Jaguar by Fender
Fender's Jaguar guitar was introduced in 1962, based on the Jazzmaster, with the same, offset waist body and floating tremolo system. Unlike the Jazzmaster, the Jaguar was fitted with a shorter 24-inch scale, 22-fret neck (the first Fender guitar to have 22 frets) and featured smaller single-coil pickups with notched side plates that improved RF shielding, making the Jaguar less prone to interference than the more popular Stratocaster and Telecaster.
Although the Jaguar and the Jazzmaster shared the same dual-circuit scheme, the Jaguar had a more complex second (lead) circuit consisting of three switches on the lower bout: the first two were on/off switches for the neck and bridge pickups, respectively, the third switch engaged a capacitor that served as a high-pass filter. This switch was often called the strangle switch among players, due to the fact that when it is switched on, the Jaguar attains a treble-accented tone quality that easily cuts through a full band sound. The rhythm circuit, set into operation when the upper bout switch is flicked upwards, gives the guitar a bassier, neck pickup only sound, with individual volume and tone rollers to preset.
Like the Jazzmaster and Bass VI, the Jaguar has an unusual floating tremolo arm mechanism that was a complete departure from the synchronized tremolo system found on the Fender Stratocaster. Leo Fender believed that this new design was superior to previous designs since the bridge actually moved backwards and forwards along with the strings during tremolo use, thereby maintaining proper intonation even under duress, and preventing strings from binding. This floating bridge concept was also later used on the Fender Mustang. The floating tremolo mechanism also features a built-in tremolo lock, which helped the player preserve the guitar's tuning in the event of a string breakage and easing removal of the tremolo arm.
Intended as Fender's top-of-the-line guitar upon its release in 1962, the Jaguar never enjoyed the popularity that the Stratocaster or Telecaster did. After several upgrades (custom finishes, a bound neck and pearloid block inlays), the entire Jaguar range was given a maple fingerboard with black binding and block inlays before being discontinued in 1975 after a thirteen year production run.
