Fender Jaguar

How the Jaguar came into being.

By the early 1960s guitar manufacturers knew that the solid body guitar was here to stay and many increased their productions of guitars.

Fierce Competition Between Fender and Gibson

At this time, competition was fierce between the Fender and Gibson manufacturers. Gibson tried very much to emulate the Fender guitar models. The Gibson Les Paul models had shorter necks and it was only in 1961 that Gibson changed to the lighter-weight SG type.

In 1963 Gibson introduced the Firebird series. Although there were other guitar designs, the competition was only between Fender and Gibson guitars.

In 1962, Fender produced the Jaguar, which was fourth in the top of the line standards.

What Are Its Special Features?

The body of this Fender guitar was similar to that of the Jazzmaster. It had smaller pickups, a different type switching, there was more chrome and the neck was short - about 24 inches long. It had an extra fret which gives it a total of twenty-two frets.

The instrument was fitted with the floating tremolo and a bridge that had a built-in mute. There were three switches which were placed onto a chrome plate at the lower half of the pickguard. The three switches: one was used for tone modification and the other two for on and off purposes.

The Jazzmaster and this new model both had the preset rhythm circuit but the Jaguar had a separate tone and volume control. The single coil pickups fitted were narrow and tall and each was surrounded with a metal ring which eliminated the hum. The metal ring did also have an effect on the magnetic field under the strings. This was in contrast to the Gibson guitars which were then using humbucking pickups. These pickups had a higher impedance and had more output than the Fender Stratocaster pickups.

There were several drawbacks. These included the contour of its body, the muting and the bridge covers which interfered when strings were to be muted. The mechanical muting caused a problem with guitar players as it was difficult to dampen the notes and getting ringing notes was difficult. Compared to the earlier Fender guitars, this model did not have much of an attractive design.

Jaguar Lost Out to the Stratocaster

If this instrument was equipped with the same type of vibrato as the Fender Stratocaster, it would have surely taken a different route in the surf music scene. As the Stratocaster got more prominence in the surf music scene, the Jaguar began to slowly fade off.

Who Endorsed It?

Dick Dale who played on a Stratocaster influenced thousands of music enthusiast to purchase Fender guitars. Surf legend Dave Myers owned the Jaguar and so did surf Queen Kathy Marshall. Kathy Marshall's technical abilities on the guitar were phenomenal and she was only thirteen years old when she was at the height of her career.

Many professionals began endorsing the guitar. Names like Roy Lanham, Mary Kaye, Paul Guma and Pete Fountain all endorsed this model. The musical Bye Bye Birdie gave the instrument a tremendous lift.

In 1963, Producer George Sidney had asked Fender to build custom guitars and basses for his movie that featured rock and roll star Conrad Birdie, who was about to be drafted into the army. In the movie, Jesse Pearson who starred as Birdie, was given a black model fitted with gold plated hardware which also had a gold leaf scroll design on the body. The Beach Boys' Carl Wilson played on one of these guitars and in the 1980s, Mick Jagger used one on his American tour.

click here to go to the top of Fender Jaguar

click here to return to Ultimate-Guitar-Playing Homepage