ShortScale.org

portugalwillie wrote:

hotrodperlmutter wrote:CRAP

I thought you liked the ones we saw at the music store? The jazzy was nice and I didn't notice any sharp frets.

The jazzmaster was nice, but that's not the guitar Mitch asked about. The jaguar was crap. Shitty crap. The tort was shit, the neck was way too fat, and that fucking strat jack was stupid as hell.

The jazzmaster was very nice, and looked ok with the strat jack.

Easy fix:

Sigh. As a guitar in its own right i'm sure its great and good value. But it is'nt a Jaguar and i still cant believe they called it that.

I agree with Hotrod, the jaguar's are straight crap. They are worth $150 at most.

Billy3000 wrote:

honeyiscool wrote:I'd just get a Jagmaster.

I used to own one of the newer model jagmasters and I hated it. It was a piece of garbage. It sounded like crap and while it was comfortable to play, it just never really felt right, it's hard to explain, it just lacked something. There was no life in it. These jaguars and jagmasters are much nicer than the jagmasters.

I completely disagree. I played the jag, jazz, and jagmaster side by side, and the jagmaster felt better in every way.

I don't think anyone saw my comments from the main thread since I got the last post on a page.

"I finally got to sit down and play these along with the CV teles and even a Jagmaster. Here's my impression. Keep in mind this is only my opinion.

The Jaguar and Jazzmaster are both made in Indonesia. It's been my experience that Indonesian made Squiers LOOK good, but usually feel pretty cheap. Things like sharp frets, uneven finish...ect. They also use some really light woods, that IMO make the guitar feel cheap. Unfortunately, these are no exception.

First I played a sunburst jag. The body finish was ok. There were knots in the wood, and some joint lines. The neck has a TON of finish on it. If you think MIJ necks are kinda plasticy, you will probably hate this. There was some uneven finish spots on the back bottom of the neck. The fretboard seemed dry and made of low quality wood. The whole guitar felt light, and pretty poorly made. The bridge was tilted all the way back, so I'm guessing that's how they come from the factory. I seem to remember the tuners feeling pretty cheap. Overall I was not impressed.

Next I played a butterscotch Jazzy. It felt much better than the Jag right away. If I HAD to get one or the other it would be this. The body finish seemed better, although I wish it was a little bit see-through. The neck also has a ton of finish on it, but the maple fretboard felt better. The pickguard is one ply, and looked horrible. Crudely cut with unsanded and uneven edges. Over all it was better than the Jag, but still not great.

There was a Chinese Jagmaster right there, so I picked it up. I was really surprised by how much better it felt than the first two. Its definitely heavier. I held it next to the Jag, and I swear everything about the Jagmaster felt better. If it was a true shortscale it would be a no brainer choice.

I also played the sunburst/rosewood and white/maple CV teles, and they are FAR superior to the jag and jazzy. I freaking LOVE the sunburst one.

I've modded a lot of guitars, and honestly I don't know if the jag and jazzy are really worth it. They both need some work for sure.

So take all that for what you will."

rlm2112 wrote:

Billy3000 wrote:

honeyiscool wrote:I'd just get a Jagmaster.

I used to own one of the newer model jagmasters and I hated it. It was a piece of garbage. It sounded like crap and while it was comfortable to play, it just never really felt right, it's hard to explain, it just lacked something. There was no life in it. These jaguars and jagmasters are much nicer than the jagmasters.

I completely disagree. I played the jag, jazz, and jagmaster side by side, and the jagmaster felt better in every way.

I don't think anyone saw my comments from the main thread since I got the last post on a page.

"I finally got to sit down and play these along with the CV teles and even a Jagmaster. Here's my impression. Keep in mind this is only my opinion.

The Jaguar and Jazzmaster are both made in Indonesia. It's been my experience that Indonesian made Squiers LOOK good, but usually feel pretty cheap. Things like sharp frets, uneven finish...ect. They also use some really light woods, that IMO make the guitar feel cheap. Unfortunately, these are no exception.

First I played a sunburst jag. The body finish was ok. There were knots in the wood, and some joint lines. The neck has a TON of finish on it. If you think MIJ necks are kinda plasticy, you will probably hate this. There was some uneven finish spots on the back bottom of the neck. The fretboard seemed dry and made of low quality wood. The whole guitar felt light, and pretty poorly made. The bridge was tilted all the way back, so I'm guessing that's how they come from the factory. I seem to remember the tuners feeling pretty cheap. Overall I was not impressed.

Next I played a butterscotch Jazzy. It felt much better than the Jag right away. If I HAD to get one or the other it would be this. The body finish seemed better, although I wish it was a little bit see-through. The neck also has a ton of finish on it, but the maple fretboard felt better. The pickguard is one ply, and looked horrible. Crudely cut with unsanded and uneven edges. Over all it was better than the Jag, but still not great.

There was a Chinese Jagmaster right there, so I picked it up. I was really surprised by how much better it felt than the first two. Its definitely heavier. I held it next to the Jag, and I swear everything about the Jagmaster felt better. If it was a true shortscale it would be a no brainer choice.

