New Faded Sonic Blue Jaguarillo-dillo Day & next to '50s Classic Strat Daphne Blue

[GAS Man]

I put up some pics from the Sweetwater gallery when this guitar was "Incoming"



and now here it is cluttering up my living room carpet



Here's a color comparison with the Daphne Blue. Both are children from south of the border so it's a fairly comparable comparison. Makes the Daphne look quite a bit deeper blue in comparison doesn't it?



I took this shot to compare the color of the vintage tinting - pretty close huh?





So there might be some players here (besides GAS'rs) that want to know if I've plugged it in yet. And yes , just briefly so far through my new Marshall Haze full stack. Now on that amp, maybe no surprise, but I found myself loving that Atomic Humbucker. Now it did still blend pretty well with the middle p'up, still providing that Fender-y blend or "out of phase" type of tone. But I'll have to plug it into something Fender yet to explore those single coil tones more. For now, it is telling me through the Marshall that it really wants to rock. I think it would like to jump out of my middle aged hands and into a more youthful indie player like this guy, but I'll keep it hostage until I've made it surf with me a bit too.

[Tall]

Very cool. I love that strat too.

[GAS Man]

^^ Thanks. That Strat is probably my wife's favorite. She luvs the daphne blue and the vintage maple tint.

[Carbohydrates]

That song you linked is pretty hokey but man, that guitarist has a killer sound goin' there!

[GAS Man]

 

Originally Posted by Carbohydrates

That song you linked is pretty hokey but man, that guitarist has a killer sound goin' there!

 

That's what I thought too. I'm a home hobbyist guitar player but I do admire the youngins that have the bravado to get out there, give their all, and see if it sticks. I agree, nice tone. I originally found that vid when doing a bit of research on buying a Jaguarillo. There aren't all that many vids out there on it, but I found this vid to be better than the 3 review videos out there for showing how hard this guitar can rock.

[honeyiscool]

I love that guitar, I don't even mind Andy Samberg's video demo of it either.

How's the weight? How do you like it? Is it as magical as I think it is in my head?

[GAS Man]

Little more update on the review. My last stop was through several models from my Vox AD60VTX. I was particularly liking its sound through the Fender Bassman and Vox Top Boost modes. I could get some nice organ-like tones using slurs and a medium touch.

But I did find a problem with the guitar

I had been hearing a buzz which I thought was hopefully just a set up issue or some bad string.

But I kept also hearing this little "click" sound, much like a small discharge of static electricity or shirt cuff button tapping against the pick guard. But that wasn't happening, it wasn't from me. What I found was that the saddle for the G string wobbles side to side inside the bridge. So I was hearing a "click" each time the saddle shifted from one side to the other against the bridge, and the buzz I'd heard was coming from when the whole saddle would be buzzing from side to side in the bridge.

Well, hopefully I can just get them to send me replacement bridge. I'd probably be better off just getting a quality bridge anyway, but I'm not sure where I'd go to ensure that the bridge would be a proper width and 9.5" radius fit for this guitar. (?)

[honeyiscool]

You can use a Wilkinson roller bridge and shim the saddles. It's a pretty easy mod.

[GAS Man]

Originally Posted by honeyiscool

I love that guitar, I don't even mind Andy Samberg's video demo of it either.

How's the weight? How do you like it? Is it as magical as I think it is in my head?

Thanks for weighing in, I thought you might like it.

Well, I just got done posting a little problem with it that I found. So I'll be a bit of a better judge after that is fixed. I figure that wobbly saddle has to be killing some tone from the G string as well as adding a bit of a weird buzz. But as I also mentioned in the post right above yours is that I am digging the sound. It can be quite growly from the bridge, it can also do that light Fender-offset jangly tone that can sound almost a bit too thin, but with the amp gain warmed up a bit and the EQs tweaked, you get nice classic strat-like Fender tones a as well.

As far as the weight goes, I picked this one out of 3 in the gallery because it had the lightest weight. It's 7lbs 14oz. (the other two they had were 8lbs/2oz & 8lbs/5oz) so I just selected the lightest one. I bought a MIA '60th Anniversary Cabronita last year and it weighs in at 7lbs 5oz, so I'd guess that just 9 ounces more on this MIM offset design has to be a pretty good weight for one these.

But you can take a look over there at Sweetwater. http://www.sweetwater.com/store/deta...FQXhQgodGH0ARA
They are posting a lot of weights for guitars now which is helpful. If you're getting a guitar with grain patterns showing it can be a bit of a trade-off for appearance vs weight, but that challenge can be fun too.

