First Jaguar - Fender Player Jag, used Am. Professional Jag or used AO/AVRI/Johnny Marr Jag?

[appar111]

Looking at getting my first Jaguar. I'm a tele guy at heart, playing a lot of rock stuff, but over the last year or so, I've gravitated away from a lot of distorted/hard rock tones into cleaner, more jangly/reverby/delay/vibrato-ey type sounds. I've had a bit of a fascination with Johnny Marr's playing the last few years, which has me leaning more in the Jaguar direction than the Jazzmaster direction.

The question is, which Jag to get? The Fender Player Jaguar is around $550-620, depending on if I go used or new. The American Professional and American Original (or AVRI if it's from a few years ago) seem to be around $1200-1300 used, and the Johnny Marr signature Jag seems to float around $1300-1400 used. Then there's the Classic 60's which goes from around $600 used to $1,000 new.

I love the feel and wearability of nitro, so the ones that have that seem like they'd be a good fit (my teles are both nitro finish and I love how they're wearing in), but it's not a 100% requirement. The Player Jaguar in particular seems nice as it has some more modern features, including a bridge humbucker and flatter fretboard radius, but isn't as pricey as the American Professional.

For you Jaguar lovers out there, which do you feel would be a good first Jaguar?

[blackbox]

The AV65 vs the Johnny Marr comes down to pure preference in my experience. They're both really great guitars. I personally prefer the AV65.

[aliendawg]

There's something about the AmPro that I really like... I think they don't look traditional but just enough so it's not too weird.

IMO: AV65, Johny Marr Jag, AmPro and Classic 60's

The Player Jag would be out of the question for me. That guitar just looks plain wrong

[blackbox]

To my ears, the AV65 sounds more like a good vintage Jag than the Marr.

[zip73]

I owned both a ‘62 AVRI and an AV65 simultaneously and played them back-to-back to really ferret out the superior Jag. IMO, they really got it right with the AV65, especially the pickups.

[DiAmoroso]

It really depends on what you plan to do with it. If you want the most vintage style, you'll obviously want the reissue. The JM vs AMPRO are similarly more modern designs, and when making my own decision on which to choose three things stood out as the key differences.

1. Pick ups: both are really nice, the AmPros are a bit hotter, and in my opinion more versatile. You'll have to hear for yourself to see which you like, both are high quality.

2. Necks: if I remember right the JM is glossy and a little thinner, with a nice tint. The AmPro is more satin and chunkier, no tinting, and has a maple option.

3. Finishes: I don't really care about body finish types, but for my taste the JM Jaguar has better color options.

There are other differences, such as the switches on the upper horn, but I didn't find they swayed me either way.

I picked up a Player Jaguar once, I can't remember specifically why, but I did not enjoy it and put it down pretty quick.

I ended up with the AmPro Jaguar, and I'm super happy with it. If you get one of the Americans I'm sure you'll be satisfied either way.

[Futuron]

Another thing to consider: the Professional & Marr models have a 4-way Tele switch, the vintage style have the slider switches for pickup selection.

[timtam]

I really like the series position, unique to the Marr and Am Pro 4-way (and the fact that pickup selection is a 4-way). The Marr has two bright (strangle) switches whereas the Am Pro has a phase switch instead. Unless you're really into those tones they probably won't get a lot of use (so for many people kind of like the limited use of the vintage rhythm circuit that they replace ... but YMMV).

[R_T_Hermit]

In the spirit of the OP I don’t have experience with all of the Jags listed. I do have a ‘63, a classic 60’s and an Am Pro Jag. I held off on buying the Am Pro due to the 9.5 radius-I ended up loving it. I have that same radius on a Strat Plus that I barely play anymore, so I guess the shorter scale makes my AP Jag feel better in my oldtimer paws. I do like the way the forward position on the 4 way (both pups in series) along with phase-in kinda imitates the Strat growl. There’s a song or two that the sound fits IMHO. Again... my $0.02.

And, yeah, ya gotta hold your nose when it comes to color choices for the maple neck ones.

[JamesSGBrown]

For me it's the Marr everytime. Maybe the pickups are a bit less traditional 'Jag' but I find if you wind them lower they sound more akin to the AV65 in that it really stresses the strong attack/weak sustain aspects.

[gadabout]

If you don’t wan’t to spend a ton of money, the Squier VM Jaguar is really pretty nice. My next choice would be the Classic Series. I don’t own one, but I do own a couple of other instruments in this series. The quality is excellent.

[timtam]

If you have a radius preference, the three from your options with 9.5" radius are the American Original, Am Pro, and Player Series. The Marr, AVRI62, AV65, and 60s Lacquer are 7.25".

[Con-Tiki!]

i would never buy a jaguar with a humbucker.

the most jaguar jaguar is probably the mim 60's lacquer, although they also have the '65 pickups in them, which i find harsh.
I have a Marr currently, and love it. The switching may not be traditional, but it's a huge improvement over the sliders.

[Fendereedo]

I would go 60s classic lacquer, but then I would as that's the one I own.

[BlueMelody]

i would never buy a jaguar with a humbucker.

the most jaguar jaguar is probably the mim 60's lacquer, although they also have the '65 pickups in them, which i find harsh.
I have a Marr currently, and love it. The switching may not be traditional, but it's a huge improvement over the sliders.

I probably wouldn’t buy a Jag with buckers either, but that 4th position on the Marr Jag yields some superb bucker-like tones in addition to the other more traditional settings...nice bonus that I find myself utilizing a lot.