I also played the sunburst/rosewood and white/maple CV teles, and they are FAR superior to the jag and jazzy. I freaking LOVE the sunburst one.

I've modded a lot of guitars, and honestly I don't know if the jag and jazzy are really worth it. They both need some work for sure.

So take all that for what you will."

to each his own, or perhaps you played a really nice jagmaster. But the one I owned was light as hell... alarmingly light. I wouldn't even notice it when I played it standing up. I like light guitars and all, but this was toooooo light. The pickups were garbage. It sounded dead. The body and neck didn't seem to resonate at all when I played it so it just felt lifeless. I like to be able to feel the sound ringing through the guitar when I play it, and that didn't happen at all with the jagmaster. It was a little better with the jazzmaster, but I feel that a bridge change would help that.

Honestly the only thing I didn't like about the jazzmaster was the bridge and how sharp the frets were. The neck felt nice to me and the body finish seemed ok. It was a comfortable weight, not heavy but not too light.

The description rim just gave of the Jag reminds me of the Bullet Special Strat i had. Also made in Indonesia, also very light, dry fretboard, flimsy neck, substandard tuners...

I liked the necks and pickups better on the Squier Jag than the Blacktop Jag. The tint and finish reminds me of a CV Squier. The workmanship on the Squier Jags seems very inconsistent.

the Jag sounded lifeless, the electronics were crap, the tone knob offered mud or more mud if touched.... the rear anchor on the bridge is screwed directly into the wood..... the body is basswood which is weak and u could see the wood around this screw already nippling/pulling up..... I imagine with 11's on it it would eventually pull out...

The Jazzmaster felt better in everyway.... and I am still on the fence whether I would get the JM or not

I don't get what you mean by the bridge being screwed directly into the wood? How else would it be attached?

Basswood is not so weak that a bridge would come out of it. They used to make the solid colour jag/ jazzies/ j-s out of basswood in Japan and they were fine. Not as good as Alder imo but not shockingly bad.

Gavin wrote:I don't get what you mean by the bridge being screwed directly into the wood? How else would it be attached?

Basswood is not so weak that a bridge would come out of it. They used to make the solid colour jag/ jazzies/ j-s out of basswood in Japan and they were fine. Not as good as Alder imo but not shockingly bad.

the rear anchor on this shotty bridge design is to set the string angle on the bridge, therefore it has alot more tension on it, this one screw is holding the back of the bridge down and all of the strings tension is pulling on this one screw that is screwed in to the basswood body, strap buttons pull out of basswood all the time, this has to have just as much tension as a strap button goes thru.... and I HIGHLY doubt this is the TOP QUALITY basswood available...

not saying this is all of then but the one I played had this issue going on, the Alder JM did not have this issue on the one I played

There is a difference, however, with those bridges and the VM Jag/Jazz bridges... the main difference is torque forces on the screw imposing higher resultant forces on the wood. The other bridges are mounted flush with the body wood, and all forces are perpendicular to the screw, and applied at the surface. With these bridges, the bridge is not flush, is angled and the force from the strings is applied at an angle, and above the point of contact, operating like the handle of a ratchet or other lever, amplifying the effects of the force on the relatively soft wood. This causes extra fatigue in the wood that isn't present with more traditional bridge styles. In time, with heavier (higher tension) strings in particular, this could cause the hole to strip.

Using a screw with a wider tooth could help by providing a stronger contact with the wood, though.

Bingo

Billy3000 wrote:

honeyiscool wrote:I'd just get a Jagmaster.

I used to own one of the newer model jagmasters and I hated it. It was a piece of garbage. It sounded like crap and while it was comfortable to play, it just never really felt right, it's hard to explain, it just lacked something. There was no life in it. These jaguars and jagmasters are much nicer than the jagmasters.

That's why I kept the neck and sold the rest. Bad chemistry.

It's more or less a Jagmaster with a fixed bridge . I played a fiesta one time and thought it was good but nothing to write home about . Wished they used better tort on the pickguard . Pickups though are pretty darn good I thought .Played the thing through a mini Night Train. I know I didn't put it away right away. The JM one is nicer though . The yellow one in particular .

they are ugly.

Gavin wrote:I don't get what you mean by the bridge being screwed directly into the wood? How else would it be attached?

Basswood is not so weak that a bridge would come out of it. They used to make the solid colour jag/ jazzies/ j-s out of basswood in Japan and they were fine. Not as good as Alder imo but not shockingly bad.

Basswood is weak enough that a DiMarzio ClipLock clip can come unscrewed from within and dropped. That was especially alarming since these things are attached with a massively long screw, twice as long as your standard strap button screw, and the bass guitar itself is so light. I just filled the hole up with glue and toothpick and so far, it's holding together, but the softness of basswood is something to consider. The '69 Mustang I had experienced some stripping of the screws all over. It happens on all guitars eventually, but I've never had anything close to that with guitars made of agathis, alder, mahogany, or poplar.

If a couple of years of occasional use can take a ClipLock out of a body, constant string tension might easily pull the bridge out one day.

I don't think it's a make-it-or-break-it type of deal but as much as I love playing and listening to basswood guitars, working on one makes me really upset.