Crayon Sky Music

I’m thinking about buying a fender jaguar (HH) or the 62 reissue or jazzmaster-Anyone know the difference?

I play in a band, we’ve only really just started and we play kasabian, arctic monkeys, oasis songs, so we arent writing anythng yet-i’m 16, so anyone wanna give me some reccomendations.

The Jaguar and Jazzmaster are two different models with some significant differences even thought they look similar.

The Jazzmaster has the normal Fender scale length (length of the strings/neck) of 25.5″, like most of their other models. The Jaguar has a scale length of 24″ so the neck is a bit shorter and the frets are a bit closer together.

The Jazzmaster has 2 wide and flat single-coil pickups that give it its distinct tone. The ’62 RI Jaguar has 2 single-coil pickups that look more like a Stratocaster’s, but with a bit more bite. the Jaguar HH model instead has 2 humbucking pickups like an Gibson Les Paul or SG so the tone is very different and you won’t get the same clean sound but it will handle heavy rock/distortion tones better (although there’s no reason why a single coil guitar cannot be used in this way).

There are two Jaguar HH models – the Japanese Jaguar HH Special and the Classic Player Jaguar HH. the Japanese model only comes in black in the UK and has a fixed stop-tail bridge like a Gibson Les Paul. The Classic Player model keeps the vibrato unit and is available in other colours. It has some circuit trickery that allows you to split the humbucking pickups into single-coil pickups so there aer lots of tonal possilibities.

The ’62 reissue Jazzmaster and Jaguar models have a vintage correct 7.25″ radius fretboard with medium frets, whereas the Classic Player Jaguar HH has a 9.5″ radius fretboard with medium-jumbo frets – more of a modern spec that many people find easier to play on, but others find the vintage radius is nice too, like myself.

The Classic Player Jaguar HH has a ‘tunomatic’-style bridge like a Gibson Les Paul instead of the original Fender bridge and the vibrato unit is closer to the bridge. This is designed to help improve string tension over the bridge which on the vintage re-issue models can be an issue unless it is properly set up and lead to strings popping off the saddles.

There are several different models and variations:

JAZZMASTER:

American ’62 RI Jazzmaster – US made vintage correct reissue, approx £1200.

Japanese ’62 RI Jazzmaster – Japanese made equivalent to the US model. Approx £600. Hardware is a little lower quality but still good. The main issue is that the pickups are not correct and are in fact more like Stratocaster pickups underneath. Many people change to more correct pickups instead. This model is a very good option if you are not willing to spend the money for a US model but still want a vintage reissue model. I have one of these and it’s great. Not officially sold in the UK but they can be found, usually 2nd hand.

Classic Player Jazzmaster – Made in Mexico. Approx £500. A modern revision of the original with a 9.5″ radius neck and larger frets. Hot P90-like pickups, tunomatic bridge and repositioned vibrato unit.

JAGUAR:

American ’62 RI Jaguar – US made vintage correct reissue, approx £1200.

Japanese ’62 RI Jaguar – Japanese made equivalent to the US model. Approx £600. Hardware is a little lower quality but still good. Unlike the Jazzmaster model, the pickups are correct but quite a lot of owners still upgrade them becasue the standard ones tend to produce unwanted feedback.
Not officially sold in the UK but they can be found, usually 2nd hand.

Japanese Jaguar HH Special – Japanese-made special model. Only available in black in the UK, with chrome pickups and hardware and black pickguard. this model does not have a vibrato unit, instead it has a stop-tail hardtail bridge like a Gibson Les Paul or SG.

Classic Player Jaguar – Made in Mexico. Approx £500. A modern revision of the original with a 9.5″ radius neck and larger frets. Humbucking pickups that can be coil-tapped (split into single coils) using what would have been the rhythm circuit controls on the upper horn. Tunomatic bridge and repositioned vibrato unit.

I own a Japanese 62 RI Jazzmaster and the quality is really good, though I have upgraded it a lot to my specs.

I’ve played the Classic Player Jag HH in a shop and it felt good, well made and sounded nice. I’ve heard some quality control issues with these in forums so I would recommend trying one in a shop or making sure that if you buy online there is a returns policy. It’s unlikey though that you will have a problem but it would be good just in case.

I would say try the Classic Player Jaguar HH as it seems to fit your influences, is great value for money and is perhaps more versatile.

Fender jaguar american vintage 62′ Surf Green