[GAS Man]

 

Originally Posted by honeyiscool

You can use a Wilkinson roller bridge and shim the saddles. It's a pretty easy mod.

 

Right now I also noticed that the bridge is almost all the way down. I think it might actually have a tiny bit of downward travel left and at that point the base of the bridge will start to be a bit lower than the top of the pickguard. So I'm going to have to study that a bit too. The action right now doesn't seem too far off, but yet the action doesn't feel as supple as it should be. I was planning on going to 10s anyway and then setup according to that gauge, but I'll have to do some fine measuring tonight to see how much clearance there may still be left for lowering the action. So if anything, I might need a lower profile bridge.

[honeyiscool]

Good call. For me, offsets are best in solid colors so weight is the biggest concern for me. Anything under 8 pounds for a Jaguar body usually feels pretty fantastic, my Jagmaster weighed a bit under that and that also felt really good. Do you have any other Fender short scales? If so, how does the neck compare? Is it thin or a bit chunky? I tend to like thinner necks but the right kind of chunky isn't too bad.

[honeyiscool]

Originally Posted by GAS Man

Right now I also noticed that the bridge is almost all the way down. I think it might actually have a tiny bit of downward travel left and at that point the base of the bridge will start to be a bit lower than the top of the pickguard. So I'm going to have to study that a bit too. The action right now doesn't seem too far off, but yet the action doesn't feel as supple as it should be. I was planning on going to 10s anyway and then setup according to that gauge, but I'll have to do some fine measuring tonight to see how much clearance there may still be left for lowering the action. So if anything, I might need a lower profile bridge.

It seems like almost all seasoned offseters swear by shimming the neck.

I shim all of them myself. The positive angled neck allows the bridge to be higher, and that just tends to result in better action for me.

[GAS Man]

Originally Posted by honeyiscool

It seems like almost all seasoned offseters swear by shimming the neck.

I shim all of them myself. The positive angled neck allows the bridge to be higher, and that just tends to result in better action for me.

I was wondering about that. Can you describe what most folks use to shim with? I did buy one guitar used that was shimmed with plastic like from credit cards. But whatever is used, I've wondered what's the most effective way to shape the shim and place it.

[GAS Man]

Originally Posted by honeyiscool

Good call. For me, offsets are best in solid colors so weight is the biggest concern for me. Anything under 8 pounds for a Jaguar body usually feels pretty fantastic, my Jagmaster weighed a bit under that and that also felt really good. Do you have any other Fender short scales? If so, how does the neck compare? Is it thin or a bit chunky? I tend to like thinner necks but the right kind of chunky isn't too bad.

It felt pretty comfortable. There's certainly that vintage feel to the board, but the neck feels like it's just somewhere in between. I've also got a Squier RI Duo Sonic, a AVRI Jaguar and a Jaguar HH in Gun Metal Red Burst


The Jaguar HH is a bit of a different animal. But it arrived with some shielding issues I've yet to bother to resolve.

This one's more straight on rock IMO.

[honeyiscool]

I use a thin (0.5mm) pick. Most people use a business card. Just cut a small block of it, wide enough to sit in the pocket, doesn't have to be very tall, then just sit it flush against the pocket, then screw the neck back in. It should allow you to raise the bridge a couple of mm while keeping the same action, which makes a big difference IMO.

[honeyiscool]

Originally Posted by GAS Man

It felt pretty comfortable. There's certainly that vintage feel to the board, but the neck feels like it's just somewhere in between. I've also got a Squier RI Duo Sonic, a AVRI Jaguar and a Jaguar HH in Gun Metal Red Burst

You seem to love your offsets! My bandmate's CV Duo is wonderful.

As for that Jaguar HH, I think that's the one that has the thick neck, right? I couldn't get along with that at all, I sold it and got a Vista Jagmaster instead, and then I decided that HH Jags aren't really for me in the end, now it lives with a friend and I sold it to him for like $100 because he had another Jagmaster which had a lot of problems so I figured, I'd save him the headaches and just make sure he had a Japanese one.

[GAS Man]

I was wondering, like if it was a four bolt, if you'd want the shim to be long enough to have the last two bolts go through the shim material, or just cut the shim material short enough to where it butts up against the screw holes? I'm probably over worrying it. But on one hand we're taught that a tight neck pocket is good for tone, and then on the other hand we're cramming plastic in the pocket That's why I get confused on this issue.

