Fender Jaguar

My Jag is a '62 reissue made in Japan(shocker)I think its an '03 but I'm not sure. 22 frets short scale with a thin neck.It has all the regular controls, woods, a.d factory pickups.It's Red sparkle or glitter or something. It has the regular Jaguar bridge and saddles,which I hate.I'm going to put a Mustang bridge on it.It has Kluson tuners.I didn't get any accesories with it at all.They weren't even going to give me the trem arm, I had to ask.But I got a case at a different place.

I play punk/grunge/and everything from beatles zeppelin and plus I like to use a glass slide and the trem arm lots of distortion and make 30 minute noise/sound collages.I have a shitty crate right now but I'm gonna get a fender amp soon.It squels w/distortion but I'm gonna get seymore duncan hot for jag stacked humbuckers to fix that.Other than that it sounds good.

I got the action set-up the best I can until I get a professional set-up done.Other than needing a set-up(as most new guitars do) It's been great.

I think I might put straploks on it,but thats the only thing keeping me from beating the shit out of it completely.

Never tried CS.

I've been playing a few years and I've always wanted one, and with a few tweeks it'll be my dream guitar.If it were stolen I'd cry.This is the best guitar ever.For me at least.

Mine is a 90's Japanese Reissue. It is a nice off-white with a reddish tortoise shell pickguard. It's a great looking guitar.
The pick-ups are selected by the upper switch. Next to this toggle are two dials, one for volume, the other for tone. The bridge pickup features a knob for volume and another for tone, but can be further shaped by three switches. they are: on/off for neck pick-up, on/off for bridge pick-up, and a hi/low boost. You can shape the sound quite nicely with these, though it isn't incredibly practical. The fact that the bridge on/off switch is directly in the path of your strumming hand means that it's not uncommon to find your guitar turned off mid-song. It only has to happen a couple of times before you smarten up, though. I would hope.
22 frets, nice hardware, etc.
The Jaguar bridge is a joke, and I recommend replacing it with a Mustang bridge. It's a common mod, one that I wish I'd considered in the ten years I used the Jag bridge. The problem? Strings routinely pop out of place, and the saddles slip down (see more on this later).
The thin neck is great for playing, and takes nice heavy strings really well.

Wow, this is where one begins to run into trouble, almost immediately. The pick-ups that come with the guitar are, to be totally honest, shit. They will squeal at the slightest provacation, can't handle distortion, and the output is laughable. You'll find yourself turning up your amplifier by a fair amount to get a matching sound to your other guitars. And we all know how bad that can sound, especially with an unruly guitar given to fits of shrieking. Luckily, replacement pick-ups are easy enough to get, and do a remarkable job of fixing all of these problems. I used the Hotfor Jag by SD.
There is no sustain on this guitar, which can be very disappointing. However, the guitar has so many idiosyncratic qualities that you tend to accept it's shortcomings, and even begin to appreciate them. Sounds odd, I know.
Post-mods, I've used the Jag with all kinds of amps, and it always retains it's Jag sound. Any Jag owner can even begin to pick out the guitar on recordings. It's a very textured sound, you can hear the whole body and neck of the guitar, as well as the bridge. It has a brightness and cut that makes it unlike any other guitar. Except the Jazzmaster, of course.

How well was the guitar set up at the factory? I'm not even sure that it was. Here's the thing: you'd better buy a box of locktite or threadglue. The guitar is loaded with tiny screws that want nothing more than to collapse. Seriously, there's 14 in the bridge alone. Be sure that your tech knows this as he sets the guitar up--before you take it home. Or get the Mustang bridge.
The finish was flawless.

I played this guitar for years without any mods. It was an absolute horror to gig with, but I had no other option, so I made do. The aforementioned strings popping out of place, squealing feedback, and difficulty to set up/intonate made for some interesting moments. I learned to love the guitar regardless, but was relieved when I was able to afford my next guitar, the Guild S-100. I found I missed the Jag's unique sound, and with the mods (Mustang bridge, HotforJag p/u's, as well as trying heavy gauge strings-Recommended) I found that there was a beautiful guitar in that snarling mess. Who knew? It's now more reliable, durable, and I could gig without a back up, but why? Are guitars really that heavy? Bring two guitars if you have them, lazy.

Can't say I tried. What would they say? Sorry about the design? They've probably been saying that for 40+ years.

I love this guitar. If you are just starting, or are trying to select your number one guitar, the Jaguar isn't the wisest choice. There are more well-rounded guitars out there that have almost as much cut and tone. A Tele perhaps? But if you are after a truly unique guitar that will provide you with a lot of resentment and rage, but also a deep admiration, it's this one. It's like entering a relationship, no joke. Good luck. Oh, and be prepared to spend a chunk of cash fixing this guitar up.

Ok so my Jag is a Japanese '62 reissue. I guess it was made in the late '90s but it was second hand and I haven't checked out the serial number so I can't be sure.
22 frets short scale, all the usual controls (rhythm/lead circuit, dual volume and tone, alder body (although if you look closely at the graining it seems to have been made from two pieces glued together!!!)
Classic three-tone sunburst with red tortoiseshell stratchplate.
The standard floating trem (although the locking mechanism doesn't work). Kluson type tuners. Plastic nut. Blah blah blah.

The sound is pretty good and has a lot of flexibility. I also have a korean squier strat (my first guitar) which is a lot more brassy and has more bite. But the Jag's sound is quite delicate. Some of the pickup settings can be a little thin espectially compared to my Strat, the sustain is also a problem. I mostly play post-rock, shoegazing, etc, with a balance between quiet and loud. I play through a Marshall 80W combo (not valvestate sadly) with an effects loop containing a Boss DD-6 delay and a TC Electronic phaser (set to stun!). I can get some great sounds on it when turned right up. There was some terrible highpitched and uncontrollable feedback when I first got the guitar; I found the strings were too thin. Changed them for 10-gauge Slinkys and never looked back. Feedback is varied and controllable (although there is quite a lot of noise off the pickups when using a treble sound)

Factory set-up: can't comment. The action is great once you get the strings at the right height.
The bridge is a big problem (and I think contributes to the lack of sustain which a lot of people complain about.) There are two problems really: the 'screw-thread' saddles which do not hold the strings properly, even if you play really carefully, plus the 'floating' bridge does not stay still, which can put the guitar out of tune. If you play chunky damped chords at any point you NEED to put the side of your hand back against the bridge - this is pretty much impossible with the floating bridge. I fixed mine temporarily by enlarging the ideal position for each string on each saddle with a file, plus i lowered the bridge right down and used a couple of small coins to hold it rigid against the body. This does the job for now (although there is still some buzzing fron the bridge as the saddles move around sometimes, also the allen bolts in each saddle can loosen themselves (mostly happens with the low E) but I'm going to get the Mustang bridge saddles sent over from the US, plus a Buzz-Stop bridge attachment.
Other problems - the sliding volume and tone controls on the rhythm ciruit are a quite crackly with some dead spots. This is a shame as the guitar is not that old - I'll have to replace them at some point.
The tremolo arm that came with the guitar is too short, too. It seems shorter than the arms on vintage Jags I've seen, plus it's bent in a different place. I lengthened the arm that came with my Strat and I'm using that one at the moment until I get a replacement vintage arm.

