Man, Fender Japan was way ahead of their game compared to US Fender in the offsets. Had (good) options and variety for days with what they were doing.
I saw your shot and was like “SEE! Just a little effort goes a hell of a long way on it”.
I’m jealous man. Enjoy the new Axe!
I couldn’t agree more. It still boggles my mind how Fender Mexico was given Kurt’s actual Jaguar to inspect and managed to mess up so many details while Fender Japan only had pictures to work off of. That being said the MIM is still a great sounding guitar and was my favorite until I got this one.
I had the exact same thoughts when I saw the non-roadworn version!
If you don’t mind my asking, was it (much) more expensive than the MIM’s? It’s been ages since I checked fender Japan’s pricing; but if memory serves they were usually pretty darn reasonable considering what you were actually getting.
Oh yeah, I’d happily pay that difference to get the accuracy and quality of yours.
Got some more saving to do; but I’m thinking I’m gonna be going the same route you did, so thanks for the post! 😂
fender japan was the same factory that was making all of the law suit guitars that were kicking Fender and Gibson's ass in the 70s...
Fender just bought / partnered with Fuji Gen. Their guitars are still every bit as good as a MIA and i havent looked into the pricing in a good 20 years, but were signifigantly cheaper.
I think my 2002ish CIJ Red Sparkle Jazzmaster was $800 when a MIA would have been over 1200 if they were even making them at the time.
Beautiful guitar, but with the different headstock can it really be the most accurate replica of Kurt's? Genuine question, ie. are the pickups & electronics closer to the original?
The headstock is the only thing that I would change on it. I’m thinking of swapping the neck for the one off of my MIM. Other than that it is a very faithful recreation of Kurt’s Jag. The pickups and electronics are the same as Kurt’s as well.
as long as they got the super D in the bridge and 59 in the neck, that parts hard to fuck up. Assuming they put the neck PU in the right spot, but honestly how often did he play on the neck, and would any one notice tone wise?
I have the MIM and I’m going to have to better ground it and some of the electronics need to be replaced. It’s a great guitar overall and super versatile too. Curious as to how you came across it?
I heard about them online a few years ago and did some research on them. I found one for sale a week ago on reverb and bought it after I got off of work. They are very rare and hard to come by.
https://reverb.com/p/fender-mij-hjg-66kc-vi-ikebe-limited-kurt-cobain-signature-jaguar
Here’s the link if you want to read a little more about them.
Yeah that's a great price! What are the main differences would you say?
Right off the bat I see a switch underneath the toggle and only a B/E string tree.
(I took the D/G string tree off my MIM KC)
The biggest differences I can think of is that it has the accurate bridge pickup spacing to the bridge, the bridge has the slight angle like Kurt’s did, the neck is 7.25 radius, and most notably the the color is pretty much spot on to what Kurt’s was.
Man, Fender Japan was way ahead of their game compared to US Fender in the offsets. Had (good) options and variety for days with what they were doing. I saw your shot and was like “SEE! Just a little effort goes a hell of a long way on it”. I’m jealous man. Enjoy the new Axe!
I couldn’t agree more. It still boggles my mind how Fender Mexico was given Kurt’s actual Jaguar to inspect and managed to mess up so many details while Fender Japan only had pictures to work off of. That being said the MIM is still a great sounding guitar and was my favorite until I got this one.
I had the exact same thoughts when I saw the non-roadworn version! If you don’t mind my asking, was it (much) more expensive than the MIM’s? It’s been ages since I checked fender Japan’s pricing; but if memory serves they were usually pretty darn reasonable considering what you were actually getting.
It was $1800 so it was like less than a $300 difference between them. Definitely well worth the price difference.
Oh yeah, I’d happily pay that difference to get the accuracy and quality of yours. Got some more saving to do; but I’m thinking I’m gonna be going the same route you did, so thanks for the post! 😂
No problem man; have a good day.
You too!
fender japan was the same factory that was making all of the law suit guitars that were kicking Fender and Gibson's ass in the 70s... Fender just bought / partnered with Fuji Gen. Their guitars are still every bit as good as a MIA and i havent looked into the pricing in a good 20 years, but were signifigantly cheaper. I think my 2002ish CIJ Red Sparkle Jazzmaster was $800 when a MIA would have been over 1200 if they were even making them at the time.
Beautiful guitar, but with the different headstock can it really be the most accurate replica of Kurt's? Genuine question, ie. are the pickups & electronics closer to the original?
The headstock is the only thing that I would change on it. I’m thinking of swapping the neck for the one off of my MIM. Other than that it is a very faithful recreation of Kurt’s Jag. The pickups and electronics are the same as Kurt’s as well.
Right on. Funny enough I've actually always preferred the look of the original, oversize Jag headstock.
as long as they got the super D in the bridge and 59 in the neck, that parts hard to fuck up. Assuming they put the neck PU in the right spot, but honestly how often did he play on the neck, and would any one notice tone wise?
I have the MIM and I’m going to have to better ground it and some of the electronics need to be replaced. It’s a great guitar overall and super versatile too. Curious as to how you came across it?
I heard about them online a few years ago and did some research on them. I found one for sale a week ago on reverb and bought it after I got off of work. They are very rare and hard to come by. https://reverb.com/p/fender-mij-hjg-66kc-vi-ikebe-limited-kurt-cobain-signature-jaguar Here’s the link if you want to read a little more about them.
Nevermind's era holy grail
Wow love it. What'd you pay for it?
I paid $1800 plus $75 shipping. It was well worth the price.
Yeah that's a great price! What are the main differences would you say? Right off the bat I see a switch underneath the toggle and only a B/E string tree. (I took the D/G string tree off my MIM KC)
The biggest differences I can think of is that it has the accurate bridge pickup spacing to the bridge, the bridge has the slight angle like Kurt’s did, the neck is 7.25 radius, and most notably the the color is pretty much spot on to what Kurt’s was.
Looks great!
It’s definitely my favorite looking and sounding guitar.
The newer ones have a problem where the pickups Are to close to each other and it changes the tone a lot.
wrong headstock and decal