Squier Vintage/Modified Jaguar Is Here

[Circle_of_Fifths]

Paid for it a few weeks ago and picked it up on Thursday (Sept 16th) when it finally arrived.

After I got it home and took off the pick guard and control panel for inspection and a thorough wax-job - I played it and am flabbergasted.

This bass has some VERY HOT pickups and they can really create lots of tones and sounds that for all intents sound like an active bass.

The finish is flawless - no sharp frets - no mechanical problems - pots are super smooth and the tone pots are notched to hold whatever position you set them in.

Tuners are on par and the frets are level and no buzzing. The action's low from the factory.

The rosewood is the tightest grain I have on any of my basses - Fender/Ibanez/Squier. Strings are 'Fender 7250 NPS" which means they are rough, noisy and harsh. Red-silked, they might be NOS, but more than likely they are made in Mexico where Fender has set up their own string machines.

All-in-all - a very fine bass and it has all the funk of a bass that never existed, yet looks vintage enough to fool anyone.

If you get your hands on one - you too will be impressed.

Edited September 23, 2010 by Circle_of_Fifths

[gafbass02]

Great post and welcome
I had a quick go on an out the box one last week and was very impressed, I couldn't play it for long as it wasn't set up at all, but I reckon it's a winner!

[Lfalex v1.1]

Looks good. I bet you can coax a fair few tones out of it with V/T V/T controls.
How well balanced are the pick-ups in terms of output level- Is the "P" a lot hotter than the "J"?
How long before people start modding these? BadAss/Hipshot/Gotoh bridges, tuners, etc.
Can't stand tort scratchplates, though. It'd have to be swapped for a 3ply B/W/B or a Mirrored one!

[ezbass]

Much love for this bass here, a great post too. I'll definitely be trying one of these when I see one.

[cocco]

Is it 34"? Looks short in comparisson to the jazzes.

[GarethFlatlands]

[quote name='cocco' post='961936' date='Sep 20 2010, 10:28 AM']Is it 34"? Looks short in comparisson to the jazzes.[/quote]

Coule be, the Jag guitar is shorter scale than other Fenders.

[Circle_of_Fifths]

The length is about 1/2" longer (12.5mm) overall than my Deluxe Jazz, and the neck is the same length. This bass 'that never was' is just sorta a design clone of the Jag guitar, and it isn't any shorter or have fewer frets than a 'normal' bass.






Weight-wise, it's the lightest bass next to my SR500 - which weighs the same at 8lbs or 3.6287kg.

What I notice about the pickups is that they are both equally responsive - but they are [color="#FF0000"][i][b]HOT [size=4]HOT[/size] [size=5]HOT![/size] [/b][/i][/color]

I usually run my [b]MXR Bass +DI[/b] on my basses and for this Jaguar I just have to just pass through it since the signal's so strong. I'd put it on par with a very high-gain active bass for the power of the output.

I know it's the newness of it and all - but I grab it first to play when I want to make some noise.

The strings are up for debate, as Squier says they are [b]SUPER[/b] 7250 NPSs, whatever that means. All I know for sure is that they are not stainless as they blacken my fingers when I play it like a nickle string does.

The sound these stock strings produce is very much like a very bright set of stainless - so it must be the pickups.

You can dial about any sound you want out of these electrics though - so don't think the strings are a limiting factor - in fact they make the bass what it is and now I have another quandary.

What strings will I use to replace them later on when they need it? I think ROTO RS45s will come very close and at a very nice price too.

Edited September 23, 2010 by Circle_of_Fifths

[ScaryBass]

I've been wanting to try one of these since they were first announced, I've never been a fan of the shell pickguards but it just seems to work on these.
How would you say it compares to the VM jazz? Obviously I haven't tried the jag yet but at the moment my next bass is a toss up between the jazz and the jaguar, just wondering what your opinions are!