I couldn't have used this guitar live until I fixed the problem with the bridge. It still needs some TLC, not like my Strat which I could beat hell out of without any problem. But it stays in tune pretty well. Strap buttons are very solid, couldn't understand the guy who said he had a factory new Jag where the strap buttons came out with some 'pink plaster' (body filler?) Nah - that's been (badly) repaired at some point. My Jag is definitely my #1 guitar, once I have the new bridge and saddles it'll be fine.

n/a (second hand guitar)

I've been playing for more than ten years before I got this guitar. I always wanted a Jag more than anything else (honestly mostly because of the look... they are just the coolest guitars ever made). I totally understand some people would buy Teles because they are solid, reliable guitars - but I would rather die than own one - they are ugly ugly ugly!! The problems with Jaguar bridges are well documented, it's not that difficult to fix, and once you do you have a versatile, playable, and above all cool-as-f*** guitar. Considering the price I paid for mine (about $400) I'm still over the moon about it. I love my Jaguar. If it were stolen or lost I'd cry. If I had the money I'd buy a pre-CBS '62/'63 vintage Jag to replace it... but I'd probably still have to replace the bridge saddles.

A good old japanese re issue jag, Stock pickups, vintage white with tortoise shell scratch plate. Purchased a few or a couple of years ago, im sure I put a review up for it when I got it but I can't find it anywhere, it was singing the guitars praises thats for sure. Anonymous at (02/23/2003 15:04 on the 62' reissue page) Reason for this review, I'm so pissed off with the thing, It basically does nothing well which I would refuse to admit back in my first review as I loved the thing. it could be just mine as everyone else seems to love theirs and have had success with them but I thought I'd share a few problems that appeared a little later after I had bought it. It has the usual jag type things, Annoying floating bridge, pointless tremalo lock that does aboslutely nothing. 2 single coils etc

It sounds alright clean, when distorted the sound is very gainy. Anyone who is getting one as Kurt Cobain had one and the guitar sound for Nirvana was so big be warned. Its not going to happen. Luckily seymore duncan do Hot for Jaguar, which are stacked humberkers to fit in the single coil slots so that can fix it if your like me and didn't want to cut up the guitar as It does look lovely. It is a cool sound for surf music or something twangy. I personally don't mind the sound of it as when clearn it has body and when distorted it gives off a good snarl wich is perfect for the kind of music I play, 60's stuff like kinks, beatles etc. I use a marshal DFX250 with a rat pedal or when recording a digitech valve pre amp plugged into amplitude valve amp simulator which does the trick nicely. For some reason the electrics have a bad connection so I have to turn the lower volume knob a bit to get it to stop crackling which is everytime I use it. The most annoying thing is that I really looked after the guitar and all this stuff just happened with nothing to instigate it. The thing just started to fall to pieces.

Yeah it was set up nice from the factory but as you will find out because the bridge was designed by small chimps after a while of playing the individual nuts come loose and vibrate, mine has lost several which I have had to replace and basically when you have to adjust it it has to be just right so as it says on websites it should only be adjusted by either someone who knows guitars very well or a tech. This happens so often its unbelievable, remember the sound you got from it when you first purchased it as this is the only time it will sound that good. The rest of the time it spends with you it will sound buzzy and horrible. sustain in nil! I've sat for hours tring to do the action, I almost had it at one pointbut whatever I tried the high E would not stay in tune down the fretboard. I've played guitar for many years and know how to set guitars up and know what I'm doing but this is just stupid.

Well this is where I rant more than ever. If you want to play this guitar live then you might as well take it to pieces, hit it and use it as percussion or alternatively if you like big endings to your gigs, this could be your throwing guitar, if you want get into contact with me and I'll throw it for you as I refuse to throw mine as I refuse to let that shit of a guitar get the best of me. I paid money for it and I'm going to sort it out! but back to the point, I was in a gigging band a couple of years ago, we played grunge/punk/rock so the music was kind of lively so much rocking out on stage was required. If you choose to rock out on stage with this be warned that there are many bad consequences. Floating bridge is the main problem. The strings sit in the threads of screws which aren't deep whatsoever so you might have only strummed the guitar twice and you would have knocked the strings down of up a couple of threads thus making the guitar out of tune. The first ever gig I played with it this happened after the first couple of bars of the first song. I just couldnt understand why everything sounded so nasty and then I looked down and realised. luckily if you realise quick enough you can just as easily put the strings back with your hand but really if this was a good guitar you shouldn't have to. Next is about the little flick switches, a cool part of the jag i think but somehow during gigging I've managed to knock 2 off, it didnt even take that much to do so, I wasn't beating the crap out of it just strumming quite fast. The strap nut at the bottom of the guitar also fell out after a while taking some of the pink plaster type stuff with it what ever that was, the hole that it screwed into just turned to dust. I was able to screw it in again though using a bigger, heavy duty screw which is much better than the original as it is stronger, wider and goes a bit deeper. I was gutted though as it made the guitar fall to the floor and ding the paintwork. If you use the tremalo arm, good luck cos if you so much as move an inch the thing will fall out. The guitar looks brilliant and has potential but if you want to get the most out of it you have to be willing to spend money on it, replace the bridge and pickups. As I can remember it was everything I wanted and expected the guitar to be when I first recieved it but this is very short lived so be warned.

If I had rang up customer support everytime I had a problem with it I would be on first name terms with them. Hell I'd probably be sending/recieving christmas and birthday cards to/from them. I might have built a great friendship and gone on holiday with them. Who knows.

Has potential but really fails to deliver. I'd love to give it a 10 but it just seems they had the opportunity to make a great guitar and completely blew it. Shame on you fender, shame on you. If it was stolen I would miss it for some reason as it was one of the things that people remembered about my band, the fact that I had a nice guitar (jags are very rare around here) and someday I hopefully will get it sorted out to make it the guitar it should have been. I think if I had known about the problems back then I still would have purchased it because it has character and is more than just a guitar, its an interesting thing to look at. I wish it didnt have the floating bridge, that is the source of a lot of it's problems really. If it was fixed, chances are this re-review wouldn't have happened. My advice to anyone who wants to buy one is that if you really want one then go for it as I probably would've kicked myself if I had turned down the offer later on. But remember that there is a high chance you will be having a lot of trouble with it later. I don't know, considering how angry i was with it at the beginning of this review I'm looking at it now, I just can't stay mad at it.

Mine is a CAR(candy apple red) MIJ(made in japan) built in (i believe) 2002. It has the standard Jag/Jazzmaster Dual-circuit wiring; a warmer rhythm circuit and a brighter punchier lead circuit. This means more tonal possibilities, but I've heard many people complain that with more wiring, there's more that can (and sometimes does) go wrong. But so far mine has been solid and faithful.

It's got two passive single-coil pickups with a serrated "keeper" or "claw" that is supposed to boost the mids and make it more punchy.

The stock Jaguar/Jazzmaster bridge is notorious for being unstable in tuning and intonation, though I've had guitar techs swear that they just need to be set up right and that they are among Fender's finer bridge/trem designs. I don't agree. A common upgrade for these guitars is to put a Mustang bridge in place of the stock one. (the mustang saddles have a single string slot, whereas the stock bridge has several slots that the string can undesirably slide around in.) I bought my Jag partly because it already had this mod done. Although the radius is supposed to be diiferent and that's supposed to affect intonation and whatnot, again, mine is aces. I've had no problems. They do sell Mustang saddles with adjustment screws to counteract this if it's a problem.

