USA jaguar comparisons

jhalliday89

Interested in anyone's experience with the following guitars:

Fender Jaguar AVRI 62 or 65
Fender Jaguar USA 50th anniversary 
Fender Jaguar American Pro 

Both the 50th anniversary and the AM pro look to have the bridge much higher up the body for a better break angle and I assume better tuning stability. Out of the three I like the look of the 50th anniversary the most, but love the maple neck on some of the the AM Pro's, I know these aren't traditional jaguars but who doesn't make most of these modifications anyway... 

meltedbuzzbox

the bridge is in the same location on all models to keep the 24" scale length
Do you mean the position of the vibrato unit?

I've never played a good 62 AVRI so I would generally say avoid to those models. 
All the rest are alright. Coda usually have decent selection of Jags to get hands on with

jhalliday89

meltedbuzzbox said:

the bridge is in the same location on all models to keep the 24" scale length
Do you mean the position of the vibrato unit?

I've never played a good 62 AVRI so I would generally say avoid to those models. 
All the rest are alright. Coda usually have decent selection of Jags to get hands on with

Yes sorry, I did mean the vibrato unit. 
The AVRI looks the part for sure, but it has all the bits we all change and complain about on the jaguar.

barnstorm

I had a 50th Anniversary for a bit – build quality was fine but the finish on them is fragile. Any reason you're not considering the American Original or the Marr? The latter would be my first choice if I was looking for a Jaguar, and they're no more used than a 50th.

meltedbuzzbox

Every fender offset I've had has had the bridges and pickups swapped. 

JD50

The only thing that need attention on  jaguar is the bridge, everything else works as it should
I owned a Fender Japan Jag 20 years ago and now own an original from 64, great guitars.

jhalliday89

barnstorm said:

I had a 50th Anniversary for a bit – build quality was fine but the finish on them is fragile. Any reason you're not considering the American Original or the Marr? The latter would be my first choice if I was looking for a Jaguar, and they're no more used than a 50th.

Tried the marr a few weeks ago and I just didn't get on with the neck and the pickups at all. Seems pretty similar in spec to the pro so I imagine I might feel the same about it.

The guitar I currently pick up every day and play the most out of everything I own is a fender CIJ Jag from around 2001 - it has had all the usual mods done though. This is making me think the AVRI is the one to look for, but I'll be damned if I spend a grand on a second hand jaguar that I have to start fettling again, my two Japanese have taken years to get right.

jhalliday89

meltedbuzzbox said:

Every fender offset I've had has had the bridges and pickups swapped. 

Same, and it really does my nut in. 

jhalliday89

Any other jags worth hunting down to try? Japanese aside.

barnstorm

Fair enough. The AO is different again and might be worth a look if one comes up used near you, but it sounds to me like saving the money is the best option!

jhalliday89

barnstorm said:

Fair enough. The AO is different again and might be worth a look if one comes up used near you, but it sounds to me like saving the money is the best option!

Yes will peel my eyes for an AO I wrongly thought they were the same spec as an AVRI. 
Also very intrigued by the Kurt Cobain model which seems to have come down in price where available 

Gerz6558

I had an american original jag. Really good and no real need to mod it.  It felt a little nicer quality wise than the marr I had before it. Best jag I've had by a clear distance, and I've owned all sorts to compare.

You should definitely give them a go. I hope they release some new colours for them at namm next month.

Funkfingers

meltedbuzzbox said:

I've never played a good 62 AVRI

I have. I still own it.

Like some of the other contributors to this Discussion, I found it necessary to change the pickups, bridge, vibrato arm and collet.

meltedbuzzbox

Funkfingers said:

meltedbuzzbox said:

I've never played a good 62 AVRI

I have. I still own it.

Like some of the other contributors to this Discussion, I found it necessary to change the pickups, bridge, vibrato arm and collet.

I changed the lot on mine. Still played like a 10 lbs piece of shit
Im being slightly unfair but they are heavy and fairly lifeless (the ones I have played including JMs)
The 65 models seem a lot better

The best Jag I have played by a country mile is a Custom Shop. That includes multiple vintage examples and everything mij/cij/mim/USA

dannyboy82

Another vote for the AO series. I’ve got an ocean turquoise jazzmaster and it’s a stunner. Stick a staytrem on it and you’ll be good to go!

jellybelly

My AV65 is beautiful. Original bridge and pickups both fine but a set of Oil City pickups and Staytrem upgrades and it’s become most definitely the best guitar I’ve ever owned. 

My experience - I didn’t think the AVRI ‘62s I played were any better than the CIJs or MIM jags I've had or used. The AV65 is a step up and from what I can tell the AO is very much in that mould. 

Never played a Marruar though.  

Gerz6558

I think £1200 for a new surf green american original jag is a good deal at present. Going cheaper than the other finishes, wonder whether it's being replaced at namm.

jhalliday89

Gerz6558 said:

I think £1200 for a new surf green american original jag is a good deal at present. Going cheaper than the other finishes, wonder whether it's being replaced at namm.

Yes, it does look like a good deal... Shame I've got two in surf green hahaha. Hope they bring the sunburst price down some! 
The AM Pro's look like they can be picked up pretty cheaply at the moment too - just need to find a store with all in stock.

Can anyone shed any light on why the classic player jags are so damn expensive? I mean they look alright but even used prices I can almost get a second hand USA Instrument. 
I have no snobbery about Mex fenders btw I just can't stand the colour of a PF fretboard, ridiculous I know.  

Gerz6558

@jhalliday89 I had the surf green one, that colour has been done to death now. Chicago Music Exchange did a few limited runs in some decent colours with matching headstock, I can only hope Fender update them next year as its been a few years.

I also don't see why the classic players are so expensive, maybe they are popular. I think that turquoise vintera jag looks great for less, has a PF neck though.

I've had a real deal 64 jag, a marr jag and an avri thin skin. The american original was better than all of them.

simonhpieman

AVRIs getting a lot of hate! The one I had was stellar. The bridge pickup in those is one of my absolute faves and they're very well built. I've said before that it felt like one of the most quality guitars I'd owned.

Can I also add that I've owned 4 Jaguars in my time and have had no problems with the stock parts whatsoever: Squier, CIJ, AVRI and an original 1965. I will concede that the CIJ pickups were very microphonic but I enjoyed the sound very much at recording levels. Also had a 73 Jazzmaster with original partd and a parts Jazzmaster which used an AV65 bridge and pickups (the AV65/Pure Vintage pickups sounded killer to my ears, particularly if you raised them as high as you can get away with).

Edit: I've just remembered trying out an Oly white AVRI back when Chandler's had a shop. That one DID suck. But equally, I tried an AV65 when you could still buy them and that was pretty lifeless and uninspiring, too.

Loobs

I played a killer AVRI with a mastery bridge a few years ago. I think it had 12s on it. Sounded and played great, and I don't even like Jaguars that much.