Fender Jag-Stang

An offset humbucker at the bridge and open coil at the neck. Switch them in two polarities. About the only thing it may help is a noise problem. I couldn't hear an audible difference. Chintzy unstable trem. The guitar was manufactured in Japan.

Surprisingly good tone for such a cheap guitar. CAVEAT: Match it to the proper amp. A cheap analog amp like the Marshall Valvestate suits this guitar really well. A digital amp like the Line 6 Axsys will make the ax sound horrible. Since the output is way below clipping on the Line 6, it cannot do the guitar justice. Haven't tried it yet on my Mesa Boogie or Marshall tube amps. This guitar is not mellow like a strat or does it have a signature sound like a tele. But it has its own twang and ring, that seems to sound better the harder you play. Great for Nirvana, Cracker, and even AC/DC. Just intone each note clearly (avoid lazy barre'ing of notes) and you will be SMILING.

Well set up for a cheapo (thanks to AMS). The pickguard is tacky looking (like imitation tortoise shell). Red paint job is nice and smooth with no visible rippling in the wood. The chrome guardplate had a tiny nick. Neck is nice and level, very little buzzing on any fret.

Other than the plastic slide switches, this looks like a real trooper. It's so cheap, I don't worry about dropping it. The only reason for carrying another ax to your gig is a broken string or different tunings (this sucker takes time to drop tune).

Does Fender have a number? Who knows, never had to call them for any of my 10 Fender guitars.

Buy it dude! This guitar was a real surprise for me. Try on the amp you own just to make sure the tone doesn't get mangled by the amp. It's definitely somewhere in the guitar.

made in 1995 (i bought it in early 96), sonic blue, made in japan. 22 (small) frets. basswood body...very lightweight, rosewood fretboard, maple neck. one fender "special design" (according to fender's customer service rep)humbucker, one single coil texas special strat pickup. each pickup has a three position slide switch. these switches don't yield as many pickup configurations as it may seem. (more on this later). vintage looking metalized plastic tuners. fender dynamic vibrato (which i never use). master volume, master tone, blah.
i give this guitar a 7 in this category because there aren't as many p/u configs as their should be considering the price. (mustangs and jaguars both have more) also, as someone mentioned before, the humbucker was not designed to be tilted, so the pole pieces don't line up with the strings.

when i bought this guitar, i had little appreciation for tone. both pickups sound very thin and weak. they also squeal in high gain settings. the guitar has practically no sustain, and is very plunky. it sounds horrible with distortion, and very choked when clean. the pickups aren't bright or rich. i think the bridge has a lot to do with the guitars plunkiness, so even if i were to change the pickups it still wouldn't have much warmth or sustain.
about the pickup switching...each pickup has a three position slide switch, which fender says is on/off/phase. both pickups are off on the middle position. with the neck p/u off, the humbucker sounds the same in either of the two on positions. the same is true about the neck p/u when the humbucker is off. using both pickups, u can get two very different sounds by changing the position of the neck p/u switch (again, the position of the humbucker has no effect on the tone), one which is thin and muddy, and the other which is even thinner and very quiet and trebley. so that gives you 4 available sounds: humbucker alone, single coil alone, humbucker w/ single coil in on postion, and humbucker with single coil in phase position. also, the overall output of this guitar is very quiet.

the guitar plays very well. very low action, perfect intonation, nice frets. the finish was flawless except for a very small chip of paint missing near the neck joint, on the guitars treble side. i didn't complain about it tho, cos i didn't feel like special ordering another one. practically all of the screws that hold the pickguard in place are stripped. it doesnt move around or anything...but still, the guitar lists for $650 (at least it did when i bought it). the slide switches are flimsy feeling but haven't failed yet. the neck is bolted on (of course) and the neck joint is very snug. very nicely done. and umm...lets see...the truss rod is impossible to access without removing either the pickguard or the neck. the neck is very thin and narrow, which makes it comfortable to play at times, and uncomfortable at others.

this guitar will *not* "take a beating"...the finish is like an eggshell. its cracks very easily, and would not protect the paint from any abuse. it hasnt worn at all tho. since the body is so lightweight and soft, and the screws for the pickguard are stripped, i had a fear that the bridge plate wouldn't hold. but it has, and despite what most people say, it does a fine job of keeping the guitar in tune, *unless* u use the vibrato bar. the chrome on the guitar is still new looking, and the thick laquer on the neck is holding up very nicely. this guitar won't fall apart on you, but u do have to be careful with it. it was covered under warrenty for one year only, which sux, but i havent had any problems with it.

