Which Jaguar should I get?

[GilmourD]

My other Jags aren't all that dissimilar in series. The only one I haven't wired up with a series option (yet, it's coming) is my purple Jag.

Hey GilmourD, do all your Jags that have a series mod have that 56k resistor soldered on the tone pot?

Yup! That's part of the strangle switch circuit.

[OffYourFace]

The 56k resistor is supposed to help the tone control work better when the strangle switch is activated. Personally I don’t like. When I’m using the strangle ckt, I don’t use the tone control so I omit it and swap the .01uF with a .022uF cap. When I’m not using the strangle switch and I’m using the tone control, I don’t like how the 56k reduces gain when I turn down the tone.

When I do use the ‘modified’ tone control and the strangle switch together, the tone control gives you a perceived extended control over the bass reduction. It’s kind of cool imo.

[B.T.]

Yep. It sounds like there’s tone suck when the pups are in series and I’d wager it’s the strangle circuit. Which kinda sucks because it’s a cool feature. Probably cool enough for Marr to want an additional option to brighten it up?

[GilmourD]

Yep. It sounds like there’s tone suck when the pups are in series and I’d wager it’s the strangle circuit. Which kinda sucks because it’s a cool feature. Probably cool enough for Marr to want an additional option to brighten it up?

I have to see how I wired up my one Jazzmaster that I wired up with a series and strangle switch. I think I did it up like a Jag, but now I'm not 100% sure. LOL

[OffYourFace]

man this poll is a roller coaster. just when i think Marr is the winner, AV65/AO pulls into the lead

[sunburster]

man this poll is a roller coaster. just when i think Marr is the winner, AV65/AO pulls into the lead

You really can't go wrong with the Marr or 65. I'd just decide based on whether you like neck binding or not.

The AVRI62 is a good guitar too, though I found the pickups to be a bit dull and uninteresting compared to the AV65 and Marr, so I didn't hold on to mine for long. I'd just never pick it over the AV65 for any sound I'm after. Note the AO has these same AVRI62 pickups, so lumping the AO together with the AV65 in this poll is not very accurate, they are different-sounding guitars. The AVRI62 pickups have Alnico 2 magnets, instead of the Alnico 5 in the AV65 and (apparently) Marr pickups.

[OffYourFace]

Thanks! ^^

A good friend has a J Marr jaguar and he’s going to let me check it out for a weekend. He had it plek’d and said it’s really amazing. So we’ll see…

I don’t know anyone with a AV/AO jag but a different friend has a 2018 AO Jazzmaster in white. He loves it.

[Surfysonic]

FWIW, after some time keeping the JM Jaguar all stock, I felt the stock Bare Knuckle pickups were a bit dark for my needs (surf/punk) when playing through my Fender amps with onboard reverb. I got a set of the Fender Pure Vintage '65 pickups and I was happy to get that Fender surf tone that I was looking for.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm fairly sure that the Pure Vintage '65 pickups are the same as the stock American Vintage '65 pickups in the AV '65 Jaguar. If you're wanting that traditional Fender Jaguar tone, then I'd go with the AV '65 or the AO '60s Jag if you prefer the AVRI '62 Jaguar pickups. Or, like me, you can swap out the BK pickups if you don't get on with them. The BK pickups are great pickups and likely work better for others than they did for my needs at the time.

At some point down the road, after getting my '63 Jag, I sold the JM Jaguar and I put the BK pickups back in it so it was all stock.

Further down the road, I got the same JM Jaguar back in a trade on here. I decided to try to keep the BK pickups in it. Still a bit dark for me when playing through my Fender amps with onboard reverb, however, they came to life in my (now gone) AC15C1-TV. At this point, I had my '64 Fender Reverb Unit and Surfy Bear Classic Reverb Unit and the BK pickups were totally fine playing through my Fender amps without onboard reverb.

Of course, it's all different now - I've got a set of Kinman Noiseless Surf-Jag pickups in the JM Jaguar - it's my only Jag now and it's a keeper, especially now that I've let go of the '63 Jaguar.

[cestlamort]

Thanks! ^^

A good friend has a J Marr jaguar and he’s going to let me check it out for a weekend. He had it plek’d and said it’s really amazing. So we’ll see…

I don’t know anyone with a AV/AO jag but a different friend has a 2018 AO Jazzmaster in white. He loves it.

Cool. Have fun with the Marr. I tend to spend most of my time on just the neck pickup. Then maybe 10% on the bridge. But rarely in the “humbucker” mode or both pickups (both sound good but just not really inspiring to me). Nevertheless: my primary guitar by far, and I like it better than my 64 and the thin skin I had years back (pretty but hated the big frets and the pickups were blah).

[OffYourFace]

this is the best deal so far for an AO Jag

I've never been into the surf and seafoam colors but this looks cool.

[sunburster]

this is the best deal so far for an AO Jag

I've never been into the surf and seafoam colors but this looks cool.

This sunburst 2017 AV65 is in excellent shape and a reasonable price (maybe you could negotiate it down further?):

https://reverb.com/item/80169326-fender ... e-sunburst

It has a mastery bridge installed.

[alexpigment]

This sunburst 2017 AV65 is in excellent shape and a reasonable price (maybe you could negotiate it down further?):

https://reverb.com/item/80169326-fender ... e-sunburst

It has a mastery bridge installed.

What's weird (to me) about the AV65s in sunburst is that they seem to never have any wood grain. It's like there's a primer coat over the wood before the sunburst is sprayed. Doesn't look terrible or anything, but sunburst generally looks better with some grain imho.

[OffYourFace]

This sunburst 2017 AV65 is in excellent shape and a reasonable price (maybe you could negotiate it down further?):

https://reverb.com/item/80169326-fender ... e-sunburst

It has a mastery bridge installed.

What's weird (to me) about the AV65s in sunburst is that they seem to never have any wood grain. It's like there's a primer coat over the wood before the sunburst is sprayed. Doesn't look terrible or anything, but sunburst generally looks better with some grain imho.

they must've tried to be historically accurate then haha. Some 65-66 Fenders look like that. This one doesn't have that though.

And then there's This one on CL that's very close to me.

[alexpigment]

Man, that ocean turquoise 62 reissue looks like a very good deal. I'd personally forget the whole poll and just go get that one

[JamesSGBrown]

This sunburst 2017 AV65 is in excellent shape and a reasonable price (maybe you could negotiate it down further?):

https://reverb.com/item/80169326-fender ... e-sunburst

It has a mastery bridge installed.

What's weird (to me) about the AV65s in sunburst is that they seem to never have any wood grain. It's like there's a primer coat over the wood before the sunburst is sprayed. Doesn't look terrible or anything, but sunburst generally looks better with some grain imho.

That’s the point of the ‘targetburst’ finish.