Squier Jaguar or Fender Duo Sonic

[Mr Bigglesworth]

Hi all, Looking for some input, advice, criticism.
New player, about 5 months in. Playing Squier Affinity Strat through Fender Champion 40 amp. I really want to get a short scale guitar, my fret wrist is taking a beating and I have really backed off on hours played. Worst on the weekends when I have more free time. The nearest Jaguar is 180 miles away, which is the only 24" that close. I may be checking it out this weekend. I like the sounds of the Jag and Duo sonic on you tube. I tend to immerse myself in my hobbies so I don't mind spending a bit compared to the Bullet Mustang. Can anyone compare the neck feel of these two? I think I like a more slim neck. I have tried a couple of Jazzmasters and like feel and tone. Just feel I want a 24" scale guitar. If I hate it, I can ebay or reverb it. Prefer to buy from a stocking dealer.
Thanks for any guidance on this, MikeB

[BoringPostcards]

The Duo Sonics and hardtail Mustangs that just came out are FANTASTIC.
However, if I had the choice I'd pick the Jaguar because it has a vibrato.
Squiers VM Jags and Jazzmasters are all over the place with weight.
Some are heavy as hell, some are just right.
Duos and Mustangs are all pretty light from what I've played so far.

Don't go for the Jaguar unless you know what it weighs.

[Mr Bigglesworth]

For me, I really don't want the vibrato, but it also would not keep me from getting a certain model if it came with it if I liked everything else. I do know I like the sounds of the Jazzmaster, Jaguar and Duo sonic from the you tube vids. I hadn't considered weight before, so far just playing sitting without a strap. I recently put a new bone nut on my Affinity strat with 10's for strings and was blown away by the increase in sustain. Sounds so much better.
Thanks

[BoringPostcards]

For me, I really don't want the vibrato, but it also would not keep me from getting a certain model if it came with it if I liked everything else. I do know I like the sounds of the Jazzmaster, Jaguar and Duo sonic from the you tube vids. I hadn't considered weight before, so far just playing sitting without a strap. I recently put a new bone nut on my Affinity strat with 10's for strings and was blown away by the increase in sustain. Sounds so much better.
Thanks

I hear ya. I was just saying if I could have ONE, I'd pick the one with vibrato, just so it's there if I need it. Since you have a Strat already, you've got vibrato covered.

The new Duos and hard tail Mustangs really are great. Quality would be potentially a fair bit better than the Squiers as well. I've seen the odd shoddy VM Squier, but I haven't seen any duds from the new MIM models. That being said, if you can find a nice light VM Jaguar with no QC issues, you've got yourself a solid offset Fender for a good price.

[Embenny]

Do you have a guitar teacher?

If not, I really recommend at least a few lessons with someone experienced, to take a look at your technique and ergonomics. Moving to a short scale to try to alleviate wrist pain that is (honestly) probably due to technique is a band-aid solution at best.

I say this as a guitarist who primarily enjoys short-scale guitars. I'm all for them. But I'm even more for helping beginners have a lifelong, safe, enjoyable journey playing the guitar, and technique is central to that. When I used to teach, I'd be a stickler for anything that put undue stress on joints. Repetitive stress injuries are no laughing matter.

There is truly nothing about a short scale that should affect wrist pain. Playing a 34" scale bass has no increased likelihood of causing wrist pain than playing a 19" mandolin. This is much more frequently a result of fretting hand position or from over-squeezing notes (the flexor tendons controlling the fingers and wrist originate in the forearm and pass through the wrist on the way to the hand, and overuse injuries can sometimes present as pain at the wrist).

As an example, beginners often squeeze notes hard in order to fret them cleanly because they aren't aligning the direction of the pressure exactly perpendicular to the fretboard. Doing this efficiently involves curling the fingers more and using muscles that start off naturally weak (the intrinsic hand muscles), so they often "cheat" by using a flatter plane of contact between finger and fretboard, using their stronger flexor muscles to maintain pressure instead, but this puts them at a higher risk of RSI and pain.

To answer your question, though, the bullet Mustang is a fine guitar and has a very thin neck. I own one and it holds its own far better than I expected against much more expensive instruments.

[Mr Bigglesworth]

No teacher at this time, I do know one so I should get with him. My play time had gone up and I had been doing the online stuff and was trying for better fretting technique when the pain started. I recently have been warming my wrist with hot water and going with ice pack at bed time and cut my time back. I was under the impression that lower string tension would make fretting less stressful. I had started with single notes and added chords and then believed my technique could be better. Thanks for the info! MikeB

[Embenny]

No teacher at this time, I do know one so I should get with him. My play time had gone up and I had been doing the online stuff and was trying for better fretting technique when the pain started. I recently have been warming my wrist with hot water and going with ice pack at bed time and cut my time back. I was under the impression that lower string tension would make fretting less stressful. I had started with single notes and added chords and then believed my technique could be better. Thanks for the info! MikeB

Yes, lower string tension will reduce the fretting force required (as would going down a string gauge on your current guitar), but truthfully, your money would be better spent on lessons with a good teacher than on another guitar. A small reduction in string tension is a drop in the bucket if there is a technique issue going on. And while there are many great self-learning tools out there these days, one of the most valuable things is having a pro look at how you're playing and point out problems with your technique. It takes a lot more work to un-learn bad habits that have been reinforced for years, than to put the work in developing good ones from the start.

