ShortScale.org

I went to the guitar store on Saturday to check out some new stuff they had got in.

First, they had this really interesting Jazz Strat from the Parallel Universe Series. I didn't play it but weird to see a Jazzmaster stuffed in to a Strat body.


I also played a cool Vintera Jazzmaster in Ice Blue Metallic. Besides the terrible vintage JM saddles, I really loved it.


Then I played the Squier Classic Vibe Jaguar in Silver Sparkle. I was not prepared for how much I liked this guitar. This is the first Squier Classic Vibe guitar I have played that actually had a decent setup. The neck still needs to be shimmed, but the Mustang bridge was raised up and the pickup heights were pretty descent. I played it against a Vintera Jaguar and kept coming back to the Squier. The Vintera wasnt' bad, and I liked the hardware of the guitar. Once again, the vintage JM saddles were just bad. The neck of the Squier reminded me of my AVRI Jaguar. I just kept playing it and playing it. The FSR Silver Sparkle is just awesome with the red pickguard. So I put the guitar on layaway and will use my birthday money to finish off the balance.

My upgrade plans are pretty simple.
1) Swap tremolo for AVRI tremolo. I have one laying around but the collet teeth broke so I will upgrade to a Staytrem.
2) Swap tuners
3) Pickups. I will live with the stock pickups for a bit but will probably upgrade to some EP Custom pickups later.
4) Neck shim and complete setup (.11s)

Very cool!

Nice! Haven’t seen one in the wild yet which is probably for the best.

This store had 4 of the Silver Sparkles and their other store got one in Shell Pink.

It's the same run of colors that Chicago Music Exchange received.

Wow, not seen those before…sweet sparkle!

I finally brought the guitar home today.


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Nice!

great color scheme.

Tone Shop?

plopswagon wrote: ↑Wed Mar 15, 2023 9:53 pmTone Shop?

You can buy tone in Dallas? I’m on my way, my fingers need a top up.

Ask for the five finger discount.

plopswagon wrote: ↑Wed Mar 15, 2023 9:53 pmTone Shop?

Tone Shop in Addison.

I nearly got derailed by another Guitar. They just got in a used Squier FSR Jazzmaster in LPB with matching Headstock, block inlays and it was already setup for the exact same price.

I decided to stick with the Jag because the neck was so good on this one. They still have one or two left. They also had a Squier J Mascis with a white scratch plate.

dots wrote: ↑Wed Mar 15, 2023 8:58 pm great color scheme.

The red scratch plate really works with the silver sparkle. The only other silver sparkle guitar I had ever seen was the Squier Super-sonic guitars and they had white scratch plates. I think red, black, white and pearloid would all work equally well.

I tuned it up and put it through it's paces.

The guitar weighs in at 8lbs, 3.7 ounces which is 4 ounces lighter than the AVRI Jaguar.

The setup is not bad. The neck needs a shim, lemon oil and need to open up the nut for .11s. The tuners are fine but I will eventually traded them out. The Bridge is actually raised up off the pickguard where it should be.

The vibrato is surprising usable and the arm actually doesn't flop around. I still plan to upgrade to AVRI Vibrato that I have and may try a Staytrem arm.

All the pots and switches are smooth and solid. The neck profile is a little thicker than my AVRI but it's kinda what I like most about the guitar.

The only visually off putting thing about the guitar is the difference in thickness between the metal plates and the pickguard. The pickguard is a lot thicker than the metal plates. It could just be the pickguard is too thick. On my AVRI, the difference in thickness is a lot less.

I am not really loving the pickups.They are a little shrill at times playing through my Strymon Iridium but better through my Fender Vibrolux Reverb.

The neck pickup measured 6.17K while the bridge measured 5.81K. By comparison, my AVRI neck measured 6.6K and 6.9K in the Bridge.

Overall, I feel the guitar is solid but will need some additional setup and upgrades to realize it potential.

So much guitar for the price!! Great buy!

Thomas wrote: ↑Thu Mar 16, 2023 5:09 pm So much guitar for the price!! Great buy!

I could not have said it better.

I think that was one of the reasons I picked it up.

They also did these guitars in Charcoal Mist Metallic and Olympic white.

I noticed the neck bolts were kinda loose and I could see daylight between the body and the neck. I tightened that up and it lowered the action a bit.

I honestly don't think it will need a shim now and might only have to adjust the bridge height.

The neck pickup was making all kinds of racket/noise in my Strymon Iridium so I decided to Lower the pickups and that seems to have alleviated the issue for now. These pickups are very loud and sensitive so moving them away from the strings more is controlling the noise. I definitely will replace these later with some pickups from EP Customs. The High Pass filter makes a very big difference in the tone which further highlights how sensitive these pickups are.

The Volume and tone knobs were not facing the right direction so I adjusted that.

The neck profile on this guitar actually reminds me of the Johnny Marr Jaguar. I played one before I picked up my guitar and its got that rounder, thicker profile but not as chunky as the 70's block inlay necks.

I know all the US and Mexican stuff (and most of the Japanese) come with an angled neck pocket these days so maybe worth checking. The US stuff seems to me i one degree minimum, so if anything maybe too much angle from the factory. I'm not sure about the Squier stuff as it's been a while since I had any. I've not checked the Bass VI as it was set up fine.

Thomas wrote: ↑Sun Mar 19, 2023 1:45 pm I know all the US and Mexican stuff (and most of the Japanese) come with an angled neck pocket these days so maybe worth checking. The US stuff seems to me i one degree minimum, so if anything maybe too much angle from the factory. I'm not sure about the Squier stuff as it's been a while since I had any. I've not checked the Bass VI as it was set up fine.

I had to shim my Squier CV Mustang I got last year. I don't know if you Squier has started doing that or not. This is more recent production. I bought some neck shims just in case I need them. I also bought a shim to go under the 3 switch plate to raise it up.

I am waiting on some parts before I setup my new Jaguar.

My plan was originally to install a Staytrem arm, but their website says could take up to 26 weeks. (scratch that for now)

I already have an AVRI vibrato, but one of the teeth on the tree arm collet broke off. I ordered another one and it should be here soon.

I ordered some shims from Curtis Novak pickups. I might not need the neck shims, but I wanted to grab some since I was out.

They also have a shim for the Jaguar pickup selector switches if your switch is sunk into the pickguard.

My AVRI Jag switch plate is almost flush with the guard, but the Squier switch plate definitely sits down below the guard a bit.

Once the trem arm sleeve arrives, I will install the Jaguar shim, swap out the vibrato and setup the guitar with .11s.