Jaguar Project - Advice Needed

[EasyKill]

I recently acquired a 2019 Squire Classic Vibe Jaguar as my first offset guitar. Here's a link to a picture:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/12tFa06 ... sp=sharing

I love the short scale length and the versatility of the controls, but a bunch of stuff definitely needed/needs tweaking to really make this guitar sing. Here's what I've done so far:

-Changed the strings from from .9s to .11s
-Cranked the truss rod up a bit to compensate for the increased string tension
-Shimmed the neck and raised the bridge to improve the break angle of the strings
-Raised the bridge pickup (neck doesn't seem to have springs underneath, but volume-wise it worked out fine anyway)
-Put Loctite Blue on the bridge height screws to stop them from vibrating loose while I played
-Changed the stock vintage tuners to Gotoh vintage tuners ( with Elmer's glue on the bushing as the new ones were ever so slightly smaller)
-Hammered a small bend into the vibrato bar to give it a tighter fit and stop it from rattling, swinging as freely, and falling out
-Scribbled a pencil on the nut and bridge to lubricate the strings
-Intonated the bridge saddles

So now the guitar is playing and sounding far better than it did out of the box, and the tuning stability is now 95% rock solid. I suspect the tuning stability could be even better if I filed the nut a bit, but I've never tried that before and it makes me nervous. Any advice on doing that would be awesome. I've never really messed with electronics either, so I've just about reached the end of what I know how to do. I was wondering if anybody knew of any additional mods that might make this Jag even cooler/more playable? Additionally, I'm not completely in love with the pickups and I'm hoping somebody has a recommendation for what to throw in there.

Here are some samples of something simple to show what the pickups sound like currently. It's recorded through a Blackface Twin clone with WGS G12C speakers, moderate reverb, and a Shure SM57:

Lead Circuit - Bridge: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Dqt20q ... sp=sharing
Lead Circuit - Neck: https://drive.google.com/file/d/18ibvJm ... sp=sharing
Lead Circuit - Both: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PU8wqP ... sp=sharing
Rhythm Circuit: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rW9Myd ... sp=sharing

The bridge in particular sounds muddy, quacky, flat and uninspiring to me. Both pickups at once sounds pretty good for chords but only ok for leads, and the neck alone sounds pretty good for leads and chords. The rhythm channel isn't doing much for me, but I'm guessing with the right pickup it will come to life. I'm looking for something that sounds much clearer and more hi-fi than what's in there, that distorts well, as both current pickups don't sound great under heavy drive, but that also maintains the character of a Jaguar as I l don't want this to sound like any other model of guitar off the rack. I'm writing some stuff that bounces between moody surf and quasi-metal, and I want this guitar to be able to follow me there and back again.

Anyway, thanks in advance for the advice and insight. I can't wait to take this Jag for a test drive once it's complete.

[Embenny]

For pickups, the Fender reissue pickups (of either flavour) are hard to beat. More boutique-priced options exist for variations on the theme, but none are superior - just different. The bridge pickup will not take you to typical metal territory if that's what you're hoping for, in which case I suggest at least upping the power to one of the jaguar-sized P90 options (I had Vintage Vibe JG90s but multiple winders offer these).

Both pickups on in parallel is not typically a lead tone so your assessment there is not likely to change, but doing the "series mod" where both pickups are placed in series with the switches down gives a lot more midrange and output and is a fantastic lead tone IMO, probably the best a Jaguar is capable of.

[JVG]

Beware the pickup-replacement rabbit hole! I've been down that one, and it can get really expensive. Truth is, there are tons of great pickup options out there these days - we really are spoilt for choice.

Ask 10 people and you'll get 10 different recommendations. Personally, I'm a fan of 'traditional' style Jaguar pickups. You can always beef them up with pedals and overdriven amps if you want a heavier sound, but you can't go the other way and make a high-output pickup sound subtle!

Have fun!
J.

[bjornsynneby]

There are a number of additional things you can do. In the electronics you can shield things in order to cancel noice and more importantly you can change the tone by changing the tone caps. I love Mallory caps. Larger values for darker tones when the tone pots are turned down. If the tone is dull you can make it more open by changing to orange drop caps and increase the value of the pots. I believe your guitar has 1 meg ohms which is the highest values but you can check that...

The longest wire from the rythm switch to the output jack can be shielded and the shield can be soldered to the output ground. Ofcourse shielding pickup guard and cavities. You can read about that here: https://guitar.com/guides/diy-workshop/ ... ge-wiring/

There is a luthier trick for increased sustain. Loosen the neck plate screws a quarter of a turn with the strings tuned. Tune again. Give the head a thud with a hammer towards the body so the neck moves closer towards the neck pocket wall. Tighten the screws.

Then a thing I tried last week with my JM. File the nut so its perfect! Really an improvement. You can read about the nut setup here: http://www.lutherie.net/nuts.html

I wrapped sandpaper (1200 grit) around a thin knife to file the thinnest slots.

