Where did all the Jagmasters go?

[X-Ray Spex]

there's a blast from the past. A bandmate had one back in about 2008. A black one. I recall it being a hunk of ol' shite

I honestly don't think they sold great. Those were the weakest of the three versions in design and quality and they also got a lot of criticism at the time for using a weird 21-fret meck which probably didn't help them among "offset-fans". By 2010 we had the VM Jaguar with weird hardware but a normal neck, and by 2012 we had the hey-thats-what-famous-old-people-used offsets.

I also think WoB and To3T were TERRIBLE finish choices for the time. The vintage blue/red/green/cream of the Vista were out of fashion, and so were the glam sparkle finishes of the Standard - but I think Squier overcorrected way too hard. That was the era of the Hello Kitty and mirror-guard Strats, the OBEY Telecaster, the crossbones MB-4... "brown" and "black" just looked super boring. Felt so at the time, still feel so now.

Were they just not popular at the time? I find it hard to believe considering how difficult it was to get anything resembling an Offset in the early 2000's, but apart from my own I've never ever seen one for sale in any guitar shops or pawnstores.

There's a fairly steady stream of them on eBay UK. Ignoring all the scam listings from Japan, they're nearly all Vista and Standard. As in, of 10 Jagmasters currently for sale in the UK - no VM's. So either they're secretly so good that no-one wants to part with theirs or... there just aren't many out there.

Your Montego Black (which should, based on the finish - be a longscale) is one of the rarer ones. If it has the 2-point, you have a good and uncommon guitar - with the trem *block* being the only part on these guitars I strongly dislike.

It is one of the 25.5" ones yes, the neck always felt really good. At the time I thought the pickups were fine because I didn't know any better but now I can tell they're microphonic as hell I never used the trem so can't speak to that.

Still I loved the thing, only reason I stopped using it was I wore the frets down so badly it became unplayable.

[tqi]

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[forestgreen]

Bought a single-owner black Vista Jagmaster back in 2018-ish. A total keeper. That neck is wonderful.

CIJ early-'97 but it's all MIJ specs. Fujigen continued to build them into Spring 1997 because Dyna, who just took over the Fender Japan contract, couldn't meet output.

Pickguard replaced with one from WD. Original pickups were...uninspiring to say the least. I had some Bootstrap Vintage Cleans in it but last month I put in the Player Plus series Fireball humbuckers.

That looks great - how does the trem hold up? And am I right in saying the truss rod at the heel is a bit of a rarity? By no means an expert but I feel most Jagmasters I've seen have had the headstock truss rod.

[tqi]

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[Fiddy]

Japan Vista Jagmasters have heel adjustment trussrod access.

Chinese Vistas have it on the headstock

[Pongo]

I had this for 23 years until January this year



25.5” standard fitted with Seymour Duncan pickups. Just got bored of it in the end. Ended up way down the list of guitars I would pick up so moved it on.

[cestlamort]

I picked up a 25.5 a little while back and it’s totally decent. The neck is really comfortable (sort of wide, low vintage frets) and it sounds decent. I didn’t get the trem arm so haven’t used that.

I had one of the sparkle ones maybe 10 years ago and didn’t get along with it (other than sparkles!) but this one seems pretty good. They said, I have other guitars I enjoy more, but this one is far from junk.

[tqi]

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[vistavision]

Japan Vista Jagmasters have heel adjustment trussrod access.

Chinese Vistas have it on the headstock

Well, actually...Fender Japan switched builder contracts halfway through the two-year run. So the first year Fujigen-built MIJ models had the heel truss adjust, and then the second-year Dyna Gakki CIJ run had bullet truss rods.

[cestlamort]

I had one of the sparkle ones maybe 10 years ago and didn’t get along with it (other than sparkles!) but this one seems pretty good.

I take it then, this one isn't Silver Sparkle. Is it Black Sparkle or Red Sparkle?

Candy apple red. Sparkles now handled by Gretsch.

[vistavision]

That looks great - how does the trem hold up? And am I right in saying the truss rod at the heel is a bit of a rarity? By no means an expert but I feel most Jagmasters I've seen have had the headstock truss rod.

The trem is typical. The nut is well cut, and, only last week(!), I got around to installing a roller string tree. So it works fairly well right now. It would get me through a song or two, I suppose.

As for truss rod adjusts the 1st year MIJ models are heel adjust, and the 2nd year CIJ models are headstock bullet truss rod. Mine is an oddball CIJ with MIJ specs.

[Fiddy]

Japan Vista Jagmasters have heel adjustment trussrod access.

Chinese Vistas have it on the headstock

Well, actually...Fender Japan switched builder contracts halfway through the two-year run. So the first year Fujigen-built MIJ models had the heel truss adjust, and then the second-year Dyna Gakki CIJ run had bullet truss rods.

I stand corrected, and actually I owned a bullet one fwiw

[X-Ray Spex]

It is one of the 25.5" ones yes, the neck always felt really good. At the time I thought the pickups were fine because I didn't know any better but now I can tell they're microphonic as hell I never used the trem so can't speak to that.

That's wild - Mine are absolutely not microphonic, on either guitar. Wonder what caused it on yours?

Still I loved the thing, only reason I stopped using it was I wore the frets down so badly it became unplayable.

Are they dressable, or is it stainless steel time?

No idea, weirdly I was able to use unintentionally it in a kind've shoegazey way

Not salvageable I think, going to replace the neck entirely tbh. Maybe an aluminium bolt-on or other alternative material.

[tqi]

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[CROSS_guitars]

Oh man! the early Jagmasters with the veneer fretboards are my favourite. Before they went with the Bullet truss rod.
I really want a mint condition sonic blue one!