but nonethe less, it was cracked. strap buutons were replaced with strap locks (i don's trust strap buttons). I wouldn't gig without a backup with any guitar, but i think it is a very reliable guitar.

i have been playing for over three years and this guitar was a n ease to play b/c of the scale and the thin neck. the pickups and bridge would need replacement if you werea serious gigger. i would but another if it were stolen, i'd buy another. it is a solid, good guitar. it looks beautiful as my girlfriend, who owns it. i like it a lot and i'd buy one if i had the money.

all the pickup controls are really neat to get certain sounds. from like tinny overdrive sounds to fat chunky distortions. the neck is very skinny which i like. one of the bad features of this guitar is the bridge. i was thinking about replacing it with a more sensible design but i think i have it under control now.

the clean sound of this guitar is exellent. i play pretty heavy though and it sounds good threw my big muff. its still heavy and chunky but there are heavier sounding guitars. i play in a band that do mostly metallica/melvins/faith no more covers and it works well to get those sounds.

the bridge was all messed up when i got, like i said above but is fixed now. apart from that it was fine.

i have had it for a year nearly and done a few gigs and it has held up fine. it hit the stage hard once (being knocked off the stand) and its still fine. this is a guitar i can definity depend on and would have no worries using it without a backup.

nope

i am very pleased with this purchase. i got it just before they stopped making them but if you see one and have the cash get it.

Bought from American Musical Supply magazine in July '99. Sunburst with a red-tortiseshell pickguard, chrome control plates. Circuit selector switch, on/off switch for each pickup, bass-cut switch, volume and tone knobs for bridge pickup and two roller-wheel knobs for neck single coil. Neck position single coil and bridge position (replacement) Seymour Duncan JB Jr hot rail. Tailpiece is really cool, it's floating but can be locked into a down-only position. I replaced the bridge with a vintage "retainer-wire" model Tune-o-matic bridge. Kluson style vintage tuners, rosewood 22 fret finger board, maple neck, small frets. Basswood body. Amazing neck profile. Didn't include any accessories.

My music style is punk rock, grunge, alternative and blues. This guitar fits all of those categories, but wouldn't have done grunge or punk rock without the replacement bridge pickup. It has a very bright and sharp sound, so bright that when I use the bridge pickup, I turn the tone knob down to about 7. This guitar has about 5 different sounds.

This guitar was set up really well. I haven't made any modifications to the tailpiece, neck or tuners, except for the bridge, which I changed to a tune-o-matic, because the strings would slip off the saddles if you bend on the high strings. Even with the tune-o-matic bridge, you could still get the same sounds with the tremolo.

This guitar is very durable. I wouldn't use it at a gig without a backup, but I never have to use the backup, the guitar stands up well through most 8 song sets. I put Schaller Straplocks on it. The finish is really thick, a little too thick actually, but it's good if you don't want to scratch up the guitar. The hardware is very strong.

I never bother dealing with Fender, i'm just too lazy. I own this and a Jag-Stang and they both stand up to gigging well. I've never had to make repairs to either guitar, just modifications.

If this guitar got stolen I'd be pissed and buy a new one because it's my favorite. The problem is it's a Japanese re-issue, which they don't make anymore, so I'd have to buy either one of the new American re-issue or an original, both of which are as expensive as hell. I wish it came with the palm-mute lever that both the American re-issue and originals have. But since I change the bridge, I don't know if the lever would still work. I also own an Epiphone SG-400 standard, and a Fender Jag-Stang; this is my favorite guitar. I used to have a Strat, but I sold it before I got the Jaguar, and that was just a standard Strat, I never modified it or set it up in any way. I love it's sound and look, and the fact that Kurt Cobain had one. Unlike the Jag-Stang, you can buy a Jaguar without people giving you bullshit for being a huge Nirvana fan.

Japan Model w/ 22 frets probably made in '98. As you probably know, the Jaguar has tons of controls, two circuits with a bass-cut switch. It has two "Vintage" Jaguar single coil pickups. Body is basswood, neck is maple with rosewood fingerboard. Off set waist. Vintage tuners. Gig bag included, I bought Fender Hardshell Jag case.

EXTREMELY thin sounding. Sounds like banjo or something. It is an instrumental surf guitar. It does not suit my style (Nirvana, Pantera), at least not in its stock configuration. I use it with 10" Peavey amp, getting a Fender amp. The pickups squeal and are terrible with unwanted feedback. I mean, the right kind of feedback is cool, but not this feedback. Doesn't squeal that much when both pu's are on. Sound isn't very full past the first 5 frets. My Mexican strat sounds much better. Frankly, it's the best looking guitar I've ever seen and (almost) the worst sounding. I'll admit it sounds really good at surf music with reverb. I hate how much the frets buzz, and added to that, the little springs rattle a lot. No wonder Kurt committed suicide (just kidding).

It was set up terrible. Buzzing was so bad on low E, you couldn't make out notes. Now I adjusted everything, and it buzzes so bad past the 12 frets you can't make out the notes. Pickups were adjusted good. Strings slip out of their groove and goes out of tune if you play not that hard. Action is pretty good, but it buzzes so much I can't stand it.

I wouldn't use this guitar in a gig because of the strings slipping out of position easy. Hardware seems moderate. It stays in tune really good (I don't use trem bar). Finish is good. Strap buttons solid. I would not use it, much less depend on it.

Fender guy was nice (after waiting for an hour). No 800 (toll free) number. Fender didn't do anything after the place I bought it from lied and cheated me. I tried to get it repaired but the place didn't do anything to it and they said they fixed it. Basically it was the dealers fault not Fenders.

It's my third guitar. I also have a Peavey guitar and a $300 Mexican strat I like much better than Jag (not including looks). If it were stolen, I would throw a party, and then get a Gibson SG. I might smash it like Kurt Cobain. The only thing I like about it is the looks. To me, the ultimate guitar would be the Jag body with everything else stratocaster parts. Right now, it's only good use would be in a glass case to look at all day.

My 62 reissue Jaguar is a 1999(right after they discontinued them) in 3-tone sunburst with a brown shell pickgaurd and an oversized headstock, the sunburst and the pickgaurd look great with all the chrome. I replaced the stock bridge with a stew mac mustang bridge, which worked out very good and didnt change the sound or look at all, and i also had it setup for 11's rather than the 9's that come with it. I love all the sound options the switches on the guitar offer.

I play mostly alternative/grunge and RHCP type funk and also rock and claasic rock and the jag can handle all my styles, the pickups arnt as bad as everyone says they are. You can get all types of sounds out of this guitar, any type of tone you want.

The factory set-up was pretty good accually, i think the set-up i got after i changed the string gauge was better though. Everything else was great.

This guitar can withstand hard live playing and the finish doesnt seem like it would wear out after alot of playing. I can definitly depend on it. I changed the buttons to Schaller/Fender strap locks.

I've never had to deal with fender

Ive only been playing about 2 years but i practice 4-5hours a day so i feel ive progressed faster than most people and i can stand up to people that have have playing much longer than me. I own a MIM strat, an Alvarez strat copy(my first guitar) and a DG-31S fender acoustic. My amp is a 30 watt marshall and i have a Vox wah, Boss DS-1 distorion, Boss CH-1 chorus, DOD Stereo phaser, and a Boss Flanger.

Mine Jaguar RI is a 1996 model, in Candy Apple Red. I owned a real (and identical) 1965 Jaguar that I owned for 15 years, and then sold it, regretting it later. The RI I have now is made in Japan, and is primarily Alder wood. The rest of the features have been previously stated by others, so I won't go into that.

