Fitting Strat Pickups in a Jaguar?

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Fitting Strat Pickups in a Jaguar?

Post by -Anti- » Thu May 22, 2008 7:18 pm

I'm looking to put a set of single-coils in my Jaguar. Now, to get a set of Jaguar pickups would be $150-$250 with a pickguard. However, since Strat pickups are very similar to Jag pups, I was thinking I could use them instead. I found a clearance set on GuitarFetish for $15 that would work sound-wise. That would bring the grand total for pickups, a pickguard, and shipping to about $50. Much more affordable.

The only problem is that I don't know if they'll fit in a normal Jaguar Pickguard.

Has anyone here gotten Strat pickups to fit? Could I just swap the Strat pickup covers for Jaguar Pickup Covers?

Edit; If this is the wrong forum, please delete this. I just noticed it fits a bit better in Tech help, rather than mods.
Last edited by -Anti- on Thu May 22, 2008 7:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Fitting Strat Pickups in a Jaguar?

Post by -Anti- » Thu May 22, 2008 7:47 pm

I'm looking to put a set of single-coils in my Jaguar. Now, to get a set of Jaguar pickups would be $150-$250 with a pickguard. However, since Strat pickups are very similar to Jag pups, I was thinking I could use them instead. I found a clearance set on GuitarFetish for $15 that would work sound-wise. That would bring the grand total for pickups, a pickguard, and shipping to about $50. Much more affordable.

The only problem is that I don't know if they'll fit in a normal Jaguar Pickguard.

Has anyone here gotten Strat pickups to fit? Could I just swap the Strat pickup covers for Jaguar Pickup Covers?
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Re: Fitting Strat Pickups in a Jaguar?

Post by mraphro » Thu May 22, 2008 7:53 pm

it depends what kinda jaguar you have
if HH yes,

if regular no.  the routes are completely different
and besides jaguar pickups are essentially strat pickups

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Re: Fitting Strat Pickups in a Jaguar?

Post by ohm-men » Thu May 22, 2008 8:21 pm

Welcome in Off-set land!
The only problem is that I don't know if they'll fit in a normal Jaguar Pickguard.
They won't. Since the the way the Jaguar PU is mounted, the cover of the Jag pu is a bit wider, so if you put stock Pu's under/in a Jag Pick guard the holes will be too wide.
Has anyone here gotten Strat pickups to fit? Could I just swap the Strat pickup covers for Jaguar Pickup Covers?
I did put Strat Pu's in a JagMaster a few years back, worked very well, but I made a new pickguard (did cut one myself, not too difficult, using the orignal as a trace)
I assume you have a JAguar HH? so those PU caveties are large enough to house a set of Strat pu's. If you have  normal Jaguar, then the strat Pu's won't fit due to their different wider base.

The thing is you can put strat covers on a set of jaguar Pu's. In essence the Jag PU is the same as the strat pu, only the strat Pu has a triangular shaped base, where the base of the Jaguar PU is straight. I think the Jag cover can be fitted on a strat PU,but i'm not sure how stable it will sit over the strat base.

But, you can always take a look at "angela.com" for a set of AVRI Jaguar Pu's, they are about $49 each, so for less then a 100 you get the real deal (including the claws and covers) they have a blowout on these as well.
Last edited by ohm-men on Thu May 22, 2008 8:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Fitting Strat Pickups in a Jaguar?

Post by -Anti- » Thu May 22, 2008 8:56 pm

mraphro wrote: it depends what kinda jaguar you have
if HH yes,

if regular no.  the routes are completely different
and besides jaguar pickups are essentially strat pickups
It's an HH. Now I see - it's not so much the pickguard, but the routes?

What all will I have to do to get the Strat pickups to fit in my Jaguar with one of these pickguards?

http://www.guitarpartsresource.com/pickguards_jag.html

I'd be getting the Red Tortoiseshell.

Is it just going to be a simple installation?
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Re: Fitting Strat Pickups in a Jaguar?

Post by -Anti- » Thu May 22, 2008 9:09 pm

ohm-men wrote: Welcome in Off-set land!
The only problem is that I don't know if they'll fit in a normal Jaguar Pickguard.
They won't. Since the the way the Jaguar PU is mounted, the cover of the Jag pu is a bit wider, so if you put stock Pu's under/in a Jag Pick guard the holes will be too wide.
Has anyone here gotten Strat pickups to fit? Could I just swap the Strat pickup covers for Jaguar Pickup Covers?
I did put Strat Pu's in a JagMaster a few years back, worked very well, but I made a new pickguard (did cut one myself, not too difficult, using the orignal as a trace)
I assume you have a JAguar HH? so those PU caveties are large enough to house a set of Strat pu's. If you have  normal Jaguar, then the strat Pu's won't fit due to their different wider base.

