Long-Awaited Review: THE JAGUAR X!!!

[Stereordinary]

As promised...




I'm really happy with the tailpiece.


The entire top surface of the bridge, saddles and all has been radiused to match the fingerboard. Then I slotted it for a compensated string spacing. There's still a few buzzes to work out, and then the bridge will need to be lacquered to protect the bare metal from corrosion.


The whole headstock decal/logo ordeal just got to the point where Steve and I agreed to just leave it alone and screw the guitar together. He might have the headstock refinished and a nice decal applied some time later, but for now it's "pre-reliced"


Close up of the nut. My camera sucks, but you can see the compensated string spacing here too.

[mongoose]

I love it! Just hope the EXII string tree block will work OK with the bullet.

P.S. I KNEW you'd forget and reverse the D and G fundamental and octave strings. And no, I don't mind.

[Stereordinary]

P.S. I KNEW you'd forget and reverse the D and G fundamental and octave strings.

What?! I thought this was reversed! I mean, aren't the unison strings usually below the fundamental? I just remembered you wanted it backwards from the normal way.

Well dammit, I'm just cutting a new frickin' nut then. I don't think this one is as good as it could be anyway.

[mongoose]

P.S. I KNEW you'd forget and reverse the D and G fundamental and octave strings.

What?! I thought this was reversed! I mean, aren't the unison strings usually below the fundamental? I just remembered you wanted it backwards from the normal way.

Well dammit, I'm just cutting a new frickin' nut then. I don't think this one is as good as it could be anyway.

Dude, don't stress! It looks great. Besides, the bridge is all set for this setup now. This is how Fender (and everybody except Rickenbacker) do it anyway.

I'm tickled! Oh, I just got confirmation that the tree and strings shipped today.

[noisepunk]

You are one lucky dude, that's amazing.

[jazzymaster616]

Alright, this is amazing!
Great work!

[Padraic]

This is even more awesome than I expected it to be! Congrats!

[mongoose]

Wow. From a $200 dollar beater to a work of art:

[secndshft]

WOW!

[niksureal]

this is some serious cool.

[Stereordinary]

Just spent some time working on this. I had some more of the sitar-like buzzing on the B strings and I couldn't figure out where the heck it was coming from. Frets have been leveled, nut slots look to be the right depth, bridge saddles didn't have any weird edges... finally I thought maybe it was coming from the nut or bridge, but not having to do with the slots. Like maybe the bridge saddles itself was vibrating, or the buzz was coming from somewhere behind the nut. So I stuck my capo on the headstock over the strings, basically acting as a string retainer. That took care of it! Hopefully the new XII retainer on its way fits on there easily enough. Pretty sure that will take care of everything, and other than lacquering the bridge and maybe a few other minor touch ups here and there it will be good to go.

[mongoose]

CELEBRATE GOOD TIMES, COME ON!

In all fairness, I did warn you that a string tree would likely be in order before you started!

Are you going to open this particular conversion service up as a salable product? Sounds like a few guys around these parts might just be into it (more $ for Paul- YEAH!).

[noisepunk]

...lacquering the bridge...

Esplain?

[dug]

CELEBRATE GOOD TIMES, COME ON!
Are you going to open this particular conversion service up as a salable product? Sounds like a few guys around these parts might just be into it (more $ for Paul- YEAH!).

Agreed!

[Stereordinary]

In all fairness, I did warn you that a string tree would likely be in order before you started!

And what did I tell you?! "Oh, it will be fine derp dah derp dee doo, I'm Paul and I don't believe in string tension or break angles, nnnyyyaaaaaaaaa (drool)."

Are you going to open this particular conversion service up as a salable product?

Sure, I'll do this for any one. I can convert necks like this, or I could scratch build one. I'll basically do anything that anyone is willing to pay me for.

...(more $ for Paul- YEAH!).

Yeah!

...lacquering the bridge...

Esplain?

Well, because I sanded and polished the top side and saddles of the bridge, all the plating is gone. All there is is raw metal and it turns black with just a small amount of playing on it (assuming there's at least a little palm muting going on, but even if there isn't). It's practically a dirt magnet. So just a thin layer of lacquer keeps them looking shiny at least for a while longer. Eventually the lacquer will wear away and it will turn black, and it will need to be polished or replaced. But I wasn't about to put a 12" radius bridge on a 7.25" fingerboard radius guitar. I know lots of people have done it, but I want a better setup than that. Plus, it makes the whole top surface of the bridge really smooth and comfortable.