What do you think of the Jagmaster?

Doug

Today I played a Jaguar and a Jagmaster. For comparison, I used the same amp and amp settings (moderate gain, no reverb) & guitar settings (bridge pickup, tone off). Didn't play long enough to experiment with the many possible guitar settings or with the trem.

I was expecting the Jagmaster would feel, play, or sound inferior but I liked them both about equally well. So now I'm curious to learn what others think of the Jagmaster...?

Fran

Its a good guitar for the money but it is a stripped down offset. Perhaps intended as an affordable introduction to future Jaguar/Jazzmaster owners.

I like Squier's, i feel comfortable on them and part of that i suspect is because they are cheap but i would'nt say inferior, just guitars in their own right.

You get what you pay for here, the Jagmaster is nowhere near the same quality and the Fender tremolo and electronics are way better.

But if you like it go for it 😉

*Edit* May be relevant to the topic of Squier; I have a CIC Affinity Strat, cost me

Robbmonster

Fran used to be the owner of a VERY nice Jagmaster back in the day.

I have owned a Jagmaster for a couple of years and it suits me pretty well, but it has very little in common with a Jaguar outside of the basic appearance. The Jaguar just has too much switching that I would have no use for, and I am not a fan of the vibrato.

Personally, in terms of a balance of cost/quality, I think the Jagmaster presents a much better value option. The quality and playability are just fine, but like Fran said, the overall quaility of the components is inherently inferior.

Also, to refer to Fran's last point, I briefly owned a CIC Affinity Strat, and while I didn't like the guitar overall - the neck profile didn't feel right and the pickups had no personality - it had the best flame I have EVER seen on any guitar.

*edit: The pics really don't do justice to how great it looked.

feedbackismyfriend

Jambozo said: I currently own two Jagmasters that I have modded pretty heavily. To be fair when I got both of them, one was just a body, sanded down to bare wood, and the other was a pretty fairly "loved" Sunburst model with the original neck swapped out for an SX neck. I've since turned one of them into a flaming orange machine of death with a tort guard, matching headstock, black and white tuners and dual EMG 60s (yes, I know that by the very description this thing sounds borderline insane, and well, it is). I'm currently having some trem issues with it, and it may end up either getting a newer, better trem, have its current trem blocked so it doesn't float, or I may fill the cavity and go hardcore, routing for a Jag/Jazzmaster trem.
The other is stained a deep maple (think the Costello Jazzy), but it's not fully assembled at the mo. I love both of these guitars actually and I think they serve as nice, fairly inexpensive platforms to jump off into the the offset world with and that you can feel good about modding because they're so affordable.

pics?

JaguarOW

pictures? 😁

feedbackismyfriend

JaguarOW said: pictures? 😁

fotos? 😁

feedbackismyfriend

I suddenly feel the need to repost this

feedbackismyfriend

Jambozo said: feedbackimf-is that yours? It's really nice looking! The speed knobs I'm not big on, but did you put a stop tail piece on it? What do the two sliders by the 3-way do?

nah its not mine, somebody was selling it on here a while back.... I would've bought it if I had the money though. As I recall the slider switches were coil splits

Fran

The 'Walnutmasters' guard looks good, i know its meant to have a Jaguar upper control plate but it somehow looks cool. Like what a company like 'Italia' would do. I also like its distressed look, what did you use to finish it dude?

Fran

Thanks dude.

A combination of stain and poly... why dont we have stuff like that in the UK? 😠

We have to make do with fence paint or Halfords rattle cans.

Robbmonster

They both look great to me 😀

BlackMonkey24

found the pictures...im kinda slow. pretty sweet man...really digging the colors.

as in regards to the topic of the jagmaster...i like the jagmaster. its cheap and suprusingly good. a lot of people claim that the vistas were better ive played both and owning one of the new jagmasters for 2 years now and i personally find no difference at all. i have switched out the pups on mine but thats pretty much it.i love the neck and happy with my guitar 😀

*EDIT*

still not done with my jagmaster...gonna still do a few changes to it like changing the pickguard which i hate so much because of the previous owner ☹ color suggestions?

maybe mustang knobs. bridge maybe..actually ive fixed up pretty good and the tuners are great still get some buzzing...change to a bone nut lol...i dont know still thinking about the mods

by the way jambozo cant wait to see your Gretsch DuoJet..what color is it?

dirtkahuna

Back around 2001, I purchased a black Jagmaster. At the time, I was comparing it to a single-coil Jaguar. I actually preferred the tone of the Jagmaster (and the lower price). For years, the Jagmaster has been my main axe. I've recorded tons of tunes with it (http://www.hitsession.com) and played quite a few gigs with it. The guitar never let me down.

For a recent birthday, I purchased a new sunburst Jaguar HH (with tremolo). There isn't much difference in the playability of the two guitars, but the HH has a much richer tone. It's very easy to push the HH into some cool sustain/feedback noise and then rein it back into clear twangy tone (I use a POD XT and a Johnson Power Station amp with mostly VOX AC30 samples).

If you've got the cash, but the HH. Otherwise, the Jagmaster is a fine guitar.

To see and hear my Jagmaster, click here

Robbmonster

dirtkahuna said: Back around 2001, I purchased a black Jagmaster. At the time, I was comparing it to a single-coil Jaguar. I actually preferred the tone of the Jagmaster (and the lower price). For years, the Jagmaster has been my main axe. I've recorded tons of tunes with it (http://www.hitsession.com) and played quite a few gigs with it. The guitar never let me down.
For a recent birthday, I purchased a new sunburst Jaguar HH (with tremolo). There isn't much difference in the playability of the two guitars, but the HH has a much richer tone. It's very easy to push the HH into some cool sustain/feedback noise and then rein it back into clear twangy tone (I use a POD XT and a Johnson Power Station amp with mostly VOX AC30 samples).
If you've got the cash, but the HH. Otherwise, the Jagmaster is a fine guitar.
To see and hear my Jagmaster, click here

Great playing and great sound. I have to admit, I would NEVER have thought of a Jagmaster as a surf machine!!!

Glad you have proven me wrong 😀

NathanStang75

This thead wins.

Not a lot else to add that hasn't already been said really.

I love Jazzys and Jaguars but i'd take a Vista JagMaster over them any day.

I'm off to play my Jagmaster now......

BlackMonkey24

@dirtkahuna

nice jagmaster and real NICE playing bro...really digging your jagmaster tone

dirtkahuna

Thanks Blackmonkey and Robbmonster! As good as the Jagmaster tone is, the Jaguar HH is even better. I'll post another video after our next gig.

Doug

Two nice Jagmasters there. Wouldn't have guessed but the tort works with that Orange...and orange highlights on the fretboard come alive.

Being partial to natural finishes, I really like yer Walnutmaster. Where'd you get that oddly-shaped pickguard?...works with the wood finish.

Edit: just re-read Fran's post and saw that he pointed out the pickguard's a Jag.

Doug

You got a bass job with a band...you're versatile. Congratulations. What kind of music? Keep us posted on how it goes.

Doug

Thanks for the link, DirtKahuna...I enjoyed the video of Miserlou-Pipeline and your Jagmaster licks.