Fender Jaguar vs. Jazzmaster: What’s the Difference?

• Fender Jazzmaster
• Fender Jaguar
• What’s the Difference?
• Which one should I choose?

Fender’s iconic offset design is as elegant as it is recognisable. Both the Jaguar and Jazzmaster share this shape, so what’s the difference? Like identical twins – they might look similar but they have entirely different personalities.

Fender Vintera Series Jazzmaster (Left) & Fender Player Series Jaguar (Right)

Fender Jazzmaster

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The Jazzmaster was the very first offset electric guitar, introduced at the NAMM industry trade show in 1958. Before it became the go-to Axe for alternative guitarists, the Jazzmaster – you guessed it – was meant to be a Jazz guitar. It failed to attract its intended clientele but it quickly found a home among surf rockers, before being utilised by FX-obsessed guitarists in the eighties in search of lively clean tones and ambient, droning soundscapes.

Upon its release, the Jazzmaster was advertised as Fender’s premier, top-of-the-line guitar, costing significantly more than a Telecaster or Stratocaster. It was the first guitar in Fender’s line to feature a rosewood fingerboard, which was seen as a premium over the light-shaded maple. It was also the first Fender guitar to offer custom colours, such as Olympic White, Surf Green, and Candy Apple Red.

Whilst developing both the Strat and Tele, Leo Fender was putting prototypes in the hands of guitarists to get some feedback. This wasn’t the case with the Jazzmaster, which completely flopped upon it’s release. Jazz guitarists still today tend to opt for the big jazz-box, hollow-body guitars and even the Telecaster over the Jazzmaster. Fender had made a solid-body guitar for a market that never asked for it. Instead of ending up in New York jazz clubs, the Jazzmaster found popularity in the California Surf scene, for it’s bright, jangly tone and smooth tremolo system – perfect for reverb-soaked strumming.

Throughout the ‘70s music was dominated by rock, with Gibson Les Pauls and SGs the flavour of the time. It wasn’t until the end of the decade that Jazzmasters reclaimed some popularity, thanks to the ‘New Wave’. Players like Elvis Costello made the Jazzmaster a cool anti-mainstream guitar. The Jazzmaster has found continued success owing to My Bloody Valentines’ Kevin Shields, Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore and Lee Renaldo, and more recently Dinosaur Jr’s J Mascis. The Jazzmaster has become the go-to for indie and alternative music.

Fender Jaguar

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In 1962, the Jaguar became Leo Fender’s fourth and final electric guitar design before selling the company to CBS in 1964. The Jaguar was marketed directly to that emerging West Coast pop scene.

Fender Advertising Poster from 1962

However, by the late ‘60s the surf scene had all but washed away. As the British invasion hit the radiowaves, Jaguars started collecting dust. And while the Strat and Tele continued to rise in popularity, Fender’s offset Jaguar and Jazzmaster faded into into the background.

Around the late ‘70s, people started picking up old Jaguars in bargain basements and pawn shops around London and New York, as they had become significantly cheaper than Strats and Teles. The Jag was reborn in the emergence of punk and post-punk. With its bright single-coil sound and peculiar ‘strangle switch’, the Jaguar had the perfect range of dynamic cleans building up to an aggressive bite for this new sound.

The two most famous Jag players were Johnny Marr of The Smiths and a few years later, Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain. Both bands typify anti-conformism. These legends have cemented the Jaguar’s status as the Alternative Rock guitar of choice. You’ll be sure to see Fender Jaguars on Festival stages up and down the country for years to come.

What’s the Difference?

Both the Jaguar and Jazzmaster have many similarities. When it comes to which one you’d choose, it can be quite tricky to decide. So let’s point out what sets them apart:

Scale Length

The Jazzmaster bears the typical Fender 25.5-inch scale length, which is the same as the Strat and Tele. This instrument will feel instantly familiar to anyone who has played a Fender, or any contemporary guitar for that matter. There is a particularly comforting feel to the Jazzmaster that makes it an incredibly quick to adjust to no matter the situation you find yourself playing in. It simply comes down to preference here: you’ll either be in camp Jazzmaster, or the shorter scale length camp with guitars such made by the likes of PRS and Gibson.

In contrast, the Jaguar’s 24” scale length is much shorter than most guitars, giving the strings a slinkier, looser feel, making bends and vibrato much easier. Tonally you may hear a rounder, more instantly gratifying sound and vibrations through the body of the guitar, compared to the focused and snappy 25.5” scale. The shorter scale lends itself well to riff rock sounds, with that bounce you can only find from the strings dipping out and returning to tune. That can extend to how you play, as it might encourage to play with more aggression or verve. In 1962, Fender marketed the Jaguar as “faster and more comfortable” for its shorter scale length. While we like to think most modern guitars are relatively easy to adjust to playing no matter the size or length, the Jaguar will undoubtedly be easier to handle for people with smaller hands who might struggle to bridge large intervals on the fretboard.

