NGD: Fender Vintera 60s Jaguar

[MayTheFuzzBeWithYou]

So. It finally happened.

After a year of waiting in vain for a delivery to arrive at my local music shop I seized the opportunity of the for once low shipping times at Thomann.
I snapped the Staytrem Bridge I still had laying around on and besides a little rattling on the low E string the setup was pretty grear out of the box.
Today the pickguards arrived.
The AVRI 62 holes line up except for the bridge thimbles - so I had to make a decision - as the Tortoise guard was no option for me (love Tort, but not with anything out of the greenish spectrum): Parchment, Mint or Black?






I decided on Black for now but since I saw Sauerkrauts partsmaster I put gold anodized on my list - and if I‘m lucky one will be in the mail soon with two anodized guards for the Telemaster and the Thinline Jag!

I‘m pretty pleased how it turned out!

[gutter rock]

I like the black guard the best, I have one on my lake placid blue jag and ocean turquoise Jazzmaster. Mint and parchment guards alway look cheap and too brash for me and I like tort but it can be weird on certain colors. Anyway, congrats on the new guitar! It’s beautiful!

[DavidG]

That's really nice with the pickguard swap. Got one of these myself only a few weeks ago and very pleased with it. The finish is stunning in person, much better than I remember my old Japanese ocean turquoise jag being. Plays great right out of the box too.

I plumped for a cream guard to more less match the pickup covers.

Enjoy yours.

[Wucan]

Nice! Pau Ferro goes along super nicely with the matching headstock. If the radius wasn't so "Vintera" I would've gotten one too.

[Jazzmackster]

I think all of the guards looks nice, but that color and fretboard call for a lighter pickguard, so I’d go with parchment or mint ideally. Pau Ferro looks so good with the OTM!

[MayTheFuzzBeWithYou]

That's really nice with the pickguard swap. Got one of these myself only a few weeks ago and very pleased with it. The finish is stunning in person, much better than I remember my old Japanese ocean turquoise jag being. Plays great right out of the box too.

I plumped for a cream guard to more less match the pickup covers.

Enjoy yours.

Thank you! Yeah, Cream was on my list too - but they didn't have it at the shop I ordered from and 20€ was the maximum I wanted to spend one one - so my usual source was out of the game...also because I wanted to avoid any Brexit-induced troubles as I knew the guitar was coming and therefore I needed them fast! But I did put my matching Staytrem arm and collet on it - as it always annoyed me that it was so much darker then everything else on my white Squier Jag... and vice versa the tip on the Vintera was too light to match the pickups - so now I got two perfect matches!
Only thing I else might change are the knobs - but I don't really have much to choose from that match that big full-shaft.
And yes, I already do enjoy it very much! I hope you enjoy yours at least the same!

Nice! Pau Ferro goes along super nicely with the matching headstock. If the radius wasn't so "Vintera" I would've gotten one too.

The Pau Ferro was reeeeaaaaally pale out of the box. These photos were taken after the second oiling. So don't be shocked when you see one in a shop or so... I really like the grain and color now!
Ah, fretboard radii mess with your hands (and maybe head) only for a short period of time. I have three 7,25" and with my girlfriend's Jag counted in also three with the 9,5" radius. And I must say - once set up they all play smoothly. No slipping, no dying notes - no better or worse. I guess the Staytrem and Mastery components help a little - but also on the Telemaster... no troubles. The question is: did you ever have one you could get used to? My Thinline Jag was my first Fender offset and with the original setup (Japanese vintage style Bridge) it was horrible - but even with that bridge it worked once set up by someone who knows what he/she's doing!

I think all of the guards looks nice, but that color and fretboard call for a lighter pickguard, so I’d go with parchment or mint ideally. Pau Ferro looks so good with the OTM!

Well, as you can see I tried them all on. Parchment would need other pickup covers to work - and I really don't want to swap them - at least not already. Treble Bleed and Full Staytrem mode are enough mods for now. Mint would work and was my second in ranking - Cream would have been nice but wasn't available in the shop - Anodized Gold might be thrown in the mix soon.
Yes - the Pau Ferro really shines now! Honestly - from the first pics I saw I was afraid of it..and overall a bit turned off due to the Tort on Green Christmas association in my head. but since I got that Classic Lacquer Jazzmaster neck for my Telemaster project which was Pau Ferro - all fear was brushed away! Such beautiful grains - way more interesting than my other offset's necks. The Vintera neck is a bit lighter and still more in that orange-y territory - but it's interesting for sure!

