If you’ve ever wondered what happens when a polite, well-bred Japanese offset gets corrupted by the spirit of late-’70s punk and early-’90s alt rock, here’s your answer. This 1997 Fender Japan Jaguar 66 Reissue, born in the golden FujiGen years, started life as a clean, shimmering surf machine in Olympic White gloss. But somewhere along the line, someone decided it deserved more bite — and gave it a pair of Dimarzio humbuckers that turned it from beach cruiser to back-alley brawler.
Under the hood you’ll find a PAF in the neck and a Super Distortion in the bridge — a pairing that could easily handle everything from Dinosaur Jr. fuzz walls to early Queens of the Stone Age punch. The wiring’s been upgraded too, now featuring a Johnny Marr–style control plate with a proper Oak USA 3-way switch, CTS USA 1 Meg pots, and a paper-in-oil tone cap for a smoother roll-off. The original roller pots and slider switch are still here, though they’ve been respectfully retired — like ex-bandmates who still show up to soundcheck.
The C-shape maple neck, stamped DEC ’96, feels exactly like a well-played pair of jeans — slim, fast, and broken in just right. The 7.25" rosewood board wears its silver markers proudly, with 21 vintage frets that have seen some miles but still ring clear. The Olympic White finish has mellowed beautifully, and the body carries just the right amount of scratches, dings, and patina to make you believe this one’s actually done a few gigs, not just hung on a wall.
In short, this is the Jaguar for people who love Jags but wish they bit a little harder.
Still unmistakably Fender Japan — just with a little more attitude, a lot more volume, and the quiet confidence of a guitar that’s been there, done that, and probably melted a few amps along the way.
It’s not a collector’s Jaguar. It’s a survivor — with a permanent sneer and a killer set of teeth.
This instrument received a full professional setup with deep body cleaning, body polish, neck deep clean, lemon oil fretboard treatment, full electronics check, truss-rod and action and intonation adjustment. Restringed with D'addario 10-46 Nickel-plated steel strings.
This guitar will be shipped around UK with Parcelforce courier, safely packed into a sturdy guitar cardboard box. 24h courier service provided to UK customers. We also ship to USA, Canada, Japan, Australia and many other places, but at the moment we don't ship to EU or Northern Ireland.
Fender Jaguar - Japan - Dimarzio humbuckers - Olympic White (1997)
SPECS:
MODEL: Fender Japan Jaguar 66RI
YEAR: 1997
COLOUR: original Olympic White gloss finish
PICKGUARD: 3-ply parchment white
NECK: C-shape maple neck, honey amber back finish, neck heel stamp DEC96
NECK THICKNESS: 1st fret - 20.7 mm ; 12th fret - 22.5 mm;
NUT: synthetic bone
NUT WIDTH: 41.2 mm
FRETBOARD: dark rosewood, 7.25-inch radius, silver fret markers
FRETS: 21 vintage frets with moderate wear
TUNERS: Kluson vintage-style slotted tuners
BODY: Alder, modified HH body routing, full professional copper foil cavities shielding, body neck pocket stamp JG-EX JAN97
TOTAL WEIGHT: 3.5 kg
BRIDGE: offset bridge with adjustable saddles
VIBRATO: original vibrato with locking mechanism and tension adjustment
WEAR: plenty of surface wear and small dings around the body and back of the neck; no structural damage
PICKUPS: upgraded Dimarzio PAF neck humbucker and Dimarzio Super Distortion bridge humbucker
WIRING: upgraded wiring with Oak USA 3-way switch on a Johnny Marr style plate, Switchcraft output, vintage style paper-in-oil tone capacitor, CTS USA A1Meg solid brass shaft volume and tone pots; original roller pots and 2-way switch present but disconnected.
ACCESSORIES: Fender strap lock pins and strap attachments
DISCLAIMER
Please note that although we put our heart and soul and also all our knowledge into every single guitar we sell, a setup is a personal preference. However, we try to get the best playability out of every guitar and set them up so you can play both rhythm and lead. We also pull them all apart to clean and check every single component and replace all unreliable parts with new ones, from dodgy pots to the whole wiring, tuners, string trees, nuts and etc. All the work done is described in detail in the listing.
We make sure that every guitar we sell is problem free and take full responsibility for the accuracy of our listing descriptions. All photographs are done by a professional photographer and processed on a calibrated monitor. Some colours might look slightly different on your monitor, but we will always put the official Fender colour name in the listing description, so please study pictures of other guitars with the same colour if you are unsure. We focus on finding great quality guitars and making them reliable and inspiring to play.