Thoughts on Jazzuars? (Jags with JM PUs)

[Whiny Minotaur]

I have a Squier VM sunburst Jag which I really love, but as it is the Fender Jag PUs which I have are too bright and have too much presence for the music I'm writing lately. So, I've been thinking of sticking on JM PUs on it to make it sit more well with the synths I've been using. I do have a Jazzmaster, but I quite like the short scale neck and the inherent change it brings into sound, so just playing the Jazzmaster isn't something I'm considering.

My reasoning behind this idea is that I still want the percussive, plinky character of a Jag but tame it a just a little by putting on JM PUs which have a wider frequency range, and are a little bit more dark. I know that some people did this mod to their guitars, but it was pretty hard to find any information on how the mod actually changed the character of the sound. Do you guys think doing this mod would help me achieve my goals?

[Danley]

I think it'd be easier to just use lower value/250k pots (or- turn down the existing pots) to achieve what you're talking about. I don't know because I haven't played a Jaguar with Jazzmaster pickups - but it *looks* cramped as far as picking. The pickups are only fractionally closer than on an actual Jazzmaster, but with such a relatively small picking space on a Jazzmaster to begin with and then shoving them even closer together, I'd make very sure the positioning wasn't going to interfere with my playing before I tried it.

[Whiny Minotaur]

I don't think the pot idea is going to cut it, because while that does cut off the highs, it doesn't really bring on the wider frequency range that I've been talking about. I don't know about the exact frequencies, but from my experience Jag PUs seem to be focussed mainly on the upper highs, while JMs PUs are more broader in their frequency range.

The point about picking is definitely something I haven't considered though, that's a good point. I usually do pick close to the bridge and I recall picking the PUs a lot when I had a Casino Coupe, another guitar which is a bit cramped, but it didn't bother me too much. Maybe the even more cramped spacing of a Jag with JM PUs would be a bit of a PITA though.

[tdbajus]

I far prefer my Frankenmaster with the 25.5" scale and the Jaguar pickups. With the 4-way series parallel wiring, it's the ginchiest.

[Horsefeather]

You could try some G&L strat sized MFD pickups in there without having to modify anything (I think) and they might get you where you want to be, sonically.

http://www.offsetguitars.com/forums/vie ... p?t=109962

[jvin248]

.

Are you using primarily one pickup for most of your work? Do a single pickup swap. Custom pickguard and some body routing.

Have you tried a 4-way switch on the Jag? Gives you humbucking (I'm assuming yours is SS) which will be darker and noise canceling.

Try swapping volume pot and tone cap. Go higher uF tone cap (if 0.022uF then go 0.047 or 0.068uF). Go lower kohm like measure 250k pots for low side spec (they will go down to 225kohm) or put a fixed 250kohm resistor across the volume pot outer lugs which will give you 125kohm or so output.

Did you lower the pickup(s) as low as you can go before they unscrew from something? That often helps.

.