I like R&B, blues (Freddie King, SRV), and old surfing/50-60's rock (Ventures, etc). I use the RI through a Fender Stage 112SE (which is another story for another day). Here are the digs: When I got the guitar, it had a lot of hum and "touch" static pops...and the feedback was terrible. Within 5 feet of the amp, with moderate volume, it squealed like a microphone. I dipped the pickups in parrafin and lined the cavities with material to better ground out the hums/pops etc. Didn't help much. So, I took it to Guitar Center and ordered two new pickups, the Seymour-Duncan "Hot" pickups for the Jaguar. They are HOT. A setting of 1 or 2 on the amp will blow you out of the room...but the good news is, they don't squeal or pop. Definitely a step up from the original pickups. Seymour-Duncan has pickups for the Jag RI in three flavors, "Vintage", "Quarter-pounders", and "HOt". If I had it to do over, I'd opt for the "Quarter-Pounders".

I must have gotten a lemon, because the setup was awful. The threaded bridge has been changed to metric (and much smaller) threads/groves, and the strings tend to jump out of place a lot. Also, there was a lot of buzz from the strings. While in the shop for pickup changed, I had it set up, and it plays so-so now, but still has a weird thing of a single string wavering, or sounding out of tune with "itself". The neck is great, no complaints there, it plays good.

I'm past the age of band playing, and bought the RI for Nostalgia mostly. I do have a Roland KR-4600 electronic piano, and set up my backgrounds on disk and play the guitar along with it. The finish is great, but not quite as great as my original '66 was, with the silver undercoat. But I don't see any flaws in the finish, and so far, no scratches. Presently I'm trying to become proficient at fingerpicking and therefore seldom get the RI out of the case, there's not a scratch on it. I'd say I've played it maybe 20 times since I bought it in '96, so I can't really judge it's durability.

Fender is too busy selling hats and stuff to help out, and they act like the Jag RI was made on the moon. It's like they never heard of them. BUt I heard a rumor that Fender was bringing it Jaguar division back to the US. If that's true, I might trade my Japan model for an American model.

I've been playing guitar since 1959, and Fenders since 1966. I have a vintage 1959 Gibson Les Paul Jr., (my first guitar, bought new in '59) and an old Kramer thin hollow-body acoustic/electric, I'm using for learning fingerpicking. I was familiar with the Jag so I pretty well knew how it played, etc., but I didn't know about the lousy pickups. If it were stolen or lost, I'd probably replace it with a Gibson Chet Atkins SST. I love the look of the Jaguar. To me, it's the classiest guitar I've ever seen. I just wish I had kept my original 1966 model.

This guitar was made in Japan,Duh! And it's brand spankin' new. It has so many controls I still don't know what they all do. It has a rosewood finger board and maple neck. I think the body is basswood but don't quote me on that. also the pickups are two vintage single coil and by the way this suckers heavy!

I play alot of blues and jazz so this guitar works out great. Also if I'm feeling a little hyper I can still get a nasty distortion sound.

I think the jaguar is a kick ass looking guitar. Mine is vintage white so it's even better. After five months of play I have still to find a flaw.

She's pretty dependable and probably doesn't need a backup. I always have my SG though. and so what if she gets bangged up, it will just make her look more vintage.

I have been playing for a while and am proud to say the jaguar is my baby. I have a couple of other guitars but this looks the coolest and plays the most vintage(a sound I am anxious to achieve). I think it was worth the money I paid and more. and if anyone calls it a faguar I beat em' down!

This is a vintage white, made in Japan, collectors model Jaguar. Not quite a reissue but close enough and made to play. Two pickups, 22 thin vintage frets, perfect rosewood fretboard. Crazy controls with no instruction manual and a funky tremolo. A real surf guitar!

I bought it for surf and rock instrumental. And for the short 24" neck scale. The sound is a true experience of the 60's Beach Boys and hot rod music when played through a blackface old or reissue Fender tube amp. Why would you want to play this guitar through anything else? The sound is brighter than the original Jags and will hum a little if you crank the volume and tone all the way. It's best to keep the volume just a tad bit below max to reduce hum and feedback.
Tones are 60's Fender all the way. The hard part is trying to figure out exactly how the switch combinations work since Fender does not include ANY documentation on the operation of the switches. Duh! Wake up, Fender! But, the sound is cool with a slight buzz.

The guitar was perfect. Really. The action was low with 9's from the factory and a slight buzz. I replaced the strings with 9's on day 1 and the buzz went away. I like the low action for small chords and surf bends with slides. It's real easy after you get used to it.
The neck was perfect! I was pleasantly surprized by the quality of the fretwork compared to other Fenders. The neck/body fit was perfect, the finish was perfect, and the tuners were perfect. This guitar speaks of the quality of Fender Japan products.

The finish is solid and thick. Just like the white finishes from days past. This is a real electric guitar. No tone wood choices, no fretboard options, just electric 60's sound and playability. I'm really not sure what it would sound like through anything other than a Fender tube amp. But it's designed to be played through one. And when you hear it, you'll understand.
The guitar is a solid Fender build. It will take it.

Fender is getting better. BUT...I sent them an email for instructions on how the switches worked but they failed to respond. I don't think the instructions exist. Too bad. I like everything else about this guitar.

I've been playing 38 years. I own a vintage Strat, a newer Tele, and a G&L S500. I bought this guitar because I wanted a Jaguar before production ends in Japan. The build quality is excellent and I took a chance ordering this through mail because even the largest dealers in Atlanta, GA did not stock this guitar. It was worth it.
This guitar plays like an old Fender guitar. And it sounds like an old Fender guitar, especially a surf, hot rod music guitar. But it sounds great playing other stuff too. I play mainly rock & roll instrumentals. I need lead singer tone and vintage sound. Well, vintage sound is Fender sound and this guitar makes it. This guitar is built better than anything I've touched for the dollars paid.

Mine is a Japanese 1998 model in Vintage White (in Fender catalogues, Vintage White looks almost yellow, this is more of a standard 'off' white colour). It has a short scale of 24" (scale being the length from the nut to the bridge, NOT the length of the neck as some people seem to have implied). This is 1 1/2" shorter than the "standard" for other Fenders (Strat, Tele, Jazzmaster). The body is beautiful - contoured and offset, making it very comfortable to hold. This is probably the most natural feeling guitar I have played. The wood used on the body is alder, and the guitar feels quite light.. There are 22 medium sized frets on a maple neck with a rosewood fingerboard. There are two single coil pickups. The bridge and trem are floating types and the saddles on the bridge tend to move about a bit (more on this later). The best feature of the guitar is the two separate circuits (rhythm and lead), allowing you to set different tones/volumes for each and move between them at a flick of a switch. The switches themselves are nice and tight. I often play the guitar quite forcefully and I have never once knocked one of the switches out of place. The hardware is all vintage chrome style. No problems with the tuners and I have found that the guitar stays in tune perfectly. I replaced the strap buttons with Schaller strap locks, which makes me feel far more secure. I'm going to give this section a 9. This guitar is packed with features but the bridge can be a slight problem.