Here are the official specs:

Fender Jaguar-

Body: Alder
Neck: Maple (7.25"/184 mm)
Machine Heads: Vintage Style
Fingerboard: Rosewood
No. of Frets: 22 Vintage Style
Pickups: 2 Single Coil
Controls: "Lead" Circuit, Volume, Tone, "Rhythm" Circuit, Volume, Tone, Circuit Selector Switch

Bridge/Tremolo: Floating Tremolo with "Tremolo-Lock"
Pickup Switching: Lead/Rhythm Slide Switch, Bass Cut Slide Switch
Pickguard: Brown Shell
Scale Length: 24" (609 mm)
Neck Width @ Nut: 1.625" (41.2 mm)

One of the main selling points for this particular model of guitar for me was the unique tremelo. It has a long arm that makes for smoother vibratos than many other trems. I like/play a variety of different styles of music, but I bought this one with Shoegazer Pop in mind. You can hold the trem arm in your hand while you strum and occasionally dive the bar down creating a warpped tape sound that, by itself or under a mountain of fuzz, reverb/delay, and modulation, makes for unique and psychedelic sound not easily duplicated with another guitar. (see My Bloody Valentine)

Lately I've been running it into a Boss GE-7 EQ into a Danelectro BLT Slap Echo into a Boss DS-1 Distortion into a Boss DD-5 Digital Delay into a 70's Fender Vibrolux(silverface) tube combo. Sometimes I put a reverb in front of the distortion to get that grainy ominuous soaring crunch when playing single notes. (see Godspeed You! Black Emperor)

These pickups definitely have their pros and cons. Pros: middy, punch, bright sound that cut through the mix and gives you a nice chimey plucky tone. Cons: they are noisy. I love feedback, but these often squeal and give your eyes an unhealthy shot of unapplealing banshee scream if you stop playing while running through a high gain signal path. This can be rather frustrating. Seymour Duncun sells replacements that are a bit hotter and less noisy. I've been researching putting SD Quarter Pounder in the bridge, but wired in such a way so as to get the same hum-canceling you do on a strat in the 2 and 4 positions (the in-between settings). I think it can be done relatively easily.

The sound, especially when strummed clean, can be very surf-rock. If you're looking for the warmth and richness of a strat in the neck position, You're probably not going to get quite that sound. But these(or at least the neck position) have a charm and character all their own while still being very Fender.

These guitars are notorious for being set up poorly and loosing intonation and tone fast. Mine has been a complete exeption. I have no electrical qualms, the thing holds a tune rather well, and is as intonated as a guitar not in the hands of a tech will be. (see above for bridge issues)

The scale is a little smaller than that of the Jazzmaster, making it a bit faster. To tell you the truth, although I'm all about the baseball-bat-sized-neck, I don't really notice a huge difference. But i don't shred at all, so maybe the difference is huge to someone who plays leads exclusively.

Not that I care all that much about the finish, but it's nice. This is a pretty guitar. All the extra chrome plates and whatnot, shiny red finish... I get a lot of compliments. But I am a sucker for Fender finishes. (as long as it's not a squire) I had originally wanted a Jag to modify to the hilt, but this thing is so pretty I'm afraid to mess with it.

I don't know if I'd gig without a backup. So far, it's been great, but I'm always a little leery of all the wiring.

Three of my friends own Jags, and they've all had problems. Two with wiring, one with the bridge/intonation. But maybe they don't have my skills for finding a killer guitar at a great price? Mine has been used as a backup more than once.

I guess you sacrifice reliability for versitility. I'll always carry a strat as a back up, but I could never get the sounds out a strat that I can with this.

Bought it used. N/A

I've been playing for about ten years. For guitar stuff, I have a Mexi Strat, a Crate GX-60C solid state combo, a Fender Vibrolux Tube combo, and a host of pedals and effects. If it were lost or stolen, I'd be a very sad boy. Until I bought another one. Only, with locking Kluson tuners. And a Jazzmaster pickup routered into the bridge. And a microphonic pickup behind the bridge (as the strings are stretched about four inches from the bridge to the trem. ideal for those ethereal higher pitched filler noises.(see Sonic Youth)). And possibly a graphite nut. Maybe.


I compared this to a Strat and a Jazzmaster. The strat is a bit smoother, but less bright and middy, has a bigger scale and all around a simpler guitar. The jazzmatser is smoother as well, but has a bit less output. It also has a bigger scale. Beyond that, the Jag and Jazzmaster are virtually the same.

I Love this guitar. I can't say anything about other's Jags, but I give my own a 8.999.

1997 Jap, white with red immitation tortoise shell plate, rosewood fingerboard. Purchased as standard, u know the one?.?? i have since fitted two seymour dunc quarter pounders, a good quality tune-o-matic saddlepiece with individual string height adjustment and a bone nut. And of course schaller stap locks. Threaded with XL 11's.

Following my recent purchase of Sonic youth's latest album 'Nurse' i have embarked upon a nostalgic voyage of reokjn bollox.......!
simply a hugely diverse instrument in the hands of somone who has the patience and creative intuition to tame the beast.
Boss turbo overdrive, Boss srv 30/30 digi reverb, Tl audio valve compressor, cry baby, Boss super chourus (stereo to two ac 30's), rotovibe.

Factory set up rubbish as usual when u buy Fender in UK.
Crappy christmas cracker style saddle piece can be easily changed, check out all parts.com (somthing with 2 1/6" E to E spacing)plug and re-drill.
Fit some tighter springs to the trem or block it up all together with maple, the floating trem thing is essentialy a rickety piece of shit. (rating judged after mods)

mine has been on tour twice and it still works ( hiscox lite-flite recomended). Obtained loads of dings and scratches but nothing has snapped off it yet, why buy a custom shop relic when u can make youre own?

Think i might send it back to Arbiter UK and say 'the paint is chipped'.

I would'nt play anything else.

Fender's Reissure 62' Jaguar has the fastest neck ive ever played.Thin but not as thin as a mustang neck for leading playing as well as chiming chords.Features include slide switches and dual circuit pickup combinations, which can seem complicated at first.Researching this guitar years ebfore buying one,i was fully aware of its advangates and drawbacks,mainly being the bridge. Initial buzzing and tuning problems were fixed with a mustang bridge,which changes the tone into a more mellow mustang sound. Being the USA Reissue,this guitar came with a very nice vintage style case.

Fender went to great lengths to make this guitar quiet,icluding metal pickup claws and metal shielding taped underneath the pickguard.While this guitar's stock pickups offer a great clean sound,under moderate to heavy distortion they can produce alot of hum.Very bright on bridge settings,and somewhat dark on most neck settings.Both pickups together produce a nice combination of both sound qualities. I later replaced the stock pickups with fender gold lace sensors for a more bassy strat/mustang sound and lower noise.Perfect for Clapton/Henrix styles under tube distortion. (Mesa Triple Rectifier)

TThe neck pickup selector shorted out after some time with heavy usage.I assume this is a factory defect.Switch was replaced with little hassle or cost.Guitar fretted out at the higher registers as buzzed at the low E string.

Ive mostly owned humbucker equipped guitars up untill now,all being medium to high output.This guitar is nice for strat players looking for something a little different or a humbucker lover looking to change their sound dramatically. Wanting this guitar for years now i can say i am satisfied with it. In a sense,a dream come true.

