Fender Jaguar - 1980's Japanese Model (Fender Guitars in general)

Member Name: otalgia

Product:	Fender Guitars in general
Date:	16/05/08 (661 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Indestructible, great variety of tone. Reliable

Disadvantages: Tremelo lock is impractical

Having played the guitar, albeit badly!, for the last 25 years I thought I would share, through a series of reviews, my experiences of the guitars that I have owned.

This review is of a guitar that I bought second-hand nearly 10 years ago and still own and love - The Fender Jaguar.


About the guitar
---------------------
Model: Fender Jaguar
Country manufactured: Japan
Year: Circa 1980
Colour: Off cream with tortoise shell pick guard

The guitar was built by Fender Japan in the 1980's. I'm uncertain of the exact date, though I am told that it is possible to date the guitar by checking its serial number, something I might do out of curiosity in the future.

The build is absolutely tough and rigid and the first thing you will notice about the guitar is its sheer weight, heavier than any of the Gibson's or other Fenders I had owned in the past. The guitar freeboard is rosewood veneered onto a neck (probably maple). I am unsure of what wood the body is manufactured from though it is likely to be alder.

The guitar has two single coil pickups, one mounted mid body and one mounted near the bridge. The pickups are wired into two circuits, designed for rhythm or lead guitar. The volume, tone and manipulation of these circuits are adjusted using the tone, volume and circuit selector switches. The number of positions that these knobs and switches can be set in provide an almost infinite amount of tonal variations.

The guitar also sports a lockable floating tremolo system. I've always found the locking tremolo to be impractical in use and difficult to adjust. The principle is that, with the tremolo arm depressed, you can push the sliding lock switch to hold the strings in that detuned position. Turning the lock off returns the guitar to its original tuning, in theory. I say in theory because in use I found that the switch is hard to access and hard to push and release, also the guitar fell out of tune frequently after releasing the lock. That said, the tremolo when used without the lock is easy to push and reliable.


Playability and sound
---------------------
As I've played this guitar for over 10 years, I haven't experienced any of the usual guitar problems.

The neck has remained unwarped, despite being stored in a hot environment. The tuning and intonation has remained spot on. The action (the height of the strings above the fret board) is low making playing a pleasure. The metals such as the tuning keys and the switch scratch plates have tarnished and slightly corroded but is to be expected considering the age. The switches and volume and tone knobs are all still functional, though the circuit selector switch is a bit temperamental and the master volume does experience a slight static crackle.

As for sound, where do you start? The jaguar, like its brother the Fender Jazzmaster (basically a similar guitar with Humbucking pickups) is ideal for surf, twangy pulp fiction-esque noodlings. However, due to the amounts of options and choices between the sound circuits you can also get relatively fat and bassy sounds from the guitar too.

The guitar combined with a suitable loud Tube amp gives a beautiful grungy but clear tone. In fact the guitar has been adopted by several grunge style bands. This, in part, was due to Kurt Cobain who himself played a hybrid guitar of a Jaguar and Fender Mustang.

By contrast with clear amplification, a hint of reverb and chorus effects can turn this into a beautiful singing beast as demonstrated eloquently in Coldplays' hit 'Yellow'.

Tonal variety is definitely the strength of this guitar.


Conclusion
----------
It has been hard to find real fault with this guitar, tremolo lock aside.

It has survived over 15 years of gigs, extreme temperature and abuse.
It plays beautifully and has a fantastic range of sounds. It is built like a brick and looks fantastic too (though the design is an acquired taste, many prefer the run of the mill Stratocaster shaping).

The Fender Jaguar has remained a reliable workhorse and a guitar that I have chosen to keep.

Summary: Fenders unsung beauty