Fender Jaguar/Mustang or Gibson SG

[sonic death]

After five years of playing, I'm finally going to upgrade my Johnson piece of wood with strings and get something playable. I plan to go to a guitar store soon and play these guitars, but I thought experienced opinions would be helpful.
Which would you choose and why?
Or recommend another guitar to check out in this price range $700-$1000.

(I play all kinds of music, but I need to be able to handle distortion)

-Thanks

[lobstman]

Wow, that's kind of like asking the difference between an apple and a bowling ball. Both very cool guitars, but very different. 15 minutes in a guitar shop will tell you everything you need to know.

I'd also check out the new Mexican made Jazzmaster, and the Gibson Les Paul faded double cutaway with P90s. You can cover a lot of ground on those.

[masonpitzel]

Jaguar/Mustang. They sound a lot different from SGs, but you can get all sorts of great sounds from them. On top of that, they look cooler, have a nice trem system, and will make girls in American Apparel shirts sleep with you.

[getreel]

I would go with the SG if it were me. I have a 2005 SG Standard that I think is one of the best guitars I've ever owned. I've also owned a '66 reissue Jag and it was OK but was only good for certain things to me. I liked my Strats much better and then left them behind when I got the SG. My SG was perfect right out of the box. To me Gibson makes a great quality guitar. The SG standard has fantastic pickups stock that are brighter than you would think. Extrememly versatile actually. Much more so than I thought it would be. I ended up playing my SG even on songs where I would normally have gone for a Strat first. I did this even though I kept a Strat. Not sure if the SG Specials have pickups that are as good, but the playability probably is.

[sonic death]

Wow, I wasn't aware they were so different. I hope the local Railroad Bazaar has them in stock (I'm skeptical) so I can try them.

[lobstman]

I wouldn't buy from them, but the Banjo Mart near me has stocked up for Christmas- I went there yesterday (hey, I was in the neighborhood...) and was amazed that they had several Jags and Jazzmasters, as well as a bunch of SGs. Try the SG with P90s, if you can. Can you guess I like P90s?

[KennyLusk]

I wouldn't buy from them, but the Banjo Mart near me has stocked up for Christmas- I went there yesterday (hey, I was in the neighborhood...) and was amazed that they had several Jags and Jazzmasters, as well as a bunch of SGs. Try the SG with P90s, if you can. Can you guess I like P90s?

+1 on this, and I am not a fan of banjo mart at all. To be honest I actually despise them with a rather firm stance on them being rather useless. Just my opinion.

But in this case, they're handy because they'll have at least a handful of both models for you to audition so you can pick the neck that feels best in your hands and hear the sonic differences between the two models. The only beef I have with just about any new Fender is having to replace the pups right away because I hate their stock pups. that's just me though.

Problem is though, in that price range, you have so many excellent options to choose from: Reverend, PRS, G&L, and Parker are guitars I would consider.

Personally, with that kind of $$ in my hands, I'd have a hard time not buying one of the new PRS models. They're so well made and the pickups are really decent. And yes, if you play one of the SG's with P90's you'll love those too - I do. Some guys have been bashing recent Gibson's but I like the ones I've played.

[DJ_LBP]

I like SGs because they are light and typically still have pretty large necks. Jag/Mustang necks are smaller in many ways, I like the Jazzmaster better for size. Personally though, I like Telecasters because with the right pickups you can do pretty much anything you want. I play a G&L Asat Classic 'bluesboy'. It is thinline tele-style with a humbucker in the neck. And it is butter. I got it used for around 1000. It has a medium neck and very large frets. If i saw another and could put it on layaway I would do it. Just my 2 bits.

[eh91311]

For modern rock guitar the Gibson SG sounds great, even the less-expensive "faded" ones. You can play almost any style of music on a SG. Ditch the Jazzmaster, Jaguar or Mustang. No. If you want a Fender, get an American-made Tele or Strat. Tele for twang and brightness, Strat for bell-tone sharpness. Don't go with the made-in-mexico Fenders, the hardware, pickups, finish are cheaper, IMHO.

[cooters]

I would check out the jaguar with the humbuckers. The newer ones look like the classic design. They had older ones that were black and kind of lame looking but i love the warm sound of the pickups. Most fenders are more versitile than gibsons. But definitely check out the sg with the p-90's. It sounds amazing.