My Jaguar was purchased in 2004. Made in Japan ... some kind of reissue I guess. All the same features as described in other reviews.

The tone of this guitar was a major disappointment. Although it is the "coolest looking" guitar in my collection of 27, it had one of the worst sounds. The pickups sounded muddy and even after they were replaced by Seymour Duncan "Hot Jaguar" pups, the sound was still only OK. Usually SD's make a guitar scream, but not this one. The rest of the sound problem was in the bridge. The Jaguar bridge is a MAJOR ENGINEERING FLUB. The bridge wobbles to accommodate the tremelo, but it is a guarantee for being out of tune. Adjusting intonation is a nightmare. The saddles also wobble, thus further throwing the guitar out of tune and out of intonation. Finally, the strings lie on an adjustment hole which kills sustain. I am purchasing a replacement bridge from Stew-Mac in hopes this will cure the problems. Does anyone out there have any ideas that could help me??? Coming from a country (Japan) with such incredible engineering capabilities, the Jaguar saddle will go down in history as one of the most ill-conceived devices ever designed.

Other aspects of sound from this guitar are pretty unique. It has more switches and dials than a 747. I still haven't figured them out fully, but I suppose it's possible. This is another case of extreme over-engineering. The hardware looks cool, but it isn't easy to use.

Factory set-up was totally inadequate, probably for the reasons enumerated before. I don't this the factory was any more capable of dealing with the bridge problem than I and my luthier were. In addition to the bridge problems, the tremelo was also set up poorly. I had to bend the tremelo arm so there was enough play to actually drop the pitch enough to make the tremelo useful. As previously noted, use of the tremelo is almost guaranteed to put the guitar out of tune.

The rest of the guitar bore excellent Japanese-level quality. Paint, finish, frets, etc. were flawless. The tuners seem to work well.

I'm a play at home person, so I can't comment on how this guitar would hold up on the road. Until the bridge problems are solved, it's a mute point anyway, because the guitar won't sound good and is likely to be out of tune anyway. I can't imagine a professional picker using this instrument for live or studio work. It is more a museum piece of an era gone by, not meant to be played. The quality of the wood, neck, tuners, etc. is otherwise excellent, so I suppose I'll have to give a middle score for this measurement.

How is Fender going to help with a guitar bridge they mis-designed in the first place. Absolutely shameful in a guitar with a list price of over $1,000.

I've a guitar "hobbyist" whose been playing over 40 years, but have never past an intermediate level of skill. I own 27 guitars ranging from a Gibson T2000 to a Lyon Strat copy. I've got 6 Alvarez, 3 Fender Teles, 2 Strats, 3 Dillions, 2 Agiles, 3 SX's, and others. I think my wife will kill me if I buy any more. With all of these guitars I've never had as much frustration as I've had with this Jaguar...so If it were lost or stolen I sure wouldn't be rushing to the store to relive this nightmare. It LOOKS really cool hanging on the wall ... otherwise, FORGET IT!!!

Ok its a japan reissue from 98, ive had it since nearly new.I learnt to play on fake strats etc and a jag was my wet dream since i was a sonic youth obsessed gimp.With the arrival of 98, i had a steady job(more than 3 days) and decided it will be mine. SO i went to a shop and bought one after 3 hours of playing for 430 pounds.I was more chuft than i ever could be for a week, then the tingly little flaws that id been ignoring became more obvious.I had to change these or i would grow to kill my hard on.So i got to work, i changed the bridge for a mustang bridge i took of my jagstang, i filed it down a little so the strings werent going anywhere, it looked just as authentic and did the trick.Then there was the whammi bar.That was irritating, the magnets are nowhere near strong enough so i wondered what all those other jag monkeys did to prevent picking it up every 30 seconds, i smothered the heel of the bar in sellotape then peeled it off and stuffed the bar in. It goes round well and doesnt come out witohut a good tug.I have to admit thats really crap but what else what i to do, advice appreciated.Apart from painting a picture of betty boop on the back heel of it i havent changed anything else.Its sunburst and plays with gauge elevens.I used to argue tens were better for this guitar but i grew to love the low end sound it blasted through with elevens.The electronics and pickups are fine, the necks a dream, and as a standard sunburst jag it basically looks great.As a japanese reissue it has proven far better than any japanese strats or telecaster reissues i have strummed, and it and a silverface fender twin seem to go like bread and butter,and electro harmonix inbetween does the trick.

The clean sound is brilliant,amazing, perhaps the best ive ever heard,a fender amp goes well with this fender guitar, i dont think it needs all these pickup changes, you can get all the sounds you want from it and if you cant then change your equipment.Apart from harmonic ease i guess.The sustain issue that some see in distorsion can be sorted by a big muff or other pedals with sustainers.

change the bridge as they can rattle like hell, but with a mustang bridge its, as smooth as a proffesinal strat,harmonics,upper fret access all seems to be too good, the finish is just too good, though quite chipped now,in places.Removal of too much beer and arrival of better strap locks are helping this.

I dont think ive ever dropped a guitar as much, as the possibly clumsiest guitarist in scotland,ive gave her hell.I play it everyday for a long time and it hasnt needed anything changed. Thats pretty reliable and durable.

The shop wouldnt help me if they had a gun to their heads, though i havent needed anything from them yet.

Its just good ok, better than most japanese reissues for sure, i dont have a big wallet so havent had the chance to play other good guitars for years but i know this one will be remembered.Ive bought other axes like my mustang or les paul custom replica and lets say they dont really compare, so theres a challenge.

Bought me '64 tri-colour sunburst "Maria" back in May of '79. Had taken an Ibanez Les Paul Custom copy into photo class for a portrait session. Instructor told me he had a '63 Jag for sale, if interested, for $200. 'Twas me best-ever I.R.S. refund purchase(asidem: when it arrived, with hardshell carrying case no-less, there were several spots in the black paint which were starting to flake; "aw man, it's nicked" this hipster complained, so he offered to drop the price to $150; "nope, we agreed on $200 & that's what I'm paying"). Inside the orange-felt-lined case was a short mono chord, a leather capo, & a "Jazzmaster" instruction manual(which still has the allen-screw wrench string height adjustment attached). Alder body, 4-bolt L-series maple neck with rosewood fingerboard & gold-coloured clay dots, 22-fret short scale, tortoise-shell pick-guard, stock threaded saddles over patent-pending floating tremolo with sliding lock, "custom offset body" is mentioned on oversized peghead with transitional lettering, stock Kluson tuners, which are a pain to re-string, but stay fairly-well in tune dispite heavy-handed abuse, & petrified rubber mute. Stock single-coil pickups were slider actuated, & one had April 9, 1964 stenciled on its' side. Frets are still stock, but are starting to get ground down! Was told Maria was stock when purchased.

