Fender Jaguar Model Solid Body Electric Guitar (1965), made in Fullerton, California, serial # L83356, sunburst lacquer finish, alder body, maple neck with rosewood fingerboard, black tolex hard shell case.
This is a very nice *just* CBS-era Jaguar, all original and in overall fine playing condition. Dating to just after the Fender sell-out to CBS in January 1965, the stamped neck date on this guitar is April 1965 and the pots date to the 19th week of that year. The typical '65 features include an unbound fingerboard with pearloid dot inlay, bright 3-color "target" sunburst lacquer finish on the body and gold transition logo headstock decal. The pickguard is still the older nitrocellulose tortoise style, just then being phased out at Fender in favor of a thinner (and less flammable!) ABS plastic unit.
Even having recently undergone a revival of sorts the Jaguar remains a somewhat under-appreciated guitar with several interesting features. The scale length is shorter than other professional-grade Fender guitars at 24", a feature designed to enhance playability. The two-circuit wiring and floating vibrato are shared with the Jaguar's ancestor, the Jazzmaster but the guitar actually feels quite different. The unique Jaguar pickups with the chrome-plated "claw" baseplate" are optimized for clarity and crispness�factors that led to the Jaguar losing popularity in the late '60's as twang went out and distortion and crunch came in! Nevertheless these are top-of-the line 60's Fenders and very high quality guitars, still a relative bargain in a 1960's Fender instrument.
Overall length is 40 in. (101.6 cm.), 14 in. (35.6 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1 5/8 in. (4.1 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 24 in. (610 mm.). Width of nut is 1 5/8 in. (41 mm.). Overall quite nice, there are some chips and rubbed-away areas to the finish along the body edges; the face is relatively clean with some scratches and scuffs but no large wear areas through the lacquer. The neck finish is nicely worn down in that classic Fender way and the frets have had some re-crowning but remain quite playable. There are some scratches on the neck pickup cover and fingerboard from what looks like very enthusiastic picking, but nothing excessive. This is a fine sounding and playing Jag, complete with the original HSC. Excellent - Condition.
