Our own JamesSGBrown has had to move done stuff on, and amongst that was this - a sunburst AV65 Jaguar in fantastic condition with all the case candy, a staytrem bridge, and a staytrem collet. I sat and noodled unplugged briefly as we talked about guitars, then ran back to King’s Cross for my own gig, picking up a curry along the way. I snuck into the venue just before doors and stashed it in the green room as people started entering. I adjusted the strap to a comfortable length, then left to enjoy the other bands.
When I laid the guitar on it’s case just off the side of the stage I wasn’t sure I’d play it. First time plugging it in, in front of a live audience? Perhaps not the smartest. I needn’t have worried. We reached the quieter part of the set and swapped my SG out for this. From the first chord, what an incredible sound. Rich and clear, taking distortion beautifully when called for. An exceptionally comfortable, chunky neck helped with some of the chord shapes where my SG feels a little bit too wide. The three quieter songs were done all too soon and the SG came back on as we veered back towards riot grrrl.
I’ve just given it a bit of a run this afternoon and all I can say is wow. Basically the perfect Jaguar. I’ve missed this vibrato system, and it returns to pitch perfectly even with abuse. The clarity of a true single coil is so nice to have more of too. I have a set of Kinmans but I’m not rushing to install them, the pure vintages sound fantastic.
As a teenager I really wanted a vintage Jaguar but prices have risen so much in the time it took me to become an adult. I’ve been lucky enough to play a lot of them, and this guitar is probably better than them all. Sure, there’s not much of that old guitar mojo, but it’ll come as I hopefully hold on to this for a long time. If that’s the only place it loses out to a vintage piece that’s 4+ times the price, I’m more than winning.
TLDR, bought a jag from a forumite, it’s awesome.
