A very interesting essay on the original intent of these offset guitars, disguised as a gear review:

http://www.jag-stang.com/Reviews/review.php?id=209

Danny Snyder

"With great reverb comes great responsibility" - Uncle Leo

I am now playing trumpet with Prince Buster tribute band 'Balzac'

Playing keys and guitar with Combo Tezeta

Formerly a guitarist in The TomorrowMen and Meshugga Beach Party

Latest surf project - Now That's What I Call SURF

That guy is clearly someone who makes uninspired and borrowed/pilfered music.

It really doesn't matter what those guitars were made for. Just that people like to play them. They tend to lend themselves nicely to several genres.

I maintain that Jaguars were made for Shoegaze, not Jazzmasters though since they were too early for shoegaze.

1) The Jazzmaster and Jaguar were purposely designed to be used by Jazz and surf rock guitarists; they were never designed for rock/pop/grunge/shoegaze/alternative rock; Fender had already designed the Telecaster and Stratocaster that had captured the imagination of rock/pop guitarists. Hence, they made the Jazzmaster and Jaguar to target a different section of the guitar market.

"Captured the imagination of rock/pop guitarists". I find that sentence to be utterly precious.

2) With this in mind, the bridge and floating tremelo on the Jazzmaster and Jaguar were designed to be used with Flatwound strings only, as are used in Jazz/surf rock; 11 gauge minimum and the heavier the gauge the better. This fact alone eliminates bridge rattles and unwanted movement immediately. They were NEVER designed for standard nickle/steel wound strings etc as are commonly used today, which creates all the buzzing and movement on the bridge/neck.

These guitars, if properly setup have absolutely zero problems, although the bridge is flawed because of how little contact the bridge makes with the body, which is part of how people get unique tone with these guitars. The reviewer really just needs to learn how to setup a guitar. Doesn't anything rattle? Yes? Then make sure it doesn't. Problem solved.

3) Flatwound strings produce a very warm and thick tone, hence the reason why the Jaguar and Jazzmaster are equipped with 1MEG pots and produce a sharper sound, this is to purposely balance out the excessive 'deadness' of Flatwounds. Of course if you do not use flatwound strings, then the Jazzmaster and particuarly the Jaguar sound excessively sharpe in tone; wrong string choice is again the problem.

So... Fender made the guitar for flatwounds but thought they sounded dead so they put in 1 MEG pots to make them sound like roundwounds would? Unlikely.

4) The low E,A,D strings on Flatwounds are extremely thick and bassey, hence the reason why the Jaguar is purposely built with a Bass-cut slide switch, which when in use thins out the tone for the purpose of playing lead. If you use Flatwound strings the bass-cut slide switch is a perfectly sensible and welcome switch that does not make the tone unuseable and too thin, only if you use very light or standard strings does the switch not make sense when in use.

See above...

5) The Jaguar's so called 'short-scale' neck was designed with the aim of making playing heavy gauge flatwound strings easier, particuarly for bending at standard/concert pitch as is commonly used in Jazz. Also, the Jaguars shorter scale's reduction in string tension, was not considered a problem because the heavy gauge of Flatwounds was still strong/heavy enough to make the bridge rattle/movement free.

I just dont' think this is why Fender chose the 24" scale length for the Jaguar. And 24" is not short, 25.5" is just as long. And If Jags/Jazzs are made for Flats and the Jag has a 24" scale length to make it easier to play, why was the Jazzmaster given a 25.5"... to make it difficult to play with flatwounds? I thought it was designed to have flatwounds?

6)The rythmn section on the Jazzmaster and Jaguar is so warm in tone because it was designed for Jazz/big band style music and played in this style sounds perfect for rythmn playing.

But flatwounds are "so bass heavy" already. Why the need for the rhythm section? And you switched on the bass cut for lead and you switch on the rhythm section for rhythm, what is inbetween?

