NBD - Squier Jaguar

[Frank Blank]

Mid-rehearsal yesterday I got fed up with not having a short scale electric bass so along with my musical comrade we drove down to PMT to see what was in. I tried a Talman and an Ibanez SR 500, both of which were lovely but didn’t have that extra ting that makes your ears light up. As I was leaving I saw a black Squier Jaguar and asked to have a go, I sat down and as soon as I started playing I was smitten, within thirty seconds a new song was appearing. I think I played it for a minute before I bought it, I had no idea it would be this lovely. I would be interested to hear about any modifications folk here have done to their Jaguars.

[casapete]

Mine was great just as it was really. Heard stories of poor neck joints but mine was solid. Pickups and tuners were enough for me but you may prefer to upgrade - personally don't think the outlay would justify it. Cracking little S/S basses, only sold mine to fund an amp purchase. Black ones cool, have you seen the silver though? 😄

[Frank Blank]

19 minutes ago, casapete said:

Mine was great just as it was really. Heard stories of poor neck joints but mine was solid. Pickups and tuners were enough for me but you may prefer to upgrade - personally don't think the outlay would justify it. Cracking little S/S basses, only sold mine to fund an amp purchase. Black ones cool, have you seen the silver though? 😄

Black is perfect for me. Did you find a case for yours?

[casapete]

Just used a good quality guitar gig bag for mine. May fit a generic guitar hard case like a Gator maybe?

[grandad]

https://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/Fender-Urban-Short-Scale-Bass-Gig-Bag/1IXP?origin=product-ads&gclid=CjwKCAjwgYPZBRBoEiwA2XeupVbtawIc2Pp2514toQ5Ir0zs_QLNxpTvOZ_n9BQIgd1sI9JDqgsHxxoCUn0QAvD_BwE

I bought one of these, perfect fit.

Edited June 14, 2018 by grandad

[Osiris]

What is it about the Jaguar short scale that you preferred over the Talman SS? 

The reason I ask is that I picked up a used Talman SS a few weeks ago from a mate of mine and I think it's a fantastic bass considering how cheap and cheerful they are. Admittedly he'd changed the pickups, put some better quality pots in it and checked the frets over but it sounds and plays as well as some of my more expensive basses. 

I like the look of the Jaguar SS so am interested to hear how you feel they compare. 

[uk_lefty]

My guitarist bought a jaguar brand new, the red pj one, for his home studio and for his teenage son to learn on. He also picked up a trace Elliot blx for next to nothing too! I've not had chance to play the jaguar through an amp but it feels and looks like a very well made instrument, think he got it new for less than £200. I wouldn't change a thing on it. He plays very expensive guitars and is smitten with his stock squier bass, if anyone would be picky about it he would.

[Frank Blank]

1 minute ago, uk_lefty said:

My guitarist bought a jaguar brand new, the red pj one, for his home studio and for his teenage son to learn on. He also picked up a trace Elliot blx for next to nothing too! I've not had chance to play the jaguar through an amp but it feels and looks like a very well made instrument, think he got it new for less than £200. I wouldn't change a thing on it. He plays very expensive guitars and is smitten with his stock squier bass, if anyone would be picky about it he would.

Mine was £190. Having played it a lot since getting it I think I agree, nothing really needs changing, it’s more aesthetics, I just quite fancy everything on the bass to be black. I can’t quite believe the quality at this price.

[Frank Blank]

42 minutes ago, Osiris said:

What is it about the Jaguar short scale that you preferred over the Talman SS? 

The reason I ask is that I picked up a used Talman SS a few weeks ago from a mate of mine and I think it's a fantastic bass considering how cheap and cheerful they are. Admittedly he'd changed the pickups, put some better quality pots in it and checked the frets over but it sounds and plays as well as some of my more expensive basses. 

I like the look of the Jaguar SS so am interested to hear how you feel they compare. 

Now that’s a difficult question to answer because I tend to choose instruments I buy very quickly, the one I’m going to purchase ‘becomes apparent’ almost straight away. In all honesty thei was very little difference between the Talman and the Jaguar, I was equally impressed with both, but the Talman was in cream, which I’d never buy and the Jaguar was black which I’ll always go for over any other colour but the ergonomics of the Jaguar just suited me more than the Talman. The Jaguar just felt ‘right’, it is comfortable, light and I just felt at home with it. I was impressed with the Talman, however I was smitten with the Jaguar. You are right, the look of the Jaguar is lovely, I really don’t like the look of the Talman headstock, again, aesthetics but with the basses being similarly priced things like that tip the balance. I loved the matte neck on the Jaguar, I think I’m right in saying the neck on the Jaguar feels a little rounder too...

I’m waffling, I just preferred the Jaguar for mostly undefinable reasons!

[Frank Blank]

1 hour ago, grandad said:

https://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/Fender-Urban-Short-Scale-Bass-Gig-Bag/1IXP?origin=product-ads&gclid=CjwKCAjwgYPZBRBoEiwA2XeupVbtawIc2Pp2514toQ5Ir0zs_QLNxpTvOZ_n9BQIgd1sI9JDqgsHxxoCUn0QAvD_BwE

I bought one of these, perfect fit.

Thanks, I did get something similar but it is too tight, I’ll try one of these, thanks.

