Tell me about Jaguars

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So, I asked my good lady if she would marry me, she agreed, and I need to buy her a ring etc. Several years ago she told me she would buy me a Fender Jaguar as a return engagment offering as I've always wanted one, but never had the spare money to get one...

At the moment I have a ten year old Epiphone Les Paul copy which although I like, I've never loved it - the tone is too dark and muddy for the music I like to make for guitars, which is quite often MBV influenced - plus it doesn't have a tremelo arm! When I record something which requires one I resort back to my first guitar, a really cheap Strat. Getting a new guitar will allow me to reclaim much needed space in the flat by flogging off these other two electrics.

I understand that although MBV used both, they leaned more towards Jazzmasters, but for whatever reason I've always prefered something about Jaguars, so a Jaguar I think I'll have.

I understand that Jaguars are not without their problems, but I'm willing to live with that because they look so good...

It seems the current reissues are available in both Japanese and American versions, but the state's ones cost over twice as much (£1000 vs £500) and I would have to find half the money for the more expensive model. So, It will probably be the Japanese ones unless they are of a massively lower quality, but my assumption is that £500 guitar should be a decent build quality for my needs (no gigging, occasional home recording, idle strumming).

What are your thoughts?

― Chewshabadoo, Friday, 2 March 2007 12:25 (nineteen years ago)

they feel and sound great, but my experience is that they are a nightmare to keep in tune.

― electricsound, Friday, 2 March 2007 12:27 (nineteen years ago)

Yep, that's the main problem I've heard! I'm not too bad at retuning though, so it's not too much of a problem as long as it stays reasonably in tune for the 10 minutes or so it takes to record a take... Might sound quite interesting going out of tune during the duration of a song for shoegazey type stuff too!

― Chewshabadoo, Friday, 2 March 2007 12:56 (nineteen years ago)

The Japanese ones are NOT of a massively lower quality. For tuning stability you need heavier strings than the ones it will be supplied with. Put 11s on it and you'll have no problem. You can really wang the trem on my Jazzy and it's rock solid - should be the same on a Jag, even tho it's shorter scale.

FWIW - my experience is limited to Jazzmasters (I've played but never owned a Jag) but the basic bridge design and floating trem is the same on a Jag and I have read lots that indicates that the set-up issues are the same.

I don't know how easy it is to get shoegazy tones out of a Jag - I've always thought of them as more garage/surfy, but I could be wrong. The Jazzmaster will give you some really great moaning 'whalesong' type tones on the neck pickup with various amounts of overdrive - so if you're really serious about wanting MBV type sounds, maybe you should try a Jazzy too.

― Dr.C, Friday, 2 March 2007 13:44 (nineteen years ago)

OK, I was worried you might say that! thanks for the info, I hate light strings anyway,so heavier strings aren't a problem.

I haven't stepped into anywhere selling guitars for years so I'm not sure how easy it is these days to find somewhere with both in stock - but maybe the GAK in Brighton might have both.

However, while I like the MBV sound, I maybe don't neccesarily want the exact same tone - I think the floating trem is what I'm after for the woozy effect. Being a contrary bugger I'm also a fan of fall/beefheart type tinny sounds and I'm currently trying to mix in that sound with minimal techno (don't ask!)

― Chewshabadoo, Friday, 2 March 2007 14:31 (nineteen years ago)

Well best of luck! And congrats! Don't know about GAK - might be worth a trip up to London.

And honestly don't worry about the quality of the Japanese models, they are unbelievably well put-together. Beautiful necks, set-up and finish quality.

― Dr.C, Friday, 2 March 2007 14:37 (nineteen years ago)

Oh and you can get great garagey tinny sounds out of the Jazzmaster too - on the bridge p/u or both together. With a bit of delay and light overdrive it sounds amazing for garagey riffing.

Just to keep your options open....

― Dr.C, Friday, 2 March 2007 14:40 (nineteen years ago)

Although the Jag has the strangle-switch which cuts low frequencies. That might make for a good tinny garagey sound.

― Dr.C, Friday, 2 March 2007 14:51 (nineteen years ago)

Loads of good advice from the Dr. Thanks!

― Chewshabadoo, Friday, 2 March 2007 15:04 (nineteen years ago)

Congrats on the engagement!

― TOMBOT, Friday, 2 March 2007 18:05 (nineteen years ago)

There might be some way to access the Jazzmaster thread from a while back. Alot of useful info there.

― Windy G Moisture, Friday, 2 March 2007 18:49 (nineteen years ago)

[Removed Illegal Link]

― John Justen, Friday, 2 March 2007 23:44 (nineteen years ago)

Hah. Apparently ILX can't link to ILX.

― John Justen, Friday, 2 March 2007 23:44 (nineteen years ago)

[Removed Illegal Link]

― John Justen, Friday, 2 March 2007 23:45 (nineteen years ago)

WTF?

― John Justen, Friday, 2 March 2007 23:46 (nineteen years ago)

Do a google earch for a the URL then post the link to that google search.

― Windy G Moisture, Saturday, 3 March 2007 00:16 (nineteen years ago)

Fuck it, just copy and paste this:http://www.ilxor.com:8080/ILX/ThreadSelectedControllerServlet?boardid=45&threadid=292

― John Justen, Saturday, 3 March 2007 01:12 (nineteen years ago)

I don't know how easy it is to get shoegazy tones out of a Jag - I've always thought of them as more garage/surfy, but I could be wrong.

[Removed Illegal Link]

― Steve Shasta, Wednesday, 14 March 2007 21:28 (nineteen years ago)

FUCK YOU FAULTY CODE

― Steve Shasta, Wednesday, 14 March 2007 21:29 (nineteen years ago)

Dr. C, that is the strangest thing i've ever heard!

copy/paste: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=my+bloody+valentine

― Steve Shasta, Wednesday, 14 March 2007 21:30 (nineteen years ago)

Yeah I forgot that MBV used both. But I have little experience of a Jag myself, and I KNOW what I can do with a JM.

― Dr.C, Thursday, 15 March 2007 15:16 (nineteen years ago)

I've never played a Jazzmaster, but I use a Jaguar as my main guitar and I love it to death. Don't believe all the stories about it being a quirky guitar that is hard to keep up, etc. You just need to know how to set it up right. Check out the jag-stang site for a FAQ on how to set it up. The main thing to remember is that you do need to use thicker strings (like 11s minimum) otherwise they do have the tendency to either jump off the saddle or buzz. I think that most new Jags ship with 11s now.

You can get a lot of different kinds of sounds out of it via the switches from very thin to to jangly to thicker sounds. The floating tremolo is awesome, but if you don't like it, it's simple to turn off. I will say that it has a slightly more attack-oriented sound with what sounds to me like a slightly less-emphasized sustain, but you can fix the sustain with some creative compressing.

― William Selman, Thursday, 15 March 2007 21:44 (nineteen years ago)

You're absolutely right about the Trem - I think it's just fantastic. I just can't use a Strat trem now - it just seems so stiff and crude.

Also - yes, as I said on the JM thread, putting 11s on will cure most ills. I have no rattles now and have not had any grub screws work loose on the bridge.

― Dr.C, Friday, 16 March 2007 12:58 (nineteen years ago)

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