Monday, November 11, 2013

Fretboard radius and Jaguar pickup switches

I have owned basses and guitars for more than 10 years but not until I bought my MIJ Fender Special Thinline Jaguar I learned that not all guitars have flat fretboard. In fact, the Steinberger Spirit and Squier Jaguar I owned before didn't have completely flat fretboard like my Yamaha flamenco guitar. Here is a video explaining why classical guitar has flat fretboard:

The flat(or "curvy")-ness is measured as fretboard radius. My new Jaguar has a smaller fretboard radius, i.e, less flat (or more curved) which makes it easier to play chords. I guess it matches the natural tendency of finger placements better.

Another thing that my new Jaguar puzzled me was the set of switches and knobs for the 2 pickups, which is rather unique. Fortunately I found this good page that explains Jaguar's pickup switching system very well.