Just received a new Squire 70’s Jaguar today. I’m pleased with everything about it except one thing……the string spacing on the upper frets. As you can see in the photo there’s tons of room on the low E but hardly any on the high E side. The spacing at the nut is fine. The guitar plays okay except when I’m on the upper frets I have to really watch my fingering and have to sometimes adjust my normal playing style to keep the string from sliding off. I’ve heard the mustang bridges have wider spacing but when I look the photos on Sweetwater of the other 4 Squire Jags they have the spacing looks correct. Do you think I should send it back? I haven’t messed with trying to adjust the bridge or trem yet. Is there any play in the bridge holes to allow the bridge to slide side to side any? I’m probably going to eventually get a Staytrem which I’ve heard has narrower spacing but I’m wondering if the post holes were drilled incorrectly or is this something that can be easily remedied. Other than that I love the guitar. The frets are smooth, no buzzing, and it stays in tune well even with the 9’s on it and using the trem. I’ll change those out to 11’s though if I keep it.

Last edited: Jul 11, 2024 15:20:15

The nut spacing looks fine to me. I really don’t want to close that up anymore.

DeathTide wrote:

Because the nut looks normal, I would think the reason is that the neck is not exactly seated perfectly in the neck pocket. I've seen this on a few guitars, and the fix was simply to grab the neck around the 12th fret and pull it to the right position. It's probably bad for the guitar or whatever, but it's pretty impossible to tell how straight the neck is unless you have tension on the strings.

I thought about that because it would only need a tiny bit of movement to fix it. Maybe loosen the neck screws up a tad before trying to move it. I may try it unless someone can talk me out of it. I’ll wait for replies first.

symbiotic wrote:

Shifting the neck is the right solution here. Slack the strings first though, then loosen the neck screws just a bit, then tug the neck toward the bass side and retighten the neck screws. Almost all bolt-on guitars have at least a small amount of play in the neck pocket and can be assembled a tiny bit out of line.

Sounds good guys, I’m going to give it a shot.

Worked like a charm. Thank you everyone! I was dreading having to ship this thing back. Now time to put these 11’s on.

AgentClaret wrote:

I'd give that fretboard a little oil, too!

I just got a Vintera Jazzmaster a couple weeks ago and its fretboard was also very dry.

Yes it’s a little on the dry side for sure. I’ll give it some F-1 oil and will be polishing the frets too. Actually the frets are surprisingly very good as is and not scratchy at all. No high frets and no buzzes. I’ve had several Squires throughout the years and it’s always a crapshoot getting a good one. This is a good one.

BB_Bunny wrote:

Squiers have really upped their game in the last few years both in build quality as well as QC. They went from being the beater guitars for beginners to being a pretty respectable bang for your buck. They still tend to need a bit of setup attention, but my experience is that they're definitely not as bad as they used to be.

Right. The build quality on this one is impressive for the price point. The pickups even sound great. I’m shocked at how quiet it is. There’s zero hum on any of the switch combinations. It’s quieter than any other single coil guitar I own and even quieter than some of my humbucker instruments. I was thinking I would need to replace the wiring harness but I’m leaving as is for now. About the only thing I plan on doing in the near future is replacing the bridge with a staytrem. Of course that’ll probably take months to get here but this mustang bridge is playable.

Last edited: Jul 11, 2024 18:09:46

Boomerang wrote:

BB_Bunny wrote:

Squiers have really upped their game in the last few years both in build quality as well as QC. They went from being the beater guitars for beginners to being a pretty respectable bang for your buck. They still tend to need a bit of setup attention, but my experience is that they're definitely not as bad as they used to be.

Right. The build quality on this one is impressive for the price point. The pickups even sound great. I’m shocked at how quiet it is. There’s zero hum on any of the switch combinations. It’s quieter than any other single coil guitar I own and even quieter than some of my humbucker instruments. I was thinking I would need to replace the wiring harness but I’m leaving as is for now. About the only thing I plan on doing in the near future is replacing the bridge with a staytrem. Of course that’ll probably take months to get here but this mustang bridge is playable.

I bought a ‘70s CV Jaguar in early 2023, and the guitar is exceptionally good. I put an AVRI trem’ on it, a StayTrem arm and I love it. I have a custom Jaguar build from Warmoth parts that cost 6-7 times as much as the Squier, and to be honest, the Squier sounds as good and plays every bit as nicely as the Warmoth.

The artist formerly known as: Synchro

When Surf Guitar is outlawed only outlaws will play Surf Guitar.

synchro wrote:

synchro wrote:

Boomerang wrote:

BB_Bunny wrote:

Squiers have really upped their game in the last few years both in build quality as well as QC. They went from being the beater guitars for beginners to being a pretty respectable bang for your buck. They still tend to need a bit of setup attention, but my experience is that they're definitely not as bad as they used to be.

Right. The build quality on this one is impressive for the price point. The pickups even sound great. I’m shocked at how quiet it is. There’s zero hum on any of the switch combinations. It’s quieter than any other single coil guitar I own and even quieter than some of my humbucker instruments. I was thinking I would need to replace the wiring harness but I’m leaving as is for now. About the only thing I plan on doing in the near future is replacing the bridge with a staytrem. Of course that’ll probably take months to get here but this mustang bridge is playable.

I bought a ‘70s CV Jaguar in early 2023, and the guitar is exceptionally good. I put an AVRI trem’ on it, a StayTrem arm and I love it. I have a custom Jaguar build from Warmoth parts that cost 6-7 times as much as the Squier, and to be honest, the Squier sounds as good and plays every bit as nicely as the Warmoth.

BTW, the pickups and wiring seem to work perfectly.

The artist formerly known as: Synchro

When Surf Guitar is outlawed only outlaws will play Surf Guitar.

Boomerang wrote:

synchro wrote:

I bought a ‘70s CV Jaguar in early 2023, and the guitar is exceptionally good. I put an AVRI trem’ on it, a StayTrem arm and I love it. I have a custom Jaguar build from Warmoth parts that cost 6-7 times as much as the Squier, and to be honest, the Squier sounds as good and plays every bit as nicely as the Warmoth.

BTW, the pickups and wiring seem to work perfectly.

Can you tell me if the radius on the mustang bridge is 9.5 or 7.25? The reason I ask is the high and low E strings seem too low, like it’s a 7.25 bridge. Maybe it’s just me but when I adjust the outside strings to the height I think they should be then the middle strings seem too high.

I just checked, and according to my radius gauge, both the fingerboard and the bridge on my CV ‘70s Jaguar are 9.5” radius.

The artist formerly known as: Synchro

When Surf Guitar is outlawed only outlaws will play Surf Guitar.