This is very useful if a string brakes during a gig, as the remaining strings would not go out of tune. In addition, the mechanism could be locked by pushing a little flap behind the bridge.
Not great for dive-bombing, but very pleasant for the shimmering vibrato effect that made this such a popular guitar in the Surf music scene. Through a combination of springs, plates, levers and a bridge that rocked back and forth, the guitar supposedly maintained its intonation better with the vibrato in use. John Frusciante, who played a Jaguar on Under The Bridge, agrees. Again evolving from the Jazzmaster, Leo Fender considered this his most sophisticated vibrating bridge. But what most distinguishes this guitar is the bridge system. The Fender Jaguar had a short, 24” scale length, giving it an overall rounder tone than its Stratocaster sibling, despite using very similar pickups. And there is also a “strangle switch” on the lead circuit – this removes some of the low frequencies, giving the guitar a more glassy, thin tone.Īll in all, the Fender Jaguar has eight switches and dials to play around with! You can check out this interactive guitar to get your head round it… The “ rhythm” channel uses only the neck pickup and routes the signal through a bunch of capacitors and resistors that result in a dark, mellower sound.Ĭrucially, each circuit has its own tone and volume controls, allowing you to preset both channels independently and simply switch between them.The “ lead” channel is brighter and more aggressive, allowing for any pickup combination.This wiring configuration includes two independent circuits, each with its own characteristics:
Both instruments share the ergonomic, “offset waist” body shape, as well as a dual-circuit control system.
It’s essentially a redesigned Jazzmaster, borrowing heavily from its iconic predecessor. The Fender Jaguar was introduced in 1962 as Fender’s feature-laden flagship model. The standard Fender Jaguar has no humbuckers (some models do), but it certainly offers a wide variety of sounds and effects – as well as plenty of buttons!Ĭheck this out! You not only hear the tonal diversity, but also the hard-to-define round, percussive sound: The tonal bandwidth that a guitar offers becomes an important factor, as relevant as tone, playability and style.įor example, switching pickups can dramatically alter your guitar’s tone. Single-coils will give you the brighter, twangy sounds. But at the flick of a button, a rounder, fuller tone can be achieved with a humbucker. Similarly, adding a coil shunt (this bypasses one of the humbucker’s coils, effectively turning it into a single coil) is a very simple way to open a new sound colour to your guitar’s arsenal of sound. It allows us to play around with as many different sounds as possible. This article looks at guitars with lots of features, especially the Fender Jaguar. A friend at university had a Fender Jaguar, and I was always jealous of the tonal possibilities that lay at his fingertips. This appeal has several reasons: the excitement of pressing a button and finding out what it does the versatility that these options promise and it makes me feel a little like James Bond in his Aston Martin, controlling a musical equivalent of the ejector button. I’m always fascinated by guitars with lots of knobs and buttons. Is the Jaguar a “Jack of all trades, but master of none”?.Not great for dive-bombing, but very pleasant for the shimmering vibrato effect that made this such a popular guitar in the Surf music scene.You can check out this interactive guitar to get your head round it….