SQUIER JAG SHORT SCALE; ANY REVIEWS?

[Mike H]

In addition to my week-old Squier Jag SS, I have had an SX SJB-62 Short Scale 3TS for about three years.

The fit, finish and general workmanship on the Squier are quite a bit better than on the SX. The Squier is considerably lighter, too, coming in at about 6.7 lbs. to the SX's 8.5. A little neck dive is present in both, but I think that this is because of what are in essence headstocks which are oversized for the instruments, i.e. pretty much the same size as a full-size P or J instrument. (My SX has the old Fender-style headstock).

I agree with the many who have said that the P pickup on the Squier is quite outstanding but that the J lacks cojones. The pots and wiring are better in the SX; I have a StewMac Jazz wiring kit on hand which I'll drop into the Squier. The bridge pickup on the SX definitely has more audible oomph than its equivalent on the Jag. If I decide to let the SX go, a swap of the bridge pickups would be obvious, convenient, and likely.

I put D'Addario Chromes on both, and the extra tension seems to have affected the Squier neck a bit more than the SX, increasing the relief enough that I'm going to have to tighten the Squier's truss rod slightly. I don't recall having to do this to the SX.

At about 100.00 + s&h/tax, the SX is great value for the money, but did require a full setup and quite a bit of fretwork (all of which I did/can do myself). Overall, I think that the Squier's street price of about 170.00 + s&h/tax represents a greater value, but the light weight is extremely important to me. (Others have said that their Jags weighed over 8 lbs, so YMMV.) So, on balance, I like them both, but the Squier has the edge.

Mike Harrison
Toronto Canada
Squier Jaguar SS Bass #20

 

[SBassman]

Good point about the weight.

Regarding your statement about SX wiring being better: doesn't the VM Squier have shielding? I could have sworn someone had posted that he some some shielding in the cavity. No SX I owned had any shielding.

My Jag doesn't make a drop of noise.

 

[Mike H]

Regarding your statement about SX wiring being better: doesn't the VM Squier have shielding? I could have sworn someone had posted that he some some shielding in the cavity. No SX I owned had any shielding.

I was speaking of the quality of the wiring materials, not whether or not there was any shielding. I did actually put some shielding in the control cavity and in the neck pickup cavity of the SX SJB-62 SS. Hard to gauge whether or not it helped. I'm planning on using copper tape in the Jag SS.

My Jag doesn't make a drop of noise.

That's to be expected with the P (neck) pickup, but your J (bridge) pickup doesn't hum when soloed? Amazing. Totally unprecedented, in fact. Congratulations.

Mike Harrison
Toronto Canada
Squier Jaguar SS Bass #20

 

[selowitch]

It's expected that the Squier will be superior to the SX in general. You get what you pay for in this case.

 

[SBassman]

That's to be expected with the P (neck) pickup, but your J (bridge) pickup doesn't hum when soloed? Amazing. Totally unprecedented, in fact. Congratulations.

Well, I don't solo my J pickup.

 

[Orangeclawhammr]

I've had my Jag for three weeks. I took up bass when retired, so you know that I am old. I am a small guy with small hands and arthritis in my fingers. Therefore, I have found that I prefer short scale basses.

I also have an Epiphone Viola bass with flat wound strings, a Cort GB 34a (regular scale), a Sky AGB, and have a Peavey Grind on loan to the child of a friend who plays DB and wanted to try an electric bass. I have a GK MB 115 and have played it though a vintage Fender Bassman with two 15" speakers. One of my friends played it through a LIne 6 Studio 110 with the Rock setting, so I've heard it through three different amps.

I mainly play as a solo performer at open mics and have started practicing with a band. Who knew that you could play bass with other musicians? With my experience, I did not think I was qualified to write a review that would be helpful to anyone. I think that any of the ones already written here plus the one at Harmony Central say it all. But I had to put in my two cents, anyway.

I prefer natural or sunburst finishes, so, naturally, I got the red one. It is gorgeous. It matches the outfit my wife just bought. Too bad she doesn't want to play bass. I thought I found a flaw in the finish on the back where the neck and body meet. It turned out to be dust. I do not know if the store I got it from did any work on it, but it arrived with no fret buzz save from my less-than-perfect technique. The action seems to be perfect for me. You would think they set this up for me when I bought it at the store, but I bought it mail order.

I love the feel of the strings. They are much smoother than on the Peavey, which I also bought new. They do squeak a bit. I don't know if that is something intrinsic to that type of string, something that will disappear as the strings break in, or an artifact of my technique.

I can not comment on the quality of the J pickup. I play with the P pickup up full and mix in the J one to suit whatever mood I'm in. Same with the tone control. I like simple controls. I think VVT on a bass with two pickups is about as simple as it gets.

I had two friends with more bass playing experience than I try this bass. One of them wants one. His wife's gonna kill me. He does not think it has the tonal versitility of my Cort, but managed to get a slap sound out of it that I couldn't get. OK, I never tried because I don't care for that sound, but you can get it if you want it.

As to the "neck dive"; the reviewer on HC accurately described it as "neck leveling". With a leather strap, I notice a slight pull. I use a nylon strap because the one I have is black and red, a perfect match and have no real problem. With the light body and Fender style headstock, I don't know how they could have avoided this. It seems that you can have either a light body or perfect balance, but not both. It ain't like my Viola. The neck on that one heads straing for the floor with anything but a leather strap.

