In my experience, a split coil of a humbucker is not going to give you the same sound as a regular Jaguar pickup. You can still get some surfy sounds that way, but not the same.

Personally I'd go for the 60s Vintera model (I like the radius and frets on those, so it's not an issue to me). You can always change the neck and the pickups later on to make things more to your liking, but with the HH model, you'd likely have to do heavy modifications to change to standard Jaguar pickups.

IceratzSurf wrote:

Thanks EdwardSand.
I tend to agree with you about the modifications to the HH likely not worth the investment in the long run.
The 60s Vintera shown is in the running with only the 7.5rad fret board my reservation. Will be different than all of my other guitars at 9.5 or flatter.
I can use the vintage tall frets rather than med jumbo without issue

It’s a pretty personal thing I guess, cause I switch between 7,25, 9,5 and 12 on my guitars seamlessly, however surely prefer 7,25. Concerning neck profile I am more sensitive, just cannot play thin necks but ok with any deep C, V, or U. I would vote for Vintera, cause you may get used to it’s neck but these HH guitars as for me no good for surf. Coils splitting also sucks for me.

Waikiki Makaki surf-rock band from Ukraine

New Single is out!

https://waikikimakaki.bandcamp.com/album/rhino-blues-full-contact-surf-single

Waikiki Makaki

https://linktr.ee/waikikimakaki

Lost Diver

https://lostdiver.bandcamp.com
https://soundcloud.com/vitaly-yakushin

IceratzSurf wrote:

I realize this post might be repetitive and I have researched the site for more information.
I'm in the market for an affordable Fender Jaguar, probably a MIM.
American versions are just not available anyways and not sure when.

The 60s Vintera model seems like it will have the tone for Surf.
But the HH modified has the preferred neck and med jumbo frets 9.5rad.
So my question is..will split HH even come close to the single coil ?

Any other opinions on these?
Quality?
I do have a Tele Baja and 60s Strat both MIM and with a few upgrades and my own 'neck treatment" I am pleased with the quality...for my budget.
I am hoping however to not have to upgrade the PU in either Vintera 60s model I choose.
Thanks in advance for any feedback.

I had one of the Vintera Modified Jaguars. The HBs, when in single coil mode, are pretty decent sounding, but won’t get you to the exact same place as a set of Jaguar single-coils. The neck radius and the frets were great, right out of the box, but I did have to do a basic setup, before the guitar was truly playable. To the best of my recollection, the bridge and trem on the modified models are different, too. It had a tune-o-matic bridge and the trem was closer to the bridge, to increase the break angle and put more downforce on the bridge.

I ended up sending mine back, mostly because I couldn’t live with the Surf Green finish, which doesn’t fit in with a collection of red, black, orange, maroon and natural-finished guitars. It stood out like a sore thumb, and I realized that I would never accept that appearance. Had I kept it, the plan was to swap in a set of Jag’ single-coils and stock Jaguar switching, etc.

I probably will not buy another Jaguar. I use a Gretsch for Surf, and it seems to work pretty well. When I absolutely require a single-coil sound, I use a Tele.

The artist formerly known as: Synchro

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

I hate it when you cannot easily adjust the truss rod from the headstock. I prefer the Squier Jags.

If I was going to buy an affordable Jag, I'd get this one: https://reverb.com/item/64022118-fender-jaguar

Squier 60s Classic Vibe in Charcoal Frost Metallic

Tqi wrote:

I'm a Spark loyalist but I respect your choices.

Now it’s 429 euro and I cannot sleep)

Waikiki Makaki surf-rock band from Ukraine

New Single is out!

https://waikikimakaki.bandcamp.com/album/rhino-blues-full-contact-surf-single

Waikiki Makaki

https://linktr.ee/waikikimakaki

Lost Diver

https://lostdiver.bandcamp.com
https://soundcloud.com/vitaly-yakushin

I like it.

The artist formerly known as: Synchro

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

Tqi wrote:

What have we done!? We've created a monster!

This is really cool, both that you love your baby and that you adopted another.

Glad to have helped, and I can answer your "why" question: Sonic Youth, Nirvana... But I also prefer it with single coils. If I needed humbuckers I'd buy a Jagmaster! Actually it's kind of sad that they make all these bizarre variants under the original names rather than say - making a Fender Player Jaguar (Classic Vibe specs but fancier) and a Fender Player Jagmaster. Then they make the "Bullet Mustang HH" - gosh darn it, that's a Cyclone!

Anyway... do you have plans to do any tweaks to the VM, or is it staying original?

Need to decide on the Seymour Duncan PU only. Try it out in different amps.
What are others experiences with the VM setups?

Yes I think I knew about the 90s bands tweaks to cheap second hand Jags which spurred the rebirth of these Jag models.
Fender jumps back on board with the trend and offers these franken-guitars to appeal to that wanna-be crowd.
Nothing wrong with that.

But the real vintage design is probably more sought after by home alone players like myself, who just want the old vintage sounds.
Look at Gibson Les Paul's, hardly ever changed and continue to offer models of earliest designs.
Except that Robot year...that was weird..

I gave the Jaguar HH a try, split coil does not equal single coil ever.
The 9.5 neck was important to me as I do now suffer from hand fatigue.

Tqi wrote:

We do not talk about the robot tuner year!

We don’t even talk about talking about the robot tuner year.

The artist formerly known as: Synchro

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

Please talk me out of buying it!

Waikiki Makaki surf-rock band from Ukraine

New Single is out!

https://waikikimakaki.bandcamp.com/album/rhino-blues-full-contact-surf-single

Waikiki Makaki

https://linktr.ee/waikikimakaki

Lost Diver

https://lostdiver.bandcamp.com
https://soundcloud.com/vitaly-yakushin