Is the Fender Jaguar Bass discontinued

[martindupras]

Just out of curiosity, I was browsing the Fender website.

The top drop-down menu has Products -> Bass Guitars -> Jaguar. I clicked, and much to my puzzlement, I got: "There were no products found for your search.. Let's try your search again!"

I thought this might just be a broken link. A search for jaguar bass returns nothing at all.

Unless I am being a complete cretin, there's no trace of current Jaguar basses. Jaguar bass pickups, yes, but that's it.

Does anyone know about this?

I'm quite disappointed: I thought the Jaguar looked cool and was interesting and distinctive. I was really hoping that they would catch on and that we'd get a five-string version.

Which leads me to the next question: does anyone know of a parts suppliers that sells (long shot, I know) jaguar bodies that would take a five-string neck?

- martin

[Buzz]

Looks like it's gone. It's in the drop down as you say, but it's not actually on the upper menu bar with the Jazz, Precision and Mustang if you go onto the actual model pages. Some topics on their forums note that even in the USA they've vanished from shops and now the webby, although there's no official word.

Bit of a shame really.

[tarcher]

[quote name='Buzz' post='1154764' date='Mar 8 2011, 11:42 PM']Looks like it's gone. It's in the drop down as you say, but it's not actually on the upper menu bar with the Jazz, Precision and Mustang if you go onto the actual model pages. Some topics on their forums note that even in the USA they've vanished from shops and now the webby, although there's no official word.

Bit of a shame really.[/quote]


Don't know if they're still being made for the Japan only market,but nows a good time to try and bag yourelf one,before the prices start to go up.
There's an unused s/h one on ebygumtree for the princely sum of £900 in black.
one turned up on ebay last week that had been gigged and it sold bin for £340 with hard case.

I think they stopped producing in 2008.

[martindupras]

I was completely unaware that they stopped making them that long ago. I'm really surprised by that because I have visited the Fender site now and then for a few years to check, among other things, if a 5-string jag was in the works.

It's really quite disappointing, but I guess that's all down to offer and demand.

- martin


[quote name='tarcher' post='1154901' date='Mar 9 2011, 08:27 AM']Don't know if they're still being made for the Japan only market,but nows a good time to try and bag yourelf one,before the prices start to go up.
There's an unused s/h one on ebygumtree for the princely sum of £900 in black.
one turned up on ebay last week that had been gigged and it sold bin for £340 with hard case.

I think they stopped producing in 2008.[/quote]

[Prime_BASS]

The RRP was a bit ridiculous for what it was, re-sale value was crap. Took me ages to get shot of mine.

Although it's playabilty was great, reasonably light, it was just let down by cheap electronics which due to it's over complicated switch arrangement was not worth the hassle to upgrade. Preamps are usually a cut a stick kinda thing but with the Jag I attempted it, got lost and gave up.

It came to life a bit with some quality pickups, and it's a great alternative for a jazz bass that looks different and is lighter.

Also there are better examples of do-it-all basses that really do it all and still be themselves, the BigAl SSS for example.

[tarcher]

Actually very happy with mine. Sounds good passive or active(may have a dry joint on one of thecontrols in the pre)it looks great and is comfy to play.
Love it

[martindupras]

Very nice to get the word from someone who actually owned one.

The Big Al is quite attractive. I have a Bongo and love it to bits, and the Big Al seems to bring some of that Bongo flexibility into something that's a bit cooler and a little bit more classic at the same time.

I'm half surprised that the resale value of the Jag was crap, but at the same I can see that it's not for everyone, and therefore demand is limited.

- martin


[quote name='Prime_BASS' post='1155138' date='Mar 9 2011, 12:02 PM']The RRP was a bit ridiculous for what it was, re-sale value was crap. Took me ages to get shot of mine.

Although it's playabilty was great, reasonably light, it was just let down by cheap electronics which due to it's over complicated switch arrangement was not worth the hassle to upgrade. Preamps are usually a cut a stick kinda thing but with the Jag I attempted it, got lost and gave up.

It came to life a bit with some quality pickups, and it's a great alternative for a jazz bass that looks different and is lighter.

Also there are better examples of do-it-all basses that really do it all and still be themselves, the BigAl SSS for example.[/quote]

[munkonthehill]

The jag is a one stop shop. they are fantastic basses and well worth their value.

I nearly sold mine a few times, however thanks to a few good members on here, they jumped onto the thread to remind me how much I love it.

That 900 s/h bass was just stupid. 400-500 depending on the market is a fair price.

