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Post by kevina on Mar 8, 2010 10:19:56 GMT -5
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Post by Happy Jack on Mar 8, 2010 13:20:54 GMT -5
Can't help you mate, but there are a few Jaguar forums - sortscale.org is one You could also ask for the serial number and check it on the Fender serial number database One thing though that colour isn't sea foam green - is some sort of burst and I can't find any Jaguars that colour. It looks like a very bad photo of a sunburst. Seafoam green is a bright green I would be careful
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Post by lesblues on Mar 8, 2010 13:28:17 GMT -5
Hey Kev found this info about the jap reissue jags and at the end here a section on the fillipno fakes, which offers some easy ways to spot if the guitar is fake or not.
Hope that helps.
Les
Japanese Reissue
Fender of Japan have been producing Jaguar reissues since the mid 80's, and are still making them to this day. Currently, the only Japanese Jaguar that is officially available for sale in North America is the Jaguar Special (JGS-75) and Jaguar Baritone Special (both available in black only). Likewise, these models are also available in Europe. Though one can also find the '62 Japanese reissue in sunburst, candy apple red and vintage white also. Many other colours were also available up until recently. Possibly due to the activities of the company called "Fendershop". But the options are now limited to those already mentioned.
In actual fact, Japanese Jaguars (and Japanese Fenders in general) are manufactured in many other colours and hardware configurations. See them for yourselves over at Japanese guitar sites such as Ikebe-Gakki, Ishibashi or Rockinn. Ishibashi have recently made their website viewable in English. And it is now fairly straight forward to buy from them. Though buying from Ikeba or Rockinn still seems to remain impossible unless you speak Japanese. The sites are practically impossible to navigate, and I'm not even sure if they ship outside of Japan.
In the U.S.A, various runs of more affordable Japanese Jaguars are made available, from time to time. And the recent officially imported Japanese Jaguar (which was available in only 2 colours, candy apple red and lake placid blue without matching headstock) is no longer available, discontinued some time in 2003. In the UK and Europe, Japanese Jaguars have seemingly been more common over the years.
Claims like this have been going around, mainly on eBay:
"Japanese Jaguars manufactured for the Japanese domestic market are made to far better standards than those made for export to the United States/elsewhere "
This is almost certainly untrue, as is the claim that CIJ models are superior to MIJ. In the mid 90's, Fender of Japan changed the decal next to the serial number to read "Crafted In Japan" , where the decal had previously read "Made In Japan". This change is simply cosmetic. No other changes took place at this point. Changes have occurred on the Japanese Jaguars in the past though. I know that the earlier ones had basswood bodies and shielding plates in the routes. Nowadays, body seems to be alder and there are no shielding plates. Construction/materials quality may have varied over the years. Fretboard is veneer on all that I've seen. Japanese body and neck are finished in polyurethane gloss, have pearl dots, black Fender logo surrounded by gold, similar to the ones from the late '60's and onwards. In fact, I think it would even be more accurate to claim the MIJ/CIJ decals are '68 reissues. Also note how it says "with synchronized floating tremolo" instead of having Des. and Pat. numbers. It has no serial number stamped into the neck plate, just a blank chrome plate. And instead, the decal on the back of the neck has the serial number on it. Pots are of a much lower quality, as is the wiring. Only the older reissues seem to have shielding plates in the routes. There is no mute or bridge cover. Basically everything about the guitar is distinguishable from the old or new American version.
Japanese coding system explained:
The first 2 letters (JG) mean Jaguar. The 2 numbers that follow are supposed be the reissue year. But they all say '66. Then there is a dash, followed by some numbers (ie, 85). Which is the suggested retail price in Japanese Yen (ie, 85,000 Yen).. Followed by the colour in brackets.
A "JG66B" code followed by a "110" suggested retail price means the guitar is a genuine '66 reissue with block inlays, binding and Schaller F keys.
Jaguar special (or "Jaguar HH" as it is generally now referred to in the west) was a "75" for retail price. This may have been changed to "83", and for some colours be "86". Meaning it is 83,000-86,000 Yen for a Jaguar special. Although there has been some sort of announcement by Fender Japan on their website recently about a general increase in their prices. So this list may need updating somewhat...
JG66B-110 (3TS) - Sunburst. With block inlays and binding. Schaller F-keys.
JG66B(3TS) - Sunburst. With block inlays and binding.