Well, I used to have an Epiphone Les Paul which suited my music at the time, but wouldn't anymore. Basically, I think the sound of single coils can't be matched. There are a total of 7 different sound settings, so in clean mode you should be able to find what you're looking for. The best word I can think of to describe the sound of this guitar in clean settings would be 'glassy', although 'classy' would be just as appropriate. My taste in music has veered towards alternative styles and I can always find a pickup combination here to suit what I'm playing. A couple of the settings are VERY twangy, but without being cheesy. On the other end of the scale, you can get a nice bassy tone, although without the richness of a Les Paul's. In clean mode this guitar seems to be as close to perfect as is possible. With a bit of distortion, you may need to fiddle about with the settings on your amp or FX to get a good sound but this guitar can do some pretty cool alternative rock or heavy blues, particularly with both pickups on. One definite recommendation would be to make sure that you have or are at least planning to have a decent amp. It takes two to tango, and this is definitely the case with this guitar. When I got this guitar 6 months ago, I still had a crappy little Crate amp which just doesn't do this guitar justice, particularly overdriven (I.e. it sounded pretty poor). I've since got a Fender Super 60 Valve amp and I am amazed at the difference it makes. Distortion now sounds fantastic. The one downside is that the pickups WILL squeal if you face the amp with the volume up high. (This can be pretty cool at times, but not when you're not ready for it). Also, at high levels, there is some hum, although you don't hear it when your playing and what are you supposed to do with a guitar......

The setup from the shop wasn't too good at all. The action was far to low and the strings were buzzing and everything. It wasn't too difficult to sort that out though. The neck was as it should be and the finish was immaculate - not a dent to be seen. All the controls were nice and snug and all worked as they should. So overall, apart from the bridge, the guitar was very nice from the shop.
I am seriously considering replacing the bridge with a Schaller rolling bridge. This apparently increases the guitar's sustain and makes it far easier to make adjustments to the bridge. The main problem with the stock bridge is the fact that the saddles move about during playing. Of course, this can easily be put right with some 'lock 'n' seal' type stuff, although this is far from convenient. I would like to put a new bridge in, especially as it fits right in without any routing needed on the body (just in case I should ever want to sell the guitar)

Firstly, there are no problems with the finish, because I've never banged it on anything. I've played it more or less every day since I got it six months ago and I want to take care of it. As I say, the strap buttons were fine, but it's always best to put strap locks on. The tuning is fine, as is the hardware in general. About four months after getting the guitar, I noticed a crackling on the bridge pickup, but this was sorted by simply re-soldering a connection which had come loose. I would probably always take a spare guitar to a gig, but this isn't to say that the Jaguar is an unreliable guitar. It's just better to be safe than sorry.

I'm not sure how long the warranty is, but the shop fixed the bridge problem and also adjusted the nut without TOO much trouble. However, the guy at the shop accused me of having tampered with the guitar (which would apparently put it out of warranty) I hadn't done a thing to the guitar although I had a hard time convincing the guitar tech that. He fixed the bridge in the end though.

Overall, this is a fantastic guitar. It looks, feels and sounds cool. I've only been playing electric for 2 years and have owned two electrics before this (a Yamaha Pacifica 112, and the aformentioned Epiphone Les Paul - now sold). This is definitely my best guitar. If it were stolen or lost I would have to buy another one - although I'd try and find another Japanese one and not a Mexican one. (Mexico being where these guitars are to be made from now on). I was going to get a Telecaster but the variety of tones on this guitar made me go for the Jaguar. I'm also not ashamed to say that the look of this guitar contributed to my overall decision - it's definitely the best looking guitar I have ever come across. The bridge is the only thing that let's this guitar down, but only by one point.
This guitar is especially good for alternative 'lo-fi' styles of music. Perhaps the blues player would be better sticking to a Start, the country player to a Tele and the standard rock player a Les Paul, but for the rest of us, the Jaguar is definitely something to consider.
Infact, I like this guitar so much that I have started a website devoted to it:
http://www.freezone.co.uk/fender_jaguar

1996, Japanese-made, 22 frets. Body: basswood, neck: maple w/rosewood fretboard, 24" scale. Two single-coil Jaguar-style pickups with the unique "combs". Rhythm/lead switch on the upper bout; three switches on the lower bout for modifying the lead sound. Candy apple red finish with matching headstock, excellently done. Fender of Japan really knows how to make a good looking guitar. The neck is slim, comfortable, and ridiculously easy on the fingers. The bridge and tremolo of course are the standard Jaguar/Jazzmaster floating type. Tuners are "vintage style" phony Klusons, and are the only thing I don't like about this guitar. This came with a sort of owner's manual package which provided me with tons of information about Strats, Teles, Jazz Basses, and P-Basses but none whatsoever on Jaguars - go figure. The package also included two Allen wrenches which don't actually fit anything on the guitar, but I suppose it was nice of Fender to throw them in. Since I already have a full complement of tools to work on any guitar it didn't matter to me. Let's take off one point for the tuners and it'll be a 9 in this department.

My style is best described as, um, well...eclectic, so this guitar works well with that. I use this with a boatload of pedals and usually an Ampeg Jet II amp with tremolo and reverb. Now, let's use this portion of the review to explain something. A lot of people think that the three switches on the lower bout are what you use to switch between the neck pickup and the bridge pickup. That's NOT right. The sliding switch on the upper bout of the guitar is best used to switch between the neck pickup and whatever sound you have set up for lead on the lower three switches. In other words, think of the switch on the upper bout as being the primary pickup switch. The lower three switches are for you to pre-set whatever other tones you want to use. That's why both circuits have separate tone and volume controls. Now let's look at the three switches on the lower bout. The first one turns the neck pickup on or off. The second one turns the bridge pickup on or off. Up is on, and down is off. The third switch is wired up to a small capacitor. When you turn it on, it filters the guitar sound through the capacitor and makes it more trebly. This effect is less pronounced on the MIJ 62 Reissue than on the original Jaguars, due to a difference in the quality of capacitors between then and now, but it still "treble-izes" the sound of the guitar. The idea for these three switches is for you to preset the lead sound that you want and then use the upper bout switch to bounce back and forth between your rhythm sound and your lead sound. I went into a bit of detail explaining this because many people, including myself at one time, don't understand how the Jaguar switches work, and Fender unfortunately chooses not to shed light on the situation, either on their website or in any literature I have read. Using this switching properly, you can get a truly wonderful number of sounds out of this guitar. The pickups on my reissue are very hot, and have a clear bell-like sound that really appeals to me. The pickups are a bit noisy and at high volume levels they do have a tendency toward microphonic feedback, which can usually be solved by turning down or by facing away from the amp. The reissue Jaguar is a great sounding guitar, much better than I expected from a reissue, and I have to give it a solid 10. BUT - do NOT expect it to sound like a Tele or a Strat. Jaguars are, and always have been, unique. Another issue is the tremolo. You cannot use this tremolo as if it were a Floyd Rose. You shouldn't expect it to be able to drop the note more than a half step. The infamous "tremolo lock" doesn't mean that this is a locking tremolo. The little slide button locks the tremolo in place and is only useful if one is changing strings; other than this the tremolo lock is fairly useless and should be ignored. I have never had a problem with coming back in tune, and I have never had the multiple problems with the bridge that other people report. The bridge is meant to rock back and forth when the tremolo is used, which is why it sits on two fulcrum points instead of being mounted in the body. I have also never had problems with the strings coming out of the bridge slots, but I hear there is a device called a "Buzz Stop" that solves this problem if you have it.

I really can't find fault with it in this category. I usually take all my Fenders apart when I get them to make sure everything is tightened down properly. Everything was quite nicely done on this guitar. The MIJ Fenders I've played have all been exquisitely finished, and this one is no exception. The Candy Apple Red finish is very sharp looking, and the finish work is thorough. My wife saw this guitar and said "Wow!" I can't comment on the factory setup, because this guitar is (just barely) used. When I got it, it was set up entirely properly for the light top/heavy bottom strings I use. The tremolo returns in tune.

