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Jaguar basses: how are they?
- Thread starter spud1200
- Start date
Well, this probably isn't what you're looking for, since you've already been playing for five years, but I have the squier vm jaguar and I love it to death (regardless of it being my first and only bass 
) I cant imagine the fender would be any less impressive 
) I cant imagine the fender would be any less impressive 
My first real bass was a Jag I bought 5 or so years ago (sort of in the position where you are). For the value (you can get one for $500 easy) they are one of the best basses on the market. Very unique and versatile. The neck is small and fast (if you have small hands, you'll love it). The only downside is generally the shielding is shoddy in them for some odd reason (they buzz out of the factory). Probably due to the way they're constructed. Some would complain about the neck dive too but I gird up my loins for such things. Plus they look good.
I haven't played a Fender Jag, but from looking at them, it seems that the bridge pickup is pretty close to the bridge. If that's your thing, you're good. I don't notice any neck dive with my Squier Jag. Maybe I'm not as sensitive to the tendency to dive?
I like mine a lot. It's noisy and the control setup is a little goofy, but I find a lot of color and variety in the preamp and so forth, and it has a good, fast neck. It does require a bit more adjustment than the other basses I've owned, but they take so easily it's not much of an issue.
Oh, and it also has a sort of "kill switch", the third pickup switch on the bottom panel can be used to kill all pickups. Pretty useful if you're not near an amp or in trouble. I can't think of any other Fender bass of the top of my head that has such a thing (I'm sure there are a few, but I can't think of any).
Invalid Link Removed, assuming you're talking about the original Jaguar bass (the OP isn't clear).
You can turn them both off with the two individual on/off switches, though.
Assuming you mean the original, not as good as they'd be minus about a pound of superfluous electronics.
Otherwise, they're OK -- better typical build quality than the MIAs.
Yes, there has to be a certain combo to get it work but it's quite easy. And yes, I was talking about the original one.
- Oct 7, 2000
- 18,619
- 38,939
- Disclosures
- Endorsing artist: Musicman basses
I love my Jaguar. I've owned a bunch of Fenders and that's the only one I held onto except for my recent Tele which I'm kinda digging too. IMO the sheilding MUST be done on the Jaguar, but the good news is it's easy to do. There are very detailed directions in the "dang noisy jaguar" thread here. All you need to know how to do is use a screwdriver. The copper tape I bought on ebay for a couple of bucks. Anyone can do it. If I couldn't quiet that thing, I wouldn't have kept it... but without the buzz, the bass is sweet. Sounds really woodsy and sits perfectly in the mix for me, and the active option opens up a lot more doors. Great action, neck, and looks too IMO. I feel the bass has a lot more character than a P or J.
This is almost exactly the same exact situation I got mine. It was my first solid bass. The shielding, like everyone said, is a very good idea to get done. I'm not bothered to much by a little noise since when you play you don't hear it as much. The switches are cool just to play with, and the bass just looks sexy. It is fast, and the quality is tremendous.
Only if you can remember it! I'm not sure I reliably could.
I'm ambivalent about the Jaguar, but I think the odds are I'll dump mine.
Initially, I thought the bass was another one of Fender's silly gimmick instruments and beneath contempt, plus I thought it was unattractive-to-hideous in the originally available colors.
Then it showed up in 3CSB and I thought it was more attractive, but I still didn't want it. Then there was an incredibly good sale on them at MF and after piling up a bunch of discounts on top of the sale price I got it for ~$430, purely out of boredom.
I just fell in love with it for a few days (which I did not expect) because of the excellent build quality until the noise problems (which I also did not expect) got on my nerves. I benched it and did the five-minute fix to establish shielding continuity to the upper control cavity and squared away the mickey mouse battery connection.
I was going to put flats on it, but realized that like other Fender toploaders, Fender flats wouldn't fit properly on the E, somewhat worse than usually, so I just put it away and haven't played it since. I played it maybe two or three hours, total.
I have two problems with it:
1: All those crappy and excessive electronics, though they can be switch-bypassed (how completely and effectively, I don't know).
