Fender Jaguar Solid Body Electric Guitar (1963)
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Item # 11511
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Fender Jaguar Model Solid Body Electric Guitar (1963), made in Fullerton, California, serial # L06109, sunburst lacquer finish, alder body, maple neck with rosewood fingerboard, original black hard shell case.
This veteran second-year Fender Jaguar shows some serious wear from decades of play, but offers a super vibey feel and a world of classic twang. The Jaguar debuted in spring 1962 as Fender's new top-of-the line guitar, supplanting the Jazzmaster. The shorter scale and flashy chrome-accented look quickly made it a serious status symbol for many combos in the early '60s, not only California teen bands but also period country players and even many Chitlin' Circuit R&B acts.
This Jaguar has a neck dated June 1963, a little over a year after the first ones rolled off the line at Fullerton. Typical early features include an unbound rosewood fingerboard with clay dot inlay, deep blended 3-color sunburst and gold "transition" Fender logo decal. The bridge, trem system and quirky rhythm circuit were continued on from the Jazzmaster, with pickup selection now controlled by a bank of slide switches on the treble side. Each pickup has an on/off switch, while the third is a "strangle" switch that cut lower frequencies. This all combines to make the "Jag" a flexible guitar with a lot of sonic options.
The Jaguar's scale length at 24" is shorter than the other pro-grade Fender guitars, the same as the student-oriented Mustang, Musicmaster and Duo-Sonic. Combined with the Jazzmaster floating tremolo unit this means the guitar is very supple to play but performs better with heavier gauge strings. The two single-coil pickups have metal "claws" underneath the coil and are optimized for clarity, punch and crispness. This combination of factors caused the Jaguar to fall from popularity in the late '60s as twang went out and string-bending with heavy distortion and crunch came in!
Nevertheless these are still the top-of-the line '60s Fenders; quite popular when new and extremely high quality guitars. Despite a strong recent revival, the Jaguar remains a historically under-appreciated guitar. This is a very well-played guitar, definitely someone's gigging instrument for some time and still a great-playing and sounding Jag. We often find the earlier Jaguars to be the pick of their litter and especially good instruments; this one is no exception.
Overall length is 40 in. (101.6 cm.), 13 7/8 in. (35.2 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1 5/8 in. (4.1 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.)., 8.09 lbs.
This is a VERY well-played guitar, a true relic showing evidence of long use but still remaining largely original. The only notable repair is the neck pickup has been perfectly rewound to the original spec by Norio Imai, New York's Fender whisperer and sounds perfect. This means some solder joints have been redone, and beyond that the volume pot is a later replacement.
While there is quite a bit of wear overall, the finish does not have large areas missing as is sometimes found on heavily-used Fenders. The sunburst is not heavily faded and there is not too much checking, mostly lateral lines on the body. There is a large collection of dings, chips and scrapes overall. There are deeper wear spots through the lacquer occasionally into the wood in numerous places, most heavily to the upper rim of the body and lower side, especially on the lower treble bout.
The back of the neck is heavily worn down mostly to the bare wood and feels fantastic, with that classic "old Fender" vibe. The headstock finish is somewhat "smoked" with some minor dings and dents; the decal is fully intact. The frets appear original with a decent amount of wear; mostly below the 5th fret. They are still fully playable but if the guitar is to be heavily gigged some further work would be in order. The fingerboard itself is relatively clean.
The chrome shows general wear overall but all hardware is complete and intact except for the snap-on bridge cover which is long gone. The Trem arm remains original, as do all bridge components.
This Jag lives in an early black Tolex case that appears original to the guitar, although these are usually seen starting in 1964, this is fairly common; many guitars with components dated 1963 were not actually sold from the dealers until well into the next year or beyond. All-in-all this is a great sounding early Jaguar, ragged but right, the sort of genuine relic you just can't create artificially, although folks are constantly trying these days! Overall Very Good + Condition.
This veteran second-year Fender Jaguar shows some serious wear from decades of play, but offers a super vibey feel and a world of classic twang. The Jaguar debuted in spring 1962 as Fender's new top-of-the line guitar, supplanting the Jazzmaster. The shorter scale and flashy chrome-accented look quickly made it a serious status symbol for many combos in the early '60s, not only California teen bands but also period country players and even many Chitlin' Circuit R&B acts.
This Jaguar has a neck dated June 1963, a little over a year after the first ones rolled off the line at Fullerton. Typical early features include an unbound rosewood fingerboard with clay dot inlay, deep blended 3-color sunburst and gold "transition" Fender logo decal. The bridge, trem system and quirky rhythm circuit were continued on from the Jazzmaster, with pickup selection now controlled by a bank of slide switches on the treble side. Each pickup has an on/off switch, while the third is a "strangle" switch that cut lower frequencies. This all combines to make the "Jag" a flexible guitar with a lot of sonic options.
The Jaguar's scale length at 24" is shorter than the other pro-grade Fender guitars, the same as the student-oriented Mustang, Musicmaster and Duo-Sonic. Combined with the Jazzmaster floating tremolo unit this means the guitar is very supple to play but performs better with heavier gauge strings. The two single-coil pickups have metal "claws" underneath the coil and are optimized for clarity, punch and crispness. This combination of factors caused the Jaguar to fall from popularity in the late '60s as twang went out and string-bending with heavy distortion and crunch came in!
Nevertheless these are still the top-of-the line '60s Fenders; quite popular when new and extremely high quality guitars. Despite a strong recent revival, the Jaguar remains a historically under-appreciated guitar. This is a very well-played guitar, definitely someone's gigging instrument for some time and still a great-playing and sounding Jag. We often find the earlier Jaguars to be the pick of their litter and especially good instruments; this one is no exception.
Overall length is 40 in. (101.6 cm.), 13 7/8 in. (35.2 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1 5/8 in. (4.1 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.)., 8.09 lbs.
This is a VERY well-played guitar, a true relic showing evidence of long use but still remaining largely original. The only notable repair is the neck pickup has been perfectly rewound to the original spec by Norio Imai, New York's Fender whisperer and sounds perfect. This means some solder joints have been redone, and beyond that the volume pot is a later replacement.
While there is quite a bit of wear overall, the finish does not have large areas missing as is sometimes found on heavily-used Fenders. The sunburst is not heavily faded and there is not too much checking, mostly lateral lines on the body. There is a large collection of dings, chips and scrapes overall. There are deeper wear spots through the lacquer occasionally into the wood in numerous places, most heavily to the upper rim of the body and lower side, especially on the lower treble bout.
The back of the neck is heavily worn down mostly to the bare wood and feels fantastic, with that classic "old Fender" vibe. The headstock finish is somewhat "smoked" with some minor dings and dents; the decal is fully intact. The frets appear original with a decent amount of wear; mostly below the 5th fret. They are still fully playable but if the guitar is to be heavily gigged some further work would be in order. The fingerboard itself is relatively clean.
The chrome shows general wear overall but all hardware is complete and intact except for the snap-on bridge cover which is long gone. The Trem arm remains original, as do all bridge components.
This Jag lives in an early black Tolex case that appears original to the guitar, although these are usually seen starting in 1964, this is fairly common; many guitars with components dated 1963 were not actually sold from the dealers until well into the next year or beyond. All-in-all this is a great sounding early Jaguar, ragged but right, the sort of genuine relic you just can't create artificially, although folks are constantly trying these days! Overall Very Good + Condition.