Fender jaguar Baritones- how about them?

[Yannic]

Hi guys,

I'm thinking of buying a baritone guitar to complement my current CIJ Jazzmaster. I was wondering, Fender has made 2 Jaguar baritones right? The Custom and the Special II. Whats the difference between them? Can either one be a poor mans Bass VI? And whats the quality of both guitars? The Special II seems more like a nu-metal orientated guitar then a true baritone.
I would really love to have a Bass VI, but being a poor student I can afford one, so I'm  looking at other options.

any help would be greatly appriciated !

cheers
Yannic

[1946dodge]

Hi Yannic. They dont make the Baritone custom anymore. It was completely like a Jaguar, pickups, controls and all, except for the bridge which is a Les Paul type fixed bridge.
The Jaguar Baritone special has two humbuckers, is black and chrome, and has a setup like a Jazzmaster, without the rythym circuit.
You can still get the baritone custom on ebay. Fender renamed it the Jaguar Bass VI and set it up to be tuned E to E. The baritone special has a slightly shorter neck and is set up to be tuned B to B.
I have a baritone special which I tuned B to B.
The custom is a very bright baritone guitar and you get lots of finger noise unless you turn down the treble control a little.
The special has a nice thicker sound due to its humbuckers, and is more of a real baritone. The custom really is designed to be tuned E to E, although I dont do this.
Both are excelent guitars - the only difference being that the custom is really bright and takes more skill (IMHO) to get a good sound out of than the special, since the humbuckers are more forgiving and finger noise is much less.
If you want a bass VI then the custom is like you said, a poor mans VI. It may surprise you though, and you may like it on its own.
The special has "dragster" humbuckers just like the Jag HH, but the pickups are not so strong as to turn the entire sound into a midrange characterless tone. You still have alot of definition in the sound with it, so it would only be for numetal if you played it with alot of disortion.

[Yannic]

Hi there,

Thanks for your reply! Its a pitty they don't make the Custom anymore, I wonder why. Judgeing by your reply I think I need to try out the Special, since I've always been a fan of a mellower tone than a overbright one ( thats why i play a jazzmaster I guess). I was affraid the Special didn't have any of that typical fendery "twang", in contrary to the custom. I'm looking for a great addition to my already overfull stable of guitars and I'm not to sure wheter I can get another basslike guitar past the girlfriend so perhaps a true baritone would be better ( more so since I plan on getting a jazzbass to complement my hair-metal style jackson kelly bass).
Do you by any change have some sound samples of a Special and a Custom? I think I found a store in the netherlands of has the Custom still in stock ( or at least, their website says they have) . The Special has to come from germany I'm affraid since I can't find a store that has them, although I might inform at my local guitar store if they can order 1 for me.

Just to be sure, whats the prize rate on a used VI in europe these days? Several thousand euro I guess

[TheodorJ]

Will the jaguar baritones be damadeg if strung like a Bass VI?

[StevenO]

Will the jaguar baritones be damadeg if strung like a Bass VI?

They come from the factory strung like bass vi's. Absolutely nothing wrong with that. The low e is a bit floppy but nothing major. Slightly thicker low e and you're fine.

[Yannic]

Will the jaguar baritones be damadeg if strung like a Bass VI?

They come from the factory strung like bass vi's. Absolutely nothing wrong with that. The low e is a bit floppy but nothing major. Slightly thicker low e and you're fine.

even the Special with its 27" scale length? The Custom has a 28,5" Scale length if I'm not mistaken, right?

[mynameisjonas]

the 27" version comes with thinner strings. the ones i've played in shops have been tuned B-B.

[Yannic]

the 27" version comes with thinner strings. the ones i've played in shops have been tuned B-B.

Allright, so if I want a real baritone, I should take the Special. And if I want a poor mans BassVI I should take a Custom.
hmmmm decisions decisions. Hopefully I can play a Special somewhere pretty soon, so that i've got an idea what it sounds like.

I'm basically looking for something different from either my normal jazzmaster, or my normal bassguitar. So I thought a baritone would fit right in the middle there. Right now I'm leaning towards a Special, since its a "true" baritone, I like the way it looks and I don't have a humbucker equipped guitar. If the Special still sounds proper "Fenderish" I think that would be a great pick for me. But still, the custom looks really nice... 

[TheodorJ]

the 27" version comes with thinner strings. the ones i've played in shops have been tuned B-B.

But you can tune it E-E without problems?

[1946dodge]

If I wanted a special to be E to E I would remove the strings that come with it and put much heavier ones on. I dont know how it would sound.
I dont recall if the Jag baritone special has a twang. My son has it now in Brooklyn.
But I do have a Jag HH with the same pickups as the Jag baritone special - dragsters they are called and the jag HH does have a nice twang, even in the neck position, and even though it has humbuckers. I think that Fender rightly designed it to retain the Jag twang, because otherwise it would be too much like  a Telecaster Deluxe which has humbuckers.
So perhaps you would be happy with the baritone special.
The custom is very bright and if one slides his fingers along the neck from one position to another, you get tons of finger noise, so the treble has to be rolled off.
I do like my baritone custom very much, but if I had to choose and could only have one, I would pick the special, only because I was not looking for a bass VI at all, but a real baritone.

[Yannic]

well I think I'll go the Special route. I absolutely love the black with matching headstock  . I guess it'll look great desides my black strat and CAR jazzmaster

Now all I have to do is find one and test it 

[mynameisjonas]

for me, the custom is the "true" baritone. i think the special sounds more like a detuned normal guitar than a baritone. which isn't by any means a negative thing. i think most guitarists would agree that the 27" scale feels more natural to play if you play it like you would play a standard guitar.

if you play high up on the neck on a special it can pass for a standard guitar any time. but if you play up high on a custom you hear there's something different about the sound.

[DB]

I agree with 'Jonas.  I have the custom and the 28.5" scale is pretty close to where it would be if you took a regular guitar and added neck length and frets to get to the B note.  The 27" scale is a compromise for guitar players that want lower notes but not too much of a transition from a standard scale length.  The tonal character of the higher register notes is way different.

By the way, I'm primarily a bass player that also plays guitar.  I can often find myself cramped on normal scale lengths and skinny necks.  On the other hand, I don't have any problem switching from baseball bat dimension necks (Gibson basses, Fender Bass V) and a nice thin and narrow Jazz Bass neck.  The more variety you play, the more comfortable you get.

At the end of the day, it's the music that matters.

DB

[DB]

But you can tune it E-E without problems?

In my opinion, the 27" scale is too short for E-E.  It is designed for B-B, and may handle A-A.  I have the custom, and the 28.5" handles the E-E, but just barely.  As has been mentioned, a heavier gauge E may help.

My custom had the E-E strings on it for about 30 minutes when I got it, then was restrung B-B, which is handles wonderfully.  I do have a couple VIs though, so they are strung E-E. My intention for the custom was always  B-B.

On the other hand, if you can't afford a VI, the custom is an option for at least 1/3 the cost.  If you want E-E tuning, go with the custom. If you can, add the trem, as I think it is really a part of the character of the VI.

If you want a baritone (A-A or B-B), either the custom or the special could work, and your decision would be based on what pickup config you want (singles vs. hums) and whether you want to play all your favorite guitar riffs (I vote for finding a new voice on the baritone).

DB

[Yannic]

well I'm both a bass and a guitar player. At the moment, i primerialy play guitar, but a few years abo I only played bass ( that was before I bought my jazzmaster). I'm looking for something between a bass and a guitar to add something new to my collection.