when fender used to have an email address, i asked them a few questions about the jag-stang, and they were always helpful. but when i sent my amp in for warrenty service, they sent it back without having fixed the problem. they completely overlooked it. and now they dont even have an email address on their website...very bad business as far i'm concerned.

i wish i had an understanding and appreciation of tone when i bought this guitar, because soundwise it is pretty close to useless. i recently bought an epiphone les paul and i cannot play this guitar anymore...it sounds awful. i don't like the feel of it either, as far as the weight. its too light, which makes it feel cheap to me. this guitar is overpriced, or was when i bought it. guitar center was selling them for $299.99 last time i saw one in the store. i think maybe with better pickups this guitar could be pretty decent, altho probably still plunky due to the bridge...and maybe even body material. however, is is made pretty well, and plays nice, so i would miss it if it were stolen, altho i probably wouldn't replace it...i'd get a mustang or jaguar.

This guitar dosen't have many features but you don't need that many...it's got master tone and master volume!!!! the pick-up switches are simple...on and off and in and out. The best feature of this guitar is the neck!!!!!!!!!!!

this guitar in it's stock form with it's copy of the dimazio H-3 in the bridge gives the beefiest sound there is!!!!!!!! if you want your power chords to shake your house this is the guitar...of chorse your pick-ups better be set on that humbucker....i don't use any other settings....i have the bridge on lead and the neck pick-up phased out....this is perfect for that beefy deftones korn type sound....i had my bridge pick-up replaced with a seymore duncan JB humbucker because i wanted the Nirvana type sound and kurt had the JB in his...I have the jag-stang in to a crate GTX combo it's great!!!! esspecialy my DS-2 and CH-1

HAS NO CUT CONTUOR AND BUT OTHER WISE IS GOOD ESPECAILY THE NECK!!!!!!!!

IT'S TAKES A BEATING AND ASKS FOR MORE

WHO CARES ALL I KNOW IS FENDER DOSEN'T HAVE AN E-MAIL ADDRESS AND IT PISSES ME OFF

THIS GUITAR IS THE BEST RYTHEM GUITAR EVER... THE ONLY GUITAR THAT SURPASSES IT IS THE TELECASTER BUT THEY COST $$$$$$$$$$$ AND THE NECK IS LONG AND FAT!!!!!! THIS GUITAR IS SMALL CHEAP AND DESINGED BY KURT COBAIN.....HOW EVER IT IS THE MOST FUCKING DIFICULT GUITAR TO SET UP IN THE WORLD PARTICULERY THE BRIDGE IS THE MOST FUCKED UP BRIDGE EVER!!!!!!

I have a left-handed Jag-Stang since 1 year. It is made in Japan. It Feature 22 frets and two "3 way" switchs (In phase, Off, Out of phase)but the switches are not very durable. A Signle coil pickup at the neck witch i change later for a EMG-SA and a dimazio humbucker wich i changed for a EMG-81 (naturally it is now a Active electronic. It come whit 6 f***ed keys who can stay tune for about 5 minutes (10 sec. if you use the Vibrato bar) so, i changed these keys for Shailer keys. The bridge is a Fender Vibrato and it suck a little cuz it can never reproduce any kind of wammy bar. The neck is a 24" and it is cool for solos... thats all...

It sound great whit EMG. (But the original pickups sound great too.)

YOU HAVE TO GO TO A "LUTHIER-FIF" FOR GETTING A COMPLETE TUNE UP.

It is durable except the switches.

Fender s**k!!!

I love my modified Jag-Stang. I'm gonna keep it all my life if i can... (But dosen't mean i will not buy my Jackson DR3! *l*)

1997, Japanese-made. This guitar belongs to a very good friend of mine and I hope he doesn't read this review. The Jag-Stang is essentially a Mustang with a modified body (sort of a mutant mini-Jaguar) and different pickups: a strat-like single-coil at the neck and a humbucker at the bridge. Has the same notorious "Fender Dynamic Vibrato" as the Mustang---more on this later. Fender says the body is basswood. The neck is maple with a rosewood fingerboard and a 24" scale. Neck is very small and narrow at the nut; I find it very cramped. Switches and controls are identical to Mustang: a 3-position slide switch for each pickup (on-off-reverse phase) and a single volume and tone control. Pearloid pickguard identical to a Mustang.

