Features
The Jaguar built from ideas first incorporated in the Jazzmaster, with a similar "offset waist" body and "floating tremolo" system. Unlike the Jazzmaster, the Jaguar was fitted with a shorter 24-inch scale, 22-fret neck and featured smaller single-coil pickups with notched side plates that improved RF shielding, making the Jaguar less prone to interference than the more popular Stratocaster and Telecaster.
The Jaguar and the Jazzmaster also shared a dual-circuit setup, one circuit for lead and another for rhythm, each with separate controls, allowing for two pre-set tone and volume settings between which the guitarist could rapidly switch. The Jaguar, however, had a more complex lead circuit consisting of three switches and two dials on the lower bout: the first two switches were on/off switches for the neck and bridge pickups, respectively, while the third switch engaged a capacitor that served as a high-pass filter. The rhythm circuit, set into operation when the upper bout switch is flicked upwards, had individual volume and tone rollers but no option to choose between pickups. This rhythm circuit has a bassier, neck-pickup only range.
Another new feature was a spring-loaded rubber string mute, which was flipped upwards from under the strings by a lever. The mute was designed for guitarists who had to palm mute for extended periods, which was difficult or impossible on the Jaguar's floating bridge without knocking the bridge out of position. This feature proved unpopular and became known as a "tone killer"; the cover and its foam were usually quickly removed.
Like the Jazzmaster and Bass VI, the Jaguar has an unusual floating tremolo arm mechanism that was a complete departure from the "synchronized tremolo" system found on the Stratocaster. Leo Fender believed that this new design was superior to previous designs since the bridge actually moved backwards and forwards along with the strings during tremolo use, thereby maintaining proper intonation even under duress, and preventing strings from binding. This floating bridge concept was also later used on the Fender Mustang. The floating tremolo mechanism also features a built-in tremolo lock, which helped the player preserve the guitar's tuning in the event of a string breakage and easing removal of the tremolo arm.
The electronics, which favored a brighter timbre, and the bridge and tremolo, which were well suited to thinner-gauge strings, were appropriate for surf musicians, much less so for blues players.
Read more about this topic: Fender Jaguar
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