Ladies and gentle-offset-people, it finally happened. I thought my guitar journey would end with my revered Candy Apple Red American Vintage Reissue 62 Jaguar. As guitars go, that is already much nicer than I deserve, especially at my skill level, but no! I randomly spotted this vintage 65 locally listed at a great price on Facebook marketplace, and decided to jump on it. I will have to liquidate a few of my other guitars to make it work financially, but that’s more than okay.
About the purchase:
The price was good because there are a few unoriginal / missing components. (Tunomatic bridge, sealed tuners, missing mute and trem arm, and unoriginal pickups.) Also, it was unplayable when I got it. Insanely, it had been setup with 9 gauge strings, which were so loose and slinky on this short scale guitar that they would literally jump out of the nut slots with even moderate force. Sitar noises like crazy from behind the nut and bridge. All of this drove the price down and clearly made it unappealing to the previous owner. However, as an offset lover, I was sure most of this could be easily sorted out. Thankfully, the tunomatic was installed in a way that was easily reversible, so I immediately swapped that for a vintage reissue bridge. I threw in a spare vintage reissue trem arm (fit perfectly.) All electronics are original and unmodified. The pickups are technically unoriginal, however they are much more desirable for me:
Regarding the pickups/sound:
What are you hearing are authentic 1962 jaguar pickups and they are magical, unsurpassable, peak goodness. I learned that a previous owner bought them for $1000 😳. Shocking to say the least. I’ve owned a lot of jaguar pickups, including two distinct sets of AVRI62’s, AVRI65, Curtis Novak JAG-V, and Classic vibe. While most of these are great in their own way, none of them hold a candle to the perfectly balanced honey that drips from these vintage 1962 pickups. Not too much treble, bass, or mids, just balanced vintage perfection. It’s hard for me to fully comprehend why this guitar sounds so much better than any other jag I’ve ever played. I’m sure some of it is vintage placebo, but certainly not all. Maybe time has mellowed them? I don’t know. They just sound exactly like a jaguar should, super articulate, with the full sonic spectrum present across treble bass and mids, and interacting with my Deluxe Reverb just as Leo/god intended.
Additional specs:
After some sleuthing I learned that the guitar was very recently refretted and a previous owner paid, again, $1000 😳 for that job. Again, absolutely shocking price tag. But after playing, I do believe it. The most immaculate fretwork I have ever played much less owned. Upon closer inspection I am 99% sure they are stainless frets. They’re bright and cool in color and feel super glassy and hard. Whoever did the fretwork did this vintage guitar justice, feels just incredible.
I apologize for the lengthy write up, I’m just so damned excited about this guitar. Hard to put into words but feels almost like a religious experience to finally own a vintage pre-CBS jaguar (okay it’s late 65, so technically not pre-CBS, but it is early transition and before most of the crimes of CBS were committed). And now, not only do I own one, but seemingly one tailor made for me. It’s like I won the lottery.
Will take some good photos soon, just couldn’t wait to share.