[Circle_of_Fifths]

[quote name='ScaryBass' post='965381' date='Sep 23 2010, 02:47 AM']I've been wanting to try one of these since they were first announced, I've never been a fan of the shell pickguards but it just seems to work on these.
How would you say it compares to the VM jazz? Obviously I haven't tried the jag yet but at the moment my next bass is a toss up between the jazz and the jaguar, just wondering what your opinions are![/quote]

You would ask me that - huh?

On the spot here - I can only say the VM Jazz is a whole different animal.

The VM-J is a milder version since it has much lower gain to the sound (as I can state it). It doesn't have the [u]punch[/u] of the Jaguar at all - but please remember that until I got the Jaguar, I never noticed it at all.

The fit and finish on the VM-Jazz is superb and there are no physical or electrical defects at all. I love the clear coat and the naked blonde wood underneath it, and Squier really did a nice job on the neck with the binding and the squares on the fingerboard.
[indent]The tuning machines on both are the same.
The Jazz weighs a little more though.
Controls are all clean and very progressive on both.[/indent]



I keep the action pretty low as I am a soft player and that's a safe option for my style of playing.

Comparisons beyond that are pretty hard to pin down though.

I still love the VM-Jazz and also even my Squier-P and my MiM Deluxe Jazz - they all perform different functions and have much different voices. That's one reason why I got such a diverse bunch of basses - they all sing differently.

I usually run an [b]MXR DI+[/b] stomp and I find that I have to turn it 'way down or off and just pass through for the Jaguar - those pickups are that hot!

But for any other basses (not counting my active ones) - I can just turn up the volume and turn the MXR on a little more.

If I wanted to appease the P.O.S.H people in a refined atmosphere like a fine hofbrau or restaurant and the music was cool jazz and gentle pop-tunes, then I'd bring the Ibanez SR500:::



- so I feel that trying to categorize a sound and compare it to another bass is kinda tough.

But for most any other venue - I prefer the less Strad-type SR500 instrument as I like to keep the image fitting to the venue.

[Delberthot]

While I have no doubt that this is likely to be a very well made bass having owned a few of the VM Jazzes, I don't get it.

The Fender version has series/parallel switching, active EQ etc whereas this is merely another PJ bass. If Fender had designed this to have Squier produce a cheaper version of the Jaguar with active EQ etc then I could see this being a great bass but as it is, I don't see it adding anything.

I'm not normally negative when it comes to these things, it has hotter pickups than standard but that's something that could be changed anyway.

[LukeFRC]

[quote name='Delberthot' post='966332' date='Sep 24 2010, 06:53 AM']While I have no doubt that this is likely to be a very well made bass having owned a few of the VM Jazzes, I don't get it.

The Fender version has series/parallel switching, active EQ etc whereas this is merely another PJ bass. If Fender had designed this to have Squier produce a cheaper version of the Jaguar with active EQ etc then I could see this being a great bass but as it is, I don't see it adding anything.

I'm not normally negative when it comes to these things, it has hotter pickups than standard but that's something that could be changed anyway.[/quote]

but squier only do one other PJ bass, and this looks cooler. I think they possibly are aiming folks buyin thier first bass. and coolness goes a long way. also if you're out to buy your first bass then you are unlikely going to be thinking of swapping the pups.

Personally I owuldn't buy a Fender Jaguar bass, why, because of all the daft switches everywhere

[Tait]

Personally, I think these should be called the "Jazzmaster Bass" rather than the "Jaguar Bass".

One of my biggest problems is that this is actually nothing like the Fender Jaguar, except for the body shape. IMO they should have given it active electronics and 2 jazz pickups (although I'd understand them leaving some of the extra switches out - maybe just switches for your pickup selection?). OR they should've given it a one piece pickguard and called it the Squier Jazzmaster Bass. After all, that's what the Jazzmaster was to the Jaguar isn't it? A simpler younger brother? Same shape, but less controls and stuff. I know I'm being pedantic, but to me the "Squier Jaguar Bass" isn't a Jaguar bass at all, when you compare it with a Jaguar bass, they're actually nothing alike.

