VM Jaguar to Cobain Jaguar

Talk about modding or building your own guitar from scratch.
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Rab1s
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VM Jaguar to Cobain Jaguar

Post by Rab1s » Mon Dec 14, 2015 10:44 am

Hey guys. I've been asking about this since I bought the guitar about a year ago. I bought the jag because of my love for nirvana so I'm finally getting to mod it. So far so good.

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Here she is, all naked and such.

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Taped up and marked off

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My father hitting it with the router. We ran into a few issues. The pickup rings were more open than expected so we so we had to take some extra meat out of the pick guard. Took us about 3 hours of routing time. Almost took a router to the bicep when it jumped. Good times.

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Here's the body all routed out

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And here's the pick guard. It's a bit ugly looking but the rings cover it. Not too bad for free handing on both the body and pickguard

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Took just a bit off the lead switches area to make room for the toggle. Also drilled out the plate, so a full sized toggle would fit through. Had to fille down a side of the switch to make it fit.

Going to start wiring this week with this diagram thanks to SHADOWECLIPSE13. Image

While dry fitting everything I noticed a few things. For one the string spacing on the bridge pickup (super distortion) is off a good amount. The string just barley catch the outside of the poles. Shouldn't be too big of an issue. I didn't think I needed an F spaced bucker due to using a Tune-o-matic style bridge.

Secondly, the bridge is way high. I'll have to shim the every loving crap out of the neck. I also ordered a 1 meg pot but stupidly forgot to check if the other pots were mini or full sized. And they're mini. Ah well.

Fourthly, The switch goes from headstock to bridge due to the size of the switch instead of the stock way (top to bottom) No big deal.

I'll update later when I make more progress.
Last edited by Rab1s on Tue Dec 15, 2015 12:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Shadoweclipse13
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Re: VM Jaguar to Cobain Jaguar

Post by Shadoweclipse13 » Mon Dec 14, 2015 4:23 pm

Very nice!! Excited to see how this one turns out!!
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http://www.offsetguitars.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=104282&p=1438384#p1438384

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Homeless Blueless
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Re: VM Jaguar to Cobain Jaguar

Post by Homeless Blueless » Mon Dec 14, 2015 4:52 pm

Nice work, Rab1s and Rab1s' dad! Careful with that router.

I have one of the Cobain jags (they are great fun), so let me know if I can help if you hit any roadblocks with your project.

Can you get the bridge any lower by turning little wheels on the bridge posts under the bridge plate? The Cobain jag comes with a Gotoh version of the TOM Gibson-style bridge design, which I assume is fairly similar to the TOM on your jag. I was able to get my bridge set up for very low action, sitting almost flat on the body of the guitar.

Re the orientation of the switch, I actually think that the way you have it set at 90 degrees to the standard up/down setting might be an improvement. Less chance of accidentally moving the switch when you are playing the guitar.

I wouldn't worry about the string spacing with the Super Distortion, you like Nirvana and this pickup is so hot compared with the standard Jag pickups that it will register the strings just fine. You will just be smiling whenever you plug this thing in!

Looking forward to seeing your progress.

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Rab1s
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Re: VM Jaguar to Cobain Jaguar

Post by Rab1s » Tue Dec 15, 2015 10:13 am

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She's coming along. I've spent my lunch breaks yesterday and today doing some wiring. Got almost everything done besides the grounding. There's a hell of a lot of it I might be able to finish her up tonight to at least make sure I did every thing right. A little messy in some areas but that's what it's like when you don't have the right tools haha.

I kept a lot of the original wiring so it's not too bad.

Here's to hoping it'll all turn out first try (I might have just jinxed it haha)

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Rab1s
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Re: VM Jaguar to Cobain Jaguar

Post by Rab1s » Tue Dec 15, 2015 4:23 pm

Well I wiried it up and pugged it in. Hum in every position of every switch. And the coil splits are wrong too. And the bridge pickup doesn't work at all. I don't even know why I bother thinking I can do this shit. Happens every time. I don't have time for huge troubleshooting bouts. Looks like this project is going to sit for a long long time collecting dust.


