But woo-woo being a regional thing, Japan (predominantly Shinto) never vilified left-handedness. Instead, their demons related to things like disease, misfortune, other hardships. I know, but no, being lefty is not a hardship, just an alternative. And it came to pass that Fender Japan often offers lefty Jaguars without the need of a custom shop or the accompanying upcharge.
Devoid of mystical lefty othering tendancies, Japanese engineers saw within their CAD software the ability to mirror parts from righty to lefty at the drop of a single menu option. Again, it's true. Making a lefty part simply requires a sufficiently open mind to realize there are more people in the world than merely those considering themselves typical. Behold, therefore, the rare and funtastic MIJ lefty Jaguar, not even a Cobain model. They get me. They know I'm just snarky, not evil.
So I only had to look 6,051 miles away. As the invoice came in, the final cost including shipping and insurance at the randomly timed exchange rate was half of what Fender Mod Shop configured close to the same Jaguar. What I dislike about the guitar are 2. First, it has the threaded rod saddles, which I find annoying because string spacing tends to jump around on those. I can fix that by replacing either the saddles or the whole bridge for a Mustang style bridge. The second thing I wish was different is the truss rod, accessible only by taking the neck off. I understand that's a visual cue of olde-days 60s Jaguars, but honestly it's just a pain in the neck, literally. And taking the neck off too often leads to chipped finishes around the neck pocket. So I'm just hoping once I set the relief it stays consistent. Enough regrets, the rest of the guitar looks great.
They shipped it Sunday, and here it arrived Wednesday afternoon. It amazes me how guitars from overseas usually arrive faster than guitars from other parts of the USA. On top of that, the international packages tend to arrive in much better shape too. At least that's been my normal experience.
Now finally the guitar... I love it. Fender Japan has not let me down yet. This is my first brand new MIJ. The guitar is flawless in construction and unlike my usual, there is nothing I want to change in its setup. The action is great, so I don't even have to adjust the relief. Intonation is spot-on. The pickups sound great where they are. Most unusually for a lefty, the wizards at Fender Japan wired it correctly. I won't have to go changing things around. It's even dead-quiet when I'm not playing it. I've heard people say the neck is a little thick, but it feels great to me. It's even easier than my other shorter scale guitars, which I have to guess is because of the neck shape. I replaced the same bridge on my Jazzmasters, but so far this one is behaving perfectly and might stay on. I bought this guitar knowing I could sell it for more used in today's market than I paid, but it's a keeper. It's staying and I'm having fun this week with the elusive lefty Jaguar that is finally off my search list.
Now I'm going to have to keep an eye on the inventory at Taniguchi Gakki because this is an A+ NGD.
