Fender Jag-Stang

The Fender Jag-Stang, as the name implies, is a blending of the Fender Jaguar and Fender Mustang electric guitars. The idea for the guitar came from Kurt Cobain, lead singer and guitarist for Nirvana. Cobain presented his idea to Fender and they created two prototypes, one in Sonic Blue and the other in Fiesta Red, in their custom shop for him. Both of these guitars were left-handed and were built by Larry L. Brooks, a Custom Shop Master Builder at the time. However, only one of these guitars was ever played by Cobain due to his suicide in April 1994.

Since the Jag-Stang never got past the prototype stage before his death, there are many details about the guitar that are sort of unfinished. Cobain was said to have been dissatisfied with some aspects of the guitar.  He did use the Sonic Blue guitar occasionally on the  In Utero tour. The Fiesta Red one had been completed and was ready to be delivered to him at the time of his death. The guitar went into production at the Fender Japan facility and had two production run periods where guitars were imported to the US from 1995 through 2001 and 2003-2005.  I’ve heard that it is still possible to purchase the Jag-Stang  in Japan but I’ve not been able to confirm this.

Fender promoted the Jag-Stang as blending old and new features into a “radical new Fender guitar.” To achieve a new look, the guitar’s basswood body mixes the curves and horns of the two parent guitar to create a new, but not entirely foreign, look.

Electronically, Fender went with a Texas Special single coil pickup in the neck position and a DiMarzio H-3 humbucker in the bridge position, both at a slant, for the prototypes. There was also a master volume and tone knob and a pickup on/off switch for each pickup as well as a phase switching feature. The slant positioning causes some subtle variations in tone as compared to a perpendicular pickup placement. The DiMarzio H-3 is a custom pickup made exclusively for Fender and not available for separate purchase although the DiMarzio Evolution pickup has a very similar sound and specs. On the production guitar, the pickups are cheaper copies of the pickups, not the Texas Special or H-3. It is recommended that you upgrade these pickups for the best sound.

The bridge was the somewhat troublesome Mustang style Fender Dynamic Vibrato. Some people have reported more problems with this than with the original Mustang bridge. Given that the stock, vintage, style tuning gears don’t do well with a trem, this isn’t surprising, especially for aggressive punk and alternative players.

The 24 inch scale neck was copied from Cobain’s own Mustang’s neck. The neck is quite thin feeling and is clearly designed for punk rhythm playing, not soloing. This is a guitar intended for a singer/rhythm guitarist, especially one with smaller hands.

The legacy of the Jag-Stang is closely tied with Cobain. Courtney Love gave his Sonic Blue prototype to Peter Buck of R.E.M.. Buck used the guitar on the video for the song  What’s the Frequency, Kenneth? and has used it sometimes in live performances of their tribute song for Cobain, Let Me In. Most people who select this guitar as their main guitar are fans of Cobain although some rhythm players simply appreciate the comfortable feel of the Jag-Stang.

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