I know that I bought a used SX SJM-62 and on trying to fix its setup, I found practically the last owner's entire credit card history cut up in there.

I do exaggerate, but he had 3 layers of plastic in there. One piece did have the bolts going through them, the other two pieces did not.

[honeyiscool]

I think many people disagree about a tight pocket mattering that much, as long as the screws are tight.

I think some of the reasoning behind using paper, at least, is that it's wood pulp and slightly compressible, so it probably does result in a slightly tighter pocket. When I use a business card, I do usually have it long enough that the bolts will pierce the shim material, it holds it in place while you're screwing it in. But I don't think it matters, so I use a pick, usually, since I have them lying around and thin picks are usually getting dull in a couple of weeks anyway.

[GAS Man]

^^^ I played it some more tonight and I was really enjoying its tone through that Vox AD60VTX (the old blue series). I saw in the other thread about your comment about having one of these on your short GAS list, and I'd say you'd like it. I was having fun going through the various pickup settings and rolling the tone and volume up or down for various nuances and I found quite a bit of versatility in the tones. It's like vintage until you hit that humbucker, then it's hot rod, but yet it does all blend well.

Oh, and above, I forgot to mention my Mustang



I'm with you on those. They are a very cool tone machine. I tend to think the the tone of those is so unique, that I'd have to have a Mustang over a Jag or a Jazz. They just seem to be the furthest away from strats and teles.

[Deadbeat Son]

Looks great GM, HNGD! It's a shame it wasn't dialed-in for you straight out of the box. I thought that was one of Sweetwater's major selling points?

As for the shim, I usually cut 1/8" - 1/4" off the narrow side of a business card. Then, I use a small piece of scotch tape to affix it in the heel pocket of the guitar. Reinstall neck, and voila! Plus, it's an easy thing to reverse if you dont care for the result.

[GAS Man]

^^^ Thanks. Yeah, things like that you'd think they'd catch doing a "55-point inspection check", but it's not the first time I've seen something fairly apparent slip by them. I think they do examine them and give them a quick once over. But actually, I don't know why they wouldn't catch this one. I didn't want to be put off thinking "well, it's a Jaguar so it'll have more rattles", I chased it down fairly quickly to a bad saddle/bridge. At least I did after I quit playing it through the Marshalls.

[vintage clubber]

Originally Posted by GAS Man

I put up some pics from the Sweetwater gallery when this guitar was "Incoming"

Here's a color comparison with the Daphne Blue. Both are children from south of the border so it's a fairly comparable comparison. Makes the Daphne look quite a bit deeper blue in comparison doesn't it?




So there might be some players here (besides GAS'rs) that want to know if I've plugged it in yet. And yes , just briefly so far through my new Marshall Haze full stack. Now on that amp, maybe no surprise, but I found myself loving that Atomic Humbucker. Now it did still blend pretty well with the middle p'up, still providing that Fender-y blend or "out of phase" type of tone. But I'll have to plug it into something Fender yet to explore those single coil tones more. For now, it is telling me through the Marshall that it really wants to rock. I think it would like to jump out of my middle aged hands and into a more youthful indie player like this guy, but I'll keep it hostage until I've made it surf with me a bit too.

Hmmm...Guess my raffle guitar is closer to Daphne Blue...

[GAS Man]

Originally Posted by vintage clubber

Hmmm...Guess my raffle guitar is closer to Daphne Blue...

That's a nice looking Tele you put together there. The Jaguarillo is a faded sonic blue so I would like to see a regular sonic blue in that pic to see how it compares. It's also confusing the way so many seafoam green guitars look more blue in some webshots. Would be nice to have that in a side by side as well.

I woke up this morning with a plan I'm going to cram something in the bridge against the side of that saddle until I get a replacement. Maybe a bit of sharpened paper clip or tooth pick. That one saddle is like a loose tooth and the clicking and buzz it was making was detracting, so that will be a simple way for me to get back to evaluating Mr. Jaguarillo. I am curious to eventually pull that bridge apart to figure out if the saddle is misshaped or broken or if it's the bridge slot being shaped too wide for the saddle.

[craigny]

Thanks for the Jaguarillo-dillo GAS...GAS man.....

[GAS Man]

Originally Posted by craigny

Thanks for the Jaguarillo-dillo GAS...GAS man.....

Welcome




Yeah, other than the bad bridge saddle, the guitar is cool. It's a running together of a Jaguar and a Strat SSH and what it ends up being is "trippy".