I have a newer Player Jag that I got as a "let's see what this is all about" guitar early into the quarantine. I'm quite taken with it and want to trade up for a better build.
Tell me about the specs on your Jag, what you like about it, what you'd change about it, what you like to play on it. Or even what you wished you had instead of the Jag.
I'll get out and try one eventually, but it's probably going to be a while and I'm especially curious about the ones with coil-splitting humbuckers or how a 7.5" radius feels on that 24" scale.
Comments
Quantifying what I like about my guitars is difficult and, arguably, irrelevant to your upgrade decision. For instance, one of my guitars has single coil pickups whilst the other has humbuckers. I like each option as is. I would not want coil splitting on humbuckers.
Bit discombobulating with the fret position markers though!
Can't help other than to say short scale guitars are great, happy hunting.
Mine is an American Vintage '65 in sonic blue. A 30th birthday present to myself!
Vintage specs all round - small frets, 7.25' radius, bound fretboard and standard pickup and switching configuration. I think the small radius is less noticeable on the short scale (I use 11s), but then it's a guitar that pushes you toward a certain way of playing - more like Johnny Marr than Joe Satriani.
In terms of playability it's fantastic, better than the couple of CIJ jaguars I've owned previously but some of the hardware weak points on pretty much any Jag still persist - I added StayTrem arm and bridge and a set of truly outstanding pickups from Oil City pickups - the original set we're ok but a bit bright and sharp.
If I had to replace it, I'd be considering a Johnny Marr signature (in lake placid blue, obv) as it addresses some of those hardware changes out of the box. Any AV65 and AO Jag I imagine will be similarly high quality, if you've got the cash!
If you're into humbuckers, I'd say the MIM classic player would be a great first stop - my Jazzmaster is made largely of parts from an MIM Classic Player - neck in particular is great - and it has a lot going for it.
Won't sound like a Jag though - important to make a distinction between the cool chrome-filled grungy image (age dependent) or the vintage Jag sound, which is bright, cutting and needs to be embraced to be enjoyed!
https://i.imgur.com/HupUk8k.jpg
Not only the best jag I have ever played but one of the best guitars I have ever played. Swapped the bridge for a mastery and the pickups for mojos.
Such a great guitar for recording, it just always sits in the mix so well.
This is another I had. It got sold for the one above.
Again had a bridge swap (staytrem) and mojo pickups.
https://i.imgur.com/Zz7lGl7.jpg
I've had many more. I just don't have pictures on imgur of them.
The worst of the bunch was an avri 62.
Heavy and lifeless. Looked pretty though.
The mim classic players were surprisingly good, even the humbucker one with splitable coils. That was my main gigging guitar for ages. Had to swap the bridge on that too.
http://imgur.com/a/1SskEMt
Years later, and I bought a Player, however found the pickups and coil split a little lacking (the bridge tap was very thin and low in output).
So I moved to a Classic Player, and then a Classic Player HH. I really like the neck, very comfortable with the 9.5 and MJ frets, and find being able to dial in the quantity of humbucker vs single coil a genius stroke - certainly for me.
I play more rhythm than lead and am particularly attracted to the Jag’s vibrations - my chords feel and sound gritty.
The Classic Player HH is certainly a step up from the Player, and is quite a dream guitar for me (mine has a slight issue at the minute - but that can be fixed). Though I would love to get a higher end version with some of the same or similar specifications (not sure that exists...).
I'm very partial to single-coils, so if I can line that up with a fretboard that suits me that's more my priority. Vintage tones are my preference, but I also like modern punk and grunge. Pickups are fairly easy mods. Seems like a win-win as long as I don't let a few hundred $$ stop me one way or the other.
Yes you can fuck about for hours shimming necks, adjusting the height of the bridge, filing grooves and using loctite/clear nail varnish on every single grub screw and hole etc
Or you can put a staytrem or mastery on the guitar and be sorted in 10 minutes with bomb proof seated strings.
I know my preference