[lobstman]

Ditch the Jazzmaster, Jaguar or Mustang. No. If you want a Fender, get an American-made Tele or Strat.

I agree that Mustangs are kind of dogs, but how do you know whether or not he'll like a JM or Jag? I think the Mexican Jazzmaster rocks- it sounds different than a Tele or Strat (or even the US JM, pickups are different), but so does an SG. Different isn't worse.

Don't go with the made-in-mexico Fenders, the hardware, pickups, finish are cheaper, IMHO.

The hardware isn't a big deal to me- the Mexican hardware on my Strat is perfectly serviceable. Maybe the heavier trem block makes a difference, maybe not, but it wasn't worth an extra $600 to me.

As of this year, American standards have the same poly finish as the Mexican standards (the Highway Ones still have a thin nitro coat, though).

The main difference is the pickups- the Mexican Standard Strat & Tele pickups do suck (I like their Jazzmaster pickups, though). For $150 you can order a set of Fender 57/62s, which will put you on equal footing (or better) with the pickups in the Americans.

Mexican Strats are $400, Americans Standards are $1K (Highway Ones are $750). You can buy used Mexican Strats all day long for $250 though, but used American models seem thinner on the ground.

As for fit and finish, I don't see that the American Standards have any advantage. I have a friend who works at a high-end guitar shop, and he told me that out of the box, the Mexican and American Fenders are pretty much the same. I played a handful of Mexican Jazzmasters (and a couple of Jaguars, too) over the weekend, and a pair of American Vintage Reissue Jazzmasters. The Mexicans blew the doors off the American ones- no lie. If you'd blindfolded me and asked me which was the better guitar, I'd have picked the Mexican ones every time- the attention to detail and overall feel was much better, the American ones seemed put together haphazardly. I was stunned.

I own a Mexican ("'60s Classic") Tele, and a heavily modified Squier Tele. A bandmate of mine has an American Standard Tele. Sonically, they're all in the same league (the Classic has stock pickups, I put GFSs in the Squier). As for playability I like the Classic the best, with the American and the Squier about even. With a few bucks in aftermarket parts and a little elbow grease, you can really tweak the hell out of a Fender.

If you really want a dirty little secret, look at the Agile Les Paul copies at Rondo music. The AL-3000 series leaves Epiphone in the dust and gives Les Paul Studios a run for their money... for $375. I own one of these too, and another bandmate has an LP Studio. Mine plays better (although I haven't set his up for him yet), but his pickups (alnicos in the Studios- not that ceramic crap) are a little thicker sounding. The Agile pickups are way better than you'd expect at that price range, though. Hardware is about the same. If I felt like it, I could spend $150 for a pair of Duncan '59s and have an equivalent guitar, but the Agile pickups are really pretty nice. And I'm just the bass player, anyway.

[nopenopenope]

Jag/Mustang is definitely the "cool" guitar right now. sounds pretty good too.

Also, IMO, $1000 Fender is better than a $1000 Gibson, generally speaking.

[lysander]

+1 for the devil's pizza flipper, especially with P90s.

[getreel]

Also, IMO, $1000 Fender is better than a $1000 Gibson, generally speaking.

Well , no offense to the other poster, but I feel the opposite. I have had many a Fender(yes US made) that didn't sound and play all that great without some work and new pickups. Every newer Gibson that I've bought has been fantastic in every respect right out of the box. Maybe Fender is getting a lot better but they also make so many different lines that it's hard to know which are going to be great. Gibson doesn't make anything outside the US that has the Gibson name. They use the Epiphone name for that stuff. Fender has Japanese, Mexican and American Fenders as well as Squiers, Squier Bullets, and even a cheesy little Starcaster thing. Strangely enough, my favorite Fenders that I've owned are 80s Japanese models! '69 Tele reissue, 2 SQ series Squier Strats. One of the SQs is the only Strat that I've kept since I got my Gibsons. Also, I would never buy a guitar because it was the "hot" thing of the moment. I would get a guitar you know is good quality and versatile enough for anything you are doing or would want to do in the future. I mean, what happened to being different? I always thought different was cool when it comes to guitars and music in general.

[lobstman]

+1 for the devil's pizza flipper, especially with P90s.

I like SGs, but I've never played one that really felt balanced. The LP Special Faded is essentially the same guitar with a different body shape that I like better ergonomically.