Fender Introduces 50th Anniversary Jaguar Guitar
Fender is proud to celebrate five colorful decades of the Jaguar guitar by introducing the 50th Anniversary Jaguar model.
The instrument takes players to 1962, when Fender introduced an unusual new guitar that paired a sleekly modified Jazzmaster body style and elaborate control layout with a shorter scale and smaller, brighter pickups with more output. The resulting Jaguar was the fourth and last of Fender’s original lineup of standard electric guitars.
Perfectly matched to the early-’60s renaissance in design modernism (as exemplified by everything of the era from autos to aircraft to sunglasses to furniture), the Jaguar gradually acquired a fascinating pedigree quite unlike that of any other Fender guitar.
A chromed-out, surf-rock staple of the 1960s, it found new life from the mid-1970s-on as a subversively offbeat alternative axe wielded by punk, post-punk, grunge and alt-indie guitar heroes and anti-heroes alike. The same guitar that originally crested waves of reverb-drenched singles by groups such as the Chantays and the Surfaris later fueled, for example, the dynamic grunge maelstrom of Nirvana, the translucent shoe-gazing dream pop of My Bloody Valentine and the literately artful alt-rock of the Pixies, the Flaming Lips and many others.
The U.S.-built 50th Anniversary Jaguar celebrates that vivid history and combines old and new into the finest of all Jaguar guitars. Highly distinctive features include the classic 24” scale length, a new one-degree neck-angle-pocket cut that improves pitch, a re-positioned tremolo plate that increases bridge break angle and sustain, and specially designed hot Jaguar single-coil neck and bridge pickups that deliver fatter tone and more output (once again framed by the model’s classic notched metal “claws”; a hum-reducing innovation only found on the Jaguar).
Other premium features include a sleekly offset alder body with lacquer finish, C-shaped maple neck with lacquer finish and vintage-style truss rod, 9.5”-radius bound rosewood fingerboard with 22 medium jumbo frets and pearloid block inlays, separate “lead” and rhythm tone circuits with their own dedicated volume and tone controls, two-position tone switch and on/off slide switch for each pickup, three-ply pickguard (Mint Green-Black-Mint Green), and vintage-style floating tremolo bridge with lock button and chrome cover.
Accessories include a deluxe brown case, strap, cable and a set of flatwound strings. Available in classic vintage Fender finishes Lake Placid Blue, Candy Apple Red and striking Burgundy Mist Metallic, which authentically evokes the original Jaguar’s Burgundy Mist finish option.
Get The Pick Newsletter
All the latest guitar news, interviews, lessons, reviews, deals and more, direct to your inbox!
For more information, visit fender.com.
Thank you for reading 5 articles this month**
Join now for unlimited access
US pricing $3.99 per month or $39.00 per year
UK pricing £2.99 per month or £29.00 per year
Europe pricing €3.49 per month or €34.00 per year
*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription
Since 1980, Guitar World has been the ultimate resource for guitarists. Whether you want to learn the techniques employed by your guitar heroes, read about their latest projects or simply need to know which guitar is the right one to buy, Guitar World is the place to look.
“As a guitar collector, when you get the opportunity to buy one of your heroes’ guitars, you must do it”: Stone Sour guitarist Josh Rand’s guitar collection is an ode to the gods of ’80s shred – but he’s putting some of his prize pieces up for sale
“Reveal coming soon”: At long lost, is Gibson finally working on James Hetfield signature guitars?