This is a very lightweight, easy to play guitar, but it is solid and will withstand live playing. The hardware is not the most expensive, but it is good and will last. The strap buttons are the standard Fender strap buttons, and as a rule I always replace them with strap locks. That's just basically a good idea no matter what kind of guitar you play. It is very dependable and I have used it without a backup.

Fender customer support is notoriously spotty. Some people have good luck with it and some people don't. I know how to do a lot of work on guitars myself, so I usually don't bother the manufacturer unless something serious happens. I really wish Fender would write a specific owner's manual for the Jaguar and Jazzmaster that explains the function and use of the switches and the tremolo in detail. The guitar requires a little getting used to, but once you learn its qualities, it is every bit as nice as a Strat or Tele.

I have been playing for a billion years (let's say that I remember when Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers were a new band, and I bought U2's first album when it came out). I have a frightful amount of gear. I have wanted a Jaguar for a long time, but unfortunately most of the examples that I have run into have been played to death, or were too exorbitantly overpriced for me to consider buying. For me the Jaguar is a real godsend. The 24" neck is easier for me to play than the standard Strat scale, and yet the Jaguar gets some very classic Fender tones. It has a very wide tonal palette to choose from, it's very light in weight, and has a very strong, clear sound. I would certainly buy another Jaguar if this one were lost or stolen. The quality of the build and the ease of playing is exceptional. The reissue Jaguar is a great value for money, especially used. Used MIJ Jaguars can be found in the $300-$500 range, so for someone in the market for a unique, classic electric guitar sound these are quite a bargain. I know mine is. It sounds great, it looks great, and it plays great. This is one of those guitars that inspires me to play, and that's always a cool thing.

Japanese, dont have a clue when it was made (Probably recently). 22 frets, solid top. Lot's of tone controls (Rythm/treble switch, a volume and tone control for rhythm and treble, also 3 tone selector switches). TERRIBLE PICKUPS!!!! They are stock pickups, 2 single coils, give you terrible overdrive. 3 Tone Sunburst finish, decent tuners. Rosewood neck, pearl dot inlays. This guitar has a lot of features, but they arent necessarily good. The pickups piss me off when I'm trying to play shit like Nirvana and Metallica, the bad distortion is bringing this rating down to a 7.

It would suit my music style (Grunge, heavy metal) if the pickups were good! I am using a Line 6 amp (Kick ass, tons of effects!). Very bright, twangy sound. I dislike the pickups very much. They suck.

It was set up very nice, aside from these pickups! The bridge was routed nicely, and there were no flaws. Good set up.

This guitar can take a beating! I have dropped this thing countless times, and it plays the same (crappy). The finish will last, the strap buttons are strong and reliable. I would never use any guitar at a gig without a backup (i would probably use THIS guitar for a backup)

I havent even tried to deal with the company.

I have been playing for a while, i have some other guitars that were shit (all i could afford). If this thing was stolen and/or trashed, i would buy something better. I like just about everything about this guitar, with one exception. THE PICKUPS. Well, what do you expect for a reissue? I wish this thing came with humbuckers, like Kurt Cobain's Jaguar (that is basically why i bought this thing, cause Kurt had one). I wanna get humbuckers on it, but its too damn expensive to have the body routed. I wouldnt highlt recommend this guitar to anybody who likes anything that requires a lot of distortion.

This guitar has a lot of unique features that you wont see in the average Strat or Les Paul type guitars. The lead and rhythm circuits, the seperate tone controls, and the string lock are all unique features. I got it for around 550 bucks with the case, so I got a steal. It has a basswood body, maple neck, and rosewood fretboard.

I play mostly punk, and alternative, with the occasional excursion to some classic rock and what not. And I must say, it fits nearly everything well. It may not have the same oomph of a les paul or a similar guitar equipped with humbuckers, but the tonal variety easily makes up for it. It has it's own unique sound that I would have a hard time parting with.

Here's where it starts to suck. Some of the new "features" end up being a royal pain in the ass. The floating tremolo, for lack of a better adjective, SUCKS! The string lock which is supposed to keep the guitar from going out of tune of only one string breaks didn't work right, and it took me forever to get the damn thing set up right. A fixed bridge would have done WONDERS for this guitar. Especially since I have never really touched the whammy bar after taking a guitar home. The action was fine, no complaints here. The finish was SWEET. Candy apple red with matching head stock.....mmmmm....really beautiful. No finish defects that I can detect.

The hardware, finish, and strap buttons seem plenty durable. No scratches yet. However, I only gave it a 7, because of that shitty bridge. It hasn't screwed up too bad yet, but if it was possible, I'd replace the floating bridge with a fixed one. I always like a backup on gigs no matter what guitar it is (too much can go wrong, string breakage and what not), but its as reliable as any other guit-fiddle

I asked Fender about the bridge, how to fix it, and other stuff. They seemed a bit dodgy, and tryed to unload the problem on the store I bought it from. They've been helpful with my other fenders, but not this one.

This guitar reminds me of a really rich asshole uncle. You got to determine if the inheritance is worth having to hang out with the guy. The sound, look, and feel are all great, but it has some faults that less patient guitarists might not want to screw with. I've been playing for about 7 years, and this is one of my main axes. It's better. I prefer it to my california strat, my 60's reissue strat, or my charvel strat clone, well, I do like my reissue, but still. I'd

This guitar is a reissue of the 1962 Jaguar.It was crafted in Japan in 1997(and made well I might add) It has 22 frets and the big headstock. The Jaguar has an interesting pickup system which I dont know too much about except there is a lead and a rhythm circut.It's fitted with 2 Jaguar pickups which are stock they have a very melodical sound and the bridge pick up to me sounds like it doesnt even want to play what i mean by this is it has no luster just a sharp sound. The Jag has a basswood body and isnt too heavy or to light seems average.I bought mine in sunburst but wish now I had gotten the candy apple red instead. It has the fender locking tremolo like the jazzmaster but mine doesnt lock too well and the tremolo bar won't stay in very well (and if anyone knows how to fix this e-mail me) The saddles are the barral ones and when I play the low E slips off some times. The bridge buzzez a lot but that can be solved with a small dab of super glue on the screws. The tuners are vintage and work for me well so nothing to complain about there.It came with a Gig bag and a strap.
This guitar is my main guitar and I use it for every thing I do that has to do with music.

I play alot of phaser/reverb type of stuff and use distortion sometimes and it handles them all rather well but don't expect to play metal with this guitar.The guitar makes som slight noise on the treble setting.The sound is very not exciting its very mellow. My dislike is the horrible high pitched feed back even when its not that loud.For instance I play through a Rocpro 1000 combo and when the volume is on two the jaguar starts screaming so if you want the good feed back put some new pickups in it like dimarzios.

The guitar was set up bad at the factory except the pickups were good. There is almost no sustain around the 15th fret and i havnt been able to get rid of the problem but i think its just my guitar the others ive played seem to work fine.

The Jaguar seems delicate but it stays in tune.The stain is thin and weak but it seems to be stained well. I wouldn't trust this as my only guitar live, I was playing once and right when I was supposed to go into a little solo the G string sarted to buzz. So I back it up with a mexican made strat and a Danelectro 59 Dc re issue.But that is the only time it didnt work out on stage but other gigs went smoothly.

Never had a big enough problem

Its a good guitar Ive owned it for a year.I wish I would of gotten Red If it were stolen Id go buy A red one with a lespaul bridge.I love the crappy sound I love the look and i bouht it for the feel.I dont think its up there with the strat and the tele but those have been refined and refined and they are almost perfect now and those werent for me anyway.I wish it had more red and a better bridge.
This guitar is nice for mellow players or if your a Kurt cobain fan and must have wht he had.But the guitar has minor flaws that make you want to break the thing. So play before you buy.

