ShortScale.org

I apologize in advance for these questions--I'm a newb, so both these guitars were long out of the shops before I became seriously interested in guitars earlier this year. I don't know much about either of these guitars except for what's on the wiki, Wikipedia, and an article on Jag-Stang. But, I have a few other questions that weren't addressed there.

What was the targeted demographic for these guitars and why were they only made for such a short time?

Is there any reason to believe that Fender will reissue these or maybe release Squier CV versions? I'm just curious because I never got the chance to experience playing either of them.

squier will never re-release the cyclone, and fender will never re-release the toronado. well, not for probably 15-20 years.

target audience for the toronado: people who wanted twin humbuckers, no tremolo, and 24.75" scale (a les paul with a bolt on neck).

target audience for the cyclone: people who wanted a jagstang but couldn't afford it when they were most popular, and who would be ok with a strat trem, and also 24.75" scale length.

if you can even think of it in those terms. i don't really think they knew if there was an audience for these guitars, but they cast the net out, and soon found that even 3 or 4 versions of both guitars couldn't make them sell as well as a strat or tele.

They probably never will. Fender does stupid shit like that . I'd love a Toro with a Tremolo . A Mustang one . Fender won't . Not even a Custom Shop. Think I'll be finding a luthier to put one on my Toro. Kinda hate the Duo Sonic hardtail.

I kinda always thought the Toronado was for those who were thinking of straying from a Jazzmater to a Les Paul and was a pay for Fender to pull them back in .
Cyclones for those who hated the Jagstang , loved a Mustang but was used to playing Strats .

Whatever the reason they should of ever stopped making them. Great fucking guitars.

Thanks for the info, fellas. I was sort of holding out hope that since Squier gets to experiment a little more, that they could be reintroduced as Classic Vibes or that maybe they would be reintroduced as MIMs for a price similar to the Blacktops. That being said, I've seen the occasional Toronado and Cyclone priced at about what the Blacktops are going for now, but by the time I get any money saved, they'll probably go up in value. I feel like I missed out on a lot of cool guitars by not getting into guitars earlier.

This guy on CL in Dallas wants to trade a Toronado. Maybe you have something he needs.

WTT Toronado

plaidbeer wrote:I feel like I missed out on a lot of cool guitars by not getting into guitars earlier.

In a way we missed out on things like the Electric XII, Bass V [albeit shit], Mustang X, Maverick, Mandocaster, Starcaster, Bass VI, Swingers and other great instruments that Fender simply will not reissue [custom shop on 1 or 2]

I keep seeing cyclones and toronados selling for $300 to $350 lately. I have a feeling that some kids are going to buy these because they're cheap and pretty nice guitars, and then get famous in 20 years while playing them, then fender is going to put out an insanely inflated in price custom shop model, then some artist models, and classic reissues, etc. But it will be a while and someone needs to get famous playing one of them in order for it to happen.

taylornutt wrote:This guy on CL in Dallas wants to trade a Toronado. Maybe you have something he needs.

WTT Toronado

Thanks for the heads-up on that. His wish list is full of stuff that's more pricey than the two guitars I have--the Blacktop Jazzmaster and the CV Duo-Sonic. I'm definitely keeping the JM and I don't have extra cash to throw in if I were to trade the Duo-Sonic towards it.

believe me. . . not a month goes by since i sold my toronado in 2007 that i don't seriously regret that, especially since i sold one of the deluxe models. it was a staple in my collection for years, but i needed the money so bad. oh well, it's actually nice to have a reacquisition goal i guess.

A cyclone typically over water while a tornado is typically over land.


(I know it's not Fender Tornado but I don't care)

If I am able to pickup a Toronado, I will let you all know. I might see if the guy on CL would trade for my Jagmaster for his Toronado because I am afraid no one will want the Jagmaster.

there's a Fender cyclone HH on my local CL for $250. Decent enough price.

I'll second Dots here. I gigged a GT model for a few years, great guitar and very similar to a SG with its sound. I had a MIM Toronado too which was a cool slant on traditional Offset models and i still believe if Fender had'nt released the HH Jaguar the Toronado would have lasted longer.
No experience with the Cyclone despite having a bonar for the Cyclone II for years.

In the 50 years of Fender book as well as the original GP issue where they reviewed the first two incarnations of these models they basically state they're for people with teh kurdtz and similar shortscale/offset-craving ailments, but with musical tastes ranging on the heavy-ish. The term "rock-ready" was used a lot, in reference to them being Mustang/Jaguar alternatives that you don't need to lock the trems or switch the pickups on, flatter fingerboards and big frets for wide bends without choke-outs, etc...

There was definitely a demographic upon the guitars debut, one of an alt-rocky nature. I think they were going for some of the crowd who couldn't get their hands on the just-off-the-market import Mustang, Jag-Stang and Jag/Jazzy, as the Japanese guitars had just gone bye-bye when they came out.