Fender Jaguar HH Electric Guitar

July 26, 2007 by Jo Minor 


The black and chrome Fender Jaguar HH electric guitar is one groovy looking and sounding piece of rock machinery. With all the surfing style it had back in 1969, this new reissue guitar has some updated features, like dual Dragster humbucking pickups and an Adjusto-matic bridge with anchored tailpiece. Own this functional new (limited edition) piece of memorabilia for only $899.99 retail.

The predecessor of the Fender Jaguar first came on the scene in the late 1950s. It was advertised as “one of the finest solid body electric guitars that had ever been offered to the public.” The funny thing was, it did not catch on with the public at all when it was first issued. The Jaguar came about after the introduction of a similar model of Fender electric guitar called the Jazzmaster. One of the Fender designers was working on double circuit guitars, where you could change the tone with just the flip of a switch.

The idea was not received well by Leo Fender himself, but that changed when a musician named Alvino Rey talked to Fender. Rey loved the idea and talked Fender into manufacturing such a guitar. The first double circuit guitar, the Jazzmaster,” had lots of controls, with two rollers on the upper wing for the Rhythm circuit and tone and volume switches along with a toggle on the lower wing for controlling the Lead circuit.

The guitar did not catch on, however, largely because of the hum of the single coil pickups. The offset waist design may have been a little ahead of its time, too. Anyway, by 1962, Fender had redesigned the guitar with chrome plates, a shorter neck, slider switches instead of the toggle, and less noisy, smaller single coil pickups. Unfortunately, it failed to become popular, just like the earlier Jazzmaster. It was discontinued in 1975.

The next part of the Fender Jaguar story is interesting. The neglected Jags were sitting around in pawn shops by the late 80’s and early 90’s. They were still well-built real Fender electric guitars, however, and they still had a great sound. Since they could be picked up for a song during this time, they became popular with underground alternative rock musicians. One of the first successful bands to use them was the band Nirvana, with the guitarist Kurt Cobain.

One classic problem people found when playing the old Jaguars was that the bridge used on them was prone to all sorts of problems. Many people who play these older guitars change out the floating tremolo mechanism for a Fender Mustang style bridge or a Buzz Stop.

Since the late 90’s, Fender has reissued the Jaguar, the Mustang, and the Jazzmaster in various forms, including several Jaguar with humbucker models. The currently available Fender Jaguar HH fixes the problem of the bridge by using an “Adjusto-matic” bridge with anchored tailpiece, which is similar to the Gibson style Tune-o-matic bridge with stopbar tailpiece.

Advantages: The Fender Jaguar HH electric guitar has an abundance of switches like the original. Once you figure them out, which may take a few minutes, you will have a wide variety of sound options at your fingertips. Thus, the Jag is a very versatile guitar that can deliver regardless of the style of music you like to play. The lead circuit has a bright sound even though it is equipped with humbuckers. The neck is thin and easy to get around on.

Disadvantages: It is low on harmonics and sustain. If you are looking for the vintage Jaguar sound, you won’t get it with this guitar because of the humbuckers. Some musicians find the the short scale, small, narrow neck uncomfortable. The Fender Jaguar HH may not be the most well made of the Fenders, or maybe there is an occasional lemon, but some have found the switches to break easily, the controls not to affect the sound, and other technical problems.

Fender Jaguar HH Specs:

  • Offset waist style alder body
  • Black with chrome color scheme
  • Maple neck
  • Rosewood fretboard
  • 7.25 inch (184 mm.) fingerboard radius
  • 22 frets
  • 24 inch (610 mm.) scale length
  • 1.650 inches (41 mm.) wide at the nut
  • 2 special-design MIJ Dragster humbucking pickups (at neck and bridge)
  • Chrome pickup covers
  • Lead Circuit controls: 2-position tone switch, volume control and tone control
  • Rhythm circuit controls: Volume and tone control knobs
  • Circuit selector switch
  • On/off slide switches for each pickup
  • Vintage style Adjusto-Matic Bridge with anchored tailpiece
  • Fender Gotoh vintage style tuning machines
  • Chrome hardware
  • Fender Super 250R, nickel plated steel strings in gauges .010 to .046
  • Comes with a gig bag

Buy Cheap Online Under $630: Fender Jaguar HH

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