Jaguar Pickup position volume drop HELP!

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tune_link
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Jaguar Pickup position volume drop HELP!

Post by tune_link » Sat Oct 24, 2020 2:39 pm

I recently got a Vintera 60s Jag. Really like it so far but it’s doing this weird thing where when I have both pickups on there is a drastic volume drop. The bridge pickup by itself sounds full and so does the neck pickup. But when I have both turned on it sounds really quiet and weak. On top of that, using the strangle switch seems to make almost no difference at all. What could possibly have happened in there? Anyone have any ideas before I dive under the hood? I ended up buying some AV65 pickups to put in it but they haven’t arrived yet and I kinda just wanna confirm that maybe a wire is loose somewhere and this isn’t an indication of some really fucked up electronics issue.

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bodhi
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Re: Jaguar Pickup position volume drop HELP!

Post by bodhi » Sat Oct 24, 2020 11:57 pm

Not much to say without you providing pictures or drawing up how the wiring is connected, but does sound like it might be bad wiring of some kind.
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Re: Jaguar Pickup position volume drop HELP!

Post by tune_link » Sun Oct 25, 2020 5:50 am

I was told it may be that it came from the factory accidentally wired with the pickups out of phase. I’m putting in new pickups this week so I guess I’ll find out then. I’ve done straight pickup replacements a ton of times on my guitars but I’ve never had to undo weird wiring if they did something to create the out of phase. That said I do know where the wires “should” go for regular Jag pickup positions so I’m hoping when I open it up it’s just really obvious that they’ve wired one of them backwards.

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Re: Jaguar Pickup position volume drop HELP!

Post by timtam » Sun Oct 25, 2020 5:59 am

Here's the Vintera 60's wiring diagram ..
https://www.fmicassets.com/Damroot/Orig ... 1_2019.pdf

It would be pretty hard to solder the pickup wire colours wrong way round. Ground is black on both. ;)
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Re: Jaguar Pickup position volume drop HELP!

Post by tune_link » Sun Oct 25, 2020 7:49 am

timtam wrote:
Sun Oct 25, 2020 5:59 am
Here's the Vintera 60's wiring diagram ..
https://www.fmicassets.com/Damroot/Orig ... 1_2019.pdf

It would be pretty hard to solder the pickup wire colours wrong way round. Ground is black on both. ;)
Greatly appreciated timtam! Can you think of anything else this could be? The out of phase thing seems likely since both pickups seem to function properly and all of the controls are working right outside of this one small thing.

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Re: Jaguar Pickup position volume drop HELP!

Post by alexpigment » Sun Oct 25, 2020 5:26 pm

Just to be clear, out of phase pickups in the middle position will produce a volume drop, but it will also sound very nasally and quacky, sort of like a cocked wah. Can you confirm that this is the case?

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Re: Jaguar Pickup position volume drop HELP!

Post by tune_link » Sun Oct 25, 2020 5:46 pm

alexpigment wrote:
Sun Oct 25, 2020 5:26 pm
Just to be clear, out of phase pickups in the middle position will produce a volume drop, but it will also sound very nasally and quacky, sort of like a cocked wah. Can you confirm that this is the case?
I don’t think that’s the case here. It’s real weird. I briefly had an AmPro Jag with an out of phase switch and it doesn’t really sound like that did (which is exactly the way described - cocked wah sound). Now I’m really perplexed though. Is it possible that the pickups are wired correctly but physically one of them is turned the wrong way around? I was reading something about how that might cause this kind of thing.

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Re: Jaguar Pickup position volume drop HELP!

Post by rank » Sun Oct 25, 2020 5:52 pm

It sounds like there might be a wire loose or not completely soldered correctly. I had wired up a Strat for my brother & the soldering wasn't all the way connected & that was the culprit. It was behaving the way you are describing the Jag. I bet one of the soldering joints is the culprit.
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Re: Jaguar Pickup position volume drop HELP!

Post by andy_tchp » Sun Oct 25, 2020 5:55 pm

tune_link wrote:
Sun Oct 25, 2020 5:46 pm
Is it possible that the pickups are wired correctly but physically one of them is turned the wrong way around? I was reading something about how that might cause this kind of thing.
No, unless by 'turned the wrong way around' you mean it's installed upside down with the wires exiting above the pickguard. If the wires are connected correctly orientation has zero effect.
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Re: Jaguar Pickup position volume drop HELP!

Post by tune_link » Sun Oct 25, 2020 5:59 pm

Thanks guys! I’m betting rank has hit it here. At any rate, new PUPs arriving tomorrow so I’ll be under the hood then and should be able to tell if there’s a bad solder joint. Will report back.

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Re: Jaguar Pickup position volume drop HELP!

Post by tune_link » Mon Oct 26, 2020 3:01 pm

New pickups are in. Everything is fine, guitar sounds excellent! Rank was totally on the money. One of the soldering joints where the ground wires were at had one of the wires just kind of barely in there. When I put the AV65s in I just resoldered that joint really well and bam problem solved.

Pickup comparisons tho, I have to say I’m starting to think I don’t like any of the Tim Shaw designer offset pickups much. The ones in the Vintera sound similar enough to AV65s but (much like the ones in the AmPro Jag - also Shaw designed) there’s something in the top end frequency range I find disagreeable. Timtam’s wiring schematic above for the Vintera has its stock PUPs labeled as 65s but they’re a different part number than the AV65 pickups. Anyway, thanks everyone for yr help! Im in love with this guitar right now. I’ve got a Staytrem on the way to me for it as we speak and I won’t hesitate to say it may be the best looking and sounding Jag I’ve owned so far.

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Re: Jaguar Pickup position volume drop HELP!

Post by HarlowTheFish » Mon Oct 26, 2020 4:33 pm

tune_link wrote:
Mon Oct 26, 2020 3:01 pm
Pickup comparisons tho, I have to say I’m starting to think I don’t like any of the Tim Shaw designer offset pickups much. The ones in the Vintera sound similar enough to AV65s but (much like the ones in the AmPro Jag - also Shaw designed) there’s something in the top end frequency range I find disagreeable.
Can't speak to the Jag pickups, but I found the Vintera Mustang pickups to have this odd slappy treble, kinda like a really high-passed slapback almost. A couple of the other Shaws I've tried in other models have a similar thing, and it's kinda cool (which is why I'm keeping them for another guitar) but also kinda off-putting (which is why I put in some other pickups that were a little less weird).

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Re: Jaguar Pickup position volume drop HELP!

Post by tune_link » Mon Oct 26, 2020 5:22 pm

HarlowTheFish wrote:
Mon Oct 26, 2020 4:33 pm
tune_link wrote:
Mon Oct 26, 2020 3:01 pm
Pickup comparisons tho, I have to say I’m starting to think I don’t like any of the Tim Shaw designer offset pickups much. The ones in the Vintera sound similar enough to AV65s but (much like the ones in the AmPro Jag - also Shaw designed) there’s something in the top end frequency range I find disagreeable.
Can't speak to the Jag pickups, but I found the Vintera Mustang pickups to have this odd slappy treble, kinda like a really high-passed slapback almost. A couple of the other Shaws I've tried in other models have a similar thing, and it's kinda cool (which is why I'm keeping them for another guitar) but also kinda off-putting (which is why I put in some other pickups that were a little less weird).
Yeah that’s it. Def agree with that description. Def what I was getting at in trying to describe the Vintera and AmPro Jag pups.

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