New Fender Player Jaguar PF Tidepool model for 2018

[helvetg]

^


Crap! I don't have a Jag bass...

Maybe it's my eyes, but does that Cream "Jazzmaster" (maybe?) have the moved up trem position? The Jaguar is normal, but maybe it's the angle, that would suck if they still can't get over that.

[aliendawg]

It looks the same to me...

[Jazzecaster]

^


Crap! I don't have a Jag bass...

Maybe it's my eyes, but does that Cream "Jazzmaster" (maybe?) have the moved up trem position? The Jaguar is normal, but maybe it's the angle, that would suck if they still can't get over that.

I used the original high res image to zoom in on each guitar and posted those in the album I created. The Jazzmaster bridge is definitely closer. https://photos.app.goo.gl/xfZAX2UBZ37qk6yp8

[Stephen_42]

Why don't they try new models anymore?

Dude, people can't even take a jag without one of the chrome plates... new models is like, out of the question lol

Not at all! I'd absolutely love new models, like the Jarman Mus-uar, and/or bringing back more obscure models like the Starcaster / Marauder / Jag-stang etc.

The problem is that Fender only seem to half-heartedly try new things at the budget end. Other than the Squier VM, every reasonably priced Jag in the last decade has just been a variation on the stripped down theme. Blacktop, Blacktop 90, original Squier Jag, Modern Player, Jaguarillo, now this... I'm all for trying new things / new bridges / new pickup combinations etc. - hell, there are loads of cool things you could re-purpose those chrome controls to do but keep it at least looking like a Jag. If it's not really going to look like a Jag, I'd rather them be more inventive and do something completely new!

But then again, I've swapped out the knobs on my Jag for chrome ones and I'm looking at getting chrome pickups too. Maybe I just like chrome more than most...

[paulnewman]

And in all fairness, Fender could point out that they already make plenty of Jaguars, an American Standard thing and the vintage types, the Johnny Marr, so on. The Jaguar is covered.

Which is why I kind of resent this. It's just... I don't know. Why don't they try new models anymore? Why has guitar pickup technology gone back to where it was in the 50's? There literally isn't any way for the world's biggest electric guitar maker to think about pushing the envelope?

And I guess that there either isn't, because they don't have the vision or they don't think the market will bear that out.

But they are wrong. Some day, somehow, some one is going to come up with a new, must have instrument, and new music will be built around that. I don't know what it'll be either. But this sure isn't it, and if I was Fender, maybe I'd be thinking of how to develop that future instrument rather than constantly regurgitating variations on the past.

Of course, market place failures cost a lot of money when they don't work, and Fender has a pretty good cash cow going for now, so...

Tidepool it is, then. It was going to be the "Tide Pod", they were going to cash in on that craze, but a lot of kids ate the fucking guitars and got really sick so they had to kill that, and paint the guitars blue/gray. It's true! If you look under the finish on one of these you'll see a nice swirl under there.

I agree with a lot of your points here and it is a bit disappointing to not really have any new body shapes or innovations from Fender in the last couple decades (I'm thinking maybe the original Vista series in the '90s was the last time they really experimented with new body shapes? I guess the Toronado too. Also late '90s. I know there was the Meteora, but that whole thing, from the design to the rollout, seemed half-hearted.) I too would love to see something really new from them.

I also think it's interesting that Leo Fender himself kept innovating even after he left the company bearing his name. He was working on new ideas at G&L (MFD pickups, DFV bridge, Saddle-Lock bridge) until he passed, and I honestly have more hope/expectation that someone over there will pick up the slack and keep the ball rolling. I have an ASAT Special from them that is just an awesome guitar. Build quality is superb and the pickups sound phenomenal and unique. I haven't had a chance to play a Doheny, but I'm sure they're great too, although even that model seemed to lack any really new advancements (aside from maybe the Empress wood option?). Still, with them being a smaller company with less at stake than Fender, I feel like they're the more likely family member to put out something new and exciting.

Just please don't make it something pointy...

[HNB]

Ugh another HH Jazzy with the tremolo in the wrong spot. Makes me appreciate the one I have that much more I guess....

[BearBoy]

I agree with a lot of your points here and it is a bit disappointing to not really have any new body shapes or innovations from Fender in the last couple decades (I'm thinking maybe the original Vista series in the '90s was the last time they really experimented with new body shapes? I guess the Toronado too. Also late '90s. I know there was the Meteora, but that whole thing, from the design to the rollout, seemed half-hearted.) I too would love to see something really new from them.

They've put out a few things with different body shapes more recently than that:

Pawn Shop Offset Special
Pawn Shop Mustang Special
Modern Player Marauder
Sergio Valin Signature
Squier Ryan Jarman Signature

[Stephen_42]

They've put out a few things with different body shapes more recently than that:

Pawn Shop Offset Special
Pawn Shop Mustang Special
Modern Player Marauder
Sergio Valin Signature
Squier Ryan Jarman Signature

...and that's arguably also a list of the best things Fender has done since then

[Larry Mal]

.