Bypassed the volume-n-tone controls as they were more hassle than help. Replaced the stock output jack with 1/4" Ratio Shaq stereo jack. Direct-wired the stock pickups for stereo access via slider activation, with mono humbucking configuration available when series connected. 'Twas ok, but still sonically lacking. In 1990, replaced the stock plastic nut with brass for better sustain-n-tonality. Wanted to replace the stock pickups with those much lauded Seymour Duncan quarter pounders. "No you don't", my tech advised. "For your style of playing(open chord blues-n-rock)you'll be happier with Dimarzio HS-3s". Right he was! Via slider manipulation, each pickup can individually go from single coil configuration to stacked humbucker, as well as out-of-phase. In single coil mode, it's retro-Fender kewell; in humbucking, there's that stock Jag chunk-o-plank skank! You can even have one pickup in single-coil mode & the other humbucked, along with that out-of-phase option, for a truly individual tonal palate of expression! Unleashed from the stock tone-n-volume control limitations, Maria can caress or growl or singe or soar when need be! She has no problem rockin' along with Bowie's Ziggy-n-Alladin Sane-era mania, or gently weeping comfortably in a blues vein! One hipster, humbled to be playing a "real" vintage axe after several years living with an '80's-era Strat, said playing Maria "...was like driving a '54 Corvette"! Amplification is via a modded Sherwood S-7100A, which can go from retro-Fender Santa Ana sparkle to faux-Marshall sonic sledgehammer, depending on where the bass tone control is positioned. A modded outboard '80s-era Realistic mike mixer helps those 2x12" cabbed Celestion Vintage 30s roar, along with an out-of-phase wired Celestion G10T-75CE for added overdrive(although it might eventually be replaced by an Eminence Ragin' Cajun). Whilst compilin' this article, noticed that Maria picked up stray computer hum in single-coil mode. Humbucking mode, however, silenced that interference!

Since Maria was purchased used, had to adjust her to me preferences. Action is now low-n-fast! As previously mentioned, Maria was compared to a '54 Corvette in performance! The fingerboard HS-3 pickup has a black-coloured housing, & the bridge pickup's is red; so Maria is more colour-coordinated with her still-stock sunburst finish than the stock white pickup housings were. Beside the aforementioned flakes in the black finish, there are two screw holes on the alder body's backside from over-zealous replacement pickup installment! There are also a few solder bubbles left over from those pickup installments, also.

Maria could definitely withstand gigging, as she has in the pre-Cobain daze! Nowadaze, though, she'd be preyed upon by any number of five-finger-discount Freddies! Maria is a studio-bound tone-mistress & stays home with daddy! Stock strap supports were replaced with black Shaller strap locks for convenience & added colour coordination. Since Maria has survived a quarter-century of her 4-plus decade life @ this hipster's heavy-handidness, her durability is testament to Leo Fender's Santa Ana factory craftsfolk!

Fenders were designed to be mod friendly, & still take the abuse unruly gigs could heap upon them! But a Fender tech would probably shake his head @ Maria's blasphemous modifications!

Have been playing for a quarter-century, for thereputic reasons mostly! Have a '76 Ibanez Les Paul Custom copy, along with a mod project 50th anniversary Squier strat. Having nearly lost Maria on several occasions back in da stoned age, would hunt down whoever stole her & give them a pedal suppository! Maria is harmonic heaven! ... In Guitar magazine's 1989-90's Buyer's Guide, Dan Forte & Teisco Del Rey quoted, in their "Bull Market" article on the burgeoning vintage guitar market, this postulation by Skip Henderson of Brunswick, New Jersey's City Lights Music: "I'd say Jazzmasters will increase(in collectability & value); Jaguars I don't know - simply because the playability & sound aren't there, & they've got the shorter-scale neck. For $550 for a Jaguar, even in a custom color, people would rather buy a new Strat. But it's the same old story; if Jimi Hendrix had played a Magnatone ... if one guitar hero plays a Jaguar, or whatever, it'll all change". Less than 5 years later, Kurt Cobain & Jaguar were joined @ the hip! For others, Jaguars will always be asociated with Roebuck "Pops" Staples!!!

features were standard as any other jaguar, all these dials and switches which i guess at the time fender made it were considered somehow "modern" and therefore exciting. It was made in japan. it had an awful bridge and i'll get to that later

we used this with a couple amps, namely my fender deluxe 112 and also some awful crate - which, by the way, made a wonderfully chunky, destroyed sound because the jaguar's signal was too loud. the sound of this jaguar was actually really good, a great guitar sound, full bodied-and rich.

here's where things start sucking. i don't know what happened to this guitar but the strings would have absolutely no sustain above the 7th fret. my friend who owned this guitar always claimed he was going to replace it with a mustang bridge and thus solve the problem (never did, that deadbeat) and so this guitar pretty much stayed sucky and unplayable for any practical use.

this guitar has potential but right now it's shit. all it needs is for the bridge to be fixed, but until then...yeah.

1997 "Crafted In Japan" Stock everything, you know what it's got and that's what's it's got. It's white with the dark pickguard. I'm told the "Crafted In Japan" Jag's are something special, but hell, who knows! Either way, I love the guitar. The Kluson tuners on this thing are great and I would never consider changing them at all, nor would I ever change the pickups.

This thing is perfect for the style of music I play which is everything from 60's psychedelia to 90' grunge. I love how it sounds with my Big Muff pedal and Hendrix Wah. It's actually my backup guitar but it's gets used damned near as much as my Mexican Strat. The tone configurations I get with the switching is outstanding for my playing style as well and I would never change the pickups in this guitar.

I bought this guitar from an ebay auction and when I got it in, I was impressed with how well the action was and how great it played but I was a little upset over the fact that the guitar is 'reliced' pretty bad to be just a 97' model. I was aware of the fact it had a few dings and whatnot but hell, this thing looked like it fell out of a pickup truck going down a gravel road! Butnow, I FUCKING LOVE IT!! I don't have to worry about dinging it up or it falling over and it's already had a few bumps due to this attitude and the bastard stays in perfect tune!

As I mentioned, it stays in tune even when banged and bumped, I jack the hell out of the whammy bar and it still plays perfectly unaffected. It's sound is out of this world and I could depend on it in a heartbeat. As far as the strap buttons go, I can't tell you a damned thing about em' I put Schaller strap locks on ALL of my guitars.

I've been playing for over Ten years and besides this guitar, I own 2 Mexican Strats, a 96' Jagstang, a 60' Musicmaster, a homemade Strat made of a Mighty Mite Strat body, a Mighty Mite neck and all Fender hardware and Dimarzio pickups. Out of all of my guitars, this jaguar is my number 2.

us reissue...natural finish including tolex case and some 60s style strap and lead!! If it wasnt brand new and mint I would be fooled into thinking it was an original and I know my guitars. Features..well its a jag..thats what it is.

retro sounding...very cutting in the mix a bit like the bridge pickup on a tele but can also roll off to some jazzy tones if need be. A lot of room for experimentation...its not a one sound type of guitar but it makes some noises that i just couldnt get with any other.Tremlo sounds great with lots of atmosphere. I think you have to adapt your style to it ...its not a guitar that you can just thrash around on ...needs to be treated like a woman and if you treat it right it responds in kind.It suprised me how blusey this thing can get...real blusey but i cant recall it ever being used much in that field.
Personaly i play just about everything depending on my mood swing but i draw the line at punk or country and western!! Im presently in my robert smith meets the cocteaus with some bunnymen thrown in phase at the moment.

erm...well the setup is pretty bad. So why did I buy a new guitar thats basically buzzing more than any other guitar in the shop and needs a little retune everytime i pick it up? Well im sure that i can slap some heavier strings on it and set it up a lot better than it is at the moment but the thing about this jag is that i just dont care...let it buzz a bit...its all part of the charm....if say my lp tele or musicman develop the slightest hint of buzz then i go insane but this is a totally different animal and thats why i have it...good therapy.

seems solid enough and they do seem to stand the test of time. All this taking a backup along bit isnt exactly rock and roll...break a string...well change it...lets face it how many people here play in front of somone who cant wait a minute while you change a string and if anything else goes wrong ..well the guitar is probably just crap or badly maintained. The finish is superb by the way and looks like it will survive ..the bridge may not take a lot of abuse but then i dont trash my guitars.

no idea

well ive been playin 25 years and own lots of really good guitars. This jag inspires me to write music that i wouldnt dream of doing otherwise...very haunting and atmospheric..a real vibe...i used to think they looked cheesy...but now i love the look..the feel..very well made. If this was to be my only guitar then i probably might have gone for the jazzmaster but since thats not the case im totally content. Obviously technology has come a long way since this guitar was designed but its those dated design features that give it a very unique sound, tone and feel.