I like the black guard the best, I have one on my lake placid blue jag and ocean turquoise Jazzmaster. Mint and parchment guards alway look cheap and too brash for me and I like tort but it can be weird on certain colors. Anyway, congrats on the new guitar! It’s beautiful!

Black guards for the win! I got three offsets equipped with Black Guards at the moment. And spray painted the ugly white guard on a friends CAR Jazzmaster black as he didn't want to spend any money on it.
I've never seen a real celluloid Mint or whatever light color guard in real life - but yes, these plastic guards will always look like the cheap plastic they are. Still sometimes they make the better contrast to match your guitar's color. I tried various guards on my Firemist Silver Jazzmaster - and Mint was and always will be the way to go! :-)
Thank you, it sure is! I'm very happy with it! The only question that remains... shall I keep it as my only E to E tuned instrument - or shall I get the nut filed and put strings on it to allow for my band's Drop C# tuning...

[Ceylon]

Well, you just prompted me to get a gold anodized guard for mine. Should look lush.

And happy NGD! They're great guitars

[Stephen_42]

Apparently unpopular opinion: that Pau Ferro looks so much better than any rosewood I've ever seen. There's so much more characters and noticeable grain. I love it!

As for the pickguard debate... LPB is one of those colours where you can't really go wrong. The black looks really sleek, the mint/parchment has a classic look, and the tortoise works too. Lovely guitar!

[Wucan]

Ah, fretboard radii mess with your hands (and maybe head) only for a short period of time. I have three 7,25" and with my girlfriend's Jag counted in also three with the 9,5" radius. And I must say - once set up they all play smoothly. No slipping, no dying notes - no better or worse. I guess the Staytrem and Mastery components help a little - but also on the Telemaster... no troubles. The question is: did you ever have one you could get used to? My Thinline Jag was my first Fender offset and with the original setup (Japanese vintage style Bridge) it was horrible - but even with that bridge it worked once set up by someone who knows what he/she's doing!

I tried but didn't gel with my vintage-spec guitars. I had a MG-69 and MG-65 but always preferred playing my modern-spec stuff more. The round radius forces a different picking angle and it's not ideal for quickly going up/down the fretboard. It's a shame because I love the aesthetics of old-school offsets (specially the matching headstock) but at the end of the day I'm about function over form

[hexes]

I tried but didn't gel with my vintage-spec guitars. I had a MG-69 and MG-65 but always preferred playing my modern-spec stuff more. The round radius forces a different picking angle and it's not ideal for quickly going up/down the fretboard. It's a shame because I love the aesthetics of old-school offsets (specially the matching headstock) but at the end of the day I'm about function over form

this honestly fascinates me. i’ve owned every radius from 7.25 to 10/16 compound and 12”, and also most every scale length from 24” up to 34”. the neck profile itself always makes a much bigger impact to my hands than radius.

i used to think i hated 7.25” radius, but my jaguar is stupid fast to play.

[MayTheFuzzBeWithYou]

Apparently unpopular opinion: that Pau Ferro looks so much better than any rosewood I've ever seen. There's so much more characters and noticeable grain. I love it!

As for the pickguard debate... LPB is one of those colours where you can't really go wrong. The black looks really sleek, the mint/parchment has a classic look, and the tortoise works too. Lovely guitar!

Thank you Stephen_42... but this is OTM not LPB.
Concerning the Pau Ferro...as stated above, I WAS afraid of Pau Ferro (mostly due to the very varying and mostly either pale or super orangish pictures of the fretboard(s) - but the neck for my Telemaster "cured" me. That's the reason why I didn't hesitate to get the Vintera once the shipping time was... well, acceptable! But THIS was my Vintera right after unboxing.


With the shipping delay to my local music store and the lack of availability on the used market (while other Vintera models are already "all over the place") I really believed that they really just reset the shipping-time-o-meter at Thomann - because it actually never was "available" since May 2020 or so... and with the Mexican Plant closed for quite some time this also was a fitting excuse...