[paulnewman]

They've put out a few things with different body shapes more recently than that:

Pawn Shop Offset Special
Pawn Shop Mustang Special
Modern Player Marauder
Sergio Valin Signature
Squier Ryan Jarman Signature

...and that's arguably also a list of the best things Fender has done since then

At least the most interesting!

I did forget about some of those - and this is the first time I've ever heard of the Sergio Valin Signature, which seems to have some intriguing things going on.

It's also interesting that a majority of the recent innovative designs and features have come from signature models. It's like they're scared to put out a really new idea without a big name attached so it's easier to market and then if it fails they can call it a "limited edition" and move on.

[BearBoy]

And the technology! Jesus Christ. Sure, I like the sound of vintage voiced pickups, but are we really considering that the technology of guitar pickups peaked in 1958 and there's nothing else to be done?

And it all comes through inexpensive soldered components- guitarists can't tolerate the idea of a chipset in there- running right out of a 1/4" mono jack.

Quick: tell me another technology that still uses the 1/4" jack? It works for audio because it's cheap and rugged, and very simple so it can be used by anyone, there's no firmware and shit to deal with.

But in the age of computer recording, why aren't USB ports on electric guitars?

There is the odd technologically more advanced guitar about. The Line 6 Variax range? That (hideous) Boss/Strandberg one? A tiny, tiny fragment of the market though, I would imagine.

I guess at least some of the resistance to USB/computer technology in guitars will come from a fear of OS upgrades/lack of drivers etc rendering your guitar obsolete and unusable but I suspect a lot of it is simply down to the conservative nature of many guitar players. Look how many people get upset when something gets released with non-vintage correct radius/fret size/switching etc.

I mean, I don't know, I'm not the visionary here. But it's pretty easy to see that the electric guitar is in a creative and technological rut where conservative outlook has killed off any kind of innovation even possible.

Yep. Sadly.

[HNB]

I think there are too many purists out there with all these preconceived notions or superstitions about what makes a guitar sound good. Makers have tried using synthetic materials to replace some endangered tonewood and purists reject them because using wood type A makes a guitar sound right and anything else is trash. Sort of like people rejecting digital modeling amps in favor of all analog stuff because it sounds better. It doesn't matter if the modeler can duplicate a sound exactly, it doesn't have the "mojo" of an old fashion amp. As long as people hold on to that thought or belief, we will keep getting mostly variations of the same stuff over and over because new and different isn't how things are done. Old stuff is better. (I don't subscribe to that, but that is a mentality I see a lot.) This is the case with shapes of guitars, how they are put together, the pickups, etc. Loads of people would rather have stuff done the same as it was over fifty years ago down even to the type of metal used in wiring and the thickness. People are even willing to pay more for it because it is boutique over modern. People drop a bunch of money on different capacitors and resistors because they are more musical than another type.

Related, I really was impressed with Billy Gibbon's rig rundown I saw. He has a digital eq that adjusts all of his different guitars so they all sound like his number one favorite. The tech just pushes the button for a given guitar and the signal is modified to sound like his favorite guitar. I think A Perfect Circle and maybe Jimmy Eat World have also started using modeling amps for live performances because it uses less space than having all the pedals and heads when you can build it into one digital unit with a programmable stage pedal. Maybe this sort of trend will continue. Hard to say.

[Larry Mal]

.

[daemon]

It seems like when companies do try something new, it gets met with outrage or indifference. Remember Fender's "Personality Cards"? They currently only seem to be available in a Strat, but they let you "swap" pickups by just changing out these cards. Pretty cool idea for people who don't want to screw around with a soldering iron, but it doesn't exactly seem to be setting the guitar world on fire. It's like there's this romantic idea of what a guitar should be, and it's been frozen in time somehow. From the guitar company's perspective, though, I can see the allure of not spending a bunch of time R&Ding something nobody is going to care about, when they can just fire up a dressing room app and play Colorforms to come up with something "new".

That being said, I was not a fan of the robot tuners. I'm not quite ready for robots in my daily life.

[audiopablo]

And the technology! Jesus Christ. Sure, I like the sound of vintage voiced pickups, but are we really considering that the technology of guitar pickups peaked in 1958 and there's nothing else to be done?

And it all comes through inexpensive soldered components- guitarists can't tolerate the idea of a chipset in there- running right out of a 1/4" mono jack.

edit: just saw the person above mentioned the cards
edit 2: just saw Larry made all the points about USB in his next post. That's me, ordering appetizers while y'all are on dinner already.

didn't fender have that USB strat (yikes!!!) a little while ago? Also there were the personality cards a few years back. I thought it looked fun, but they really got shit for that.

One thing about 1/4 inch is that it's been around all this time and not outmoded by some 1.1 version 6 months later. In the recording side, how many of us have been some of these outdated formats and protocols around?

minidisc
dat
adat
firewire 400
firewire 800
USB
USB 2
even thunderport is outdated I guess now

At least a 1/4 inch input guitar and amp will hopefully be playable by our kids in a decade or two.