I just picked up this American Made '62 Jaguar Reissue. I'm not sure what year it was made, but I'm guessing 2003. I won't go into the spec's, as it has been stated before.

I find that this reissued Jag has great tone throughout the range of combinations of settings (and there are many). The brights are surfy and the rhythm settings are rich and full.

Factory setup was less than desirable, intonation was way off, and action was set to "cheese-cutter". Pickups seemed to be adjusted o.k.

I havent banged on it enough at this time, but it seems to be solid enough for my style of play (classic rock/blues) to use on a gig without a back up.

Comes with the typical "lifetime" warranty, though I'm not sure who or what's lifetime this refers to.... No warranty issues yet . . .

I bought this guitar because I had the pleasure of playing a Vintage '64 (on loan from my bro in law). Once I determined that the price of an Original Vintage Jag was out of my range ($2000 US minimum), I checked out the Reissue and found it to be very worthy at about half the price.

I have a jap jag i bought as a senior in high school based on looks alone. it remained the same candy-apple red, thin-sounding guitar I had bought in 1990 until 6 years later, when i stripped the finish on the body. It still had the same thin sound and intolerble intonation problems/bridge problems. It remained largely unplayed until it's next round of changes last summer. I put a Gibson tune-o-matic bridge on it (it fits into the existing holes with a little reaming) and a roller on the tremolo plate(to increase the angle of the strings to the tailpiece). I disabled the trem(you can unscrew the stud and flip the button to do this. I tore out ALL the electrics(pu's, switches, knobs etc.) and chucked in 1 Gibson P90 at the bridge. A toggle switch turns it off and on. A volume pot is the only other control on the guitar.

It now sounds meaty beaty big and bouncy. The lightweight poplar body has little sustain, but the p90 growls and screeches and plonks away. and hums. I have turned this guitar into a punk rock monster...

The factory set up was pitiful. I always assumed i was a bad guitar player, but it was all the guitar's fault. It looks strange now...the toggle sticks out of the rhythm/lead switch hole; the 3 lead channel switch plate has empty holes in it as does the rhythm volume/tone plate;the neck pickup is gone...in it's place is just the cover. It's slathered down with a gloopy coat of baby blue rustoleum spraypaint, which is weathering quite nicely.

My mods have turned this overchromed tinny piece of chintz into an indestructible road monster. Toured in Belgium, Netherlands and up and down the east coast with no probs. It used to go out of tune and tone...not to mention the butcher job the old selector switches used to do on my knuckles. I've yet to break a string on it...of course I do use a set of 11s...

I've been playing guitar for over 15 years. I have a tele ('81) and a les paul (also '81). I find myself drawn to fenders after my les paul's neck cracked on a flight to europe. but the fender pickups are crap. A tele is a tele and a strat is a strat...you can't mess with that. But the less popular fender pickups are awful.
I plat through a hiwatt lead 50r w/4x12 halfstack cab. With the monster jag, I am unstoppable. I would do the same conversion to a crappy strat if i lost this guitar...the jags lines are just a bit fussy...there's a lot to get tired of...

Brand New (probably made in '03) "Crafted in Japan" Jaguar as sold in Musicians Friend. Not really considered a "reissue" I don't believe- some difference from a true reissue such as no mute device on bridge. I believe that the wiring and switching is the same but this is my first Jaguar so I'm only guessing. Alder body is very lightweight with a beautiful Candy Apple Red finish. Smallish neck and short scale works well for someone like me with "tiny paws" as Angus would say. Typical Jaguar/Jazzmaster tremelo- kind of clanky but works well for the surf music/instrumental stuff that the guitar was bought for. I give it a 9 assuming that the person who buys a Jaguar pretty much knows what they're getting and isn't looking to play Slayer tunes on it.

Like I said, this is my first Jaguar and I was pleasantly surprised by the variety of tones available with the somewhat complex switching system. But again, I am playing surf/instrumental music- the tones range from trebly to somewhat less trebly which is perfect for me. It's fun to monkey with the all the switches and sliders, hook it up to a POD and you can tweak all day. It's very easy to get the kind of sound I am looking for, and it even sounds good distorted. I tend to like a more focused, crunchy type of distorted sound rather than sludgy, nu-metal grind. Should I replace the Japanese pickups with Americans? Who knows- I'm pretty happy with what is in there right now. Should I throw in a Dimarzio humbucker? No- buy a Jagstang or a Warlock if that's what you're looking for. It gets a little weird hearing people buy one kind of guitar and then try to turn it into another kind of guitar. It's not that hard to determine the best kind of guitar for metal, country, blues etc.

Beautiful finish, well executed. I can find no flaws in the fit or finish. There is some sharpness in the frets- I'm going to let it aclimate to it's new surroundings for a little while before I decide if I want to dress the fret ends or not. As far as action goes, right off the bat I removed the 10's (?) that came with it and, after tightening the truss rod a bit, put on on flatwound 11's. So far the action has stayed good (not too high or low) and as yet I haven't had any of the buzzing problems that I have read in other reviews. We'll see what happens in time and after some playing. I can see where people who really play hard would have trouble with strings moving on the saddles, so far it's not been a problem for me. Maybe the 11's help hold things down a little better. I rate this category an eight, my only slight gripe would be the fret ends.

For me reliability/durability is not really an issue. My surf band "The Double Naught Spies" broke up years ago so now my only audience is the occasional cricket in the basement. Overall, this guitar seems as sturdy as any of the many Fenders I have owned over the years. These things are built for playing and with reasonable care and maintenance they should last for many years. And if something breaks, I can usually fix it myself...and I ain't no genius!

I've never had to deal with Fender. I believe it comes with a limited one-year warranty.

I have been playing for about 7 years now and have had up to 13 guitars at any one time - Gibson, Rics, Gretsches. But I always come back to Fenders for the vibe, the sound and the value. To me Fenders are America's guitars- workman like, not too fussy, and they can get cranked up when the time is right. Wherever you are Leo, God bless ya. You gave a technically challenged screwball like me the opportunity to play and for that I thank you. And kudos to Bill Schultz for rescuing the company. If only Gibson could get the right management team ( $16K for a Jimmy Page Les Paul ???). My overall impression is that for this kind of money I got one heck of a fun guitar that does everything I would ever ask it to. What else can you ask for? Now go hit the waves!

My Jaguar is a 1962 vintage sunburst its American made. I bought it used but its in great condition i think their is like one small ding on the back of it, its body is made of alder, and it still has all its original parts and it also included a Fender gig bag.

