player opinions
Fender Jaguar
Name: Liam O‘Farrell
-
Band: -----
-
Model Year: -----
Price Paid: £700 inc. some thing on the bridge!
Performance
When I first got home and plugged it into my amp, I was slightly disappointed with the sound. It was very “jangly” and sounded as if the strings were .008 - .042. I asked for .011s to be put on and they were. After around 5 minutes of fiddling with the switches, I found that this guitar, even though it is Japanese, does have an amazing sound.
-
Performance Rating: 10
Sound Quality
The pickups are quite close to the strings, and they are the stock Japanese ones, but they still sound better that other single-coil guitars I’ve played.
-
Sound Quality Rating: 9
Construction
-
Everything seems fine, but at the shop, the salesman said that the low E tends to jump off its saddle when playing chords. So he advised to have fitted this small device which tightens the strings when they go over the saddles. He just screwed it onto the end of the floating tremolo thing. It looks slightly like a Gibson stop-tail bridge but smaller, and obviously the strings don’t stop until they reach the trem. It feels great and I am very pleased with my purchase.
-
Construction Rating: 10
Name: Chris Flynn
Band: One Ton Chick
-
Model Year: -----
Price Paid: £340 (second hand)
Performance
This guitar plays fine, when I got it the action was a bit low but that was soon sorted out with a few twists of an allen key. It looks great.
-
Performance Rating: 8
Sound Quality
I had to do a bit more amp tweaking than usual to find the sound/s that I was looking for. I thought the neck pickup was a bit muddy sometimes, but I’m sure that’s either: A) the cheap jap pickups installed in these guitars, or B) a characteristic of the guitar that I’m gona have to learn to live with and use productively.
-
Sound Quality Rating: 8
Construction
-
I’ve not had the guitar long enough to say much on this but it’s a Fender, so I can bet that it’s pretty reliable given frequent string changes and a polishing every now and then.
-
Construction Rating: 8
Name: Justin Saragoza
Band: 20,000 Leagues
-
Model Year: -----
-
Price Paid: $630
Performance
Nothing is easier to play than a short scale, low action Jag once you get used to it. The right hand lays perfectly for the fastest double picking. This import is very easy to play, fast & clean. A surf board for sure. It’s better playing than the 65 Jag the Lively Ones substitute guitar player is currently using. And it sounds better.
-
Performance Rating: 10
Sound Quality
This one has a tendency to feedback when playing through an outboard tank. It’s a high pitched squeal and rolling off the highs only destroys the sound of a Jag. But with some creative amp adjustments it carries the day. Be warned — these thing hum like crazy. Jags sound so unique that you have to find one you like. This one is awesome but could use better pickup. It doesn’t sound vintage.
-
Sound Quality Rating: 8
Construction
-
Every Jag seems to play and sound a little different from one to the next. I think this is because of all the guitars out there, the Jaguar is such a collection of screws, plates, bolts, and wood creating odd resonances throughout the instrument. This is its greatest asset but can be its greatest flaw. The neck is fast, the action is low, and the woods are top notch. The paint on this sunburst is flawless. The metal work is polished and no pits. The problem with it is the bridge. The screws that adjust it tend to back out when you lay into heavy surf double picking fury. So what has to be done is to keep an eye on them and when they back out use a lock tie solution to keep them in. The string alignment is close to coming off the bridge but through some magic trick Fender never revealed they stay pretty set. To get a good amount of travel on the tremolo you have to adjust the spring. This sometimes makes the lock useless. Once these minor things are taken care of the Jag can’t be touched for traditional surf.
-
Construction Rating: 10
Name: Zack
Band: Special Of The Week
-
Model Year: -----
-
Price Paid: $700
Performance
It plays great but somtimes I get fed up because of the strings coming out of place . Also, it’s kind of hard to find what setting some bands play on. For instance, NIRVANA the beginning of SMELLS LIKE TEEN SPIRIT. I can’t tell what way he has his lead sound on his Jaguar on because you have two diffrent sounds one is just louder and a bit bassier.
-
Performance Rating: 8
Sound Quality
-
I have a JCM marshall half stack but my DS-1 sound kinda wimpy even with the distortion turned all the up. I guess because my guitar only has single coil pickups.
-
Sound Quality Rating: 8
Construction
-
I had a wire come loose in a pickup one time.
-
Construction Rating: 8
links
Average Ratings
- Performance: 9.2
- Sound Quality: 8.2
- Construction: 9
Ratings Key
- 10: Excellent
- 0: Useless
Company
- Fender




