May Birthdays 
Thanks to the infecting Jaguar obsession of "some" 
of the members here, my guitar collection has just grown by %200 (excluding the VI), so kinda bigger deal for me...
I usually regard guitars of this level as out of reach fantasy. That's why I only had one, wonderful "Thin-Skin" Jazzmaster, that I lucked out buying (6 years ago?) when it had a reasonable price. Now that AVRI's are exceeding $2000 I still believe that if you can, DIY'ing would be the best value for money. I got started on this project (and maybe will do it someday) but then came this unbelievable deal.
After taxes and UPS fees I paid almost half of what I'd have paid for importing one from America.. Or build one for about the same final expense. That's a MIM Fender locally.
Also, maybe naively, I was readily expecting a cardboard box since they didn't even advertise it comes with a case, but it does! A very cool black. One of the case's locks' tongue came broken. But it's my win psychologically! 
The Jag is neither heavy nor light, has some small blems near the neck pocket. Other than that, it's a total new Fender celebration.
Case candy as usual, a shiny new prospect, a good (but not great 
) wipe cloth, a pack of 11 flats (I'm not into self-cutting...), while it came strung with 10's.
Mute unit had to go right away, bridge reversed, it's playable. I wanna check the shim situation, and put a 13-52 set. Then decide if I'm keeping the bridge or replace it with a Mastery (which I'm very happy with on my JM).
The tremolo is excellent. I bent the arm for an appropriate access angle, and added a small angle/dent for the collet. Spring action is nice and tight. Perfect.
The guitar as a whole feels solid. Hardware is American metal, the bridge, tuners and buttons are all stable and snug. A very lively, singing, jangly instrument. Strong attack, a whole bunch of buzzing and resonance from everywhere. Extremly playable and very exciting. I enjoy it so much I haven't even plugged in yet! Neck is no less than amazing. Satin back, love it! Love the feel, the frets, the dimensions. It looks great, even if not the most striking wood. I also like the headstock plain and not matched, in this case.
The color is of my childhood dreams that I didn't know I had. Perfect shade of Sonic-Blue. Real vintage lookin'. Advertised as "FSR", Fender says it's a very thin layers of Nitro (probably not unlike the "Thin-Skin" series), with even less buffing. The lacquer seems to have sunk into the grain, and the wood texture is delicately apparent. Lovely.
An amazing instrument at any price. Premium stuff. Offsets are fun! I'm extremely grateful to hold this.
Next day, I'll plug into reverb and amp, and we'll see if this is the immaculate surf machine it appears to be. I do not plan to mutilate my hands with those pesky 10's, so it may be a short session, until I receive my Pyramids.
Hope you enjoyed this emotional drivel.
Amor y Paz!
Last edited: Jun 14, 2016 08:21:10
