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Jaguar 24” scale


DaveH

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I want to see what the 24” scale is all about. Who has played with any of the new offerings, and what were your thoughts?

My head wants a a USA of course, or at least the MIM Vintera, but my heart says to go Squier since I don’t even know if I’ll like them. I just want a taste, something to noodle around on. Fwiw, I’m a follower of the Gibby scale.

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I bought a used Fender Mustang 90 a couple of years ago, partly to see if I'd bond with both the guitar and the 24" scale.  For some reason, I found the neck to be a bit on the crowded side, though I've lived well with Gibson-scale guitars in the past.  I didn't really bond well with that Mustang, plus I didn't care much for Fender's version of P-90s on that guitar (they seemed kinda bland to me), and sold it.

A 'quick and dirty' way to 'experience' the joys of a 24" scale, is to measure out 24" from the bridge on a 25 1/2" Fender-scale guitar, and capo it at that point, at the nearest fret.  I've not tried that myself, but it might save you a trip to the local music store.  Just a thought.

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I owned a MIJ Jaguar for a while.  A unique tonal signature for sure, more percussive with the short scale, less sustain.  Part of that is also due to the whacky tremolo/bridge setup.  A fun and unique instrument to taste, but you are correct to start with the squire and see if its really something that works for you.  Mine was sold within a year of acquiring it. YMMV.

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I also tried/still have one of the Squier Mustangs, this one with humbuckers.  These have the 24" scale but a flatter 12" radius and are quite narrow at the nut.  I think at least some of the "crowdedness" comes from the very narrow neck.  I'm a G-scale devotee but this is pretty cramped.

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Bought (2) Squier Bullet Mustangs a few years back during Black Friday.  I've been wanting a good playing cheap guitar to mount an old Roland synth pickup.  They are really good playing, pretty good cheap guitars.  Pickups aren't THAT bad.  Bought cheap saddles and better string trees, though.  I also wanted a guitar I could pick up when my hands were sore, that could possibly allow me to play through the occasional wrist or finger strain.

The scale took some adjustment.. when I first got going on it, once I got past the 12th fret I really had to pay attention to the narrowing frets.  If I wasn't paying attention, I'd be landing wrong all over.  After I had it for a few weeks, I got used to it - no worries now.. fun as hell to wail on.  Bending will also be much easier, so you'll have to adjust.  It needs 10s.  The composite fingerboard is fine and the tuners work.. I stretch my strings before starting, so tuning issues don't really bite me too often.

The neck pup is pretty far forward - sounds like it too.  I put every pup in my drawer in these things and found you must have a darker, preferably scooped neck pup to get real neck pup tones, otherwise, you get middle.  The basswood body is thin like a Melody Maker and the ratio of basswood to maple (neck) gives it a little bit of an odd midrangy tone.  A heftier body would make a big difference.  It does vibrate nicely unplugged.  And even though it's a much shorter scale the a Strat, it's a plank, so it still has snap.  

Also, found a guy on reverb who would make me a 3-pup abomination.  At one point I had a set of Vintage Vibe SP90s installed - pups worth twice the cost of the entire instrument.. hehehe.. they sounded excellent.  I decided to sell one, so I reached into the very bottom of my pup drawer and pulled out a set of Carvin S60s I've had since the late eighties - never used.  Figured I could maybe get a little more than I paid for it, but I'll be damned if the darn thing didn't sound great.  Cheap pups, cheap guitar, easy on the hands, bliss.  Ended up giving the other one to a friend - couldn't sell it to someone who didn't appreciate the cheapness.   I was also able to get good action without buzzing due to the scale.

Price went up last year from $119 to $139 on sale, $159 to $179 retail.  Indonesia, baby!

Don't expect it to replace anything on your wall, but they are fun. 

Have a great day!

 

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I had a beautiful Sonic Blue 1966 Jag back in the '90s that I just didn't understand at the time, so sold it a few years later (for a huge profit).  What I failed to grasp, was that .009s/.0095s flat out DON'T WORK on Jags.  You truly need .011s on there to "get it" - it feels like you're playing much lighter strings.   Dropping in a Mustang bridge also helps.

In my opinion, the flat out best guitar Fender has come out with since the 1960s is the Johnny Marr Signature Jag.  They've incorporated some of the features developed for that model on other USA Jags, but I think you can get the switching on a Mexican Jag now - not 100% sure.

Worth checking out!

