Fender Jaguar Bass...

[paulcorboy]

Has anyone any experiences with the Fender Jaguar Bass - good or otherwise?

 

[Viggo51]

I have a Japanese version with active electronics. I had to shield the cavities and regrounded the bridge because of HUM, also added a KickAss bridge. It’s a nice playing bass once I got it dialed in. Jazz profile Neck is nice.

 

[paulcorboy]

I have a Japanese version with active electronics. I had to shield the cavities and regrounded the bridge because of HUM, also added a KickAss bridge. It’s a nice playing bass once I got it dialed in. Jazz profile Neck is nice.

Thanks for the reply. Was the original setup quite bad?

 

[okcrum]

Probably better in the BG forums. There's a long thread about Jaguars there.

 

[Bassmingo]

I have a 2015 Mexican standard PJ Jag. If it was the only bass I owned I'd probably love it, and as it stands there's nothing really wrong with it, but I also own a 2005 Mexican standard P with a dimarzio model P, and it really smokes it in every way. The P just feels and plays better to me. Adding the dimarzio was the clincher so I'll be putting a dimarzio PJ set in the Jag next chance I get.

 

[rockscott]

I owned a squire vm jaguar a fender modern player jag. Both very nice basses. The vm had decent Duncan pickups and the mp had a beautiful maple neck!

 

[Viggo51]

Thanks for the reply. Was the original setup quite bad?

The bass had been sitting for a long time and I always do a fresh string change setup and put a high mass bridge on any fender I buy that doesn’t already have one, the bent metal bridge is garbage IMO. The shielding paint in these (Active Japanese not MIM) are a joke and these will make all kinds of grounding noises unless you shield them.

 

[CallMeAl]

I tested a new Player jag, very nice bass. Anything with Precision pickups and a Jazz neck catches my eye. I like the simplicity of the Player jag; I much prefer that to all the switches on a typical jag

 

[lug]

I have the original Japanese model. Never had the noise problems that most seem to have. Love the neck once I got used to it (neck is TINY!)

 

[Michael Jewels]

I tested a new Player jag, very nice bass. Anything with Precision pickups and a Jazz neck catches my eye. I like the simplicity of the Player jag; I much prefer that to all the switches on a typical jag

I agree with you, alanloomis1980, regarding the simplicity of the controls on the Player Jags.

I don't need another bass (Ha!) but about a month ago, I went to Sam Ash in Manhattan to see what they had, and the first bass that I took off the wall was a Player Jag in Sonic Red, which is supposed to be a close-out color.

I like the P pickup, and the J, but what I really liked about it was how nicely the two pickups blended together; the P pickup didn't overpower the J. Add in a Jazz width neck, and it was very tempting.

Then, I played a Vintera 50s P-bass.

What a difference in tone. Deeper and mellower.

But the Player Jag is a very nice instrument.

Mike

 

[micguy]

I had one in my shop recently - an active one. It wasn't that old, but the electronics had given up, and the owner wanted something....different. It got new pickups (hum cancelling - it's for use in a studio, so lack of hum was a big plus), and with all the switches on the thing, I managed to come up with a circuit that used some of that stuff, and made it very versatile. So, I see it as a good platform for modding - of course, I do that for people all the time, but in this case, most of the stuff it had on it was re-purposeable, so it was a good starting point for a custom wiring.

 

[CallMeAl]

I agree with you, alanloomis1980, regarding the simplicity of the controls on the Player Jags.

I don't need another bass (Ha!) but about a month ago, I went to Sam Ash in Manhattan to see what they had, and the first bass that I took off the wall was a Player Jag in Sonic Red, which is supposed to be a close-out color.

I like the P pickup, and the J, but what I really liked about it was how nicely the two pickups blended together; the P pickup didn't overpower the J. Add in a Jazz width neck, and it was very tempting.

Then, I played a Vintera 50s P-bass.

What a difference in tone. Deeper and mellower.

But the Player Jag is a very nice instrument.

Mike

The one I looked at was Tidepool, very sharp color. I played it when I was looking for a P, didn’t pay too much attention to the balance; but I remember it felt and sounded great, I played it for quite a while, couldn’t put it down!

 

[RodneyM]

I had an early one. Cool and kinda kitsch bass I suppose. Balance was an issue for me.

 

[Wfrance3]

I had a squier VM special for a couple years. The passive one with '62 Jazz VVTT setup. Very light and versatile bass. I sold it and probably shouldn't have...
I currently have a 5 string Squier Jag that is also quite good. I had the fretboard worked over and it's a player for sure. Little heavy if that sort of thing bothers you.it's just under 11 lbs...

 

[Ric5]

There are lots of different Jaguar basses

 

[Ric5]

 

[Hank Scorpio]

Tried out a Player Jaguar bass in Tidepool at a local shop once, just to pass some time before an appointment - got so carried away playing it, I was nearly late! It was a very well put together instrument.

If it had a 1.625" nut width, it'd be sitting here in front of me now. Can't get on with Jazz necks. It did influence me ultimately picking up a Player Precision, and a roasted maple P neck from the same range.

Well worth a look at, imo

 

[Silky Johnson]

I love my Japanese model, and I love the switches, series/parallel is a sick feature. Mine is stock except I added separate volume for each pickup but left the switches intact. I like the inlays, the vintage tint gloss, and the vintage size tuners. All that chrome

 

[bongostealth]

I have never been into Fenders BUT the Jaguar is awesome! I only wish they had offered a 5-string version other than the 5-string Squier.

 

[Ronzo]

I got two Squier Jags - VM Special Humbucker and VM Special P/J - within the last month:

Still in the honeymoon phase, but I like both of these a lot! The hot preamp has me making some adjustments to my input gain settings, but it’s not difficult to get right. The necks on both fit me just right. I love the ergonomics of Fender offsets - always liked the Jazzmaster/Jaguar/Jazz Bass look and feel - and these basses don’t disappoint. The 3-band EQ on the HB is very useful, and the StingRay-esque tones I’m getting are satisfying. The P/J sounds like a meaty P sound with some J flavor, and the active bass boost very occasionally finds some use.

I’m enthralled by the neck feel on both. 2/3 of a turn on the truss rod, and it all fell into place on both instruments. 1.75 mm action at the seventh fret, and 2.0 mm at the fifteenth fret. No buzz.