This guitar is awesome! its not a great guitar for metal heads but it suits my style great, I have an all girl grunge band and it really sounds awesome, if you like to play modern rock and other stuff like that this guitar is great for you!

The setup on this guitar is pretty good but it gets out of tune pretty easily but i didnt change the bridge i want to keep all of its origianl parts, other than the bridge this guitars setup is great.

this guitar plays very good live, ive done a few small concerts with it and it played good, the hardware will last a life time! i deffinatley give this a 10!

I give the overall rating a 10, this guitar has it all!

Well, no need to explain this again, up to 6 different tone selections possible on the jag so its very versatile...

its a 63 sunburst jag, all stock exept for the brige pickup, i changed this to the Quarter pound for jag from seymour duncan because i needed a little bit more gain and punch for my band (modern rock cover band)
i know this is almost blasfemi butt i saved the orgininal pickup and im defenitly not selling it.
the neck is in good shape, lots of wear and tear butt no bumps or dents....

the body is also in good condition, some ugly places on the back like someone poked it with a screwdriver or something...

with the quarterpund pickup it sounds more like my style, a little bit more gain and response.. nive warm sounding overdrive and also better on the higer gain settings...

40 years old... what can i say, i dont want to adjust to much on it because im scared im going to damage something...

40 years of well use and its still in good shape... fender is defenitly the best !

never used them

cool nice guitar with a lott of emotional bagage... rocks like a bitch and sounds like a satisfied woman !

rock on !

1965 pre-CBS L Plate the neck is stamped 1 APR 65 B (the 1 is for Jaguar ..APR 65 is the neck date [duh! lol] and the letter B denotes the standard 1.675" nut width) solid alder body , 22 fret maple neck with rosewood fingerboard, sunburst finish with tortoise shell pick guard. klutson tuners .. everything on this guitar appears to be original with the exception of one pickguard screw and the bridge cover is missing if the guitar is supposed to have one... the guitar also came with the original case

I'm very impressed with the tone of this guitar. The pickups are relatively quiet for an old Fender guitar and the tone is a warm rich tone with a bit of brightness on the high strings but not too sharp such as the tone of the bridge pickup on a strat.. I'm playing this guitar through a Fender Blues Jr tube amp. Good guitar for early style rock and roll and some blues and rockabilly

this guitar is over 38 years old so I can't comment on the factory setup but the guitar has held up very well over the years...the finish is well worn in the proper places from many hours of playing time yet the hardware is still all fully functional... tuners work great ..the bridge saddles are still functional... the the 1/4 phone jack is a bit noisy however..wiggling the guitar cord at the jack creates some static and sometimes cuts out... I believe a little cleaning will help ... the action is light and personally I prefer a longer scale length or maybe a slightly wider neck width but my options are very limited when it comes to vintage equipment ... my opinion is that Fender never put the greatest finish on their guitar bodies and that is why so many of them were "refinished" over the years

Reliability and durability is excellent judging from the condition of this 38 year old guitar and the evidence of extensive playing time... the hardware has withstood the tests of time.. the finish is well worn in the proper places.. I haven't owned this guitar long enough to comment on live playing but I used the tremolo bar a few times and the guitar did not go out of tune... the bridge on the jaguar doesn't have the best reputation but I don't predict any problems in this area

the guitar is 38 years old so I supect that the warranty has long been expired

I've been playing on and off for 30+ years ..I also own a stratocaster, BC Rich Bich and a Les Paul ... what I like most about this guitar is it's tone... the tone is great yet completely different than any of my other guitars... my main dislike is the narrow nut width in combination with the very short scale length is more suitable to someone with a smaller hand than I have. I findit alittle difficult to play the faster riffs on this guitar but if I wnat to "shred", I have other guitars taht are designed for that style of playing. My main reason for purchasing this guitar is that I wanted an orginal pre-CBS Fender guitar and also a guitar that is different than the ones I allready own.

it was made in 1967 in the USA, 22 frets, the usual jaguar controls, the mute, original tuners, jag pickups, sunburst finish...basically the same thing as Graham Coxon's 67 Jaguar, but another one in better condition...

It gets a bit noisy at times, but overall the sound is great...so so awesome...

Everything is Superb on the guitar. The switches are functional, there are a couple of dings, but everything is out of sight...definitely killer for a 36 year old instrument...

the finish is IMMACULATE, as is the sound. It buzzes like nobodys business and has some feedback, but overall, the guitar stays true to its reknowned sonic perfection...

N/A as it is so old...however the factory did send me the applicable bridge cover for it...

At first it seemed a bit pricey, but man does it rock! So so so worth it!

1962 non-reissue, made in USA back in the days when Leo himself was makin sure everything was A-Ok
21 frets
switches for each pick up, plus "strangle" switch treble booster. Also seperate "rhythm" circuit with heavy bass capacitor and volume/ tone.
2 single coil pickups
Alder body, maple neck with BEAUTIFUL brazilian rosewood slab fretboard
Bridge replaced with unit out of Mustang (an essential upgrade)
original single-line Kluson tuners (its a shame how many old guitars have had the original holes drilled out for new tuners. Many people think the old tuners were bad when they simply need to be lubed.
With original brown case and Fender leather strap

The Jag is truly underrated compared to a Strat or Tele. The neck pickup is especially lusicous and glassy (very much like a Strat). The bridge and neck pickup together gives a nice growl, and one feature Fender goofed up on the reissues is that originals in this pickup combo become humbucking. The bridge pickup can be very trebley, but the same thing is true for a Strat! I use this with a silverface Fender Deluxe Reverb, Pro Reverb or Champ, also a Supro Super from the late '50's. Replace the original bridge with a Mustang bridge, and VOILA, much better sustain and playability. The only negative with mine is that it has an "A" size neck which is a bit small on the first 3 frets. Once I get used to it its no big deal. The Jag/Jazzmaster body shape is both sexy and very comfortable, to me much more comfy than a Strat, and the contours push the neck to a good place which makes playing the guitar a breeze.

Original setup unknown. The original frets are still in great shape and the quality on these pre-CBS Fenders is simply amazing! Everything is tight as a drum. Reduced to an "8" simply because of the fact that original bridges kinda suck...

Going strong for over 40 years. Save a few extra hundred bucks and buy an original instead of a reissue. It will continue to increase in value, and they are simply much better guitars. I am malicious with the whammy bar and this sucker stays in tune like Pavarotti.

I've been playing since I was 5, 23 years ago. I own quite a few other collectable guitars and amps. If it were stolen, I'd be sad and buy another for sure. I have loved the Jag/Jazzmaster since I was a kid and am extremely lucky that I own a kick ass example of each. BUY THEM WHILE YOU CAN!!!! PRICES WILL KEEP GOING UP!!!

My jaguar is a Japanese made re-issue mad in 2003. It has 22 frets on a rosewood fretboard. It has a volume and a tone controll, individual pick up on/off switches and a treble boost. In addition to this it has a rythem circuit, this is activated by a switch on the guitars upper bout, and it uses individual tone and volumer controlls. It has 2 single coil pick-ups, they are slightly over-wound and hot, they are standard Fender passive pick-ups. I think the body is made of alder. The body is finished in a good quality gloss finish. The body has a cool ofset waist desighn. The bridge is unique, its kind of like a tun-o-matic. The tuners are normal vintage Kluson style one, they look good and work effectively. The neck is a shorter 24" as compared to a strats 25.5". The neck is quite thick but not to thick.