[LukeFRC]

except the jazzmaster was the older brother i think

[Circle_of_Fifths]

[quote name='LukeFRC' post='966489' date='Sep 24 2010, 02:37 AM']except the jazzmaster was the older brother i think[/quote]

I actually like it for several reasons - and these are MY reasons::
[list=1]
[*]It's [i]'The Bass That Never Was, Yet Is'[/i]
[*]Hot p'ups
[*]I didn't have another P/J combination in the choir
[*]I've never owned a Fender Jaguar
[*]I have an empty spare hardcase
[*]Hot p'ups
[*]It's understated beauty and musical applicability
[*]I never liked all the goofy hardware on the original Jaguar
[*]Looks good on the bandstand AND strapped on!
[*]The lower weight factors in strongly
[*]Hot p'ups
[*]Uniqueness in design
[*]Conspicuous consumption
[*]Matches my Deluxe Jazz
[*]Really HOT p'ups
[*]Bragging rights (OK - that's a cheap shot)
[*]Feels like a sports car in my hands
[*]Stacked knobs
[*]It's a 'guy-thing' ♂
[*]Did I mention it has [color="#FF0000"]hot[/color] p'ups?
[/list]



Really - since I have a couple of different Jazzes (1-active, 1-passive), a Precision and now the Jaguar with the P/J configuration was a natural evolution for my bass playing collection I think.

Now I have to consolidate my reasons with the biggest factor: I think I have all the bass tones and sounds covered now → well, maybe until I get a fretless or a full-sized stand up double.

Edited September 24, 2010 by Circle_of_Fifths

[Annoying Twit]

[quote name='ScaryBass' post='965381' date='Sep 23 2010, 10:47 AM']I've been wanting to try one of these since they were first announced, I've never been a fan of the shell pickguards but it just seems to work on these.
How would you say it compares to the VM jazz? Obviously I haven't tried the jag yet but at the moment my next bass is a toss up between the jazz and the jaguar, just wondering what your opinions are![/quote]

Unless I'm mistaken, which happens not infrequently, Music Junkie in Leicester had one in. Dunno where you are in Notts, but surely Leicester is not that far away. It was a couple of weeks ago and my memory is not the most reliable one in the world, but I think it was the Jaguar bass.

Edited September 24, 2010 by Annoying Twit

[Circle_of_Fifths]

[quote name='Annoying Twit' post='966919' date='Sep 24 2010, 08:59 AM']Unless I'm mistaken, which happens not infrequently, Music Junkie in Leicester had one in. Dunno where you are in Notts, but surely Leicester is not that far away. It was a couple of weeks ago and my memory is not the most reliable one in the world, but I think it was the Jaguar bass.[/quote]

Hard to imagine the time difference betwixt London and where I live - so I went and looked at [url="http://www.abbeyroad.com/visit/"]Abbey Road Crossing[/url] and you people are all awake!

Of course - now I notice it's just a little after 5AM there. Let me know when you can drop by there and mug with your Jaguar bass for me to see a live shot of you and it.

[Raslee]

I wonder, in terms of build quality, how this compares to the Squire CV range? I have owned a VM Jazz in the past and although a good bass for the money i feel the CV range is leaps ahead having tried the jazzers and purchased a 51P. :snob:

[Lfalex v1.1]

I tried one yesterday.
Very light, but well made when you consider it was £265.
The VT/VT controls do offer a good deal of variety, but they're all variations on a theme.
Neck and fretwork were very good. Squier seem to have got this right with the VMs and CVs.

[Circle_of_Fifths]

[quote name='Rasta' post='966979' date='Sep 24 2010, 09:55 AM']I wonder, in terms of build quality, how this compares to the Squire CV range? I have owned a VM Jazz in the past and although a good bass for the money i feel the CV range is leaps ahead having tried the jazzers and purchased a 51P. :snob:[/quote]

I really wanted to love the CV - as it took me back to days of yore when I was rocking surf music in Newport Beach and Balboa, California in 1960-68.