Same controls and frets and stuff as reviews below this, had a piece of crap guitar before this. I dont know if its only this guitar or all fenders but the frets are wider than usual.

It does not have high sound, usually when I play with other people plugged into the same amp theirs is louder.I love the bass effect.

3 color sunburst (looks like tiger strips)awesome color!

Ive had this fixed one time to raise the bridge that is the only thing that could get broken because the strings after the brige keep going for another few inches.

N/A

been playing for over 3 years and say this guitar is a keeper!

1997 reissue Made in Japan, 22 frets, two volum, two tone, on/off pickup switches and a bass cut switch. Originally had two single coils, now single coil in the neck and single coil sized humbucker int he bridge. Basswood body, Candy Apple red finish, floating bridge, vintage tuners, maple neck, rosewood fingerboard and small frets.

I play punk and most any guitar will suit that syle. I use a Fender twin reverb amp with a Danelectro overdrive and/or a boss ds-1(of course i used to/still do like nirvana). For single coil pickups they were actually pretty quiet, but the bridge pickup was really thin and punchy sort of bell like sounding which was okay for a clean setting but didn't sound very good distorted. I replaced it with a Jb humbucker which is really bright yet full sounding and sounds really good distorted or overdriven. I only use the bridge pickup when it is distorted and i get an obviosly good nirvana sound, and a good early Black Flag or Descendents sound. I only use the neck pickup clean when i like to play older surf music. i can nail the sound of the song "pipeline" or other palm-muted heavy reverb songs.

I guess the guitar was set up well by the factory but i don't really know or care to much about that. It had no flaws although about a month after having it the bridge pickup stopped turning on. The finish was excellent and i have never seen a better looking guitar. 10-for the finish

This guitar easily withstand live playing, althoug sometimes if you play really hard the fat e sting comes out of its saddle which makes it out of tune. Im sure the finish will last a really long time. I could definitely use it without a backup.

I've never had to deal with Fender itsself but when the bridge pickup stopped turning on the music store gladly fixed it for free.

Ive been playing for 4 years, and before i had this my first guitar was a peavey predator which sucked - the noisiest pickups youve ever heard. dont ever by peavey. If it were lost or stole i would probably by another one in the future but probably a real one that was actually made in the 60's. Ive also always wanted an mustang or stratocaster which i would probably by first. I chose this guitar mainly for its looks which may sound stupid but you should see it. It is also really easy to play especially if you have long skinny fingers like me. I thing i'll go ahead and cut it up and put a full size humbucker in it(probably a JB) then i think i will be totally satisfied with it.

Lessee, I'll run down the list here. It's a 1995 Japanese made solid body guitar. A Jaguar, but I'm sure you picked that up. 22 frets on a short scale 24" bolt-on neck with an oversized headstock. The body is a beautiful sexy quasi-strat shape with an off centered waist. The neck wood is maple, the body wood is basswood, fingerboard wood is rosewood with pearl dot inlays. Two thin but deep wound stock pickups with an odd variation on the Gibson style selectors. The Rythem/Lead switch is on the upper cutaway. Next to that is two roller knobs contolling volume and tone for the rythem circuit. Near the bottom cutaway is two on/off pickup switches and a bass cut switch for the lead circuit. The tone and volume knobs are for the lead circuit only. I got mine in a kickass darkish-reddish-mettalicish color called Candy Apple Red, with a painted headstock. I think that is standard for Jaguars in that color. The tuning pegs are non-locking vintage style. The bridge is a wacky thing only found on Jaguar and Jazzmaster guitars. The tailpiece and saddles are seperate, with the saddles next to the bridge pickup, the tailpiece/tremelo is near the rear on a semi-circle shaped chrome plate.

Man, I hear people complain about guitars that aren't made in the USA, but those little Japanese dudes have work ethics that put us to shame, and they sure can make them right! This has to be one of the most versatile sounding guitars out there on the market. I play just about a little of everything but mostly center around punkish stuff, so that's great for me. The freaky pickup selection on the Jag allow for a radical change in tone with the flip of a switch. Tones range from super fat and smooth on the neck pickup to bright and tinny on the bridge. A little too tinny in fact. I reccommend to anyone to replace the bridge pickup with something with a bit more kick. When played on a clean channel the sound is VERY clean due to the deep pickups. With distortion you get buzzing from the single coils, but the way I see it is that you only hear the buzz when not playing, so, this being a musical instrument, I don't worry about it. I give a 9 because of the somewhat weak bridge pickup.

I bought this used, so no use complaining about factory setup. Hell, I don't have anything to complain about anyway, this guitar rules. Oops, wait a minute, one complaint: all that swift looking chrome and many screws tend to rattle around. This was all fixed by a little contraption called a Buzz Buster, bought from Allparts (www.allparts.com). All this is is a rolling cylinder on a mount, but it increases string tension a little and angle of strings at the saddles to murder the buzz leaving you with, yet again, a kickass piece of wood and metal.

I have yet to use it in a gig, but it has withstood many hours of basement jamming and not skipping a beat. The body is a very comfertable shape that mold to your body, no sharp corners to dig into your ribs. Strap buttons hold on fine but if you move around a lot like me when playing I reccommend strap locks. I hardly ever have to tune unless I dive on the tremelo, the vintage tunepegs don't like that much.

I bought it used, so Fender would probably say "what the hell are you doing?" if I called them up asking for warrantee info or such.

I've been playing for three years now, but I've been playing various other instruments for a while now so it wasn't too hard to pick it up. This is my second electric I have owned. But if I did own more, this would be my number one because it is so versatile. Would I buy it again if stolen? Hell yeah! I would only get it in the same color too. Unless they had orange, but you know how popular that is. I've met some people that look down on the Jaguar because it's so different from other Fenders. I never really understood that, fitting in with others like that, but if you like the slightly odd, don't fear the different, and want an all-round good guitar, go for the Jag!

I bought my reissue Jaguar in 95 from Matt Umanov Guitars in New York City - a heavenly place (Matt Umanov's, not NYC). It is a standard Japanese reissue of this classic beauty, in sunburst. It has 22-fret short-scale (same as Mustangs, Music masters and Duonsonics II, and the Bronco, that mysterious object of desire), wonderful for small hands, a beautiful neck, thin as they come, beuatiful finish, smooth and glossy. The body is basswood, a far cry form the real things of the 60s, and what looks like a maple neck. It's faily heavy, but wonderfully comfortable to play on account of the countoured body. Tuners are vintage-reissues, not great, I kind of suspect they're made out of plastic, actually. The floating bridge is alright and keeps in tune, and has a funky lock slide button to it. The bridge is a little dodgy, rocks back and forth, it was meant to, though I guess the threaded string saddles can be a nightmare if you play powerchords, mine keep popping out. But it's not meant for powerchords anyway. But, oh, it has all those switches it's wonderful, the lead/rythm circuit switch with two rollers, plus three slider switched on lower bout to play withthe lead settings, plus a tone and volume knob. It's a joy, it's like being in Startrek.
As a reissue I'd say Fender did a great job for a gret price (600 $ at the time), you can own this piece of classic design for a decent amount of money.

I'm a lousy guitarists, and I have a lousy 20 W Fender amp, but I'm happy with the sound, it's versatile, you can get at least 5 or 6 different pickup combinations. It's very bright, it's almost tinny at times (esp. the bridge pickup), but I love it. It's not very loud perhaps, but hey I'm mellow.

