Fender Jaguar Bass

Not to be confused with Fender Jaguar Bass VI Custom or Fender Bass VI.

Fender Jaguar Bass
Manufacturer	Fender
Period	2006 — 2010, 2011 — present
Construction
Body type	Solid
Neck joint	Bolt-on
Scale	34"
Woods
Body	Alder
Neck	Maple
Fretboard	Rosewood
Hardware
Bridge	Standard 4-Saddle
Pickup(s)	2 Vintage Jazz Bass Single-Coil Pickups
Colors available
(as of 2008) Black, Hot Rod Red (with matching headstock only), 3-Color Sunburst, Olympic White. (As of 2011) 3-Tone Sunburst, Candy Apple Red, Colbalt Blue.

The Fender Jaguar Bass is an electric bass guitar manufactured in Japan by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation.

Design

In appearance, the Jaguar Bass is largely faithful to the original Fender Jaguar, with exception of the neck, bridge, and pickups taken from the Fender Jazz Bass. Rather than the standard dot position markers, however, the Jaguar bass has aged pearloid block inlays, a feature generally reserved for premium instruments. The bass also has a standard vintage-style top-loading bridge and tuners. An onboard preamp is controlled by bass/treble boost rollers and an on/off switch located on the top control panel. The lower control panel holds on/off switches for each of the pickups, and a switch to toggle between parallel and series wiring of the pickups. Finally, the master control panel holds the master volume, master tone, and jack.

The basic tone of the Jaguar Bass is very similar to its stablemate, the Jazz Bass, and retains the signature "growl" of the latter. The complex controls, however, lend it a unique tonal flexibility not found in any other Fender instrument. For example, Bass Player Magazine notes that the Jaguar Bass can "[deliver] a convincing P-Bass sound ripe for Motown fingerstyle."

History

In 1960, Fender introduced the Jazz Bass, which was originally known as the "Deluxe Model" (in relation to the previously released Precision Bass). Fender marketed the Jazz Bass as a stablemate to the Jazzmaster electric guitar, as it featured a narrower neck which appealed to jazz musicians. The following year, Fender released the Bass VI, which featured six strings and a short-scale neck. The Bass VI also had a switch-based control layout, and was essentially a precursor to the Fender Jaguar released in 1962.

Fender produced the Jaguar electric guitar until 1975, when both the Bass VI and Jaguar lines were discontinued. However, the model was revived in 1999 due to the popularity of the Jaguar (and the similar Fender Jazzmaster) amongst indie rock musicians. From 2004 to 2006, Fender also produced the Jaguar Bass VI Custom, a cross between the Bass VI and the Jaguar.

Prior to the forthcoming discontinuation of the Jaguar Bass VI Custom, Fender unveiled the Jaguar Bass at the 2006 annual NAMM show. The Jaguar Bass was originally made available in the United States in Black and Hot Rod Red with a matching headstock. Although the Jaguar Bass was also manufactured in Olympic White and 3-color Sunburst, these finishes were only available in the Japanese domestic market. The full range of finish options was launched globally in 2008.

The Fender Jaguar Bass was discontinued in the United States in 2010 and Japan in 2011. However, Fender resumed manufacturing the instrument in Summer 2011. The Deluxe Jaguar Bass is now available in 3-tone sunburst, candy apple red (without matching headstock), or cobalt blue finish.

Squier Vintage Modified Jaguar Bass

In 2010, Fender introduced the Squier Vintage Modified Jaguar Bass with a black body and matching headstock.

The bass is closer to the Jazzmaster than the Jaguar in appearance, due to the absence of any controls other than stacked volume/tone potentiometers similar in design to the early versions of the Jazz Bass. Other features include a P/J pickup layout, maple neck with rosewood fretboard, and pearloid block position markers.

Squier Vintage Modified Jaguar Bass Special

In 2011, the Jaguar Bass Special was introduced with the choice of P/J or single humbucker pickups and Jazz Bass knobs/control plate. While the Jaguar Bass Special features a split-coil Precision neck pickup and a single-coil Jazz Bass bridge pickup paired with an active bass boost circuit, the Jaguar Bass Special HB uses a high-output humbucking pickup and a 3-band active EQ. Other features include a solid basswood or agathis body (depending the finish) and a maple neck with a 20-fret rosewood fretboard and pearloid dot inlays.

Squier Vintage Modified Jaguar Bass Special SS (Short Scale)

The SS model features a P/J set, a solid agathis body and a 20-fret maple neck with a rosewood fretboard and a short 30"-scale length.

Modern Player Jaguar Bass

The Modern Player model, introduced in 2011, sports a koto body, an unbound C-shaped maple neck, maple fretboard with 9.5-inch radius, black block inlays and 20 jumbo frets, three-ply parchment pickguard, two Modern Player PJ pickups, three Jazz Bass control knobs (middle volume, bridge volume, master tone), vintage-style four-saddle bridge with brass saddles, open-gear tuners and nickel/chrome hardware. Available in Black.

Notable Jaguar Bass players

Sienna DeGovia Matt Freeman Eva Gardner Paul Chiesa Colin Greenwood Brad Heald Georg Hólm Sally Hope Dylan Johnson Justin Meldal-Johnsen

Pino Palladino Ryan Roberts Tyson Ritter Simon Rix Chris Ross Corey Hykaway Matthew Taylor Sergio Vega Mikey Way Simon Young Stefan Olsdal Miles Westfall Daniel Jacques Rhydian Dafydd

References

External links

• Fender.com - Manufacturer's Official Site

Literature

• Peter Bertges: The Fender Reference; Bomots, Saarbrücken 2007, ISBN 978-3-939316-38-1