This is a 2007 Fender J-Craft JGS Jaguar Special, which has clearly spent quite some time hanging around with Gibson fans.
 
Already a unique model from the J-Craft series, this Japanese Jaguar Special came out of the factory being considerably more rock than surf. The Piano Black finish and black pickguard were already pointing in the right direction, but then the previous owner replaced the original Fender Dragster humbuckers with a pair of sublime Gibson ’57 PAF Classic Plus humbuckers and rewired the whole thing with USA-spec parts. Add the original tune-o-matic bridge and stoptail - and you've got an ultra-cool Fender for people who love Les Pauls.
 
The 24" scale flame maple neck is particularly nice, with a comfortable C shape, satin finish, black headstock and a rosewood fingerboard with a 9.5" radius. The 22 vintage frets are virtually untouched, the nut is 42.2mm wide and the neck measures a very sensible 21.7mm at the first fret, opening out to 23.9mm at the twelfth. Original Japanese Gotoh slotted tuners work perfectly well and the absence of a vibrato make this a reliable stage companion with rock-solid tuning.
 
The Gibson ’57 PAF Classic Plus humbuckers are wired through CTS A500K pots, an Orange Drop cap and a Switchcraft three-way selector, with an upper switch for coil splitting. The Jaguar roller controls have been pressed into service to control the amount of coil split, so you can go from full humbucker to increasingly ferocious single-coil territory rather than simply having an enormous switch labelled ON/OFF. It's a surprisingly clever setup, and gives the guitar a lot more range than you might expect.
 
Tipping the scales at 3.8kg, this Jag has the sustain and general “turn the amp up” attitude you’d expect from the humbucker-equipped guitar, without having to worry about back pains.
 
There are some small dings, scuffs and surface scratches across the body and headstock, along with minimal wear on the neck. Nothing structural, nothing dramatic. It has simply acquired the sort of marks you get when a guitar is being used for its intended purpose rather than kept in a climate-controlled cupboard.
 
And that's what makes this one fun. It's still very obviously a Jaguar, that acquired a rather more aggressive attitude somewhere along the way. A Fender for Gibson lovers. A Jaguar that discovered hard rock. A Japanese Fender that has quietly gone over to the other side.
 
Plug it in. Turn it up. Figure out the rest later.
 
This instrument received a full professional setup with deep body clean, neck deep clean and full electronics check. Restringed with D'addario 11-49 nickel-plated steel strings.

This guitar will be shipped around UK with UPS couriers, 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 - but please drop us a message if you are in the EU as we might be able to deliver in person.