[Musicman20]

I would check out the Big Al. More money, but very nice pre-amp/passive option, and tons of flexibility.

Plus, it has its own voice.

[danhkr]

The Jaguar isn't in Fender's most recent UK price list, so discontinued or not, they're certainly not bringing them in at the minute. They only really bring jap stuff in if an equivalent isn't made in mexico and they seem to start out reasonably priced before rocketing up and then eventually get discontinued. I believe it happened with the aerodyne stuff as well, although they're bringing those back in again.

[tarcher]

Must say part of the attraction of the Jag is its look.
They just look so nice and a bit different to the general run of the mill basses out there.
The Big Al is quite a different looking guitar and it packs quite a price as well.At over £1700 I would be expecting certain other pleasures from playing it besides sounding nice.
Referring to the pickups I've never come across any derogatory remarks about Fender jazz pickups ,be they American or Japanese,in fact the sound from the jag in passive leaves my MIA jazz in the shade.

Edited March 9, 2011 by tarcher

[benebass]

I'd heard that the strength of the Yen was making all Japanese imports really expensive. This, combined with the success of the passive Squier Jag & the pending new active models coming out soon, have probably priced the Fender Jag out of the market.

Still looks great though!

Cheers,

B.

[Prime_BASS]

[quote name='tarcher' post='1155600' date='Mar 9 2011, 05:17 PM']Must say part of the attraction of the Jag is its look.
They just look so nice and a bit different to the general run of the mill basses out there.
The Big Al is quite a different looking guitar and it packs quite a price as well.At over £1700 I would be expecting certain other pleasures from playing it besides sounding nice.
Referring to the pickups I've never come across any derogatory remarks about Fender jazz pickups ,be they American or Japanese,in fact the sound from the jag in passive leaves my MIA jazz in the shade.[/quote]

I'm not paying £1700 for mind when it arrives, and another big al buyer paid around £1300 with a 10% discount.
Plus it's a higher quality machine and is rather more complicated.

I only compare the Jag and the Big Al as they both are passive/active, with an actual Tone control at 250K. Both do a jazz sound (However like I said in previous post the Big al does a good impression, back pickup in passive gives plenty of jazz bark with famous EBMM fatness, I won't go further into it as I'll typing all night) also on both the looks are considered modern but classic at the same time.
They also say in promo material that in series the Jag sounds like a precision. Which just isn't the case, you just get a low mid boost, coupled with the ceramic pups is a bit bad. More on pickups later. The Big al again does do a goo impression as you can have a single coil in the mid on it's own, but again it doesn't seem to loose it's own character.

My thing on the PUPs on the jag, it wasn't weAther they were US, jap or home-made. It's the magnets.
Ceramic is apparently smoother than Alnico, but if you ignore sales talk you can here a slight lack of highs, an a little more low mids. Alnico are apparently more aggressive not so true, output gives you more "aggression" what you get is a little more mids and the highs you loose with ceramic.

I purposely chose fenders alnico 60s pickups as they had a lower output which for one reason or another isn't popular, just because I prefer the more flatter tone from the alnico magnets and the lower output doesn't mean they sound weak you just dont get that over powering thump you get from some pickups.

Still I feel it could of been so much more. After playing SUB, that was RRP for around £700 (same as the jag and weirdly resells for around the same price as a jag) the construction, quality and sound was so much more for the same price. Don't get me wrong I did like it but after playing that SUB and then going for the stingray and now the BigAl £700 for the Jag is a bit of a robbery.

For me anyway, as always fender gave it a good shot, but someone has done a better job.

I intend to do a intense review o the Big Al when it arrives!!!

[munkonthehill]

regarding the finish on the Jags, mine had no issues at all. I went through a stingray and a bongo quite quickly. Both had great finishes however my Jag looks just as darn pretty and tidy as they did for a fraction of the price. I to this date still havent touched the action or intonation on the jag as it was ready to play right out the box.

I did fancy sticking a badassIII on it just cos they look cool. But I dont want to muck up the way it plays straight from the factory.

We can A-B them all we like and we will have preferences. However for a bass UNDER £700, the Jag stands proud against basses that exceed its retail value.

For a bass that has a simple EQ system I can get a thump or a twang out of it easily. a blend control would have been nice however for a bass that looks and plays as well as the Jag then I can forgive it.

Im not too sure why a Big Al and a Jag are being compared as they are totally different beasts and im sure if fender had the Big Al price tag, they may have pimped it out a bit more.

[Gust0o]

As above, I'm not sure how valid the Big Al comparison is. If you're buying a Jag, wouldn't you also be shopping around comparable Jazz and Precision basses?

