Fender Jaguar

The Fender Jaguar is an electric guitar which was introduced in 1962. Whether the designers of the Fender Jaguar had intended the instrument to be used for Surf music or if it was a further attempt to break into the Jazz guitar market (as was the case with its predecessor the Jazzmaster) remains a topic of dispute among Jaguar aficionados.

Nevertheless, the Jaguar quickly caught on in the emerging surf music scene, joining the Fender Jazzmaster, Mosrite and Fender Stratocaster as the guitars most associated with the style. They both became popular again in the 1990s when they were used by a number of indie rock bands.

Intended as Fender's top of the line guitar upon its release in 1962, the Fender Jaguar never enjoyed the popularity that the Stratocaster and Telecaster did.

After several upgrades (custom finishes, a bound neck and pearloid block inlays), the entire Fender Jaguar range was given a maple fingerboard with black binding and block inlays before being discontinued in 1975 after a thirteen year production run.




Fender Jaguar HH guitar demo


Fender Jaguar Test

Fender Jazzmaster

The Fender Jazzmaster is an electric guitar that was first introduced at the 1958 NAMM Show and was designed as a more upmarket instrument than the Fender Stratocaster, which was originally to replace the Telecaster model. As its name indicates, it was initially marketed at jazz guitarists but was more commonly played by surf rock guitarists in the early 1960s and, more recently, by indie rock artists.

The Fender Jazzmaster was officially discontinued in 1980, although some reports suggest no guitars were actually made after 1977 and guitars sold from 1978–1980 were old stock. The Jazzmaster was re-introduced in 1986 as a 1962 reissue model from Fender's Japanese factory.

The American Vintage Series version was introduced in 1999. In 2007 Fender announced plans for a 'thin skin' Fender Jazzmaster reissue with vintage nitrocellulose finish. The finish on the AVRI series is also nitro, but a 'thin skin' has a thinner nitro coat than usual (hence the name).



Fender Jazzmaster Guitar 1963


Fender Jazzmaster AVRI Clean Sound


Vintage Fender Jazzmaster 1964 Demo