This guitar suits my music style a lot, I mainly play punk, grunge and ska. But this guitar would also be good for surf. I use a marshall MG30DFX amp, a Electro Harmonix small clone chorus, a Boss DS-1 distortion and a Dunlop Cry baby wha wha for my effects. It sounds good trough this rig. The pick-ups can be a bit noisy but this is easily solved by turning off lights and electrical appliances, and the hum is no worse than most single coils. The sound is quite full when the rythem circuit is engaged but normaly it is bright. The guitar can make quite a good veriety of sounds. I like most of the settings on the guitar, but the guitar cna rattle and buzz a bit, but this could b solved by a good set up.

The factory set up was Ok, bu some things (such as intonation) require some furthure atention. The pick up asjustment was perfect. The only real flaw I can find is that the strings can skip the bridge sadlles when played hard. I fixed this by fitting it with Mustang bridge saddles, ($30 form allparts.com) this fixed most of the problems and was worth the money.

After the bridge modification (which was very easy to do, i didnt even need t unstring the guitar) the guitar would be great for live playing, theough the pick-ups can feed back quilte alot, but only at ver high gain settings. The hardware is very robust and seems as thouygh it is built to last, as does the finish. The strap buttons are very solid and robust. I would use it in a gig without back up.

The waranty lasts for 1 year (in England any why). I bought another guitar from fender and i ordered it in the past, I didnt think Fender's customer service was very good.

Ive been playing about 2 years. I love the profile of the neck and the sound of the pickups. The only thing I hate about it is the bridge (the strings can skip the saddles). But this was fixed easily by replaicng the saddles with ones From a Fender Mustang. I think this is a worthwhile upgrade as it makes it a very good guitar, but you might not play quite as aggresively as me.

i can't write english verry well so pleas excuse the little information obout my jag. but i'm just so happy that i got it! it's a japanese 1962 RI from 2002 in vintage white

sounds great.
my music style is like nirvana and so i got what i needed
i use it with a marshall avt 150 combo

the only thing i have ti nag on my jag is the bridge whitch is lodly snareing.
hopi i get a mustang bridge

a problem is the white color.
every scratch can be seen but....
looks faster vintage :)

nothing broken yet

this guitar is the best i have tried in ages, a 2002 japanese re-issue. i have a squire jagmaster, which comes close but no cigar. The pick up swithch is useful, for those who like kill switches, two tone and two volume controlls. And the equiliser switches at the bottom are a gold mine of sounds giving you a very warm sound to a very hard and sharp sound. a short scale neck for comfortability and the body sits very well. and the trem bar just slips in and out, useful for not havin to waste time unscrewing the damn thing. it alos has a nice finish to the body and neck givin it a really raw but scrumdidliumptious look to it. the only complaint, as i have seen a lot on here, is the bridge, but callin it a re-issue means it is a copy of an older guitar so the bridge isn.t to standard. the strings kinda jump about givin it a very nasty de-tune prob.neck is a nice size, not to thick or thin. good hold on it.

I play mostly grunge and metal so this guitar can make some wicked sounds, driving lots of distortion through it can make it come alive and the sound gets well hot. I use a lainey half stack and a ibinez smashbox dist pedal, very useful for that big sound. wit the different selections of sounds you can give a really fat rythum sound or a nice crunchy lead sound, which ever suits you best, bein clean is the same.

as a whole the guitar is generally fine, a pain in the arse of a bridge though, that being my only complaint. i mucked around with the action a bit but the buzzing wont go away, but apart from that its perfect.

well im giging with it soon, so i'll have to see how it will sound, my bet is as log as the bridge stays put it should be ok. but i tend to thrash so we will have to see. it looks like this guitar may be in for a long time of use, i got it and hardly put it down. the finish is another problem, its nice but easilly chipped or dented, i got mine with a dent in the paint. nothin major though. i always use strap locks so i dont trust strap buttons anyway.i would keep a back up just in case anyway but i think this should just do the trick.

N/A

i have been playin about 6-7 years and this guitar has been my favourite for all of them. i own a squire jagmaster and a copy rickenbacker, both have eventually failed me, the rickenbacker fallin apart and the jagmasters pickups blew twice costin me alotta money. if it were stolen i would definately replace it, but i would only hope i had the money. i love the whole thing (accept the bridg) very nice to play and feels good too. I only wish they would replace the bridge with a mustang bridge so that the strings would sit better, which i may acctually do.

I got an American '62 Reissue. It came with a "vintage" style case and 1/4" cable. This guitar is very versitile. With two circuits, you have a lot of options when it comes to tweaking that perfect sound. You can get a wide range of tones out of this thing. The neck is smaller than most guitars, 24" as opposed to 25.5" which doesn't seem like much, but believe me, when you play it for a while and then play another guitar, you'll feel the difference. The tremelo arm was loose when I got it, but a little teflon tape around the base fixed it. The string mute is a little cheesy, and just doesn't sound as good as muting the strings with your palm. Overall, anyone who likes to play around with different sounds will like this axe.

I mainly play punk and surf, and the Jaguar does a pretty nice job in both of these genres. I play through a Marshall Valvestate series, and it sounds great, both distorted and clean. The only effect I use is reverb, which, of course goes great with this guitar. It's got a very trebely, thin sound, but it's very crisp. I mainly use the lead circuit through the bridge pickup, but the rhythm circuit with a gainy distortion gives it a very fuzzy sound.

The guitar has very low action, and as stated earlier, the shortened neck is very comfortable to play. The guitar was in pretty good shape when I got it, but like I said, the tremelo arm was loose. I consulted a very knowlegable person on the issue who suggested plumbers teflon tape, which corrected the problem without me having to give the guitar some surgery. The pickups were a little hot, but with a little tweaking, everything sounded fine.

The Jaguar uses very heavy strings, so breaking one is quite a challenge. I came from playing a Strat with ultra lights which I broke constantly, so that was a nice change. It's very depenedable, though I haven't used it at a gig yet, but the way I play I know it would do fine. My only complaint is the bridge. I hear a lot of other people complain about the same thing. When I'm playing, the strings have a tendancy to jump around on the saddles,which can take it out of tune as well as give you a lot of fret buzz. I've had to play with it quite a bit to get it to work right. Using the mute screws it up, so I don't use it. The finish is "vintage," I think its called celliouse or something. As long as your bridge doesn't give you trouble, this is a very realiable and durable guitar.

I haven't had any severe problems with it, so I don't have anything to say in this department (I guess thats a good thing!!).

I've been playing for 5 years, all with a Fender Stratocaster. Owning a Fender Jaguar had been a dream of mine for like 3 years before I got it. I've been into instrumental surf and this guitar is THE guitar for that genre. If it were stolen, I would definitely buy a new one (provided my current one was gone for good). I love this guitars tonal range, I love the neck, and most of all, the thing that made me want this guitar originally was it's look. It's a very sexy guitar (if that's possible). The only thing I wish I could change about it is the weight. It's heavy like a Les Paul, for anyone familiar with those guitars, but other than that, I love it. If you're looking for a solid-built guitar with lots of buttons to push (or in this case switches to turn on and off), and a nice warm sound, check out the Jag, for it is as Bill and Ted would say, most triumphent.