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2007 '62 AVRI jaguar - OHSC - $1,375 (Austin)
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The string trees are its only non-drop-in modification. I installed the pinchpoint-eliminating ones that Fender used on the “plus” series in the ‘80s/’90s (& “american deluxe” series, more recently), in the less common downward orientation (for aesthetic balance), in a desperate attempt to get the bridge to respond right…before ultimately realizing that the moveable bridge design was inherently unstable no matter what (of course I really shouldn’t have ever believed Fender but, after > half a century, they still insisted that it was a sound principle “with proper setup”…)
Anyway, my most valid contribution to this particular guitar was my eventual full remedy to the above issue: I painstakingly lathe-ground 2 bronze bushings & press fit them onto the legs of a replacement stock jaguar bridge that I flipped & drilled for 3-saddle use. The bushings give it a fully rigid fit into the bridge thimbles & the stair-step saddles intonate well while eliminating the buzz that you always get from the downward actuation of a floating vibrato tailpiece on a guitar with independent saddles for each string. I tried the mastery bridge but disliked its a) price, b) appearance, & c) functionality - i.e., it has an effectively fixed radius & is designed for use with a neck angle so shallow that I consider it to defeat the point of having a guitar with raised-style bridge (I want something noticeably easier on my shoulder than a strat or tele). This bridge has performed flawlessly under a decade of vibrato use without any down-cutting of the string notches or strain of the bushings/leg rivets.
The other drop-in mods:
- I swapped-in a Straytrem vibrato arm & collett so that the arm wouldn’t flop when let go, & cut down the arm to a length useable with one’s palm at the bridge (as it always would be while playing…). I also sunk it in past the detent - it turns out that this totally works - so that it’s LOW enough to use with one’s palm on the bridge. It’s now the most functional vibrato arm of any guitar I’ve ever played, & has been for a decade.
- I changed all of the potentiometers to 250k ones, as found on most Fenders. I read good things about this practice &, after trying it, quite agree that it really unlocks the utter supremacy of the jaguar pickups (that many are still unaware of). I also had to replace EVERY SINGLE SLIDER SWITCH on this thing (they ALL failed at some point or another before/during my possession of it). I managed to get a set installed in intact condition, & they’ve all held up for a decade, but the secret seems to be that they’re very tricky to solder without compromising. While I was at it, I swapped-out the strangle switch capacitor for one of a less extreme value to produce an effect that I could imagine actually using.
- It has black pickup covers & a pick-guard by Holly’s Guitars that I like more than the original - the guard may be the biggest difference between a real ‘62 & a ‘62 AVRI XD
- I added a full-pocket angled neck shim, as well as a thicker neck plate from an american standard (the stock AVRI plate was so flimsy that it would try to cut into the finish around its margins before adequate tension was even applied to the screws to maintain tuning stability/safeguard the threads of their holes).
- I had the neck professionally leveled/re-radiused to a compound 7.25”-to-9.5” & re-fretted with tall/medium-wide fret wire. This completely addressed the issue of choking-out on high bends & generally improved playability. I ended up massaging it a bit further myself, & eventually got it far more use-able than these things were off-the-shelf. For those who think they can’t shred on a jaguar, I invite you to test that theory. *Also, the luthier who did the re-fret originally said he would cut it a new nut, but ran short on time & opted to boost the original nut instead by bonding it to a carbon fiber shim. It seems to work fine this way.
In terms of wear, it has some neck wear going through the finish, & 3 main blemishes on the front of the body from some ill-conceived polish that the previous owned tried to use on it (he said he dispensed a few big drops of it, then ran out of the room to address some emergency before he could distribute it, eventually getting back to find that it was beginning (albeit slightly) to eat holes in the finish!). Other than that, it just has a little bit of superficial buckle rash, a little bit of sleeve wear at the corner facet, & a few small dings - just enough to prove that this is ONE AVRI that WILL age gracefully (NOT one of the many they’ve produced from 1982-on that turn out to have finish adhesion problems).
Curb weight: 8 lb, 13 oz.
$1375 OBO. Cash only.