2: The super-skinny neck, which I can't feel comfortable with in terms of long-term stability. This is probably not a real issue, but I'm still spooked by the necks going bad on the early GLs, which had, I believe, quite similar dimensions.
Do you mean letting the Series/Parallel switch sit half way between the settings? Thats what I do on mine. In that twilight zone area it essentially works as a killl switch. Thats what I assumed you meant at first.
"Has to be a certain combo" . . .
What do you mean? A combination of turning both pickups off?
I love mine... just got it a few weeks ago.
If your amp is grounded then don't expect the loud buzzing. The bridge pickup solo is a bit weak though.
If your amp is grounded then don't expect the loud buzzing. The bridge pickup solo is a bit weak though.
I've had my Jaguar for 4 years, and I think there are some design issues.
*With a bridge pickup that close to the bridge and no V-V or blend control, you end up having these radically different settings that you can't fine tune. I get the concept is to have "several basses in one bass", but a lot of these tones are not that useful and I'd personally be better off with a jazz bass.
*The onboard preamp is noisy and tonally useless. (IMO) There's only boost, and too much of it.
*A thin neck is nice in some ways, but I can bend the neck with my left hand without any effort. It just doesn't feel solid.
*With a bridge pickup that close to the bridge and no V-V or blend control, you end up having these radically different settings that you can't fine tune. I get the concept is to have "several basses in one bass", but a lot of these tones are not that useful and I'd personally be better off with a jazz bass.
*The onboard preamp is noisy and tonally useless. (IMO) There's only boost, and too much of it.
*A thin neck is nice in some ways, but I can bend the neck with my left hand without any effort. It just doesn't feel solid.
I played the fender a few weeks ago and i honestly like my squier jag better! I love the fender neck, but it ends there! The pickup location on the squier is much better and the p&j combo seems to be not only more versitle but more powerful? I like simple electronics & squier shines here, too many silly switches on the fender. Im no expert on preamps, but i can tell you the preamp on my epiphone Thunderbird, blows away this fender, perhaps the fender i played had a preamp issue? If you want the fender, go for it, but play a jazz before you make the deal,jmho, good luck!
- Oct 7, 2000
- 18,619
- 38,939
- Disclosures
- Endorsing artist: Musicman basses
Unless you're talking about the new ones, which I don't know anything about and might possibly not buzz, the above is not true. It's got nothing to do with the amp being grounded. If yours is an old one, maybe the person before you did the copper tape mod. These things buzz, badly, if ya don't fix em.
I have a Squier VM Jag special, it plays very well but the pup's and pots are not that good at all. I've herd the regular VM Jag and the Fender Jag are good though.
I'm not going to say it doesn't buzz; they are single coils after all.
But I gigged with it and the ground lifted the annoying buzz. I jammed with one of my band where there wasn't ground and it was unbearable.
- Jan 28, 2009
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- Owner: Moonshine Custom Guitars
I got a HHR Fender Jag a couple off years ago; loved the look & feel, but could never come to terms with the noise & the overall sound (I'm more of a P bass guy). I ended up selling it because I never used it, but I did find myself missing it.
I had the chance to pick up another one last fall at a good deal (It was one of those "new, refurbished, factory second" deals; it had a repaired spot in the finish).
I bought it with the plan to swap out the front J pickup with a P model (I used a Seymour Duncan SP3). I also shielded it:
I am pleased with the results; The bass still has a lot of output; I usually keep it in passive mode, but I did use the active electronics at a recent Church gig.
I really like the bass & have gotten a lot of comments about it, but I have gone back to mostly using my passive P basses. Still, I really like the way the Jag looks.
Moonshine
I had the chance to pick up another one last fall at a good deal (It was one of those "new, refurbished, factory second" deals; it had a repaired spot in the finish).
I bought it with the plan to swap out the front J pickup with a P model (I used a Seymour Duncan SP3). I also shielded it:
I am pleased with the results; The bass still has a lot of output; I usually keep it in passive mode, but I did use the active electronics at a recent Church gig.
I really like the bass & have gotten a lot of comments about it, but I have gone back to mostly using my passive P basses. Still, I really like the way the Jag looks.
Moonshine