Well, you just prompted me to get a gold anodized guard for mine. Should look lush.
And happy NGD! They're great guitars

Haha! Yes! Herad is working on an universal fit pickguard for me... just in case if I should prefer it on a future build or on my girlfriend's shell pink Jaguar. And thank you! Yes, they are indeed! If I hadn't built/yet ordered the Firemist Silver JM I surely would have bought the IBM JM back when they were released...

I tried but didn't gel with my vintage-spec guitars. I had a MG-69 and MG-65 but always preferred playing my modern-spec stuff more. The round radius forces a different picking angle and it's not ideal for quickly going up/down the fretboard. It's a shame because I love the aesthetics of old-school offsets (specially the matching headstock) but at the end of the day I'm about function over form

this honestly fascinates me. i’ve owned every radius from 7.25 to 10/16 compound and 12”, and also most every scale length from 24” up to 34”. the neck profile itself always makes a much bigger impact to my hands than radius.

i used to think i hated 7.25” radius, but my jaguar is stupid fast to play.

Well then it's a good thing that they do offer those Classic Player and American Pro variations with enhanced playability! :-)
I started with two Les Pauls and a Baritone (which trained an until that time "unknown" region of my forearm) and a huge ass (for my small 1,73m stature) Hagström Viking - and must say I'm with Hexes here... the neck profile makes way more difference!
Like the profile of my Eastwood Sidejack paired with the high action it had when I got it made it so challenging - once set up - it was a great addition to the fold and is totally playable - but still the one hardest to handle. It doesn't get played as much as my offsets but when I take it to band practice once in a while it could easily happen that a whole new song sparks out of me...

this is what I love (and maybe how I justify) having multiple guitars. They are (hopefully) all a little different and they challenge you to whole new approaches - either due to the sounds they offer or due to their limitations or special features - e.g. my Thinline Jag sounds better behind the bridge than the Liquid Thunder - the Squier and the Vintera are somewhere in the middle - or one is prone to feedback when close to the amp - the other isn't at all... but due to my excessive Fuzz use - nomen est omen - I equip all my guitars with a treble bleed - yet they all act a little different.

[jdr1014]

Congrats - great looking guitar!

I like tort on light colors (and sunburst) but not on OTM, Sherwood, LPB, and similar colors.

OTM may be my favorite color for a Jag, and although the black PG looks pretty good, nothing looks as good to me as a proper shade mint guard on OTM. Cream or parchment would be my second choice, and then white. OTM is a very "surfy" color and I think dark PG colors just make it look less "surfy".......IMO

[MayTheFuzzBeWithYou]

Congrats - great looking guitar!

I like tort on light colors (and sunburst) but not on OTM, Sherwood, LPB, and similar colors.

OTM may be my favorite color for a Jag, and although the black PG looks pretty good, nothing looks as good to me as a proper shade mint guard on OTM. Cream or parchment would be my second choice, and then white. OTM is a very "surfy" color and I think dark PG colors just make it look less "surfy".......IMO

I‘m with you on this. But I also love Tort on dark colours like black or Charcoal Frost Metallic (looks great with white, or mint too)!

And yes, the „surfyness“ is the reason why I wanted that guitar so badly! I was just a bit underwhelmed by the looks of the Mint guard when seeing it in person (that was the one I initially thought would look best to me ) - and black saved the day. Less surfy but somehow it reminds me of a secret agent‘s sports car...

[SpookyReverb]

That color is the best - especially with the matching headstock.

I also played the ol' "pickguard switcheroo" when I got my Vintera Jazzmaster (viewtopic.php?t=117035) - I feel like most of the stock Vintera models went with the wrong pickguard choice (just my opinion!).

Anyway, great choice on a guitar: I think that Jaguar is the best looking Vintera model... If I didn't already have a Jag, I would have been in your club!

[MayTheFuzzBeWithYou]

That color is the best - especially with the matching headstock.

I also played the ol' "pickguard switcheroo" when I got my Vintera Jazzmaster (viewtopic.php?t=117035) - I feel like most of the stock Vintera models went with the wrong pickguard choice (just my opinion!).

Anyway, great choice on a guitar: I think that Jaguar is the best looking Vintera model... If I didn't already have a Jag, I would have been in your club!

Thank you SpookyReverb! And yes I fully agree! But I think I don't fully understand your point...one can never have enough or even too much Jaguars...this is my third one with another custom Jag Body to be made for me.

Also: great pickguard choice on your Jazzmaster!