You may, of course, still find that you prefer short scale guitars. I'm a member of that club, myself. But if you're having to cut back playing time due to wrist pain, please sit down with a good teacher to try to identify why it's happening. It will serve you very well in the long run.

Best of luck to you. I hope you're able to play pain-free soon.

[Mr Bigglesworth]

We drove 360 miles round trip to check out the Squier Jaguar. Played it a little, did not fool with the amp- the shorter scale seemed foreign and didn't do much for me. They had a Bullet Mustang, I liked the sound of it better, strings were high and intonation was off.
Again the short scale felt foreign. Tried a Squier Classic Vibe Telecaster Thinline, I did like the sound of both pups, no amp changes. The tone knob did not change anything and the volume knob seemed to be either on or off. Had a good burger and hit the highway. Think I need to get my guitar more dialed in and hook up with a teacher. Thanks for all the input!
MikeB

[Embenny]

We drove 360 miles round trip to check out the Squier Jaguar. Played it a little, did not fool with the amp- the shorter scale seemed foreign and didn't do much for me. They had a Bullet Mustang, I liked the sound of it better, strings were high and intonation was off.
Again the short scale felt foreign. Tried a Squier Classic Vibe Telecaster Thinline, I did like the sound of both pups, no amp changes. The tone knob did not change anything and the volume knob seemed to be either on or off. Had a good burger and hit the highway. Think I need to get my guitar more dialed in and hook up with a teacher. Thanks for all the input!
MikeB

Nothing quite like experience! I'm glad you checked the guitars out so that you could see for yourself. A good setup and a good teacher - money well spent! You're off to a good start for having come to that conclusion. Keep us posted on your progress and most of all, have fun.

[Larsongs]

You drove 360 miles & only tried 3 Guitars? You should've tried about 30. You probably would've found something more to your liking.

[hillofknives]

I've played a couple of VM Jags and found both necks to feel quite shoddy. Honestly, I haven't been super impressed with any VMs that I've played (and I'm not a Squier hater: my primary gigging guitars right now are a JMJM and a Squier Mustang bass.)

On the other hand, I picked up a friend's Fender Duosonic and could not rest until I found one for myself. They are awesome guitars - great neck, nice sounding pick ups - a lot of bang for the buck.

This would be a total no brainer for me.

[Mr Bigglesworth]

So today we drove 380 miles and tried many guitars. Music Villa in Bozeman had hundreds, it was incredible. Saw the Duo Sonic and tried it first, they felt and sounded great, both versions. Tried telecasters, mustangs, jazzmasters, epi les paul, and more. Really leaning toward the Duo when the time comes. Thanks for all the input!

[Mr Bigglesworth]

Also tried the VM Squier Jagmaster, again it just didn't do it for me. All the switching variables may have had something to do with that, I did notice the heft of this one.

[Synchro]

I hope you don’t mind my jumping in here, but your wrist problems captured my attention.

While scale length is a major component of string tension the difference between a 24” guitar and a 25.5” one is about 6%the bottom line is that 6% difference in string tension isn’t going to make or break matters with regard to wrist/carpal tunnel issues. I’d recommend taking lessons from a classical player for a while, in order to get your technique on the right track. Technique will make a huge difference. I’ve been playing for 52 years and when I finally got my technique together (about the 11th year) my wrists settled right down and matters like scale length became details. I’ve played everything from a 30” scale Bass VI to a 24” Jaguar and it’s no big deal.

If you approach the neck properly with your left hand your wrist will be neutral, or quite near neutral and the amount of stress becomes almost zero. Having your thumb properly centered on the back of the neck optimizes the leverage of all your fingers and makes for less effort and less fatigue. If you sit with your left arm resting on your left leg, palm up, and then bend your elbow until your arm is about 30 degrees from vertical you have your starting point. Then rotate your thumb inward until it is across from the gap between your middle finger and ring finger, with a gap about the thickness of a guitar neck between the fingertips and the thumb. It probably feels foreign, but that’s the best position for your left hand. You can move up and down the neck effortlessly this way. Your thumb’s point of contact with the back of the neck is not the pad of your thumb tip, but about 45 degrees CCW from that point. I’ve been doing like this since Supertramp was on the charts and Zeppelin still had Bonham.

It’s interesting that you found you favored the Tele. Teles are simple, but they are very good guitars. Depending upon what you intend to spend, I’d look for something a bit upmarket. The MIM Fenders can be quite nice and the electricals are adequate, if not great. Later on, some better pots and pickups will give you a fine instrument which will serve you for years.

[Mr Bigglesworth]

Wrist pain has gone away now. So I have been watching a lot of guitarists on youtube and have been tweaking my left hand a bit to copy those. I also have an instructor lined up for next week hopefully. Haven't been looking at guitars, too busy, too far and not enough daylight for long drives this time of year. Getting money saved up for a spring purchase. Thanks for all the help!