Which offset

Funkfingers

Funkfingers said:
A shop in Pembroke has a pre-owned Classic Vibe 70s Jaguar in very good condition. Unfortunately, for you, the proprietor refuses to ship. 

I am seriously tempted to buy this for myself but I already have a cupboard full of unfinished project guitars.

I capitulated. The Squier is now mine. 

Job number one, filing nut slots down to a sensible height. 

There is a list of jobs still to do but the guitar seems fundamentally sound - especially at the price.

MagicPigDetective

Funkfingers said:

Funkfingers said:
A shop in Pembroke has a pre-owned Classic Vibe 70s Jaguar in very good condition. Unfortunately, for you, the proprietor refuses to ship. 

I am seriously tempted to buy this for myself but I already have a cupboard full of unfinished project guitars.

I capitulated. The Squier is now mine. 

Job number one, filing nut slots down to a sensible height. 

There is a list of jobs still to do but the guitar seems fundamentally sound - especially at the price.

Nice, what colour? How are the frets?

The nut slots on mine do need to be lowered a tad; that's a task I've not undertaken before, and a bit daunting. 

Funkfingers

MagicPigDetective said:

what colour? 

Boring, boring sunburst.
Boring, boring sunburst.

MagicPigDetective said:

How are the frets?

Not checked them yet. The guitar dates from 2019. Apparently, the original purchaser never gelled with it. He part-exchanged it back to the same shop, barely played, between the 2020 locks down.

•

On a tangent, since we are discussing frets and set ups, I have to report a friend's newly bought Takamine GD51CE left no room for improvement. I do not know whether this was the work of the Chinese factory, Takamine Japan QA, their UK importer/distributor or the retailer. First class!

Funkfingers

MagicPigDetective said:

How are the frets?

Apologies for my tardy reply.

One of the frets on my Squier CV Jag had popped up slightly at one end. Elsewhere, the fret rocker tool found a few high spots that mk1 human eyeball could not. So, a tap with an 'ammer and some very localised levelling has seen it right.

Dazza

Ive had a raft of the buggers... I see them as 2 different guitars entirely although of course offset with a shared body shape. Chimey resonant tones form the JM with the dark side too vs treble vintage twang from the Jag plus the neck length adds another sonic dimension too (11s always for me on both offsets). I think any decision (in my view) needs to be around the tone you after and this begins with the guitars original elements so, as discussed above - trem set back not pulled near the bridge, no tune-o-matics... AVRI are always bang on, the Vinteras are great - pickups in the JM are superb, I swapped out the cap for a red dime on my JM and it was indistinguishable VS the AVRI in sound. Getting the trem spring set correctly makes a huge difference to playability and I’ve found the traditional bridge works when they are set up right however tend to go Staytrem on bridge and trem collet always. The Mascis is a bit on its own, its probably the best built and individual Squire you can get but not a true JM in my opinion. And the buzz stop... destroy! Saw Noel Gallagher with his JM the other day and buzz stop on it and I couldn't get my head around it. Also, every JM I've had I’ve shimmed slightly, always been spot on. I could get onto pickup heights and again for JM’s for me its always been lower rather than higher for a true chime! The Mr Marr Jag does cure all the niggles you tend to get and I love mine, the neck in particular, you do get more out of it with the switch combos giving a huge hum bucker option on switch 4 position. Im a huge fan of offsets and have obsessed over many. MIJ JM’s I’ve had a few of too, I always changed out electrics and pickups, and made sure the trem was set up correct in alignment as the string spacing is different where the strings loop through vs US and Mex, the strings can catch the trem arm as it rides up through them and the body shape is sharper in its contour under the arm but they do have great necks! Oh and offsets... they look the dogs doo dahs!

Funkfingers

Funkfingers said:

MagicPigDetective said:

How are the frets?

One of the frets … had popped up slightly at one end. …  a tap with an 'ammer and some very localised levelling has seen it right.

Nurse! That fret end is out of bed again.

This time, it will need glue and clamping OR removing altogether and reseating.

Pity because somebody local is feigning interest in possibly buying the guitar.

robdynamite

did anyone pre-order one of the squier jags from andertons? I've had mine on pre-order a while now and i'm getting very impatient as to what they're like.

Funkfingers

Check your Anderton's pre-ordering terms and conditions. There should be an arbitrary time threshold after which you have the right to cancel the order at no penalty.

Poboy

What does the term 'Offset' specifically refer to?

Funkfingers

The "waist" of a guitar is the narrow bit between the upper and lower bouts.

Some Fender solidbody electric guitars have a symmetrical waist. e.g. Telecaster, Stratocaster, early Duo-Sonic and Mustang.

On most other Fender body outlines, the waist is asymmetrical, with the upper waist dip neatly accommodating the player's ribcage/beergut and lower side dip being well placed to accommodate a seated player's leg.

The most exaggerated offset waist arrived with the Jazzmaster and Jaguar guitars and Jazz Bass. This makes the entire guitar look slanted towards the headstock.

"Offset" became the jargon term for Jazzmaster, Jaguar and later Duo-Sonic and Mustang guitars.

In addition to the appearance, these guitar shapes are associated (by some) with specific music genres.

Poboy

Funkfingers said:

The "waist" of a guitar is the narrow bit between the upper and lower bouts.

Some Fender solidbody electric guitars have a symmetrical waist. e.g. Telecaster, Stratocaster, early Duo-Sonic and Mustang.

On most other Fender body outlines, the waist is asymmetrical, with the upper waist dip neatly accommodating the player's ribcage/beergut and lower side dip being well placed to accommodate a seated player's leg.

