I’ve admittedly had my eye on a Fender Jaguar for years. I played one a few years ago at a local shop and fell in love with its tone. It kind of sounds like a Strat, or is it a Tele… It certainly has a variety of tones that it can produce, all coming from its various switches. And that’s sort of the rub for me. There are six switches on the guitar, and each affects a different thing.
What got me first interested in this guitar was that I first noticed it back in the 90’s when the Tom Hanks-directed movie “That Thing You Do” featured one, played by the lead guitarist, Lenny, played by Steve Zahn. He probably wasn’t playing the guitar, but it sure looked pretty cool just the same.
It’s actually VERY cool, but it’s one of those guitars that would take a lot of time for me to dial in. I was able to get some great tones almost immediately, if memory serves, but I do remember that I spent more time trying to figure out what switch combinations worked for me than actually playing the guitar, so that was a bit counter-productive.
But still, there’s a certain appeal about the guitar. For one, it looks very cool. I dig the body shape, with its rounded lines. The neck is only 24″ long, so it’s an easy player. The C-shape neck is very comfortable. And on top of that, it weighs less than 9 lbs.; not super-light, but not as heavy as a Les Paul. The American Vintage Series like the one in the picture can be had for around $1600. Not really too cheap, but not bad. And you can get one on sale for a few hundred bucks less because these guitars just don’t move that quickly. For instance, the one I checked out was on sale for something like $1200, but I got my Gibson Nighthawk instead – and I no longer have it, either. 🙂 I’m pretty sure I’d hold on to this one if I got.
In the vintage market, original ’62’s (the first year they came out) can be had for about $6000 on eBay. Again, probably out of my reach right now, but certainly not a bad price for a vintage guitar – and certainly not a bad price for a first production year guitar.
Maybe one day… I do have a few guitars on my “to get” list that are ahead of it, like a Les Paul Supreme, but this is definitely a “getter.”
Here’s a pretty good video demo of a vintage Jaguar:
Guitar Gear 
Actually, you should check out the new Johnny Marr signature Jag. It’s construction and configuration addresses most all of your negatives.
Hmm… I’ll look into that! Thanks, Ken!