LeftyBassist.com

Fewer basses have made me drool more than the new Fender Jaguar Bass, and when I found out that lefties were available but only in Asia it only served as one big c*ck tease. Yeah, you could order one from Japan and have it shipped via a 3rd party escrow service, but the cost was too prohibitive IMO ($1400 shipped). Alas, I had to figure out a way to get one.

Long story short: I ordered one through http://www.guitarshogun.com a week ago and it arrived this morning. It came in at about $1049 SHIPPED (note: if you pay through Paypal you have the option of selecting their rate of exchange or letting the shipper collect the rate of exchange at the time of delivery. I opted for the easy way by just calculating the rate via Paypal, but it's quite possible if you do it the other way you could get the bass for under a grand). Although that's still a bit pricey for a Fender MIJ, it's almost $400 cheaper than what was originally estimated via 3rd party escrow. And I can justify the cost in my mind because: 1) The US dollar isn't getting stronger anytime soon, so MIJs have crept up in cost generally. 2) You'd pay close to the same amount for any MIJ bass today, be it the garden variety P or J. 3) Fender is so stingy when it comes to lefties that you will NEVER see lefty Jaguars offered in the US/Europe. Guaranteed. 4) I have a unique, one of a kind lefty Fender bass that's every bit as good, if not better than, most of the US made Fenders I've played (though I haven't tried the new American Standards yet).

I'll post a full review once I've had a chance to play it and figure out the switches, but this one's a keeper.

Big time Congratulations!

I have lusted for one of those ever since they first came out, especially in that color! But alas, that is out of my $$ range.

Enjoy and I'm looking forward to the review!


Cheers!

I hate you so bad right now

My god man. That is lovely. I got a quote from the same guy. $1154 shipped

Man, that is a beautiful looking bass. BIG Congrats on that one.

hey PJ -
Hows the bass? I contacted showgun and was thinking of pulling the trigger myself -then I read the reviews of the Jag on HC and it seemed everyone was slamming the electronics setup while praising the fit n finish....I love the OCAR finish - that IS the one for sure - let me know before the GAS gets me....and my YEN.
peace, rob

Rob -

I read the reviews on HC as well. Yeah, the bass will require some shielding. There's about the same amount of buzz you'd get with a standard J in passive mode, but when you kick it in active mode it amplifies the buzz substantially (unless you have both PUPs on, in which case the hums cancelled like a normal J as well). But the PUPs, pots, etc. seem fine to me otherwise. The only other thing I miss compared to a J is the ability to blend the two PUPs. On the Jaguar, they're either all on or all off. That's the price you pay for all those nifty little switches.

Oooh I liiiiiiiike it. I actually contacted the Shogun guitars site and inquired about getting one for myself. I'm curious, when you ordered, what color options did you have? I dig the candy apple red, but I really like the fiesta red ones I've seen in Guitar Center - of course, those are right-handed (wrong-handed!). I can't wait to make a trip back to the GC and fiddle with one to find out if they sound as good as they look! But it sounds like you gave it a winning endorsement. I'd love to hear anything you'd like to share before I purchase my own Lefty Jag bass, or if you have anything to add about Shogun Guitars.

Alexander:

I believe the lefty Jaguar basses come in Candy Apple Red, White, Black, and Sunburst. Fiesta Red is only a US color and is not available in Japan. I opted for candy apple red because it's not the typical color choice we lefties get stuck with, and it's also the only one available with a matching painted headstock. It's also a beautiful paint job, the color can look maroon or sparkling red depending on how the light hits it. No case, but it does come with a crappy Fender gig bag.

Shogun was excellent to deal with. I had numerous e-mail correspondences with Ken before I took the plunge, and I had my bass within 5 days of ordering! I can't even get some domestic shipments that fast.

I love the bass, but it's so stunning to look at that I'm paranoid about taking it out.

I'll gig it for ya

Ditto!

