7 Best Ever FENDER JAGUAR Riffs and the Gear Used to Play Them!

The Fender Jaguar, that most iconoclastic of guitars. The choice of the guitar anti-hero, the indie noise-merchant and the esoteric experimentalist. It has always been a guitar that at once represents an eschewing of a certain approach to guitar playing, whilst being pretty much the poster-child for another. For those who don’t want to take part in the guitar Olympics - or indeed don’t want to be self-consciously attached to that type of scene, the Jag has been their totem choice for decades.

This means that the Fender Jaguar is pretty central to a lot of alternative rock music, not to mention other genres. Today, I want to uncover some of the best Jaguar ‘riffs’ or guitar parts within popular music, and arrange them all here. What I aim to do is show how versatile and useful this most specific of guitars actually is, and whilst it’s not one for complex shredding, well, there’s more than one way to attack a song with a guitar! Take a look at this list of tunes and see if you agree!

Okay, let’s begin with a controversial one! Not the song itself, but the debate around which guitar was used on the record. Speaking plainly, Kurt using his cool Mustang in the video does not for a second imply that that’s what we’re hearing on the recording. And also, speaking plainly: no WAY is that a Mustang single coil sound on that main riff when it kicks. No way.

In reality, that tune is most likely to be a blend of different guitars. There’s just too much muscle here for a Mustang, and I reckon that Cobain’s modified Jag is a fair bet for at least some of what’s happening here. With its two hotly wound DiMarzio humbuckers, this guitar was easily one of Kurt’s biggest sounding. 

But wait, I hear you cry! His Mustang was modded to have a Seymour Duncan Hot Rails pickup! Yes, but not at the time of Nevermind’s recording, or at least not as far as my research suggests. For this one, I’m going with the Jaguar, which sources say was his main go-to Nevermind guitar.

Sonic Youth were one of the main motivating factors in the so-called ‘alternative nation’ at large getting into offset guitars. They’d buy cheap used Jaguars and Jazzmasters because nobody in the mid-80s wanted them, so they were dirt cheap. The abundance of these guitars in pawn shops allowed Thurston Moore, Lee Ranaldo and Kim Gordon to stock up and get adventurous with custom tunings, improvised ‘treatments’ (using drum sticks under the strings?) and modifying the circuitry in order to find a unique, inspiring sound. 

Here’s one such example, which I believe makes use of Ranaldo’s ‘Leopard Print’ Jaguar which was tuned to DDDDAA and used the following string gauges: .052, .052, .026, .026, .017 & .017.

It’s a bit of a modern day classic, and Chili Pepper John Frusciante used his 1966 Sherwood Green Jaguar to lay down the main guitar parts. Well known as a Strat guy - it’s probably the most appropriate choice for the Chili’s brand of funk - Frusciante still likes to make use of other guitars such as the Gretsch White Falcon, Yamaha SG and this super-cool vintage Jag. The Jag was also used on other Chilis tunes such as Around the World and The Power of Equality (and loads of other overdubs on Blood Sugar Sex Magik).

It doesn’t get more ‘perfect pop’ than this Beach Boys classic. It sums up everything wonderful and romantic about being a kid in the 60s, whilst still just being a song about driving a car. The chords, the arrangement and the blissful vocal harmonies all help paint the idyllic picture.

And throughout it all, Carl Wilson is playing his Fender Jag through a Dual Showman amp, the perfect partnership for a twangy, dreamy surf tone.

These shoegaze game-changers are perhaps better known for their commitment to Jazzmasters, but in the early days, there was as much ‘glide guitar’ action happening on Jags as anything else. Listen to pre-Loveless material and you’ll hear the brighter, treblier tones of Kevin Shields’ Olympic White Jaguar. These offset models were essential for Shields to develop his tremolo arm technique, since no other guitars offered that exact physical set up.

Back in the mid 90s, Placebo’s Brian Molko was at the vanguard of the offset revival. Right at the beginning of Placebo’s journey, Molko wielded a Candy Apple Red Jaguar and created abrasive textures by playing behind the guitar’s bridge. David Bowie was an early supporter, calling them ‘the most futuristic band around’. Brian has an uncomplicated reason for choosing the Jaguar as his main guitar: “ I always wanted one, because they were Sonic Youth guitars”.

Nancy Boy was an early hit for the band and makes the most out of the Jag’s bright, snarling tone, both for rhythm duties and noise making.

My last choice moves away from rock music (though not from heaviness) but retains a seminal British guitar legend. Dream is Collapsing is a cut from Hans Zimmer’s Inception score, one of the current era’s most-copied movie soundtracks.

Although utilising a full orchestra - with double the amount of brass players hired to help make the piece sound enormous - this begins with a chiming guitar part, played on a Fender Jaguar by no less a talent than Johnny Marr! The ex-Smiths guitar hero has enjoyed a fruitful relationship with Zimmer, performing live with him on tours as well as contributing to a number of his scores. Of course, it’s his signature Fender Johnny Marr Jaguar at work here!

So, there you have a list of diverse tracks that all contain the chameleonic tones of the Fender Jaguar. Whilst they are undoubtedly idiosyncratic instruments, it's obvious from this list that their worth as makers of classic music is beyond question. In fact, their ‘anti-shred’ sensibility may actually make them ultimately more useful as songwriting (and sound design) tools than the more mainstream Fender styles.

Have you tried a Jaguar? It’s amazing how many players have an opinion on them without giving them a fair shot, or writing them off as ‘indie’ guitars. There’s a lot more to them than that, in terms of potential and terms of changing up your playing habits. Take the example of these musicians above and revel in the myriad artistic opportunities afforded by the Fender Jaguar.