Fender Player II Jaguar in Hialeah Yellow

On the bench today is the Fender Player II Jaguar in Hialeah Yellow (Highlea).
Fender recently released the Player II series of instruments. I have covered the Player II Telecaster and the Player II Stratocaster. I also performed upgrades to the Stratocaster. Links to the videos are in this video description.
Player II Telecaster
• Fender Player II Telec...
Player II Stratocaster
• FENDER PLAYER II STRAT...
Player II Stratocaster UPGRADES
• Keeping and Upgrading ...
The Player II Jaguar is designed to allow guitar players to purchase an affordable version of a Fender instrument without a lot of the frills. Not including features like binding, fretboard inlays, and other aesthetically related features keeps the cost down to an affordable level without removing functionality.
There are two primary functional or operational differences in the Fender Player II Jaguar from your typical Vintage Style Fender Jaguar.
The Player II Jaguar has only a lead circuit and does not have a rhythm circuit (neck pickup only). Fender did this because they have found most folks do not understand or use the rhythm circuit. I am not one of them though. I am not one of them. I have grown to use and like the rhythm circuit.
The Player II Jaguar guitar comes with the modern placement of the tremolo to the bridge. This is where the tremolo is located closer to the bridge. The intent of the move is to correct the angle of the string to the bridge so there is more tuning stability when the tremolo is used, there is less string slippage from the saddles on the bridge, and lastly the need to shim the neck has been corrected.
I own two of the J Mascis Squier Jazzmaster guitars and they have also the modern placement of the tremolo. A lot of folks own and cherish their J Mascis Jazzmaster guitars, so this change is probably not going to be an issue for buyers.
Mike Adams on the Puisheen KZbin channel is the one stop shop channel for all things offset guitars. I watch his channel frequently.
Mike released a very interesting video three years ago where he modified a Jaguar guitar so he could install the tremolo at the vintage location and then also in the modern location.
What is cool about the video is you can hear if there are differences on the same guitar. I heard very little difference. I expected there to be more of a change with the resonance in how the guitar sounded unplugged. There was not. The difference in what I heard was more notable when he played the guitar plugged in.
He changes his mind in the video as he started out hating the modern placement and by the end after having evidence changes his mind. The link to the video is in this video’s description.
• Fender Offset Vibrato ...
Here are some of the high-level specifications of the guitar.
The body is made of Alder and has a Gloss Polyester Finish.
The C shaped Maple neck has a rosewood fretboard with a 9-and-a-half-inch radius. There are 22 medium jumbo frets. The nut width is 1.650 inch, and the nut material is synthetic bone. The guitar’s scale length is 24 inches.
Pickup configuration is single coil/single coil.
Neck Pickup is a Fender Player Series Alnico 2 Jaguar Single-coil pickup and the bridge pickup is a Fender Player Series Alnico 5 Jaguar Single-coil pickup.
The controls are like a traditional telecaster with one volume control and one tone control with a three-way pickup selector.
The retail price for a new guitar is $799. I have found some refurbished units online for about $50 less. There is no used guitar data as of this date.
Comments and observations
I purchased the guitar because it had the telecaster style three-way pickup selector switch. My plan is to do a partial Johnny Marr modification to the guitar by installing a four-way selector switch and adding in a “Both Pickups in Series” position. The telecaster switch requires deeper routing, and I did not want to mess with any of the current Jaguars that I own.
The neck is a nice c shape 9.5-inch radius neck. It is a 24-inch scale neck but feels like most Fender necks to play.
The fretboard and rolled fretboard edges are a nice plus on the Player II series of guitars.
The sides of the frets are smooth to the touch. I did find one single fret that was high and causing fret rocking. I was able to fix this with my Fret Kisser file and some sandpaper.
Unplugged the guitar to me does not have a lot of resonance. Plugged in it sounds great.
Probably due to the modern tremolo placement there is no need to install a shim as I can adjust the string height and still have more adjustment distance I can go with the bridge.
I like the new Player II Jaguar pickups. They have everything I would look for in pickups. Great lows, mids, and highs. The neck is smooth and is a great rhythm pickup while the bridge is bright and bitey.

[@Stratsrule]

I like it!! Ty for the vids. I always look forward to see whats on the bench today! Keep a rockin gcg

[@guitarcollectorguy]

Thank you!

[@robf.7404]

Cool, I want one. Are you going to do a mod video? Wonder if the 6 position" Free-Way" switch from StewMac would fit in there with a hex angled switch plate for it? Get the out of phase sounds goin.

[@guitarcollectorguy]

I think it will fit.

[@Markleford]

Also, somehow always just out of frame in this video, the cavity for an after-market rhythm circuit is NOT pre-routed from the factory, correct?

[@joshuabaker5167]

It’s not unfortunately

[@guitarcollectorguy]

It is not n

[@diegosantacruz6336]

How does it compare to the Vintera II Jag? My local guitar center only has the Vinterra II so I have no real way of experiencing the player 2. I do like the rosewood neck on my player 2 Strat though.

[@guitarcollectorguy]

I have not played the Vintera II Jag yet but the Vintera II line in general are excellent.

[@diegosantacruz6336]

@guitarcollectorguy Yeah the decision for me is the Rosewood neck or the Rythem circuit

[@diegosantacruz6336]

@@guitarcollectorguy Apparently the Japanese Traditional Series Jaguar has both while being slightly cheaper then the vinterra II series

[@mewtmath2899]

Why did the jag/jazzmaster get to keep the tremolo while the mustang got shafted on the switching and the trem?

[@guitarcollectorguy]

The Jag and Jazzmaster also lost switching.

[@wolffmetrax7064]

Is there enough space on the inside of the body to switch the single coils for Humbuckers?

[@guitarcollectorguy]

You would have to route it out. It is currently routed for single coil sized pickups.

[@Beegstation]

There looks to be enough space, did you by any chance get any measurements of the holes?