-=Jazzmaster and Jaguar Pickups and Electronics FAQ=-

[berlinbetty]

Is it worth it to swap out the pickups in my AVRI for a set of Antiquity II pickups?

I like the sound my AVRI has now, but it is hella bright, and harsh at times, so I'm kinda trying to find ways to tame that brightness. MY amp EQ can take care of it to a degree, but I feel like it loses something when I do that.

  Me first!  Me first!!

  Try changing your pots from 1 meg to 500k.  That seems to do the trick for a lot of people...

[RumorsOFsurF]

Is it worth it to swap out the pickups in my AVRI for a set of Antiquity II pickups?

I like the sound my AVRI has now, but it is hella bright, and harsh at times, so I'm kinda trying to find ways to tame that brightness. MY amp EQ can take care of it to a degree, but I feel like it loses something when I do that.

Use the tone knob, it works...   IMO, the AVRI pickups are awesome! 

[k o y l]

Is it worth it to swap out the pickups in my AVRI for a set of Antiquity II pickups?

I like the sound my AVRI has now, but it is hella bright, and harsh at times, so I'm kinda trying to find ways to tame that brightness. MY amp EQ can take care of it to a degree, but I feel like it loses something when I do that.

  Me first!  Me first!!

  Try changing your pots from 1 meg to 500k.  That seems to do the trick for a lot of people...

+1
but it may be wise to only change one pot from 1meg to 500k at first because the more you'll put 500k pots, the darker your sound will be.
If a 1meg pot + 500 k pot is still too bright, then go for two 500k pots.

[Gordon]

I'm wondering about shielding... This is my Jag body (imagine it painted), cavities are shielded with copper tape (where it's red):



There's a copper strip to ground the pickguard (shielded with a large sheet of adhesive copper) (more on that below, BTW), and the ground wire from the tremolo attaches to the shielding. But does the wire from the electronic too, or does the pickguard shielding does it (via the copper strip)? I'm fearing a ground loop there. (tell me I'm right, so far )

Next, the cavities 1 & 2: how are the switches and stuff grounded? Do I have to run some copper onto the face of the body so the metal control plates touches it?

Last, the pickguard... I'll use Strat-sized pickups, so they'll be mounted on the pickguard. Will I have to shiel *all* the pickguard, or should I avoid the pickup area so the pickup screws don't touch the shielding? Like this:

http://www.guitarnuts.com/wiring/shielding/tele.php

"The only critical area is around the pickup slot and holes for the pickup screws.  Here you want to make certain that you remove enough material that the metal cover on the pickup and metal springs on the pickup mounting screws don't contact the foil.  The pickup cover is grounded and if it also contacts the foil on the back of the pickguard (which will be grounded through the cavity shielding) this will create a ground loop that is susceptible to noise."

As it won't have pickups with metal covers...

Thanks for the help.

[k o y l]

Just use a wire to connect the guitar shield (not the pickguard shield) to the tremolo: that's all you need !
If you put a stripe of copper between the 2 pickups, it will be in contact with the pickguard shield so you don't need to connect the electronic to the tremolo.
But don't forget to solder each copper tape parts together.

Yes, shield all the pickguard. On my JM the pickup screw touches the copper and I have no problem.

See this topic here --->index.php?topic=5267.15
In my last post, you'll have a more complete description w. pictures of what I did... I was asking myself exactcly the same questions so it will be helpul for you to read it

[Gordon]

The thing is, most elecytonic-related thread are for JMs, so it's easy to get lost when you're working on a Jag... Thanks, I'l investigate that a bit further.

[k o y l]

On the shielding matter, I don't think JM & Jaguar are that different : they are both a piece of wood with magnets and electrical wires !
The big difference I can see is that there are 3 different and seperated cavities in Jaguars so you'll have to connect their copper shielding together with wires but for the rest I can't see a single reason why they would be different.

[Gordon]

On the shielding matter, I don't think JM & Jaguar are that different : they are both a piece of wood with magnets and electrical wires !
The big difference I can see is that there are 3 different and seperated cavities in Jaguars so you'll have to connect their copper shielding together with wires but for the rest I can't see a single reason why they would be different.

But, for instance, take the upper control area: the switch and knobs are wired to ground, but you have to ground the control plate for that. It's easy to forget to do so.

Also, I've another question I've forgot to ask: in a Jag (guess it's the same for a JM), is one of the pickups RWRP?

[Reiko]

Something i've always been wondering, I hope i'm asking in the right thread!

The SJM-3 Quarter-Pound for Jazzmaster pickups have flatter wider pole pieces, quite a bit bigger (from what I can tell) than the JM pickup cover holes.

Do the pole pieces fit through them like the originals or what?
How do they look installed under a JM pickup cover? Would love a pic if anyone has one!

Cheers!

[Orang Goreng]

Those poles on QPs are flush with the bobbin, so they don't actually protrude through the covers.

[i love sharin foo]

The big difference I can see is that there are 3 different and seperated cavities in Jaguars so you'll have to connect their copper shielding together with wires but for the rest I can't see a single reason why they would be different.

After Jazzmasters got flat shielding instead of the earlier tubs (the rhythm shield changed first, then the main cavity shield followed), they had to be connected the same as Jaguars and used wire as well 

justin

[Cuckoosnest]

Now I'm a bit confused,

I just opened up my CIJ jazzmaster (volume pot broke down and I thought I'd replace it with an American one - and also getting rid of the original neck pup & replacing it with SD vintage), and what I discovered that this one has had the cap on the tone pot (the main tone pot, lead circuit) connected from one end to the middle pin of the pot (as it should be, right?) but the other end to the pin on the volume pot from which a wire goes to the middle pin of the 3-way switch. Shouldn't the cap on tone pot be connected one leg to the middle pin of the tone pot & the other leg to the back [ground] of that same pot? At least that's what all the wiring diagrams say.

So my question really is: What will the current wiring do as compared to the "correct" one? I haven't noticed anything strange in the sound, but will it change that somehow? Should I "correct" it?

[k o y l]

Now I'm a bit confused,

I just opened up my CIJ jazzmaster (volume pot broke down and I thought I'd replace it with an American one - and also getting rid of the original neck pup & replacing it with SD vintage), and what I discovered that this one has had the cap on the tone pot (the main tone pot, lead circuit) connected from one end to the middle pin of the pot (as it should be, right?) but the other end to the pin on the volume pot from which a wire goes to the middle pin of the 3-way switch. Shouldn't the cap on tone pot be connected one leg to the middle pin of the tone pot & the other leg to the back [ground] of that same pot? At least that's what all the wiring diagrams say.

So my question really is: What will the current wiring do as compared to the "correct" one? I haven't noticed anything strange in the sound, but will it change that somehow? Should I "correct" it?

We've discussed this with Mezcalhead & Sunburst80 here: index.php?topic=5267.0
The bottom line is: both wiring are correct because they give the same results. 

[Cuckoosnest]

The bottom line is: both wiring are correct because they give the same results. 

Ah I see, I'm not big on electronics so I didn't realise that (and I didn't find that topic, and I'm working on it right now, so a million thanks for hepling me out so quickly - now I can go finish the soldering thanks again

[andtrea]

Probably a stupid question, and I hope not to be off-topic:
What pickups do Thurston Moore use on his Jazzmasters? Standard AVRI?