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20 hours ago, cmatthes said:

I had a beautiful Sonic Blue 1966 Jag back in the '90s that I just didn't understand at the time, so sold it a few years later (for a huge profit).  What I failed to grasp, was that .009s/.0095s flat out DON'T WORK on Jags.  You truly need .011s on there to "get it" - it feels like you're playing much lighter strings.   Dropping in a Mustang bridge also helps.

In my opinion, the flat out best guitar Fender has come out with since the 1960s is the Johnny Marr Signature Jag.  They've incorporated some of the features developed for that model on other USA Jags, but I think you can get the switching on a Mexican Jag now - not 100% sure.

Worth checking out!

I'm with Chris. I had a Johnny Marr Jag with 11's and nicely setup. I installed Creamery pickups for a little more edge/bite than the stock BKP's.

The 24" scale felt different, but not crazy different - I would compare it to the difference between a Tele and a Les Paul. It was easier for me to go between the Jag and a longer scale than it is to go between a fat and a skinny neck profile (for ease of playing).

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When I played surf and covers I really wanted to try a Johnny Marr Jag, but was doing the Jazzmaster thing. These days, the MIM Fender Classic Player Special HH Jaguar looks like it would be a lot of fun with a proper pickup swap. Instead of controlling the volume and tone of the neck pickup line in a stock Jag, they control the blend of each pickup from full humbucking to single coil.

 

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Just don't know about that 24" scale, though.

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I played a '56 Musicmaster for several years. I dropped hums & a Kahler in it (hey, it was the 80s and at that time it was just a used guitar). Later put the neck on one of those Fernandes Nomads w/ the built in amp & FX; my pal still has it, and I can't believe how short and crowded the neck feels now.

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I've assembled a few Warmoth Mustangs with 24" scale necks. My favorite is the one in my profile pic.   It has an alder body, fatback maple neck and Harmonic Design Z-90 pickups.  The big 1" thick neck is a great compliment to the shorter scale, IMO.

I haven't had any issues adapting to the slightly shorter scale and agree with others that moving up a notch to heavier strings adds some "huevos" to the tone equation.  

 

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On 3/31/2021 at 5:10 PM, BadgerDave said:

I've assembled a few Warmoth Mustangs with 24" scale necks. My favorite is the one in my profile pic.   It has an alder body, fatback maple neck and Harmonic Design Z-90 pickups.  The big 1" thick neck is a great compliment to the shorter scale, IMO.

Whats the nut width & radius on those necks? Looks nice.

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2 hours ago, Brooks said:

Whats the nut width & radius on those necks? Looks nice.

Thanks.  Nut width is 1 11/16", Radius is 10-16" compound. You can get different specs from Warmoth.

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It's amazing what 3/4" of an inch a difference can make in scale. Tried Jags, I like the concept, wanted to like them but just couldn't bond. One of those adventures many years ago where I began to realize that neck profiles/width/radius/etc. really did effect my playing. YMMV...

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Even worse, the Gibson Byrdland......23.5" scale. Had one for some years. Besides the short scale it has a narrow nut and a skinny neck. I loved the looks and the concept of the guitar. But I could not play it for any length of time before it turned my hand into knots. Finally gave up and sold it.

After so many years of swearing by the 24.75" scale, I now prefer 25.5"......Not that I will turn down a 24.594 or 24.75 or 25" guitar, mind you......

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On 3/27/2021 at 2:10 AM, cmatthes said:

I had a beautiful Sonic Blue 1966 Jag back in the '90s that I just didn't understand at the time, so sold it a few years later (for a huge profit).  What I failed to grasp, was that .009s/.0095s flat out DON'T WORK on Jags.  You truly need .011s on there to "get it" - it feels like you're playing much lighter strings.   Dropping in a Mustang bridge also helps.

In my opinion, the flat out best guitar Fender has come out with since the 1960s is the Johnny Marr Signature Jag.  They've incorporated some of the features developed for that model on other USA Jags, but I think you can get the switching on a Mexican Jag now - not 100% sure.

Worth checking out!

The American Professional Series Jaguar had the Johnny Marr four-way pickup switch, and on the top chrome bit had a single phase switch. Came with a Mustang(esque) bridge, a screw-in vibrato arm, 9.5" fretboard radius, and finish that, while thin, is tougher than the Marrguar. Finally, it had hotter pickups than traditional Jaguar or the Marrguar's Bare Knuckles. I sold my Marrguar a couple years ago and got an American Professional Jaguar for a few hundred bucks less. It suits me much better. I prefer the hotter pickups and more secure vibrato arm, and the phase switch is more useful for me than the Marr's high-pass. Both are really nice, but I think the Am Pro wasn't a big seller: it was discontinued and did not get the Am Pro II treatment for 2020.

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