To me the Jag-Stang sounds flat and undistinguished, through either pickup. I have used this guitar at home and in a band situation, lots of different amps (big and little Fenders, others), and it just doesn't have much of any tone--- it's weak and thin, and doesn't cut through the band. Which is actually a good thing, because then you can't hear the fact that it is ALWAYS OUT OF TUNE. The Mustang vibrato has to be the worst one Fender ever made. It is absolutely impossible to keep the guitar in tune with this thing. You can put the pickups in or out of phase with each other, but none of the settings produce anything like a Fender sound. From a sound perspective, I consider this guitar close to useless.

The build quality is pretty good: nice smooth paint, nice lacquer job on the neck, all the chrome pieces are beautiful and everything is put together nicely. However, the pearloid pickguard had already begun peeling apart at the store (I am told that Fender is replacing these under warranty). Also, the bridge humbucker appears to have been designed for installation straight across the strings, not at a slant like on the Jag-Stang. So it's not wide enough to span all 6 strings and a couple of them don't pass over the pole pieces. This seems pretty cheesy.
The action is decent; came from the factory with .009's set at a moderate height. Easy to play, with nice smooth neck and good fretwork, except that the neck is so narrow at the nut. I don't have big hands and this neck is too cramped for me.
The basic guitar fit/finish rates about an 8 but I'm knocking it down to a 6 for that bad pickguard and a humbucker that's obviously the wrong size for this layout.

Basic construction is good old solid Fender--- seems like everything's pretty sturdy. BUT, this guitar just will not stay even close to in-tune. Even if you don't touch the trem bar, the thing rapidly wanders out of tune with itself (and everybody else). It ends up sounding truly lousy and cheap. For that reason alone, I would not recommend using this for a gig.

No opinion: I've never had to deal with Fender directly (always go through music stores).

Again, this is a friend's guitar, but I've played it a bunch of times including live with a band. I've been playing 20+ years, own a Tele and a Strat, some others, a few amps including small and large Fenders.
I honestly don't know why Fender put this guitar out. It has that awful Mustang vibrato with none of the Mustang's charms (I've played some vintage Mustangs and they are some sweet players capable of making some cool tones). If I had a Jag-Stang, I'd do three things: disable the vibrato by taking the springs out, replace both pickups, and then wonder why the hell I bought the thing in the first place. Actually, I wouldn't buy one of these. A much better choice is a standard (Mexican) Stratocaster. Far more versatile guitar, much more satisfying, and less money.

A Japan made fender (believe it or not the japanese Fenders are better and more consitant than the mexican Fenders) 22 fret (If I remember correctly) Single coil and humbucker combination, basswood body, Dynamic floating tremolo, pickup phase control, all on a stretched out jaguar body (I own both and if your looking into a Jag-Stang compare it to the jaguar they are both good at different things) with a 24" scale neck

If Stock: 6 (better than average for price but dull and flat) With upgrades; Pearly gates hum, Fat 50s sc: 10, fat and full or full ranged, quacky or bright and biting Texas Special sc, Dimarzio Distortion: 7, distortion king but sucks clean

To really use this guitar get it set up (professionally at a gold level service center) with 12s or higher, this guitar (like the jaguar and Mustang) was built around 12 guage strings (the tremolo needs the tension), with 12s it plays better than most American Stratocasters

Durable and boombproof but keep a backup (My Jaguar and Jag-Stang back each other up) no matter what guitar you play, only one complaint the paint is thin and can chip reletivly easily

Don't even try to get help from Fender

Overall better than average and worth upgrading the pickups on as stock its would be great for a beginer, change the picks after you find what sound you really want when you play (not what you like on the radio)

My Jag-Stang is a 1996 sonic blue monster. I played it for ten minutes in the store and fell in love with it. Short scale on a thin neck, low action, killer headstock (love the fat vintage style). One humbucker & one single coil can work together or alone to create any number of different sounds. Floating bridge & tremolo. *USING TREMOLO SHOOTS IT FAR OUT OF TUNE* But that's ok as I never use tremolo anyway. I am content with (not happy with) the placement of the pickup selector switches. Once while thrashing for a few friends I bumped the sc pickup's selector to off. Well, the hb pickup was off too. Silence has never hurt my ears that bad.