Great action, lovely, at times bass E buzzes a little. m biased this is a beautiful guitar, between a Jaguar and airconditioning, I'll take the Jaguar. It was set up okay, Matt Umanov helped solder back one loose circuit though. Never messed with the pickups, no flaws, beuatiful finish though it dings easily. In other words, it doesnt look cheap, but it is. Now, the frets wear very easily.

Very well built, finish dings a little too easy and frets have worn a lot in spite of not having been played lots. Strap buttons solid, and it's a heavy guitar. All in all very reliable little dream.

Never dealt, I'm a bit of a Fender freak and I'll give you 100 bucks for an L plate, but I guess Fender is just a big corporation with little time for romance. So I wouldnt expect a lot of assistance.

I've been strumming for maybe 6 years. I suck, but I get a kick. No regrets on the jaguar, I'd love to have the real thing, BUT this was a great buy.

Now that I've gigged with it I actually thoght it would be the right time to write this review. It is I think a '97 moedel in olympic white. Crafted in Japan as it says. It has a nice, pretty thin maple neck with a rosewood fretboard, 22 frets, small scale. On the controls side you first have the 2-way switch near the upper horn which switches on either the lead circuit or the rhytm circuit. The rhytm circuit volume and tone are controlled by two wheels also on the upper side of the body. The lead cicuit has three switches and a volume and a tone control. Two of the three switches are on/off switches for the pickups. and the third switch is a basscut switch...phew. The electronics are passive. It has two special single coils. I don't know the name of the bridge, but it is the same as on the Jazzmaster. Keeps in tune pretty well when setup properly. Tuners are vintage type, Kluson or Schaller type...no name. Non-locking. No accessories included except for the Allen wrench.

The guitar sound suits my kind of music perfectly. I play powerpop-music and the bright sound of this guitar is great. Also great clean sound with both pckups engaged. I use a semi-distorted sound very much and this guitar just handles it great. Very good crunch too. I play it through my Digitech 2112-rack. Massive solos don't play too good because of lack of sustain due to the bridge assembly. I don't play them anymore anyway, thank god. A small minus would be the fact that it tends to feedback easily. It is this microphonic squeel that just pierces your ears at loud levels when you face your guitar to the amplifier. Otherwise I would have given a 10, because it suites my style of music so well.

Well, I don't know how it was setup at the factory as they set it up for me at the store. When I got it, it was great. No rattles, just under medium-high setup, 11-52 strings - I asked for them. There are no flaws that I could find on this guitar. It is really as solid as rock. Sometimes the E-string slides on the saddle and goes out of tune so I filed a small route for it and it stays in tune.

I just played 3 45 min. sets of music on this guitar and it held up fine. Didn't need to take my backup strat out of it's case. I think I can depend on it...

I've been playing for about 5 years now. I also own a strat and an Epiphone Les Paul, fitted with Gibson pickups. The whole guitar just feels so good to wear. Great playability. Not for metal!!I had thought of buying this guitar for a little while and then I just walked in the shop and got it...Hah! The microphonic squeels are the only thing I don't like about this guitar...Nice shape-ultra sexy... Ask me if something is unclear.

Purchased in '96 from Guitar Center for $560. Guitar was made in Japan, and features 22 fret maple neck with rosewood fretboard. Has two circuts, rhythm and lead. Body is basswood painted in three-color sunburst. With all the switches, you are able to change from lead pickup, with the volume and tone knob on that pickup all the way up, to rhythm pickup with the tone knob on that pickup rolled off a bit for a mellow sound at the flick of a single switch. This is a big plus. All the switches allow a bunch of different pickup combinations.

Straight into the amp, this guitar has a very clean, open, sorta glassy sound that you get from single coils. very nice. however, for distortion, the pickup may be a little weak. Its hard to say because I love the clean sound, yet I often play with distortion also. the pickups are noisy with distortion too. I kinda want a more tight sound so I'm considering getting humbuckers installed in this. However, I don't want to lose that lovely clean sound so I'm not sure what I should do. Either way, I recently purchased a Danelectro Fab-Tone and with this pedal, the distortion that I get is really amazing so I'm in no hurry to do any pickup swapping anytime soon.

Straight from the factory, the guitar was setup near perfect. Action was right, bridge, intonation, pickup all setup nicely. The finish was AND still is flawless and absolutely beautiful. Neck is definitely something that I love about this guitar. Very thin and smooth.

Well, although it was setup well, I immediately changed the stock .09 strings to .10s. I had someone file notches into each bridge saddles to keep the strings from bouncing out (something I found out really fast upon playing this guitar). It played well however, the little screws that you turn to adjust the saddles kept on coming out and the screws that you turn to raise or lower the whole bridge had the same problem so keeping the guitar in tune was a major problem. I used some Lock-tite the next time i changed my strings and that solved the problem. However, I couldn't get rid of buzzing at the bridge and my guitar didn't have too much sustain. Well after about a few months with tolerating the bridge, I deceided to completely change it. I went to guitar center and purchased a guitar center brand tune-o-matic /gibson style bridge. And to my surprise, it fit perfectly into the jaguar. However, i needed to fit in little rubber stoppers into the holes where the stock bridge used to go to make the diameter of the bridge holes about the size of a commom screw so the tune-o-matic won't wobble. Once installed, it was PERFECT. You won't believe just how much sustain was gained from this modification. Plus, with the bridge lowered all the way down, the action is also perfect. I personally think that all jaguar/jazzmaster owners should do this modification only if they never use the vibrato because with this mod, you can't use the vibrato anymore. I never used it so it's of no loss to me. If anyone wants more info on this, feel free to e-mail me. The great thing about this is that it is not a permanent modifcation at all (no drilling needed, etc) and if you ever want to change back to your stock bridge, just take out all your strings, remove bridge, and put in stock bridge and that's it! I put on one of those things that you use to get rid of vibration on your tennis racket onto my guitar in the area between the bridge and the vibrato to get rid of that kindof "background" string sound that I would get when I played hard and then suddenly stopped playing and covered all the strings with my hands. I also installed Dunlop brand strap-locks. Before all these modifications, I would give my guitar a "6". But now, I give it a solid "10"!

don't know

I've been playing for about 4 years, and the guitar i had before this absolutely sucked. By obtaining this guitar, I have been able to expand on my knowledge of playing. It's always a treat tinkering with this guitar now, and I never plan on selling it or misplacing it. In addition, it's also the most beautiful electric guitar out there in the market IMHO. I often just sit from a distance and stare at it. Am I nuts?? Anyways, one thing that I would like to see is a jaguar fitted with humbuckers just to see if I like it or not, but I don't really want to do this to mine until I'm sure that it would be for the better. Until then, I'll wait. anyone know? Because of this, I won't give it a "10". although I know it deserves it though.

Actually I already submitted a review for this guitar: its a coulpe of reviews down. I am now re-reviewing it with some new observations that come with even more exposure to the guitar. This is a solid basswood body with a shortscale maple neck with a 22 fret fingerboard. Mine is in a luscious Candy Apple Red finish. the rest of the description is in my original review

Now here are most of the mods. I used this guitar through a pretty long effects chain including a Danelectro Fab Tone distortion pedal. I bought a Fender Super 60 amp to get rid of the distortion pedals from my effects chain. It was then that I noticed that the bridge pickup is weak. I talked it over with my tech and we replaced the bridge pickup with a Seymour Duncan Hot for Jag pickup: SJAG-2B. This pickup has a greater output which pushed the guitar over the edge. We also replaced the lead circuit's stock 1Meg potentiometers to old new stock 250K pots. These have a wider shaft so the control plate had to be modified, but it added a fuller output and much better tappering. Fortunately my tech also found the original knobs which are larger and are held by a set screw since the pot shaft is not knurled. Now it really rocks: it has a fuller sound with a hell of an output that drives the amp's tubes to a very nasty distortion. Previously I rated 9 now it's definitely a 10!!!!!