The thing is you can put strat covers on a set of jaguar Pu's. In essence the Jag PU is the same as the strat pu, only the strat Pu has a triangular shaped base, where the base of the Jaguar PU is straight. I think the Jag cover can be fitted on a strat PU,but i'm not sure how stable it will sit over the strat base.

But, you can always take a look at "angela.com" for a set of AVRI Jaguar Pu's, they are about $49 each, so for less then a 100 you get the real deal (including the claws and covers) they have a blowout on these as well.


Thanks for the welcome. I should have joined here sooner - I've had my Jaguar for over a year now, and have loved offsets since the first one I played.  :D

Yes - I do have a Jaguar HH. I thought I put that in the post, but I guess I forgot.

I'm not sure what you mean by a Strat pup having a triangle base and the Jaguar pup having a straight base. I've seen a few people mention this and I'm just not sure what it means. Is it the bottom of the bobbin, or something else?

As for putting a Jaguar pickup cover on the Strat pickups, that would by far be the easiest solution. I can get the covers and claws from guitarpartsresource with the pickguard if this will work. Are the poles spaced the same on both Strat and Jaguar pickups? I'd assume they are, or at least are very close if a strat pickup cover will easily fit over a Jaguar pickup.

I've thought about going for the AVRI's, but like I said above, getting actual Jaguar pups would be about $150 minimum with a pickguard, while going with Strat pickups will only come to about $50 with the pickguard. $100 is a big difference - especially when the two types of pickups are nearly identical aside from the base shape.

Would the strat pickups fit through the routes in a normal CIJ Jaguar pickuard, or would those have to be widened?
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Re: Fitting Strat Pickups in a Jaguar?

Post by ohm-men » Thu May 22, 2008 10:58 pm

Indeed, it's the base of the pick ups that is different. The lead and hot wires of a jag pup go on the side of the bottom of the PU, on a strat they are in the middle of the bottom of the PU.
So that is were the "triangular" shape is. (for the attachment of the wires) Given the fact that the Jaguar claw is straight (Jaguar pucover fits right into it) and is not triangular, this means it does not fit on a Strat PU.
The rest of the PU's is almost identical, it's just the bottom that is different.

Soundwise, it depends on which Strat pu you are refering. Jaguar Pick ups use Alnico V magnets and are usually scatered wound (vintage and most aftermarket, can't comment on the current AVRI production)
Jaguar pick ups are also reverse wound. Their polarity also differs. This mean to compensate you should use a strat neck and middle PU, to get the "humbucking effect when both pu's are on.

I'm not sure the strat Pu's you mention would give your Jaguar the typical jag sound as I think the might be ceramic magnets instead of Alnico, which makes quiet a differerance imo.
Although I must add, that the original Jaguar lead circuit uses two 1 Meg pots + a 0.02 capacitar (+ treble bleed mod on vintage ones) where your HH Jaguar most likely has 2 500K pots and a 0.47pFu cap. A strat uses 250K pots with a 0.47pFu cap stock.

You can look a "seymourduncan.com" at all different available Jaguar and strat pu's. I think they also show pics of the bottoms of both Pu's, so you visualize the difference.

Another option would be to score a cheap set of MIJCIJ Jaguar pu's, not the same like the originals but I guess closer then a set of Ceramic strat pu's....
But I don't mean that ceramic Pu's sound bad, they actually sound very nice, just different from Alnico ones.
Last edited by ohm-men on Thu May 22, 2008 11:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Fitting Strat Pickups in a Jaguar?

Post by Libtoem » Thu May 22, 2008 11:41 pm

Since you have a jaguar hh strat pickups will fit just fine.But why dont you just get some nice jaguar pickups,it will make everything a hell of alot easier.
Last edited by Libtoem on Thu May 22, 2008 11:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Fitting Strat Pickups in a Jaguar?

Post by -Anti- » Fri May 23, 2008 8:56 am

Libtoem wrote: Since you have a jaguar hh strat pickups will fit just fine.But why dont you just get some nice jaguar pickups,it will make everything a hell of alot easier.
Well, to go with normal jag pups it would be a minimum of $150. To go with Strat pups, which are virtually the same aside from some shape differences, it will cost me about $50.