My friends and I play everything (blues, jazz, alternative, classic rock, ska, industrial, etc.) and it (combined with my fender roc-pro 1000) can hack it all. Just a few adjustments of pickup selectors, tone and volume and we're ready to tackle anything. The only effects I use (for now) are the ones built into my amp (overdrive and reverb). With the reverb going its nothing but Dick Dale-esque surf style. And with the overdrive going I can run from Ozzy to Bush in seconds. The single coil is just like any other single coil. Its got the deep growl that is ready to explode. And the humbucker is nice and quiet, with a warm, toasty sort of sound.

Action on the Jag-Stang is nice and low, just how I like it. The intonation was a bit screwy but the fellas at Farrow's Music took care of it quickly. The fit is perfect. I'm a big guy but the little Stang fits me great. I love the short scale and the thin neck, great for fast fretwork. The finish on the body was flawless, but there were a few dings on the head when I bought it. I have the feeling that this guitar was shuffled from store to store until I met it. One complaint is that the nut on the G & B strings were a bit tight but they've since loosened themselves up a bit. Everything else was in top order

If this guitar can survive my at home thrashings then this guitar can survive ANYTHING. (I'm what you might call an "authoritative picker") I've never had a problem with any hardware failing. Like I said before: I just had a few things that needed to be adjusted. The finish is good and tough. I've whacked the poor thing on all sorts of stuff and its always held up. The front (closer to head) strap button occasionally loosens but can be secured quickly (never go anywhere without a small guitar tool kit). I think I can depend on this guitar to get me through almost any musical situation I come by. I would use it at a gig without backup.

Customer support is an 11. I've never dealt with friendlier folks. All of my adjustments were done free of charge, and they happily worked on the tuning head under warranty. Fender has just accuired a lifelong customer.

I've only been playing for a few years but since guitars have come into my life they've been a huge part of it. I also own a 1997 Fender Mex. Standard Strat, a 1997 Fender P-Bass, a 1997 Fender DG-16 acoustic, a Fender Roc-Pro 1000 amp, and a Fender BXR200 bass amp. Overall I'd say the Jag-Stang is my favorite sound, and the strat is the most reliable. I love the Stang and I am completely happy with it. If I were ever to lose it or have it get stolen I would replace it with another Jag-Stang instantly. Its got the right tone, its got the right feel, its got the right looks. I love almost every aspect of this guitar, and dislike (not hate) only the position of the pickup selector switches. I guess my favorite "feature" about the Stang is its uniqueness. There are few guitars in the world that can be compared to a Jag-Stang in almost any aspect.

I have a 95 Sonic Blue and a 97 Fiesta Red. Japan made solid basswood body with maple neck with large headstock with a 22 fret rosewood fingerboard. It is a cross between a Jaguar and a Mustang with a larger Jag's butt. Mustang pick-guard with a single coil at the neck and a humbucker at the bridge, with Mustang's Dynamic vibrato. Two sliding switches single coil's: in-phase/off/out-of-phase; humbucker's: on/off/on. Tone and volume pot. The finish is very good although in cracked at the neck plate in the blue one: overtightened screws. Fingerboard radius is 7.5', and vintage style tuners.

It sounds great playing anything. I mostly use the combination of humbucker on and the single coil in-phase or the 'bucker alone. The single coil is vintage style staggered poles which are always noisy, but bearable. I use it through a long line of effects and has always come through sounding great.

Both guitars were set-up by the retailers. You always have to fiddle around with the neck as time goes by until it sets. set-ups are very personal so I adjust everything to my own taste. The only problem I've had is that after one of the neck adjustments I overtightened the neck screws cracking the finish underneath the neck plate. Otherwise everything is well made and the routing is very clean plus the inside of the cavities the wood has been painted with shielding carbon-conductive paint.

I use them as my main guitars one with dropped D tuning. Only quip here is that it is a bit tedious when changing strings because the floating bridge and the tremolo device makes it a bit difficult to tune the guitar. The tension of the strings provides a lot of tension on the tail-piece so as you increase the tension of a string the others will go flat so you have to repeat the procedure about 4 times until everything is in balance. The tremolo, if you dive it, will leave the tuning flat. NOT MADE FOR HEAVY TREMOLO USE. I don't use this guitar for that purpose so I took the trem arms off.

Dealt with Fender regarding other issues and they have always been very helpful.

