Distance between pickups?

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MrJagsquire
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Distance between pickups?

Post by MrJagsquire » Tue Jan 12, 2021 8:57 am

Short version: Can anyone tell me the distance between the single coil pickups on a Fender Jaguar (lets say an American Professional or similar for the sake of argument)?


Long version: I'm converting my Player Jaguar from single coil and humbucker to the more standard pair of single coils using a set of used Pure Vintage '65 pickups I bought recently.

I want to cut my own pickguard from a blank, so I was wondering if anyone could tell me the distance between their single coil pickups on a Fender Jaguar? Either centre to centre or just the gap between them will do. I will put the PV neck pickup in exactly the same place as the existing one, but not sure whether the bridge will go in line with the rear or front of the current bridge humbucker (or somewhere else entirely ;D ).

I'm going to put the pickup selector at the top and won't have the metal plate/top horn section. I can't buy pickguard over here in BWB like this, hence having to cut my own.

Thanks for any help.

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Bradley-Jazz
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Re: Distance between pickups?

Post by Bradley-Jazz » Tue Jan 12, 2021 9:29 am

It's bang on 100mm centre to centre on my Johnny Marr Jag.

Hope that helps
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MrJagsquire
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Re: Distance between pickups?

Post by MrJagsquire » Tue Jan 12, 2021 9:33 am

Perfect thanks @Bradley-Jazz a virtual beer to you. :)

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Bradley-Jazz
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Re: Distance between pickups?

Post by Bradley-Jazz » Tue Jan 12, 2021 9:41 am

You're very welcome - cheers!
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MrJagsquire
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Re: Distance between pickups?

Post by MrJagsquire » Wed Jan 13, 2021 2:41 am

The bridge pickup fitted within the space already routed for the humbucker, so this will completely reversible (I've only had to make two small screw holes to fix the pickup to the body of the guitar). I spaced them exactly 100mm apart (measured from the centres). Hope to get the rest wired up tonight so I can play it and try out the Pure Vintage '65 pickups; I can play it without the pickguard, maybe just have to wedge the pickup switch in place.

Shame I can't add photos on this website, but you might recognise my name on other guitar forums that do allow direct photo uploads, like one that talks about Stratocasters. ;)

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MrJagsquire
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Re: Distance between pickups?

Post by MrJagsquire » Fri Jan 15, 2021 11:14 am

I got the rest wired up last night and taped the selector switch down as I haven't cut the custom pickguard yet. I'm really liking the Pure Vintage '65 pickups I put in it. I used 250K pots and a 0.022uF cap (to make rolling off the tone a bit more gentle and therefore more useful).

I tried it through my Marshall Mini Jubilee last night, plus some pedals that I use for the covers band I'm in and player our setlist...really good. Today I put a fresh set of strings on it after I managed to snap the top E (I'd been slackening them off to pull out of the way and I think I'd weakened the string rather than any particular issue). Gave the frets an extra polish and a bit of fretboard oil and it's smooth as silk. 8) I plugged into my 'kitchen amp' which is a Champ clone: Not all my guitars sound good through this amp, but my Tele, Les Paul with P90s and now the Jaguar are three that sound great.

I'll have to see if I can find a fine blade for my jigsaw so I can cut out the pickguard blank, but due to current lock down I can't really go out to buy one. I do have a Dremel with cutting discs, so might see if I can cut it slightly oversized with that and then sand the edges smooth. On the plus side I won't have as many holes/slots to cut as a regular Jaguar; just two pickups and a round hole for the pickup selector.

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