Will the Strat pickups fit normally in a Jaguar pickguard without having to route the pickup holes?

Or, will Jaguar pickup covers fit right over Strat pickups?
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Re: Fitting Strat Pickups in a Jaguar?

Post by -Anti- » Fri May 23, 2008 9:05 am

ohm-men wrote: Indeed, it's the base of the pick ups that is different. The lead and hot wires of a jag pup go on the side of the bottom of the PU, on a strat they are in the middle of the bottom of the PU.
So that is were the "triangular" shape is. (for the attachment of the wires) Given the fact that the Jaguar claw is straight (Jaguar pucover fits right into it) and is not triangular, this means it does not fit on a Strat PU.
The rest of the PU's is almost identical, it's just the bottom that is different.

Soundwise, it depends on which Strat pu you are refering. Jaguar Pick ups use Alnico V magnets and are usually scatered wound (vintage and most aftermarket, can't comment on the current AVRI production)
Jaguar pick ups are also reverse wound. Their polarity also differs. This mean to compensate you should use a strat neck and middle PU, to get the "humbucking effect when both pu's are on.

I'm not sure the strat Pu's you mention would give your Jaguar the typical jag sound as I think the might be ceramic magnets instead of Alnico, which makes quiet a differerance imo.
Although I must add, that the original Jaguar lead circuit uses two 1 Meg pots + a 0.02 capacitar (+ treble bleed mod on vintage ones) where your HH Jaguar most likely has 2 500K pots and a 0.47pFu cap. A strat uses 250K pots with a 0.47pFu cap stock.

You can look a "seymourduncan.com" at all different available Jaguar and strat pu's. I think they also show pics of the bottoms of both Pu's, so you visualize the difference.

Another option would be to score a cheap set of MIJCIJ Jaguar pu's, not the same like the originals but I guess closer then a set of Ceramic strat pu's....
But I don't mean that ceramic Pu's sound bad, they actually sound very nice, just different from Alnico ones.
Ah, that clarifies things a ton!

So, basically the "shape" is just where the wire comes out?

Technically, couldn't I take a Jaguar pickup cover and cut a small notch in the middle to accommodate the Strat pup's triangle wiring?

As for the MIJ Jag pups, I looked for at least two hours and couldn't find a set anywhere to buy. Even Ebay didn't turn up any.

I'll look around for some Alnico V Strat pickups. I'm sure GuitarFetish has at least one type of them. You'd recommend a Strat middle pickup for the Jaguar's bridge position, and a Strat neck pickup for the Jaguar's neck position?

I'll look into modifying the wiring as well. Picking up a couple pots and a cap shouldn't be more that a few bucks, and I'm putting traditional Jag knobs on anyway.

Edit; Already found some Alnico Strat pickups. They're a little more, but still a lot cheaper than normal Jaguar pups...

http://store.guitarfetish.com/sistpi.html
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Re: Fitting Strat Pickups in a Jaguar?

Post by ohm-men » Fri May 23, 2008 9:43 am

You can use the Jaguar PU cover over those strat PU's. But the claws won't fit.
I have been thinking about it a while and I came to the only conclusion that I would have to make a square hole at the side of the Jaguar claw to fit the base of the strat PU in.
I'm sure it can be done, but it would involve some work. (Should you really want a claw) The claw only "enlarges" the magnetic field and the initial idea was to elimintate some of the typical 60 cycle hum usually produced by a singel coil pu. But imho the "claw" doesn't make that lot of a differance (though others might disagree on this)

As for getting a pair of MIJ/CIJ Jaguar Pu's, If you have 50 posts you can post onto the for sale/for trade and the wanted section on this site as well.
I'm sure some formites will have a pair for sale.

Another thing is that the Jaguar Pu's have a tad more output then the strat Pu's you linked in your post. Depending on the manufacturer, the range from a rough 6K to a 7 or even 8K
THe bridge is usually hotter then the neck pu, to compensate.
An AVRI is usually arround 6.5/7 K for the neck and a 7/7.5 K for the bridge. MIJ/CIJ is 6k for the neck and 6.4k on the bridge (Set I measured a while back)
SD Vintage is a bit hotter. SD Hot for Jag is arround 8K. SD QP is even more. +10K
SD Ant is around 8K.
All are differently voiced.

