The Fender Jaguar guitar is one of those guitars that were made “Cult Famous” by a movement of musicians whose whole image was about being different. The original Fender Jaguar was intended to be Fender’s new flagship guitar back in 1962 but because of the so-called complexities that were built into it, it never really made it and was discontinued in 1975.
Fender Jaguar guitars were adopted by many surf music bands back in the 1960’s because of the classy and sharp tone it created. The problem it had was in the bridge design.
The original USA made bodies were made of alder and had maple bolt-on necks. A typical wood mix of Fender guitars which gave them their bright tone they were known for. Another feature of the Fender Jaguar was the 24” scale which was shorter than the Fender standard and only had 22 frets which was also a first for the company. I personally like 22 fret guitars and I really love my Jag.
I have owned a vintage Fender Jaguar for a couple of years now. It is the reissue version as I haven’t been lucky enough to come across an original in a pawn shop yet. USA made and has classic reissue American made single coil Jaguar pickups. They sound absolutely amazing with all the configurations available which made the Jaguar so versatile. The earlier reissue models were made in Japan and were not of the same high quality; they also came with cheaper basswood bodies which are not near as bright as alder and maple.
The Fender Jaguar HH is a special edition model that I’ve also got my eye on because of the dual humbucker setup it comes stock with. It also comes with a hard tail bridge which I’m really looking forward to trying out. There was one in stock at my guitar shop not too long ago but someone else was testing it and I didn’t have time to stick around for my turn. It sounded great and it looked like it was plugged into a Twin Reverb which really brought out a nice overdrive that was still crisp and clear.
Kurt Cobain pretty much gave this guitar a breath of new life and thank god he did because it really is one of the classiest guitar instruments I’ve played on. It has so much versatility and has a really great playing neck. My hunt is on again to find an original in good condition so I can do some restoration.