I just bought one of these from Jo's Music in Tokyo on Ebay. It's really nice looking obviously and so far no problems while practicing at home. I'll be gigging with it for the next two weeks so I'll know everything by then. I actually bought it as my bass to take on longer trips etc. My main bass is a Fender Custom Shop Jazz with a P-Bass pickup and fancy neck so it's fairly expensive and not easy to replace.

From my initial practicing, I'm surprised that the Jag actually sounds different from a trad Jazz Bass, even in passive mode. Up until now, I figured it was essentially a Jazz Deluxe in a cooler body.....

Lovely, both the OCR one and the VWH one! Those Japanese Fenders certainly are great instruments, and I doubt my '75 Jazz reissue will be the only one I own for long. It kicks some serious ass.

If I were to get one, I'd probably try to make the electronics more like a regular Jaguar guitar, with volume and tone on the control plate, two volumeknobs on the upper bout and on/off-switches for both pickups and the phase switch. Although I doubt I'd ever use the latter, so maybe I'd opt for a series/parallel-switch instead.

Although I like the white pick guard, I think I'd prefer the tortoise to contrast the body color. Still a beautiful bass though...

So after two weeks of gigging and traveling, I can give a report about the Jag bass in action:

PLAYABILITY: Top notch. Intonation is great, tuning remains stable and action is easy.

BUILD: Also really good. It's been on the road in the back of a van - in my Jazz bass hard case, which it fits quite well - for two weeks and has had no dings or electronic problems. I'm glad it's made of alder because the basswood that Fender Japan often uses doesn't sound that good in my opinion. Even more important, I was afraid that this bass would weigh a ton because of it's polyurethane finish like 70s era Fenders. That's always a risk when you buy sight unseen, as lefties have to do all the time. Fortunately it's a normal weight.

NECK: I wish they bound it along with the block markers. How can you have one without the other?? Having said that, it was less comfortable on the edges than my original USA Jazz but has less dead spots. (I did end up replacing that Jazz neck with a Warmoth - see the other thread. The Jag neck is definitely not as good as the Warmoth.)

ELECTRONICS: Very versatile. The series/parallel switch and active tone controls are the most dramatic. In fact the bass and treble controls in the active mode are ridiculously wide-ranging. As some have mentioned here, there is a bit of hum clearly audible when the amp is cranked - you can't really hear it at more moderate volumes. It's nothing a noise suppressor can't handle, but having said that, I am going to look into more shielding next time I get it set up. It wouldn't have stopped me from buying it if I heard it in a music store.

SOUND: This was the biggest surprise. I was expecting it to simply sound like a Jazz bass or a Jazz Deluxe (with the active electronics). It is in fact quite different, with more twang and less low-end, even with the active electronics engaged. I found I had to totally re-EQ my amp to accommodate this. It almost ventures in Music Man territory. Even the separate pick-ups don't sound that different from one another. This is definitely designed for rock and funk in my opinion.

VALUE: If you are a Jag fan, as I am, and a lefty, it's probably worth the $1300 (inc shipping) it costs to get it over from Japan. The workmanship is so far just as good as my USA Jazz and it's still cheaper than a new Fender American Standard Jazz or Music Man Stingray. It's a bit galling that Jag basses used to go for around $800 new in 2006 but even current prices of a new one are now up to almost $1000 - and those are for righty instruments of course. As of now, it looks like Fender has no interest in importing lefty Jags over here so options are somewhat limited anyway. And if you don't like it, you can probably sell it to another lefty here in the USA and undercut the international seller.

Hope that was helpful!

Great review!

Great review.

Offhand, does anyone know if these will fit in a standard (lefty) Jazz case? The gigbag that these come with is just about the flimsiest piece of crap I've ever encountered. Not road worthy at all.

Yes they fit in a rectangular Jazz case perfectly.

Matt is correct! As I mentioned I kept the Jag in my Jazz hard case on the road. It fit like a glove; no dents or dings at all after being in the back of a van and gigging for two weeks.