A Rare "See-Through Blonde" Jaguar!

This rare "See-Through Blonde" Jaguar weighs 8.80 lbs., with a "B" nut width of just over 1 5/8 inches and a scale length of 24 inches. Solid ash body, one-piece maple neck, and rosewood fretboard with 22 frets and inlaid pearl dot position markers. Individual Kluson Deluxe tuners with oval metal buttons. Three-layer tortoiseshell plastic pickguard. Two white oblong Strat-like pickups with notched metal side plates, each with an output of 6.32k. Two controls (one volume, one tone) and jack socket on lower metal plate adjoining pickguard on treble side, selector switch and two roller controls (one volume, one tone) on upper metal plate adjoining pickguard on bass side, and three slide switches on metal plate inset into the pickguard on the treble side. Black plastic Jaguar knobs. Jazzmaster-type floating tremolo and bridge with adjustable mute and original cover. The neck is dated: "1 FEB 65B" and the pots dated: "304 65 08" (February 1965). Minimal belt buckle scarring on the back and a few small marks. Former owner's personal identification number engraved on neck plate. An excellent example of this rare color. Original Fender black hardshell case with orange plush lining (8.75).

"Not content with the relatively expensive Jazzmaster, Fender introduced a new top-of-the-line model in 1962: the Jaguar. [The pricelist offered a basic Sunburst Jaguar at $379.50; a similar Jazzmaster was $349.50]. Another offset-waist multi-control instrument, the Jag seemed an attractive proposition, but still failed to dent the supremacy of Fender's dynamic duo, the Tele and the Strat...The Jag used a similar offset-waist body shape to the earlier Jazzmaster, and also shared that guitar's separate bridge and vibrato unit, although the Jaguar had the addition of a spring-loaded string mute at the bridge. Fender rather optimistically believed that players would prefer a mechanical string mute to the natural edge-of-the-hand method. They did not. There were some notable differences between the Jaguar and Jazzmaster. Visually, the Jag had distinctive chromed control panels, and was the first Fender with 22 frets. Its 24" (610mm) scale-length ('faster, more comfortable') was shorter than the Fender standard of 25" (635mm) and closer to that of Gibson. It gave the Jag a different playing feel compared to other Fenders. The Jaguar had better pickups than the Jazzmaster. They looked much like Strat units but had metal shielding added at the base and sides, no doubt as a response to the criticisms of the Jazzmaster's tendency to noisiness. The Jag's electrics were yet more complex than the Jazzmaster's, using the same rhythm circuit but adding a trio of lead-circuit switches...The Jaguar was offered from the start in four different neck widths, one a size narrower and two wider than normal (coded A, B, C or D, from narrowest to widest, with 'normal' B the most common)" (Tony Bacon, 50 Years of Fender, p. 36).