Edit: I apologize for my little bitch boy whining. I haven't slept in a few weeks due to allergies and I was being a baby. I'll try to tackle it again in a few days. Maybe after the holidays.

I'm still pissed about that pot not fitting tho. Gotta order one and pay just as much of not more for shipping. Erg.

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Ducky8637
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Re: VM Jaguar to Cobain Jaguar

Post by Ducky8637 » Wed Dec 16, 2015 1:54 pm

I'm about to do the exact same mods to my jag I'd like to know if you could explain that schematic so I understand which wire goes where pleaseeee!

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Rab1s
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Re: VM Jaguar to Cobain Jaguar

Post by Rab1s » Sat Dec 19, 2015 10:34 am

Image

She's close. I had some time to myself so I went ahead and got her as close as I could. I'm waiting on another pot. The full size one would not fit. So once that comes in I gotta string her up and set her up but then she's good to go.

I'm worried that my solder joints weren't good enough to hold for a while. Some of them are just wrapped around the posts. Other just push up against and soldered. I'm not super good at that part. If that happens tho, I'll fix it.

I noticed I'm going to have to shun the shit out of the neck. See?

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I know the neck is dead strait from when I played it before mods. So there is that.

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Homeless Blueless
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Re: VM Jaguar to Cobain Jaguar

Post by Homeless Blueless » Wed Dec 23, 2015 4:31 am

Great work on your project, Rab1s! You're getting very close.

Ducky, here are the photos that you wanted from inside my KC Jag (2 x shots of lead circuit and one of rhythm circuit):

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These photos are not the best (lots of wires in there and I had limited time) but I hope that they assist to get you going. Let me know if you run into any particular trouble and I will try to help.

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Ducky8637
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Re: VM Jaguar to Cobain Jaguar

Post by Ducky8637 » Wed Dec 23, 2015 10:53 am

Thanks man! Yeah that rhythm section helped. It's wired so much different than the squire jag

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Rab1s
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Re: VM Jaguar to Cobain Jaguar

Post by Rab1s » Wed Dec 23, 2015 1:45 pm

Thanks. It's so close I can taste it. I'm just sitting here waiting for one measley pot to come in

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Rab1s
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Re: VM Jaguar to Cobain Jaguar

Post by Rab1s » Fri Dec 25, 2015 9:08 pm

Merry Christmas guys! Got to finish the guitar tonight durring some downtime. I burned out one pot so after an hour of troubleshooting I finally figured it out. Replaced the pot and fixed a few things in my wiring. Here she is in all her glory.

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(Notice the absence of a buzz stop. Took it off)

For the bridge posts, I wrapped them in aluminum tape. Keep them from moving around in the pocket.
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I shimmed the crap out of the neck but the action is super low with virtually no buzz. It's crazy. Tried to get a picture.
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I haven't spent too much time playing it since it's midnight as I post this. But I'm super excited too. The only problem is she's got some Christmas competition. The wife grabbed my one of these beauties off CL for $200. She's gorgeous.
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If anyone has any questions I'll be more than happy to answer.

Thanks shadow for the diagram!

Merry Christmas everyone! Shred before bed!

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Shadoweclipse13
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Re: VM Jaguar to Cobain Jaguar

Post by Shadoweclipse13 » Sat Dec 26, 2015 6:07 am

Very nice!!!! I don't know why, but I've always loved those 3-pot switch plates. So cool. Haha.

Awesome Xmas gift too! Hollowbodies rock!!
Pickup Switching Mad Scientist
http://www.offsetguitars.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=104282&p=1438384#p1438384

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Ducky8637
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Re: VM Jaguar to Cobain Jaguar

Post by Ducky8637 » Sat Dec 26, 2015 9:29 am

Nice! It looks great dude! I'm about to begin the work on mine the wait is on for the parts!!

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Re: VM Jaguar to Cobain Jaguar

Post by loungelife » Tue Dec 29, 2015 3:34 pm

Good job working through the difficulties! Sometimes the toughest project feel the best to complete. Looks great

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Rab1s
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Re: VM Jaguar to Cobain Jaguar

Post by Rab1s » Tue Jan 19, 2016 8:17 am

Thanks! Yea it does make everything feel more special and rewarding.

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