Catch of the Day: 1966 Fender Jaguar

1966 Fender Jaguar

Introduced in 1962, the Jaguar was designed to be the top of the line for Fender. While the body shape, vibrato tailpiece and the ‘rhythm’ circuit (the switch and volume/ tone controls mounted on the upper bout) were borrowed from the Jazzmaster, the Jaguar is a short (24″) scale guitar with a pair of Stratocaster-like pickups, a unique bass cut switch, and on off switches for both pickups. As Carl Wilson was an early advocate of the Jaguar, the model became the guitar du jour for countless surf bands, and its popularity continued into the garage band era of ’65-’66. The model fell out of fashion as music changed into the psychedelic era of 1967, but the Jag continued to be made in limited numbers up until 1975. Lots of indie rockers and post punks began favoring this model in the 1980’s, and Fender Japan began reissuing the Jaguar in 1982. The Jaguar has been consistently available since then in various forms and built in Japan, Mexico and the USA.

With the CBS takeover of Fender in 1965, several models saw aesthetic changes beginning that year. Both the Jaguar and Jazzmaster received bound fingerboards (along with a few ultra rare Stratocasters), and by mid-’66 the Jag and Jazzmaster received (Gibson influenced) block inlays. Nothing shouts out 1960’s as a custom color Fender guitar; while many of the hues were colors introduced by auto manufacturers in the late 1950’s, custom color Fenders were not made in significant numbers until the ’60’s rolled around. Lake Placid Blue (a color first seen on the ’58 Cadillac) is one of the all-time popular Fender custom colors. This clear coat on top of this lovely metallic color can turn green when exposed to cigarette smoke or extreme sunlight; luckily, this ’66 example has retained the beauty and depth of this amazing and seductive color. This particular example is priced at $5500 and it is for sale at Southside Guitars.

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