[Trueno]

Mine is CAR with black pickguard (I have a bit of a thing about this combination). Cost £180. It came with really nasty knobs, so I put some Fender Jazz ones on, also put on my fave d'Addario strings and a Gotoh bridge... I just hate bbot bridges, but I'm sure the original was ok. Everything else is fine. It was already set up well, I did a bit of tweaking, but the biggest difference was resetting pick-up height.

[Osiris]

1 hour ago, Frank Blank said:

Now that’s a difficult question to answer because I tend to choose instruments I buy very quickly, the one I’m going to purchase ‘becomes apparent’ almost straight away. In all honesty thei was very little difference between the Talman and the Jaguar, I was equally impressed with both, but the Talman was in cream, which I’d never buy and the Jaguar was black which I’ll always go for over any other colour but the ergonomics of the Jaguar just suited me more than the Talman. The Jaguar just felt ‘right’, it is comfortable, light and I just felt at home with it. I was impressed with the Talman, however I was smitten with the Jaguar. You are right, the look of the Jaguar is lovely, I really don’t like the look of the Talman headstock, again, aesthetics but with the basses being similarly priced things like that tip the balance. I loved the matte neck on the Jaguar, I think I’m right in saying the neck on the Jaguar feels a little rounder too...

I’m waffling, I just preferred the Jaguar for mostly undefinable reasons!

Waffle away, I'm keen to know you thoughts!

I know exactly what you mean, I tend to know within a few minutes or so if I'm going to bond with a bass or not too. 

My Talman is the all black one. I have put some mother of pearl effect block marker stickers on it (because I'm shallow like that  ) and I think it looks quite classy now, certainly more expensive than it is. Likewise I'm not sure about the headstock design but for the sheer fun of it and the ease of playing then I'm willing to overlook such a cosmetic detail. I'm somewhat ambivalent towards the cream one, some of the pictures online show it with a darker fretboard which I think suits the bass but there are others which show it with a more pale fretboard, (presumably an inherent property of the jatoba wood they are now using instead of rosewood?) but I'm not so keen on that, personally. 

How do you find the pickups on the Jag? Are you considering changing them at some point or do they deliver the goods as they are? 

From what you guys are saying I think I'm going to have to give the Jag SS a whirl.  

[Trueno]

^^^ I know you didn't direct the question at me, but I'm finding it hard to justify changing the pickups on the Jag. They sound good enough for what I use it for.... bedroom noodling, but I would happily gig with this bass as it is. Then again, I have an EBS microbass preamp leftover from my gigging days and it makes almost anything sound fearsome.

[Osiris]

10 minutes ago, Trueno said:

^^^ I know you didn't direct the question at me, but I'm finding it hard to justify changing the pickups on the Jag. They sound good enough for what I use it for.... bedroom noodling, but I would happily gig with this bass as it is. Then again, I have an EBS microbass preamp leftover from my gigging days and it makes almost anything sound fearsome.

Cheers for that, all opinions are welcome 

[Frank Blank]

2 hours ago, Osiris said:

How do you find the pickups on the Jag? Are you considering changing them at some point or do they deliver the goods as they are? 

From what you guys are saying I think I'm going to have to give the Jag SS a whirl.  

Now I'm no expert on pickups. I play straight into an AER Basic Performer with all the amp controls at midday and just tweak the tone on the bass to suit the song so I find the pickups perfectly adequate. You are more than welcome to try mine out at your leisure if you can get to deepest Essex.

[Frank Blank]

2 hours ago, Trueno said:

^^^ I know you didn't direct the question at me, but I'm finding it hard to justify changing the pickups on the Jag. They sound good enough for what I use it for.... bedroom noodling, but I would happily gig with this bass as it is. Then again, I have an EBS microbass preamp leftover from my gigging days and it makes almost anything sound fearsome.

This...

[borntohang]

Love my little Jag. Wanted something light and cheerful I could throw around and went with the black because matching headstocks are the way and the light. It's got a couple of stickers on it now and a few scars from where I've kicked it round the stage, but it's still going. 

I've upgraded the weak bridge pickup but left the neck in situ, put a cheapo hi-mass on because I could and the thin baseplate was lifting off the body a bit, and then replaced the G tuner because it got snapped off. I've had five different wiring schemes in it so far and will probably change this one when I get bored with it, but currently it's Neck Volume + Master Tone + Bridge On/Off Switch because I didn't use the bridge anywhere between 0-100. 

I've had it tuned from Eb standard up to piccolo - my favourite unusual one was ADGC for pseudo baritone sounds through a guitar amp. Going up to D'addario 110s helped increase the tension a fair amount because I felt like the bottom E was a bit undefined. It's still a bit floopy down there but it's not the end of the world - I like a bit of thump and I've been thinking about putting flats on it recently.

The wood is a bit soft because I kept pulling the strap buttons out, so then I put strap locks on it with big bolts and pulled those out too... Finally I just filled and drilled with decent quality hardwood dowel from the shop down the road and plugged it with the biggest bolts I had that fit a strap button round them. It's been fine since!

Here's me taking out my £200 quid worth of basswood and duct tape in front of 1,500 punters at Manchester Cathedral last month:

 

[martthebass]

Use one of these meself as a back up.  Nice silver finish, very nice neck and plenty of tone for such a lightweight package.  The Agathis body is a bit on the soft side (also had to glue the strap pins) but the paint is robust so it's standing the test of time well.  What's not to like for the money?