JG66B-110(OLP) - Old lake placid blue. Matching headstock. Block inlays and binding. Schaller F-keys.
JG66B-110(OCR) - Old candy apple red. Matching headstock. Block inlays and binding. Schaller F-keys.
JG66B-110(CAR) - Candy apple red. Matching headstock. Block inlays and binding. Schaller F-keys
JG-85 ATG - Antigua.
JG66B(CAR) - Candy apple red. Matching headstock. Block inlays and binding.
JG66-85(3TS) - Sunburst.
JG66-85(BLK) - Black.
JG66-85(FRD) - Fiesta red.
JG66-85(SBL) - Sonic blue.
JG66-85(SLP) - Shell pink.
JG66-85(ULP) - ? (light lake placid blue?). Matching headstock.
JG66-85(OCR) - Old candy apple red. Matching headstock.
JG66-85(LPB) - Lake placid blue. Matching headstock.
JG66-85(BMT) - Burgundy mist. Matching headstock.
JG66-85(OTM) - Ocean turquoise. Matching headstock.
JG66-EX - Limited edition Jaguar, made in 1994. Blonde with gold hardware.
JGS-75(3TS) - Jaguar special. Sunburst.
JGS-75(OCR) - Jaguar special. Old candy apple red. Matching headstock.
JGS-75(LPB) - Jaguar special. Lake placid blue. Matching headstock.
JSG-75(SBL) - Jaguar special. Sonic blue. Matching headstock.
JSG-75(OTM) - Jaguar special. Ocean turquoise. Matching headstock.
JGS-75(OLB) - Jaguar special. Old lake placid blue. Matching headstock.
JGS-75(BLK) - Jaguar special. Black. Matching headstock.
JGS-75(GMB) - Jaguar special. Gun metallic blue. Matching headstock.
JGS-75(GRB) - Jaguar special. Redburst. Matching headstock.
JG66-100L - Sunburst. Left handed.
HJG-66KC VI - Kurt Cobain Jaguar. P.U:DIMARZIO PAF(front)C SUPER DISTORTION(rear) CONTROL: 2VOL 1TONE PRESET VOL&TONE 3POINT TOGGLE SW
HJG-66KC V - Kurt Cobain. P.U:DIMARZIO PAF(front) SUPER DISTORTION(rear) CONTROL: 2VOL 1TONE PRESET VOL&TONE PU SW
HJG-66KC IV - Kurt Cobain. P.U:DIMARZIO PAF(front) SUPER DISTORTION(rear) CONTROL: 1VOL 1TONE PRESET VOL&TONE PU SW
Jaguar Fakes
These Filipino made Jaguar fakes are often referred to as "Vietnam serviceman guitars". They were made sometime in the 60's and may have ended up in the hands of US soldiers fighting in Vietnam. Funnily enough, there is a picture of Mick Jagger playing a black one on the cover of the Rolling Stones compilation album entitled "Rarities 1971-2003".
By some accounts, the quality of some of these guitars can be absolutely shocking. However, many people have started collecting them for the novelty and low price compared to a real Jaguar. There are also wild differences in spec, quality and build all round. Perhaps the reasons for this may involve some sort of "cottage industry".
I have seen them in sunburst and olympic white. And also, candy apple red, ocean turquoise and black, with matching headstock. On some models, the neck is affixed in a rather strange way. Instead of the screws being countersunk into the neck plate, they just go through the body. And the 'neck plate' then acts as a cover for the screws which are behind it. The Fender logo is stamped on the tremolo and there is a Fender decal on the headstock. Both of which seem to look very amateurish. The tuners have exposed gears. The dots are larger than a normal Jaguar. The heel of the neck looks more rounded and the neck appears not to be as wide at the heel. The slide switch on the tremolo is non functional. Some of the bridges have a single saddle. The pickguard screw to the upper left of the neck pickup is absent, which is perhaps the best way to tell if a Jaguar is a serviceman at first glance (see pictures to the right. Filipino on the left, real Fender Jaguar on the right). They came with a plywood type of case, sometimes with a red lining, as shown in the pictures below:
A Filipino Jaguar in a type of red finish.