I really like these guitars. the neck is very friendly, the styling is very sexy, the tone very full and the humbucker very loud and chunky. For you guys into heavy trem use I don't think you'll like this guitar althoug I've seen it modified so that the tuning is a bit more stable, but it loses a lot of charm. I really love the scale, the neck radius and the width. It can be used for fast fretting and for rhythm work. Like every piece of gear try it.

Japan made 1995/96 in Sonic Blue and a 1997 in Fiesta Red. A hybrid offspring of a Mustang and a Jaguar. It has a 22 fret short scale maple neck with 22 frets rosewood fingerboard with dot markers. The radius is 7.5' and it is a bit hard for some people to use. No problem here. It has a single coil at the neck and a humbucker at the bridge. The pickguard is like a Mustang's with two slider switches for each pickup, one tone and one volume pot and a Mustang bridge/tremolo. I use don't use the tremolo because it's not of my liking and anyway the guitar gets quite out of tune when using it too much and driving it too low. Tuners are vintage style. The finish is very smooth but cracks easily so be very careful when putting the neck back-on after adjusting.

It is a very nice guitar with its own characteristic tone and voicing. It is as full as you want or a thing as you like for the neck pickup switch has in-phase/off/out-of-phase capabilities and the bridge bucker on/off/on. I use it with a long chain of effects through a Peavey Bandit 112 and a Classic 30.

I bought both from different retailers: Daddy's Junky Music and Matt Umanov's. They were setup at the store and were pretty good. The routing in these were very good and the cavities were properly shielded with carbon conductive paint. Not many guitars come like this.

I've had the Sonic blue for 2 years now and it is one of my favorites. The fiesta red I'va had for one year and tune it in a dropped "D" fashion. These are my main guitars.

I've dealt with Fender for schematics and other information and they are always very helpful.

These are great guitars when set-up nicely. I love this guitar even though some of my friends do not like the tremolo and the 7.5' neck radius. If someone steals these guitars he better go into hiding. I find him I'll kick the shit out of him. I have mostly Fenders and Squires and these are my favorites. I like the retro looks and the modern features. I am sure that these are going to become collectibles in the future. I love them and they are a testament to Kurt Cobain's legacy and impact in rock music.

ok this is a wicked guitar!!!!! some people may think it is a trendy alternative crap music guitar but is a quality inustrument! i love this guitar, the neck is very thin, just like i like it. it plays very well and sounds great too. i just hate where the pick up selectors are located.

this guitar sounds pretty nice! i wanted to use this guitar for several styles, such as , jazz, blues, metal, and ska, this guitar provides useable tones for almost any type off music. the sound can be very clean or twangy however u want it to sound, it sounds great works well through many effects, it is a very quiet guitar, it does NOT feedback that easily

this guitar was perfect when i got it, except they did not send the right case they sent me a crappy gig bag when we payed for a hard case the new case came back to me in a few weeks,

this guitar is very very dependable. i gig it with out back ups. i mean its strongly made, very everything is pretty much solid here.

they gave me the wrong case i had to wait two weeks to get a new case but they did send it with no questions asked in a few weeks so

what a great guitar, definately worth it! its cheap too , sounds great plays great! i love it i will never get rid of it

Just a beautiful piece of work. For those of you that don't know, this was a collaboration between the Fender custom shop and Kurt Cobain. It is a combination of a Jaguar and a Mustang. 22 frets, Basswood body, Maple neck, Rosewood fretboard. Oversized Fender headstock. Mine is Fiesta Red, but there is also Sonic Blue(sort of a Robin's egg Blue). 2 pickups, each with a 3 way selector switch. A single coil in the neck(on-off-phase) and a Humbucker bridge(on-off-on). A fender Dynamic vibrato which has some problems staying in tune. I have read some solutions to this, but most of it involves replacing the bridge. I give it an 8 because of tuning problems.

Can definetly get the Nirvana tone, but has a surprisingly fast neck. Led Zeppelin solos sound great with it. Very dark sounding with lots of mid tones. I hate bright tones with lots of treble, but you can get a pretty bright tone if you turn thr tone knob up. Not full sounding, or quackslike a strat. It has its own character you have to play to know.

Finish tends to crack easily so be careful. Strng height can be set easily ith alum wrenches that came with it.

Only had it for 4 months

Never dealt with them.

I love the tone on this guitar. I bought a bassman and this thing sounds great with it. The only thing I wish is that it would stay in tune better, but I'm still using the stock strings! Those things last!That could aid some tuning problems.