Fender Jaguar Solid Body Electric Guitar (1966)

Fender  Jaguar Solid Body Electric Guitar  (1966)
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Item # 10430
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Fender Jaguar Model Solid Body Electric Guitar (1966), made in Fullerton, California, serial # 183558, Firemist Gold lacquer finish, alder body, maple neck with rosewood fingerboard, original black tolex hard shell case.

This stunningly beautiful golden early-CBS Jaguar shows only some very light wear for its 55+ years on the planet and remains in superb playing condition, a real showpiece from any angle. This instrument was the top-of-the-line Fender guitar available in 1966, a Jaguar finished in Firemist Gold. This was one of the more rarely ordered Custom Color in the mid-60s, compared to the reds, whites and blues. Of course any of these are far less common than the standard sunburst livery, and on the Jaguar in particular seems to really enhance the hot rod qualities of the instrument.

This guitar was built not quite two years after the Fender sell-out to CBS in January 1965, and is somewhat changed from a Pre-CBS example. The stamped neck date is October 1966 and the larger pots date to the 34th week of the same year. Typical '66 features include a bound fingerboard with the newly added pearloid block inlay (recently changed from dots) but still the old style lacquer finish on the body and the matching headstock. The pickguard is the newer white ABS plastic unit used only on Custom-Color instruments. Other features remained as before, indeed the Jaguar seems not to suffer sonically from the CBS management's interfering ways.

Even having undergone a revival of sorts in recent years the Fender Jaguar remains a somewhat under-appreciated guitar with several interesting features. The scale length is shorter than other professional-grade Fender guitars at 24", a feature designed to enhance playability. The twin-circuit wiring and floating vibrato are shared with the Jaguar's ancestor, the Jazzmaster but the guitar actually feels and sounds quite different.

The unique Jaguar pickups with the metal "claw" baseplate" are optimized for clarity and crispness, among the factors that led to it losing popularity in the late '60's as twang went out and distortion and crunch came in! Nevertheless this was the top-of-the line 60's Fender in 1966 and a very high quality guitar. Super clean and gleaming with its metallic gold finish this is simply one of the coolest and most striking Jaguars we have had.
 
Overall length is 40 in. (101.6 cm.), 14 in. (35.6 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 2 in. (5.1 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 24 in. (610 mm.). Width of nut is 1 5/8 in. (41 mm.).

This is a very clean and original guitar, showing only very light superficial wear and no serious alteration or repair. The ageing of the clear lacquer overcoat over the metallic gold base has actually enhanced the golden glow of this guitar. On blue or red instrument this process tends to distort the color somewhat, but here it has worked to the instrument's advantage! The finish has only very light wear, mostly buckle marks through the clear coat on the back (one larger spot looks touched up a bit) and some very small random dings. The neck and frets also show very little wear, in fact the guitar does not appear to have been played very much over the last 55 years.

All hardware is original and complete except the mute is disabled; the post that extends beneath the lever plate to engage a spring plug has been removed and there is no foam on the baseplate, which is screwed down hard to the body. This could be restored if desired, but we have yet to meet a 21st century player that actually wants to use this feature. All other hardware including the original bridge cover and trem arm are intact, and the original case and hang tag are also present. This golden Jaguar is truly a stunner visually, but also a very fine playing and sounding example of Fender's sleek chromed 1960's hot rod. Overall Excellent Condition.