Number of Frets

Typically, the Jazzmaster has 21 frets, while the Jaguar has 22. The Jaguar’s extra fret only makes that feel of the shorter scale length more noticeable, as the distance between the frets is condensed to fit in one more fret. Nothing here is overwhelming or radically different to most other modern guitars in the way they handle or in how the neck feels. The Jazzmaster aligns closely to a typical Strat or Tele, while the Jaguar offers a touch more versatility.

Pickups

Perhaps the starkest difference between the Jaguar and Jazzmaster is the construction of the pickups.

A common misconception is that Jazzmasters contain P-90 pickups but that is not the case. Jazzmaster pickups are unique, in that they make use of single-coil pickups that are neither like a Strat, Tele or like the P-90s of a Jaguar. While in the design process for the Jazzmaster, Leo Fender was looking for a tone than the Strat and Tele which would be something that jazz guitarists would appreciate. Whilst retaining all the top end sparkle of a great strat pickup, this tweaked pickup has shorter poles and a wider magnet wind. It provides a more present midrange and fuller bass. Their low output means that they are still clean and twangy, perfect for shimmery chords, but with a mellower, rounder tone.

Jaguar pickups are more similar to that of a Strat, with a brighter tone. But in response to the emergence of higher volume levels in the early ‘60s, Jag pickups utilise a metal shielding claw around the pickups to reduce 60-cycle hum (or 50-cycle hum in the UK and Europe). This additional metal component has a similar effect to the brass baseplate on a Tele bridge pickup which gives it a brasher top-end resulting in a more aggressive sound than a Strat or Jazzmaster. Jaguar pickups are also mounted directly to the body of the guitar, which adds a little bit of extra oomph in the attack. This is great for playing with distortion for a really gnarly and cutting sound.

Both guitars broadly stick to their traditional sounds across the main Fender lines, like the Players II Series, American Professional II, Vintera II and Squier Classic Vibe. You may occasionally be able to get your hands on an alternatively configured model from the Made in Japan series and other limited edition runs.

Bridges

Jags and Jazzmasters have the same great tremolo system and bridge. The tremolo itself is brilliant – the notes glide out when you smoothly press and release the long arm, as the pivot and spring are mounted underneath the metal plate visible on the body. It feels satisfyingly luxurious and it’s an aspect that players love when looking to add unique texture to their sounds – think of the drifting melodies of My Bloody Valentine.

The traditional bridge does however cause some issues, as the strings are liable to slip out of their seats when you strum harder. Fender’s modern models are equipped with more reliable tune-o-matic style or Mustang bridges, but some players still love the old school setup.

Switching

The switching is where it all happens with the Jazzmaster and Jaguar and it’s what defines them in the guitar world, offering you a unique playing experience. Both offer independent lead and rhythm circuits, which allow for on-the-fly tone changes and give you the chance to detail your sound in a way other guitars simply cannot.

Jaguars and Jazzmasters function quite similarly. In the lead mode, the guitar functions as you’d expect, with a tone knob, volume and pickup selector, but only for the bridge pickup and for the bridge and neck pickups together.

In this lead mode, the Jazzmaster has a conventional 3-way switch, while the Jag splits the circuit between three individual switches. The first two switches control the individual neck and bridge pickups, while the third switch, known as the “strangle switch” is a bass-cut control (a high pass filter) that produces the iconic jangly tone. Watch below as Oz explains how Jaguar switching works…

The rhythm circuit functions the same on both guitars. The rhythm circuit has a much darker tone, and selects the neck pickup only, bypassing the regular switches and controls. Volume and tone are controlled by the 2 thumbwheels on the upper horn of the guitar.

Body Shape

The two guitars do actually have different bodies, if ever so slightly, and it may not be noticeable unless you had them lined up next to each other. A Jazzmaster is the marginally larger of the two. It makes sense considering the more compact scale length that accompanies the Jaguar and the traditionally larger bodies of jazz guitars.

Which one should I choose?

Now that we know the differences, it’s time to answer the real question – which one to pick. For a familiar feel and rich clean to slightly driven tones, the Jazzmaster is perfect. It has a unique sound but is balanced enough that you can find an entire palette of tones.

If you’re looking for something that feels and sounds just a bit different, the Jaguar might be the guitar for you. With its shorter scale length and hotter, brighter sound you can get dirtier with the gain and make full use of the lead and rhythm circuits.

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Want to learn more?

Why not also check out our Ultimate Guide to Offset Guitars