Read the previous review. I'll post the improvements here. First, the pickguar: I changed it to a white pearloid pickguard. Now it is the most beautiful guitar in my collection. Bought it from All Parts: www.allparts.com. Second, bridge cover. Have been trying futilely to find the mechanical mute. I did find however, the bridge cover from Smart Parts: www.partssmart.com. It covers the bridge saddles with another addition of shiny chrome. This also fits the bridges of the Mustang, Jazzmaster and Jag-Stang guitars. Might have to be tightened a bit but it fits great, does not rattle and does not interfere with the string vibrations. Last but not least, placed a Buzz Buster from All Parts. This is a piece of hardware that retrofits on the tailpiece. Does not require any modifications. This part reduces the buzz from the string saddles, eliminates the eternal problem of the strings skipping around on the bridge grooves and incredibly increases sustain. It does not diminish the guitar's great looks. Previous rating 7, now a definite 10

Read on previous review

Read previous review

Now it really really rocks. If you are interested in receiving before and after pictures of the guitar just drop me an E mail. Besides this read previous review

Mine is a Vintage White Jaguar with a natural finished maple neck and oversized '70s style headstock. I got it in May/June of '98. It was made in Japan (like all of Fender's reissue guitars) but I'm not sure when. I looked up the serial number once, and it said that it was made in 1994, but that was probably when the neck was made. 22 fret neck with rosewood fingerboard which is nice rosewood, only one small knot. It has two circuits (rhythm, and lead) each with seperat volume and tone controls. The body is basswood, and is REALLY light. It has Fender's 'floating trem' bridge and nice vintage style tuners. It comes with two Fender single coils for Jaguar. Hum reducing (and they actually do a pretty good job. I bought mine with a beautiful Tolex case. It's deep black interior complements the Vintage White finish nicely. The only reason I gave it a 9 was the fact that it could have been made out of a different wood. The original Jaguars were Alder (I think), and I'd like to have seen Fender stick as close to the originals as possible.

I play mostly heavy pop music. This is the definitive Seattle rock guitar...heck, they all use them, so of course it sounds right. This guitar sounds really nice for what I play. You can get bright clean sounds or bassy rhythm sounds with a flip of a couple of two way switchs (which I like a lot better than the Strat switchs that stick out and can be accidently hit while playing). I use mine through a Marshall Artist 3203 and a Big Muff Pi distortion pedal, though it sounds great with the Marshall distortion too. Reverb gives it a nice surf sound, if you're into that. You could probably play almost any style of music with this guitar, but it is definately perfect for the Rock and Surf styles. The more I play this guitar, the more I like the sound!!

Guitar was well set up. I was surprised because it was very close to in tune when I got it, even after shipping! Action was nice and low, and the pickups were at the right heights. The bridge was well routed, and the pickguard was on straight and lined up with the crome hardware (always a plus). Now flaws that I could see. I think possibly one of the frets was misfiled at about the 18th fret on the high strings, but I hardly ever use them. Tuning pegs were tight. Even the string windings looked beautiful. I really like the way the loose end of the string goes down into the tuning peg. Nothing left to catch on cloth and the like. Pickup selectors were tight, and still are. Only thing I would like to see is a tighter spring on the bridge. I think it would help it from going out of tune.

Very durable. I've banged it on doorframes and bedposts a couple of times and it came off without a scratch. I haven't had any problems with it yet, and look forward to taking it onstage. It appears to have a nice hard finish that won't wear easily. The strap buttons were very solid, but I replaced them with Schaller locking buttons just to make sure. I would gig this without a backup if I needed to, but I'd make sure I had a few extra sets of strings, as I play pretty hard. One thing I would like to mention is that the cord plug-in is very tight. I think you could probably step on your cord while playing and it wouldn't come out. It snaps in snugly and smoothly. This is a feature I LOVE.

Haven't had to deal with Fender yet, and, fingers crossed, will never have to. I did have a slight problem with Musicians Friend though. They told me they would ship it UPS ground out of Virginia or Tennessee (I can't remember which, but I live in North Carolina, so it is really close). Instead they messed up and sent it out of Oregon. So instead of their promised 2 day delivery, I had to wait 10-12 days for it. It was not very good to say the least. I called them and got them to refund the shipping order, but that wasn't enough to satisfy me. I told them to either cancel the order and give me a full refund or re-ship it the right way. Instead they knocked more money off the price, and that made me happy. But I would have rather had my guitar on time and paid full price. I wanted it for a gig, but it didn't come until the week after. I was unhappy with that. But I will say that in all the times before ordering this guitar, I have been extremely happy with Musician's Friend's service.

I've been playing for five years and had 3 guitars. I started on a Gremlin, moved to an Epiphone Les Paul (LP-100) and then got the Jaguar. The Jaguar is definately my favorite. And that includes other guitars I've played in stores. If it was stolen or lost, I'd be heartbroken. I'd replace it in a New York minute (provided I still had the money). If the bridge pickup was not so thin sounding, this guitar would be a 10, but it's the closest guitar to perfect that I've ever played. If you are looking for a new guitar and are considering a Jaguar, I give it my full endorsement!!

Mine was made i guess a year or two ago, bought new. 23 frets, 24" "Short" scale two single coils (allegedly said to have been wound to reduce feedback in reality it just quiets them down) Annoying but useable jaguar bridge two circuits, with seperate volume/tone for each, which you can setup for a stompbox-type switching effect or simply dial in your two favorite settings. useless trem, thus the nine

A versitile and powerful guitar, slap some 11's or higher on it and it'll really rock. I play in a band without a bass player, and the other guitarist and i have really bassy tone; mine coming from my jaguar set on the rhythm circuit. Not what i would recommend for say, thrash metal or grunge (cobain's jag had humbuckers btw, which completely alter the sound of the guitar) it really can get you that indie rock tone easily, also, reggae + jazz tones. If it's your goal in life to emulate the Jesus + Mary chain, you'll have no problem with the jaguar.

the action was set real low, and although the bridge was set higher, vibrations in the bridge caused the screws to wiggle loose, dropping the strings to the neck, allieviated this by wrapping them in some teflon tape, that stopped the bridge from lowering itself. Also the low E saddle would do the same thing, you could do the same thing to the bridge saddle, but i just bound it to the A string saddle, which works ok. The tremelo needs tougher springs, as any tinkering will drop the guitar out of tune, maybe if you played real light strings it would fare better, but the jag really sounds weak with thin strings. Consider dropping a tune-a-matic in the bridge slot if you're really picky about intonation, and string height, as it will save you alot of time. Also there's something called a buzzbuster that sits underneath where the strings meet the tailpiece, this cuts down on some of the buzzing and shimmering sounds that result from loose screws/springs/odd vibrations. These run i believe 40 bucks and you can get them from allparts, it's really just a mini bridge that can be fashioned from some copper pipe. I've never had a problem with this myself though.

it's impervious. Been dropped, drug, thrown. Nothing ever goes wrong.

I love this guitar, i would buy another in a blink. Everyone seems to like to call the jag the surf guitar and attribute a whiny trebly tone to it, but really that's just the bridge pickup, the neck pickup sounds more like an ES-335 than a strat, but a strat sound is capable of being achieved as well, with the bass cut switch, the keyword here is versatility.