The most exaggerated offset waist arrived with the Jazzmaster and Jaguar guitars and Jazz Bass. This makes the entire guitar look slanted towards the headstock.

"Offset" became the jargon term for Jazzmaster, Jaguar and later Duo-Sonic and Mustang guitars.

In addition to the appearance, these guitar shapes are associated (by some) with specific music genres.

Thanks FF. Very informative.
In that case, I dont like 'offset' guitars. They look stoopid. 

MagicPigDetective

An update on the Squier CV Jazzmaster.

With the neck shimmed, bridge raised and set with blue loctite, frets smoothed and polished and a Staytrem tremolo bar installed, it's now a superb guitar, a joy to play. Stays in tune well and not much rattle. The only problem remaining is the high E chokes out when bending the 15th fret a tone, perhaps an uneven fret? Also the nut slots are a bit high.

I've always liked 'offsety' type music, so it's no surprise that I love playing it, especially shoegaze/indie type stuff. Sounds amazing with fuzz. It's so satisfying to be able to do the MBV style tremolo dive thing. Definitely a new Jazzmaster convert here, though I still want to try a Jaguar. It certainly offers something very different from my Les Paul and Strat. 

So the Squier offsets - definitely worth it if you're willing to put in some work. I found plenty of guidance on the web, I'm no guitar tech wizard, but I found it all fairly easy to do. 

Lebarque

Poboy said:

Funkfingers said:

The "waist" of a guitar is the narrow bit between the upper and lower bouts.

Some Fender solidbody electric guitars have a symmetrical waist. e.g. Telecaster, Stratocaster, early Duo-Sonic and Mustang.

On most other Fender body outlines, the waist is asymmetrical, with the upper waist dip neatly accommodating the player's ribcage/beergut and lower side dip being well placed to accommodate a seated player's leg.

The most exaggerated offset waist arrived with the Jazzmaster and Jaguar guitars and Jazz Bass. This makes the entire guitar look slanted towards the headstock.

"Offset" became the jargon term for Jazzmaster, Jaguar and later Duo-Sonic and Mustang guitars.

In addition to the appearance, these guitar shapes are associated (by some) with specific music genres.

Thanks FF. Very informative.
In that case, I dont like 'offset' guitars. They look stoopid. 

Heresy! Flame him!

robdynamite

MagicPigDetective said:

An update on the Squier CV Jazzmaster.

With the neck shimmed, bridge raised and set with blue loctite, frets smoothed and polished and a Staytrem tremolo bar installed, it's now a superb guitar, a joy to play. Stays in tune well and not much rattle. The only problem remaining is the high E chokes out when bending the 15th fret a tone, perhaps an uneven fret? Also the nut slots are a bit high.

I've always liked 'offsety' type music, so it's no surprise that I love playing it, especially shoegaze/indie type stuff. Sounds amazing with fuzz. It's so satisfying to be able to do the MBV style tremolo dive thing. Definitely a new Jazzmaster convert here, though I still want to try a Jaguar. It certainly offers something very different from my Les Paul and Strat. 

So the Squier offsets - definitely worth it if you're willing to put in some work. I found plenty of guidance on the web, I'm no guitar tech wizard, but I found it all fairly easy to do. 

it sounds very much like adding a shim is a must do to pretty much every squier CV i've heard people own.

Funkfingers

Neck shimming is pretty much de rigueur on Jazzmasters and Jaguars with the vintage-style bridge and tailpiece combination. It is the only way to get the break angle over the bridge saddles correct.

Offset

I'm going to ask a dumb question so give me some latitude.  If this is accepted wisdom on Jaz/Jags to make them playable,  WTF don't Fender do it as a standard part of the manufacturing process?  Not exactly an expensive edition to the cost of unit production.

francer

Offset said:

I'm going to ask a dumb question so give me some latitude.  If this is accepted wisdom on Jaz/Jags to make them playable,  WTF don't Fender do it as a standard part of the manufacturing process?  Not exactly an expensive edition to the cost of unit production.

They do angle the neck pocket for the AV series and probably AOs too, not sure about other models. Ironically I feel they overcooked it a bit on the AVs, my bridge is on tip toes and the bridge pickup screws hanging on by about 2 threads to get the height. I ended up shimming it the other way to lower the break angle.

TrentGuitars

My performer mustang had an angled
neck pocket from the factory.

robdynamite

Offset said:

I'm going to ask a dumb question so give me some latitude.  If this is accepted wisdom on Jaz/Jags to make them playable,  WTF don't Fender do it as a standard part of the manufacturing process?  Not exactly an expensive edition to the cost of unit production.

this is something I was about to lead into. seems bizarre that every single owner has to do it from the off and it's not been done from the factory. But i might be wrong/missing something here.

Also, i've just had a shipping notification for my shell pink jag, so watch this space.

Funkfingers

robdynamite said:

Offset said:

WTF don't Fender do it as a standard part of the manufacturing process?  Not exactly an expensive edition to the cost of unit production.

this is something I was about to lead into. seems bizarre that every single owner has to do it from the off and it's not been done from the factory. But i might be wrong/missing something here.

Why do Fender build re-issue electric guitars that, as closely as humanly possible, conform to the original "vintage" blueprints?

Because this is what the overwhelming majority of customers ask for. Maybe, with a shallower fingerboard radius.

robdynamite said:

i've just had a shipping notification for my shell pink jag.

See what I mean?


The other thing with some of these guitars is the Fender/Squier sees fit to ship them with 009-042 gauge strings even though the bridge and vibrato combination always gives of its best with medium guages. (A minimum of tens for Jazzmasters and elevens for Jaguars.)