The Big Al is a cut above, I'm sure - and I remember chatting to a forum member on here about acquiring his - but it's £1400 or more, and I'm not sure how many times you'd want to take it out in some sweaty pub.

The Jag, at £500-ish, gives you some options. And if you're not happy with it, then I suspect you're falling back to your P or J options.

There's one on Ebay now, black-with-white, £600 starting bid and £800 BIN. Headstock looks like it sank on the Titanic, however.

[munkonthehill]

[quote name='Gust0o' post='1156484' date='Mar 10 2011, 12:34 PM']As above, I'm not sure how valid the Big Al comparison is. If you're buying a Jag, wouldn't you also be shopping around comparable Jazz and Precision basses?

The Big Al is a cut above, I'm sure - and I remember chatting to a forum member on here about acquiring his - but it's £1400 or more, and I'm not sure how many times you'd want to take it out in some sweaty pub.

The Jag, at £500-ish, gives you some options. And if you're not happy with it, then I suspect you're falling back to your P or J options.

There's one on Ebay now, black-with-white, £600 starting bid and £800 BIN. Headstock looks like it sank on the Titanic, however.[/quote]

+1

love the titanic comment

[watchman]

[quote name='Prime_BASS' post='1155138' date='Mar 9 2011, 12:02 PM']The RRP was a bit ridiculous for what it was, re-sale value was crap. Took me ages to get shot of mine.

Although it's playabilty was great, reasonably light, it was just let down by cheap electronics which due to it's over complicated switch arrangement was not worth the hassle to upgrade. Preamps are usually a cut a stick kinda thing but with the Jag I attempted it, got lost and gave up.

It came to life a bit with some quality pickups, and it's a great alternative for a jazz bass that looks different and is lighter.[/quote]

Mine was neck-heavy - a total no-no when your left arm is as dicky as mine, and I totally agree that the electronics were lacklustre. I lacked the will to gut it and install something decent too, but they did have that "something different" cachet. I think I paid 550 or so for it new, and got maybe 450 back when I traded it in.

[Circle_of_Fifths]

The Fender Jag - not to be confused with the Squier Jag - never was a really big seller in the US - it's home market.

With resale values super low and the demand for them was lacking all the 'way around, it's logical that the Jag was DC'd when it was if not sooner.

In all honesty, I considered one - but it un-impressed me a lot - lots less than a MiM Deluxe which could play circles around it I felt. Too many gadgets and switcheroos and thing-a-ma-bobs to go awry and asunder.

If one has one - and one actually finds one is a delight to hold and play, then one should by all means keep that one as it will accrue value - [i]albeit not well-founded IMO[/i] - when they are scarcer than they are now and the collectors in Japan and Holland pay gross sums of Yen or Kronos (or whatever the Dutch use for coinage) and secret them to underground bunkers, never to see sun nor stars again in a private vault.

One can only wonder, cannot one?

Cute? - yes. Playable? - sorta. Valuable? - not to me.

< insert usual disclaimers here >

I have to go now and have a new muffler (engine silencing device-UK) installed (fitted-UK) on my car (auto-UK) and will return shorter than in a fortnight (a while-US) and resume this discussion then.

Edited March 22, 2011 by Circle_of_Fifths

[martindupras]

Thanks, that was a really interesting reply.

- martin


[quote name='Circle_of_Fifths' post='1172303' date='Mar 22 2011, 04:51 PM']The Fender Jag - not to be confused with the Squier Jag - never was a really big seller in the US - it's home market.

With resale values super low and the demand for them was lacking all the 'way around, it's logical that the Jag was DC'd when it was if not sooner.

In all honesty, I considered one - but it un-impressed me a lot - lots less than a MiM Deluxe which could play circles around it I felt. Too many gadgets and switcheroos and thing-a-ma-bobs to go awry and asunder.

If one has one - and one actually finds one is a delight to hold and play, then one should by all means keep that one as it will accrue value - [i]albeit not well-founded IMO[/i] - when they are scarcer than they are now and the collectors in Japan and Holland pay gross sums of Yen or Kronos (or whatever the Dutch use for coinage) and secret them to underground bunkers, never to see sun nor stars again in a private vault.

One can only wonder, cannot one?

Cute? - yes. Playable? - sorta. Valuable? - not to me.

< insert usual disclaimers here >

I have to go now and have a new muffler (engine silencing device-UK) installed (fitted-UK) on my car (auto-UK) and will return shorter than in a fortnight (a while-US) and resume this discussion then.[/quote]