At what point is a Jaguar not a Jaguar?

[cyberpunk409]

This says jaguar on the headstock, but it has a Les Paul style bridge and tail piece, P90's, no traditional Jaguar switches, etc

This is not that different...


Yet it says TELECASTER on the headstock.

So how is this a Jaguar?

[welshywelsh]

It's a Jag shaped body and a Jag, short scale neck.

[Jan Deal]

If Fender calls it a Jaguar, then it is a Jaguar. Simple as that!

[JSett]

When Fender put something different on the headstock I guess. It's their model line, they can do what they want.

I agree that there's a line that I personally stop counting things like this as a Jaguar, but that's just me. If the parts of a guitar that make the original Jaguar what it is are:

Headstock decal
Body Shape
Scale length
Vibrato
Jaguar pickups
Plates
Rhythm circuit
Strangle Switch
Pickguard

And then you have something like your example that only has these left:

Headstock decal
Body Shape
Scale length

Then you've deleted 2/3rds of what makes it what it is, and that stops it being what it was, in my eyes.

[PlayWithPride]

At what point does it matter what it is called?

[wrath]

At what point does it matter what it is called?

Check out Nietzsche here.

It matters what it's called when I am in the market to buy a guitar with all of the functionality that one would typically expect from a Jaguar. And for mine, that's a traditional spec model.

[Whiny Minotaur]

I think it's quite clear that to Fender, as long as it shares the body shape of the original specs it'll share the name as well, despite how different the final product is in practice.

To me, if an offset doesn't have at minimum the offset vibrato, it's functionally a completely different guitar and might as well be a different guitar as well, body shape be damned. I mean, a Les Paul shaped guitar with the offset vibrato will play and might even sound closer to a vintage-spec Jaguar than the guitars in the OP.

But they're Fender's guitars so I guess they have the pejorative to name them whatever the hell they want to.

[JSett]

They did used to change the name depending on features: The Mustang without a vibrato was a Duosonic, a Duosonic with only 1 pickup was a Musicmaster etc, and then the Telecaster/Esquire. All of these are fundamentally the same as their counterparts but were given different designations accordingly, yet most of these were very small changes.

They have obviously abandoned this.

Also, I used to care more than I do now. A lot of people tend to grow out of it and just enjoy their instruments.

[cyberpunk409]

But they're Fender's guitars so I guess they have the pejorative to name them whatever the hell they want to.

So they could build a Les Paul shaped guitar with 3 single coils, a bigsby vibrato, 27" scale length and call it a "Stratocaster" if they wanted?

[cyberpunk409]

So I guess my next question is....

What makes a Jaguar a "Jaguar" to YOU?

[cyberpunk409]

At what point does it matter what it is called?

At that point, may as well be a "Nothingcaster"

[Stephen_42]

Ultimately, the only thing that really makes a Jaguar a Jaguar is the body shape: offset with a slightly pointier upper horn than on a Jazzmaster.

Usually short scale as well, but there have even been exceptions to this (e.g. the baritone Jaguar from many years ago now)


When it comes to personal taste of what makes a Jaguar a *real* Jaguar for me:

A lot of people will say it’s not really a Jaguar without the vibrato, but I don’t really use vibrato so I’m not too fussed either way on that. What I am fussed about, however, is the chrome and the abundance of switches. That, coupled with the cool body shape is what originally drew me to offsets.

These days I’m mostly a bassist and it’s a real pet annoyance of mine that all the Jaguar basses from the past however many years don’t bother with all the extra chrome switching. I like having all the different options to play with, even if I’m not going to use all the sound options on a regular basis. That’s a big part of what makes Jags fun, for me at least.

[Arthon]

It really depend of the Jaguar; it can be...

a guitar with a unique body shape, scale lenght and chrome,

or a big yellow cat with brown/black patches that live in South and Central America,

or a UK made luxury car.

[MrSparkle]

At that point, may as well be a "Nothingcaster"

Why? It's not a two-pickup version of the Esquire!


As to the original question - honestly, it's body shape and scale length. If those are correct, it's "A Jaguar". Like you, these aren't for me OP. Gimme a traditional, but with 9.5", head truss, Staytrem hardware and cover it in craft herpes. Perfection.

[Whiny Minotaur]

But they're Fender's guitars so I guess they have the pejorative to name them whatever the hell they want to.

So they could build a Les Paul shaped guitar with 3 single coils, a bigsby vibrato, 27" scale length and call it a "Stratocaster" if they wanted?

I don't know how related this is, but what you said somehow reminded me of the time when Gibson announced and quickly cancelled a Jimi Hendrix signature Strat after internet backlash, lol.

To answer your question, yes, they could, but people would rightly call them insane for doing so.

So I guess my next question is....

What makes a Jaguar a "Jaguar" to YOU?

For my personal preferences, it's the body shape, scale length and the vibrato; but as I said before, a guitar that has the scale length and vibrato would functionally be the same as a Jag for me and I certainly wouldn't mind playing one. I'd be more interested in a weirdly shaped guitar with the vibrato and scale length than the examples in the OP, for example.

However, in practice, for most people (and for me too, tbh) if it has the body shape, it's a Jaguar... even if it plays nothing like a vintage-specced one.