So is it perfect? No, but what is? Can you beat it if you want a great short scale bass? No, unless you want to put out some big bux. I have no idea how it compares to a Fender Mustang, much less a Landing or Birdsong, but I can not justify the expense of those instruments.

This got kinda long, didn't it?

 

[SBassman]

I've had my Jag for three weeks...
I prefer natural or sunburst finishes, so, naturally, I got the red one. It is gorgeous...
I had two friends with more bass playing experience than I try this bass. One of them wants one. His wife's gonna kill me...
As to the "neck dive"; the reviewer on HC accurately described it as "neck leveling"...
So is it perfect? No, but what is? Can you beat it if you want a great short scale bass? No, unless you want to put out some big bux...

Great review. Thanks for taking the time to post it.

 

[Mike H]

Well, I don't solo my J pickup.

Then I guess it's not unusual. My Jag "doesn't make a drop of noise" either if, for example, I don't plug it in. 8-/

Mike Harrison
Toronto Canada
Squier Jaguar SS Bass #20

 

[Orangeclawhammr]

Great review. Thanks for taking the time to post it.

You're welcome. It was fun to write.

I could have gone into the differences between it and my other basses, but I don't hear many differences between it and my Cort, but the Cort, having a heavier body, balances better. The Viola bass has chrome flats, which may contribute to its totally different sound than anything in the bass, itself. The Viola is a more comfortable if you are sitting on the couch playing because of the small body, but holy neckdive, Batman! I like all of my basses for different reasons, but the Squier is my favorite.

 

[Journey55]

I was about to get P-Bass today for $150 but the seller backed out, and I've been really hankering for the P-Bass tone, then I came across this which looks really promising, so I figure I'd ask you guys since it's my understanding that you could simply turn the volume of the Jazz pickup down, so it'd just be the Split Pickup right? I'm trying to get tone like Mike Dirnt's and this seems like a really good prospect for it.

 

[Stev187]

...so I figure I'd ask you guys since it's my understanding that you could simply turn the volume of the Jazz pickup down, so it'd just be the Split Pickup right?

Right. That's one of the best things about a P/J setup. My son has this bass, and it has a very nice P-Bass sound when you dial back the J pickup. That's the most recorded bass sound of all time.

--Steve

 

[Mike H]

The bridge pickup on the SX definitely has more audible oomph than its equivalent on the Jag. If I decide to let the SX go, a swap of the bridge pickups would be obvious, convenient, and likely.

This talk of P pickups reminds me that I also have a real Fender Precision pickup dated 6-13-66 that's been sitting in a drawer collecting dust for over 35 years. I'll bet it would sound pretty good in the Jag SS!

Mike Harrison
Toronto Canada
Squier Jaguar SS Bass #20

 

[Nordic Groover]

Hi all,

Currently have a Squier modified 70's jazz and a Hofner CT 30" violin bass. Totally converted to the wonders of short scale, and looking to replace the Squier Jazz with either a Fender Mustang 30", or one of the new Squier Jaguar 30" instruments.

A local store has the Mustang in stock, so I will have a chance to check it out in person next week, however nowhere locally stocks the Squier Jaguar 30" as yet.

Has anyone played both of these beasts, and can offer some comparison? My main concern is actually the degree of neck-dive or top-heaviness of each instrument. My only complaint about my otherwise awesome Hofner CT is that it is incredibly head/neck-heavy (to the point I'm considering adding weights to the bottom end of the instrument to balance it out).

While I'm at it, any suggestions for reducing the neck-dive problem on light basses in general?? Currently using a thin leather strap with shoulder pad on the Hofner, in the "traditional" strap-around-body-under-fretboard configuration.

Cheers!

 

[selowitch]

While I'm at it, any suggestions for reducing the neck-dive problem on light basses in general??

1. Replace the tuners with lighter ones, such as Hipshot Ultralites;
2. Add a heavier bridge; or
3. Realize that neck dive is no big deal.

 

[Nordic Groover]

*sigh*

Which colour do I buy? :-(

 

[selowitch]

*sigh*

Which colour do I buy? :-(

Black, because a bass with a matching headtock for under $200 is too good to pass up.

 

[Nordic Groover]

Hehehe... I was leaning to the black, and partially for that very reason, selowitch.

A lot of people seem enthused with the silver, though, it seems...

 

[Mike H]

Black, because a bass with a matching headtock for under $200 is too good to pass up.

+1

(Besides, the silver looks like a Honda and red is for girls.)

Mike Harrison
Toronto Canada
Squier Jaguar SS Bass #20

 

[Nordic Groover]

The red is definitely cool... if you have more X chromosomes than I do... I think black it shall be... found a local store with them in stock for $250 AUD ($260 USD) which is (unusually for here!!) cheaper than buying from the US and shipping it.

 

[Mike H]

The red is definitely cool... if you have more X chromosomes than I do... I think black it shall be...

+1

found a local store with them in stock for $250 AUD ($260 USD) which is (unusually for here!!) cheaper than buying from the US and shipping it.

Yikes! I paid 169.99 CDN (178.55 USD; 164.62 AUD), so 250.00 AUD (271.18 USD by at today's rate) seems outrageous!

In any case, I suggest that if at all possible you try as many as you can, because there have been a lot of variations reported in weight, neck dive, and other factors. Best of luck!

Mike Harrison
Toronto Canada
Squier Jaguar SS Bass #20