No not necessarily. The Original Jaguars came with a mute mechanism. It was a little strip of metal that was attached to the Bridge. It had a Rubber bar that touched the strings when the metal was flicked up. The rubber muted the strings so that players could use that instead of muting the strings manually with their hands. Players found it annoying and most just removed them.
So when the jaguar was reissued in the 90′s as part of Fender Japan, the Mutes were not reissued because of their past failure. However if you have a Vintage Jaguar and no mute, you are missing that part. On a side note, the new American Vintage series Jaguars come with a reissue of the old mute.
[From Nick's Jaguar FAQ]
2 Responses to “I’ve seen pics of old Jaguars and they have this funky metal thing around the bridge, Is my Jag missing a part or what?”
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Hi. Do you feel that this gimmick should be removed from the american 62 reissue jaguar i own? Forget about taste and utility, i will use it as i have till today.
My question is whether it’s removal could assist in the guitar’s better bridge set up. If i removed it would the bridge rest better?
Thanks alot, great info in general
Alex
Removing the mute alone makes the bridge very unstable. But if you don’t use the mute at all, remove it, wrap the bridge posts w/insulation tape just enough so they fit snug in the bushings that they sit in. This will make it so the bridge can’t rock. it’s possible to do with the mute on but the holes for the posts on the muteplate need resizing with a drill.