It's a Japan made basewood body, short scale thin maple neck with a 22 fret rosewood fingerboard. It comes with a wide assortment of switches and pots. 2 circuits: one lead the other rhythm with their respective volume and tone pots and assorted pick-up selectors. Contains two passive custom made Jaguar pick-ups with hum reducing notched metal ring. The finish is flawless and this has got to be the most beautiful guitar ever: well I have also the Ventures Jazzmaster in "black burst" which is quite pretty and the Fiesta Red and Sonic Blue Jag-Stangs, but the Jaguar is plain beautiful. Bought it in Candy Apple Red which, I don't know if it's standard for this color or I just got lucky, comes with the matching headstock. The vintage white comes with a natural headstock. I tell you it is beautiful!!. The hardware includes vintage type tuners and the floating bridge vibrato unit.

I play punk, alternative, industrial and some pop. It suits fine although for punk it might be a bit thin but it gives the riff a whole new dimension especially when teamed with Les Pauls. As all single coils, they produce their amount of hum although thanks to Leo Fender's invention of the serrated metal ring the hum is greatly reduced. The sound is extremely versatile. With all the controls you can drastically change the sound of this guitar. You can go from thin surf to fingerpicking country to punk instantly with the throw of a couple switches. It took me a couple of days to figure out their effects but got there. Some people may find the tremolo a bit troublesome since diving the trem bar puts it out of tune, although not as bad as the Mustang's tremolo. Since I don't use the trm much and when I use it is it lightly, it holds tune perfectly.

The setup really sucked. I like the action of my guitars medium-high but this was ridiculous. It must have been three to four times higher than what Fender suggests. The neck's truss rod was tight which caused a humped neck. The pick-ups on the other hand were nicely adjusted for the action I like. Ain't it weird?? Now for the part of the finising, this has the best finish yet. As soon as I got it home I started fiddling with it. The nut was nicely cut and finished and the intonation was right on the money. Since I had to adjust loosen the truss rod, I took the opportunity to take the guitar apart. The routing is flawless, the electronics were cleanly soldered and the finish was just crystaline under the pickguard. I tell you the craftsmanship is the best. Hmm!! Rating. Let's average out: 3 for setup and 10 for finishing. That gives us a 6.5 or 7.

Well Fender Japan is quite well known for high quality affordable pieces. This guitar seems to be able to withhold abuse. I am not forgiving with my guitars but so far the Ventures Jazzmaster and the Jag-Stangs, all of which are from Fender Japan, have withheld years of abuse and are still in one piece. I don't see why this Jaguar should be the exception.

I have dealt with Fender in the past and I tell you they are extremely helpful and friendly. They go out of their way to get you the information you need and want. I called regarding the headstock since I've seen pictures of the Vintage White and the Sunburst which come with a natural headstock and saw from a dealer on the Internet that he had a Candy Apple Red with matching headstock. They sold it before I could lay my hands on it. Called Fender and the rep went to talk with some other guys and even called somewhere and told me that it was a limited run with the matching headstock that: most Candy Apple red Jaguars come with a natural headstock. I found one with matching headstock, but again, very helpful people.

I've been playing a while. I use several guitars because of their inherent properties and feel. This guitar, due to its sound versatility, might reduce my load of guitars since I can get some familiar sounds and even get new ones I didn't have before. If it got stolen and couldn't find the insolent little prick who stole it and kick his ass, I would first moan, bitch and cry like a baby, then go again looking for the bastard and if I couldn't find him start hunting again for the matched headstock Jag.

1994 Japan made 22 fret, special single coil pickups (non humbucking, but humm reducing), 24" scale, metallic candy apple red (looks cool on stage), floating tremolo (read below), 2 tone control sets, bright switch, tremolo lock, deep switch, 6 pickup combinations (via 4 switches)

Perfect for surf and blues (on deep switch) also works well for grungee, but can get alot of feed-back if not careful, hum-reducing pick=ups work well and add punch (compared to a Stratocaster) I use this with a 1964 Fender Vibro Champ (always on ten) add give a sweeter and punchier overdrive (like on a Dick Dale recording) You also get 6 really different tones from this guitar everything from growling blues to bright jingly surf

The factory set-up sucks Take it to a gold level repair have 'em to put on D'addario 14 gauge strings (they feel like 11s on a Strat) and re intonize the whole thing, raise the pickups and lower the strings Now it plays like a dream

This guitar is a Fender wait a decade drop it and it is worth more. The body does feel well balanced but like it it'll fell back ward if you go crazy on stage, get strap-locks not a back-up

Fender sold it with the wrong tremolo bar and would not admit it, I know they sent someone else on the web the wrong one to, so when you get it set up ask about the bar it should lock in solidly and swivel smoothly

Playing for three years on guitar (5 on bass, flute, piano, violin, cello) and this seems like the best deal of them and the deep tone works really well with the flute for duets I traded in a American Standard Strat and I got the better deal, But sounds best through old tube amps

1997 Japanese Maple neck, with Rosewood FB. 7 1/2 degree radius, 24" scale neck. One piece basswood body, with a brown 'burst' finish. Standard electronics (for the model). Vintage tuners, and vintage trem. Came with gig bag.

I bought it basically because I got a good deal on it, and I was curious about the model. It does the classic 'surf' tone very well, and also can handle some of the more modern alternative stuff. The stock PUs sounded pretty good, and when played through a good tube amp, the classic 'Fender' sound from the 60's was nailed.

The setup was fine, and it was a pretty guitar. I had been looking at the Jagmaster's, but I noticed they had bodies slapped together from 5 pieces of wood, and this one was a single piece.

Dunno.... I sold it after a few months because the 'vintage' bridge did nothing to keep the thing in tune, plus it buzzed a lot. I never played out with it while I had it. It seemed solid enough, though.

Don't know. I got great support from my friends at my local music store (they set it up for me, free), but that doesn't count.

I've been playing for over 20 years (althought I took a extended absence for a while). I liked it a lot, but it didn't really fit into my Christian rock/praise/worship thing. Plus it was made for heavier gauge strings, it was terrible with .09's, got slightly better with '010s, but was really meant for '012s or '013's... the combination of the bridge design(no cut string slots) and the shorter scale length really made for a bad combination with lighter strings. The vintage trem sounded great, but had problems staying in tune, so I never really used it.
It's a decent guitar, just be aware that with a 'vintage' type design, you also get 'vintage' type problems. :-) It was originally designed to be Fenders top of the line model, and sold for a lot more than Strats and Tele's.

Mine was made in 1994 in Japan. It has special design single coil pickups, short scale and the shape is fantastic. Heaps of switches means heaps of treble sounds incredible guitar!

I mainly play late eighties seattle music, ie Mudhoney, Tad etc, and this guitar is so perfect for it that it scares me! Its also good for any metal aswell. The pickups arent thin like i thought and what they lack in strength they make up in tone.

The action when I got it was so low and still is, its fucking incredible and its short scale, you could play if for hours and just keep going. The finish and shape are so perfect that sometimes you just look at it and say "that looks insane"!

I beat my guitars pretty hard and this thing takes it all. It can be thrown dropped, thrashed and it doesnt care.

I had been dreaming of this guitar for ages and finnaly got enough money to buy it about 1 year ago, I love it. If anyone stole it I would cry nd then buy another one in a second. I have lots of pedals distortion mainly and it rules through them. It sounds so much like Mudhoney that it gets the same sounds as on the albums, even the same feedback! Im currently going through a Marshall but am currently saving for a 74/5 Fender Twin Reverb. After that im never leaving the house!!! If you want a cool looking cool sounding and the most comfortable guitar around go the Jaguar!