If you go for the "Guitar Fettish" strat Pu's make sure to take one RW Pu (5.35K) and put that one in the neck take the other 5.55K and put that one on the bridge.
I'll think you'll like those. And since the Jag is 24" scale instead of the 25'5 scale of a strat sound will be more Jag-ish. But ofcourse for the 'true' Jag sound you'll need a Floating trem and the bridge as well.
But the TOM and Stop will work as well.
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Re: Fitting Strat Pickups in a Jaguar?

Post by -Anti- » Fri May 23, 2008 9:57 am

ohm-men wrote: You can use the Jaguar PU cover over those strat PU's. But the claws won't fit.
I have been thinking about it a while and I came to the only conclusion that I would have to make a square hole at the side of the Jaguar claw to fit the base of the strat PU in.
I'm sure it can be done, but it would involve some work. (Should you really want a claw) The claw only "enlarges" the magnetic field and the initial idea was to elimintate some of the typical 60 cycle hum usually produced by a singel coil pu. But imho the "claw" doesn't make that lot of a differance (though others might disagree on this)

As for getting a pair of MIJ/CIJ Jaguar Pu's, If you have 50 posts you can post onto the for sale/for trade and the wanted section on this site as well.
I'm sure some formites will have a pair for sale.

Another thing is that the Jaguar Pu's have a tad more output then the strat Pu's you linked in your post. Depending on the manufacturer, the range from a rough 6K to a 7 or even 8K
THe bridge is usually hotter then the neck pu, to compensate.
An AVRI is usually arround 6.5/7 K for the neck and a 7/7.5 K for the bridge. MIJ/CIJ is 6k for the neck and 6.4k on the bridge (Set I measured a while back)
SD Vintage is a bit hotter. SD Hot for Jag is arround 8K. SD QP is even more. +10K
SD Ant is around 8K.
All are differently voiced.

If you go for the "Guitar Fettish" strat Pu's make sure to take one RW Pu (5.35K) and put that one in the neck take the other 5.55K and put that one on the bridge.
I'll think you'll like those. And since the Jag is 24" scale instead of the 25'5 scale of a strat sound will be more Jag-ish. But ofcourse for the 'true' Jag sound you'll need a Floating trem and the bridge as well.
But the TOM and Stop will work as well.
Thanks a lot for the advice. You've been a ton of help!

Will the slightly lower output really be an issue? To be honest, I've liked the sound of the MIJ Jag pups when I've heard them. Will the lower output give me a lot weaker sound, or will it just stay cleaner?

I don't care much about the claws. They look cool, but to save $100+ I'm willing to do without them.

I know it won't sound *entirely* like a traditional Jaguar because of the bridge and tailpiece. I'm ok with that - I really just want single coils in it, as I'm not really a huge fan of humbuckers - especially in Fender guitars.

Will I need to cut a notch into the Jaguar pickup covers to fit the Strat pickups, or should they fit fine normally?

Also, what kind of mounting screws will I need to install the pickups with the Jaguar covers?
Last edited by -Anti- on Fri May 23, 2008 10:02 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Fitting Strat Pickups in a Jaguar?

Post by ohm-men » Fri May 23, 2008 12:49 pm

Well, the covers will fit just fine. I also noticed that the Guitar Fetish have staggered pole pieces, this isgood as it will compensate for the bit lower output.
I guess they will be close. Lower output Pu's usually stay cleaner, not a bad point in my book.

As for the screws, Jag Pu's are mounted on the body rathed then having the typical strat spring. So they need to be mounted on some foam and screwed in the body with a special screw. Angela.com has those.
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Re: Fitting Strat Pickups in a Jaguar?

Post by -Anti- » Fri May 23, 2008 12:54 pm

ohm-men wrote: Well, the covers will fit just fine. I also noticed that the Guitar Fetish have staggered pole pieces, this isgood as it will compensate for the bit lower output.
I guess they will be close. Lower output Pu's usually stay cleaner, not a bad point in my book.

As for the screws, Jag Pu's are mounted on the body rathed then having the typical strat spring. So they need to be mounted on some foam and screwed in the body with a special screw. Angela.com has those.
Will I need to drill new holes in the body, or are the current humbuckers mounted in the same way?

Does www.guitarpartsresource.com have the correct screws? I don't really want to have to place an order from Angela just for screws.
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Re: Fitting Strat Pickups in a Jaguar?

Post by -2N3904- » Fri May 23, 2008 2:41 pm

GFS pups aint as good as AV jag pups tho.

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