It just didn't happen. The CVs that I played had that odd feeling that they were made out of some sort of German plastic and had no warmth in my hands and wee generally unresponsive to my input and just made the sounds they wanted. It was frustrating - so I looked elsewhere and found the VM-Jazz and bought that instead.

Here's a sample of the overall gloss-ness that had my teeth on edge:::



There wasn't anything 'wrong' with the CVs - they just didn't float my boat, that's all.

Today - Saturday here - I've got an 8-hour gig with 5 or 6 sets to play for a Western BBQ in a 40 acre pasture for about 300 people, and I'm bringing my Deluxe Jazz, my VM-Jazz and my VM-Jaguar, so I'll get to see how it cuts in a real situation. This is the first session I'll get with the Jaguar, so it's going to be interesting to hear how it performs and the crowd can hear it.

This is another one of those parties where I don't actually get paid - it's just free beer, steaks and 300 of my closest friends. We're in the middle of our normal September/October heat where the temperature is going to be over 105ºF/40.5ºC and humidity in the single digits. We get Santana Winds about this time of the year and they are our biggest fire-season promulgators.

I had a small 3-hour jam last night at the fire station here with the WED/Sat crew and it went well, and the Jaguar had a lot of character that I have only begun to find and it surely has a lot of capacity to hold the line against three guitars at full volume and a guy with very heavy drum sticks. It seemed to sit in that frequency zone that wasn't being held hostage by the guitars.

It's 7AM here and I've got a lot of gear to haul up to that pasture and get set up so I've got to go for prolly the rest of the day.

Check y'all later.

[Annoying Twit]

I tried one out today, along with a Squier VMJ, a Squier standard Precision (they didn't have the VMJ) and a Mexican J. I preferred it to all the others, though the VMJ was very close. However, I'm not sure if that means all that much, as currently at least I don't seem to like low actions, and those two had the highest actions. In any case, I didn't find any of them better than my Cimar Rickenfaker, which is the bass I play 99% of the time now. So, I didn't feel tempted to buy anything.

[buff]

I also bought one about a week ago, and fine the jazz pick up all or nothing on the tone. Not sure if it would benefit from a set of basslines pick up's or better pot's. Lovely to play, just not sure about the tone.

[Circle_of_Fifths]

[quote name='buff' post='989853' date='Oct 15 2010, 04:11 PM']I also bought one about a week ago, and fine the jazz pick up all or nothing on the tone. Not sure if it would benefit from a set of basslines pick up's or better pot's. Lovely to play, just not sure about the tone.[/quote]

I can't figure that from you as I have a tremendous variety of tones and I can go all the way from ultra Motown to very glassy and brilliant.

I bet you've got a tone pot knob with a slipping set screw.

Remember that you have to take the VOL knob off to get a good setting on the TONE pot and press the knob down to preload the detent spring a little before you tighten the set screw.

[buff]

Will check it out.

[Jambo]

[quote name='Lfalex v1.1' post='961833' date='Sep 20 2010, 08:43 AM']Looks good. I bet you can coax a fair few tones out of it with V/T V/T controls.
How well balanced are the pick-ups in terms of output level- Is the "P" a lot hotter than the "J"?
How long before people start modding these? BadAss/Hipshot/Gotoh bridges, tuners, etc.
Can't stand tort scratchplates, though. It'd have to be swapped for a 3ply B/W/B or a Mirrored one![/quote]


well....mines off to the bass doctor tomorrow hopefully, for a badass & some flatwounds.....will report back in a while......perhaps the doc will also give his verdict too.....

[webby]

I tried one of these in a shop today, and both Tone controls 'took' the Vol controls with them when I turned them, and I was very careful not to touch the Vol control.

Is this a known issue?