7) The mute assembly on a Fender Jaguar is purpose built for muting over long periods, as in Surf Rock and sometimes Jazz, it is not designed for short periods of muting that require quick changes, hence it is very easy to use for the purpose for which it was designed. Also, the mute is only meant to deaden the strings by tounching them lightly, and needs to be set correctly to avoid pushing the guitar out of tune as many people complain about; if your mute pushes the guitar out of tune it is set too high on it's upward movement, or your string gauge is too light, or you are not using Flatwound strings as are a must on Jazzmasters/Jaguars.

Terrible invention, great idea... I just had to point that out.

Vintage Jazzmasters and Jaguars had saddles that had deep and wide grooves in them that were excellent for the heavier gauge of Flatwounds. It is only modern-day Japanese reissues (and to a lesser extent USA vintage models) on which the bridge saddle grooves are to shallow and narrow, which leads to the problem with strings/saddles popping out during bends. This problem is once again further compounded by the use of light roundwound strings, that are not suitable for Jazzmasters and Jaguars because they are not heavy enough and do not sit in the saddles properly because they are roundwound. Flatwound strings do reduce to a significant degree problems with saddles, because they sit in them much deeper and are much smoother when using the tremelo. If the reissue Jazzmasters and Jaguars saddles were made as the originals then there would be no problem in this area.

He is right, but have any of you ever bent a string out of the saddle?

JakeDobner
And 24" is not short, 25.5" is just as long.

I follow most of the points in your post clearly enough, but I don't get this. 25.5 is "just as long as" 24? Are you saying that 24" qualifies as a long scale, and that a long scale is a long scale is a long scale, i.e., no practical difference? Or have I just missed the point entirely?

there is a 10 part guitar Center concert series of Dick Dale in California somewhere and I remember Dick Dale telling him the strings he uses.
He uses Blue Steel rounds. there made specially to not break!!!!

MissingLink

JakeDobner
And 24" is not short, 25.5" is just as long.

I follow most of the points in your post clearly enough, but I don't get this. 25.5 is "just as long as" 24? Are you saying that 24" qualifies as a long scale, and that a long scale is a long scale is a long scale, i.e., no practical difference? Or have I just missed the point entirely?

Most every other guitar company uses 24.75 as their standard scale or somewhere near, Gretsch is 24.6. Halfway between 24 and 25.5.

This 'article' seems to mostly be conjecture with some bs liberally thrown in, but, I do agree on one point after playing JM's (vintage ones) for years...

Heavier gauge strings, IME, do tend to work better with the stock bridge. Also, .11's on a Jazzmaster feel like .10's on a strat or tele. I tend to play .12's (rock and indie stuff) on my JM and .11's on my tele.

I have and do use .10's on JM's sometimes, and they work fine - but, I have definitely experienced more issues with buzzing and saddle movement with lighter strings.

One thing to keep in mind is where you set the bridge when setting up the guitar - most people want to float it in the center, but, IME it is much better to cock it all the way back, thus creating a slightly deeper angle for the strings. The trem still works great this way. Just my .02 cents.

BT

rotnroby
There's really no need for flats on a Jag or a Jazzy it's just a choice you can make... I use flats because I love the feel and tune..

Exactly!

no troll here, but do any pro jazz players use a jaguar or even a jazzmaster? I thought it was a genre geared very heavily towards hollow body and semi-hollow body guitars.

WaimeaBay
no troll here, but do any pro jazz players use a jaguar or even a jazzmaster? I thought it was a genre geared very heavily towards hollow body and semi-hollow body guitars.

Mickey Baker used a Jazzmaster for a while. I think Joe Pass (?) used a Jag, but only because he was dirt poor and couldn't afford a real jazz guitar.

http://www.reverbnation.com/thedeadranchhands

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZEW74mHjQk

Not really... I know that Joe Pass jazz great played a Jaguar in the early 60s check you tube type in Joe pass plays a Jaguar.. It's really a cool video Joe's playing the Jag through a blonde Showman!