Mike Ball also writes in to tell us this:
"I work at Guitarville in Seattle, WA and I recently had the good fortune of getting to examine one of the fake Filipino Jag's up close. The one I saw was Lake Placid Blue with an unbound neck and matching headstock, and was practically mint with the original case, mute, trem bar etc. Other than the color, this one differed from the ones described on your site by having a hand painted Fender logo instead of a decal! Also, the one pictured on your site has the hole for the mute slug underneath the bridge like on a real Jaguar. However, the fake one that I saw did not have a hole underneath the bridge, but on the treble side of the bridge between the bridge and pickup. Another significant difference is that all of the chrome control plates were very thin and placed on top of a pickguard that covered roughly the same area as a Jazzmaster guard. Lastly, the neck plate on the fake Jag was mounted like a regular Fender, not in the bizarre fashion that your site describes. Whew! Well, I hope that this made some sense and was relatively interesting. I guess it just goes to show that there were a few different places churning these fake Jag's out back in the 60's."
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Post by lesblues on Mar 8, 2010 13:34:47 GMT -5
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Post by kevina on Mar 8, 2010 13:59:57 GMT -5
Ive asked for the serial number
I checkout the sites you gave Les, but just now 100% confident in spotting a fake and I cant find another guitar in the whole www with this colour which is a bit worrying,
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Post by Happy Jack on Mar 8, 2010 14:44:51 GMT -5
Should it not have Fender stamped on the trem plate?
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Post by gasman on Mar 8, 2010 16:50:24 GMT -5
Kevina, are you still considering swapping your Strat for the Jaguar, or are you talking about a whole different guitar/transaction here? If this is still about the swap, I would keep the Strat and not risk getting a fake. If you really want a Jaguar-style guitar, you might consider the Ibanez Jet Kings like mine. The current ones come in colors like the one you are considering and cost $300 new (the ones with the trem. are a little more). They are great guitars and play and feel like a guitar costing twice as much or more. Of all my guitars, my Jet King is one of my top two. Check them out here: ibanez.com/ElectricGuitars/Series-jtk
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Post by kevina on Mar 8, 2010 17:08:23 GMT -5
Hey, yeah i was but going to keep the strat as its too risky. Just going to save for a jag
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Post by lesblues on Mar 9, 2010 4:29:12 GMT -5
Ive asked for the serial number I checkout the sites you gave Les, but just now 100% confident in spotting a fake and I cant find another guitar in the whole www with this colour which is a bit worrying, Yeah the colour issue was concerning me too but I wasn't sure if it was my colour blindness or not. I think you have made the right decision to hang on to the strat and buy a jag in due course. Some of the material I read on line suggested very strongly that jags are for a specific type of music which I suppose is fine if that's all you want to play. At least by keeping your strat you won't be limiting the style of music you play.
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Post by kevina on Mar 9, 2010 5:16:46 GMT -5
I think it is pure greed that I was wanting a Jag, just bought the strat and apart from the initial bridge problems the guitar is nice and sound quality is great.
Rather save and than sacrifice.
Problem I find and some of you may be in the same boat, is you see a gutarists with a guitar and you want one haha.
Johnny Marr and the Jag, Jack White and the Gretsch which is tempting in white for £450 new etc etc
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Post by lesblues on Mar 10, 2010 5:17:11 GMT -5
Problem I find and some of you may be in the same boat, is you see a gutarists with a guitar and you want one haha. Johnny Marr and the Jag, Jack White and the Gretsch which is tempting in white for £450 new etc etc My problem is I keep looking on Gumtree, Ebay, Whitstableguitars and Japanguitars and see loads of guitars I would love to own. Fortunately my other half keeps me from doing anything silly or I would be bankrupt by now. I would probably be a much better guitarist if I spent my time practising on my guitar instead of browsing but I think i'm addicted.
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Post by gasman on Mar 10, 2010 14:56:20 GMT -5
I would probably be a much better guitarist if I spent my time practising on my guitar instead of browsing but I think i'm addicted. Yet another thing we have in common! My son is getting used to me practicing longer, so I really should take advantage of that instead of using my spare time to browse at guitars that I can't afford!
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Post by kevina on Mar 11, 2010 7:26:27 GMT -5
I like to browse as it keeps me keen. I think that "one day when your good enough you can justify paying £1000 plus on a guitar" so this makes me play and practice more.
I have 3 guitars which is enough for me, would like to maybe get a Jag, Gretsch or telecoustic but not at the moment.
November time maybe
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