[Steadyriot.]

There is a luthier trick for increased sustain. Loosen the neck plate screws a quarter of a turn with the strings tuned. Tune again. Give the head a thud with a hammer towards the body so the neck moves closer towards the neck pocket wall. Tighten the screws.

DONT hit your guitar with a hammer. WTF. No luthier would do that...
Loosening the neck screws a quarter to half turn whilst tuned up will pull the neck tight enough. Please don't mangle your guitar.

[bjornsynneby]

Or use a rubber mallet (for softer mangling). I found out that an impulse gave better results. Empirics.

[aliendawg]

There is a luthier trick for increased sustain. Loosen the neck plate screws a quarter of a turn with the strings tuned. Tune again. Give the head a thud with a hammer towards the body so the neck moves closer towards the neck pocket wall. Tighten the screws.

Should I tighten the screws again or let them a quarter turn loose?

[andy_tchp]

Retighten them.

And skip the hammer, totally unnecessary.

[Steadyriot.]

There are a lot of cool pickup options out there, many of which will work for you depending on what you want out of them.
A lot of people here rave about the Duncan Antiquity series and the Fender pure vintage 65' pickup set. The latter comes stock in the Classic Lacquer Jaguar and I really like them. Quintessential Jaguar sound imo.

Kurtis Novak makes a lot of cool Jaguar pickups (including Jazzmaster pickups for Jaguars) as does the Creamery in the UK if you want to go the boutique route. Bare Knuckle is pretty popular too because of their Johnny Marr pickup set (though these are an acquired taste).

Lipsticks work great too in a Jaguar, as do rail humbuckers.

Depending on how far you want to mod your guitar (routing etc.) there's even more options out there like goldfoils, mini humbuckers and P90's.

The sky's the limit! Go have fun.

[EasyKill]

There are a number of additional things you can do. In the electronics you can shield things in order to cancel noice and more importantly you can change the tone by changing the tone caps. I love Mallory caps. Larger values for darker tones when the tone pots are turned down. If the tone is dull you can make it more open by changing to orange drop caps and increase the value of the pots. I believe your guitar has 1 meg ohms which is the highest values but you can check that...

The longest wire from the rythm switch to the output jack can be shielded and the shield can be soldered to the output ground. Ofcourse shielding pickup guard and cavities. You can read about that here: https://guitar.com/guides/diy-workshop/ ... ge-wiring/

There is a luthier trick for increased sustain. Loosen the neck plate screws a quarter of a turn with the strings tuned. Tune again. Give the head a thud with a hammer towards the body so the neck moves closer towards the neck pocket wall. Tighten the screws.

Then a thing I tried last week with my JM. File the nut so its perfect! Really an improvement. You can read about the nut setup here: http://www.lutherie.net/nuts.html

I wrapped sandpaper (1200 grit) around a thin knife to file the thinnest slots.

I already sort of did this when I put the neck shim in. I loosened the neck bolts and strings until I could angle the neck down a bit and touch the shim while the neck was back a bit in the pocket. Then I pushed the shim in with the neck to make sure that the shim was flush and even as possible in the pocket. Then I got the neck in the right position and tightened the bolts almost all the way. Then I tuned the strings up to pitch from the outside strings in (the wood made an audible pop at this point.) Then I tightened the bolts completely and tuned again. No hammer involved but it seems to have worked well.

As for the pickups, I went with the Pure Vintage '65s after talking to you guys. I installed them about half an hour ago and they are pretty great. I already liked the stock neck pickup, and since they are emulating roughly the same era of Jaguar as the 65s I figured I'd stay with Fender (and they were far cheaper than the others anyway.) The new pickups didn't have foam on the bottom to cushion the pickups and hold the height springs in place like the stock ones did, but my dad had some sticky foam window sealer strips that were almost perfect, so I cut pieces from that and put them on the bottoms of both of them. They sit right where they should under the increased bridge height and don't shift around at all. I didn't do anything fancy with the electronics, just noted where the old wires were attached and soldered the new ones in the same place. I am terrible at soldering so I can't imagine doing much more than that very soon, but I am intrigued about what new volume and tone pots could do for me. I accidentally melted some of the rubber shielding off one of the wires adjacent to where the bridge pickup went in, but the wire itself was undamaged so I cut a small strip of electrical tape and wrapped it a few times. It seems to be OK. The guitar now sounds much clearer in both positions and circuits and my distortion pedals don't cause the guitar to lose all definition anymore. It sounds powerful. The bridge pickup is no longer a muddy microphonic mess and the bass cut switch actually sounds like it has an effect now. The guitar picks up much less ambient electric noise as well, which is a nice bonus. I am really thrilled about how most of this has gone.

I think the next step is filing the nut a tiny bit, and perhaps getting new volume and tone pots if I want to get even more involved. The stock ones do seem to spin a little easy. I may look in to shielding too, but it is already much quieter than it was so it might not be necessary. I really appreciate you guys helping me with all of this!