What is your favorite Jaguar pick up combination...

rebecca599106

and why?

Fran

The main thing for me is to keep the guitar in character but eliminate microphonic feedback because i use distortion and fuzz.

I have a CIJ Jag, the stock pups on the whole sound good but there is that feedback problem, you can solve that by wax potting the pups.

That aside i wanted a bridge pup capable of handling 'hotter' sounds and heavier styles so i fitted a SD quarter pounder (for Jag). Whilst it sounds true to the Jag i can also crank things up when needed.

hoddyman

I just use two stock American Jaguar pickups, and I balance them by positioning the bridge pickup as close to the strings as possible without getting in the way, and lowering the neck pickup to a place where it`s just as loud. The bridge pickup, being closer to the strings, has a more "saturated"sound than the neck pickup that way. Of course, if you want the more saturated sound from both pickups, obtained when they`re both as close to the strings as they get, then you`ll want the bridge pickup to put out a stronger signal than the neck pickup, in order for their volumes to balance. I would think that your hotter Seymore Duncan pickup at the bridge, and mabe a plain American Jaguar pickup (or a Seymore Duncan "vintage"-type Jag pickup) at the neck would be a very good combination.

Also, don`t be afraid to use the "rhythm" circuit!

BanditGuitarist1

I have very limited experiance with Jag pups since in my Jag came with PAF neck and SD Bridge, its a great combo for a "real" rock tone I guess you could say the SD is not really "grunge" which is a good thing and the PAF has an amazing clean tone which is why its my favorite combo but I have heard stock pups are sweet to!

Mad-Mike

I like the stock Jaguar pickups as/is, they sound perfect for me, which I admit, can be kinda weird coming from one of the more "metal" people here.

However, I bought my CIJ Jaguar around this time last year for $640 sound unheard with plans to return it to stock, and wound up finding that the so called "Hot Rails" that were installed in it were really Seymour Duncan SCR-1b bridge position Cool Rails. They sounded so darned close to the apparently hot-wound stock pickups in the vintage Jaguar I played years back, so I stuck to them. Besides, they have an extra benifit to get a broken "Hy-Lo" cheap-o guitar tone when one coil is cut off from the mix.

Interestingly, when I added a set of "cut-off" Jaguar pickup covers to the cool rails around June of this year, I found it difficult to get the bridge pickup close enough to the strings with the neck shim installed, so I took it out, and man is this guitar alive and full of sustain now. The neck pickup is set a little lower than the bridge to counteract both pickups having the same output. I plan to add some claws sometime in the not so distant future.

Rick

playing loud, i sometimes just use the neck pup on the 50k pots circuit. the jag really can be too bright sometimes. other times i use both pups on (for the hum elimination) and turn the tone back a little

rebecca599106

Has anyone tried a Vintage Jag in the neck with a Hot Jag in the bridge (Seymour Duncan)?

Fran

I've heard the SD'hot for Jag' is'nt quite that. The QP is higher output.

rebecca599106

Fran the man said: I've heard the SD'hot for Jag' is'nt quite that. The QP is higher output.

I was deciding if I wanted the QP or the Hot in the bridge. The dude at the guitar store said that the Hot has more output. I just checked the Seymour Duncan website and you were right.

rebecca599106

Has anyone tried the Vintage Jag and QP combo in their Jag? Are they pretty versitile pickups (like can I play, for example, punk and then still be able to play metal and have it sound good or vice versa)?

Fran

Your talking about high gain styles of music so i'd go for the QP in the bridge and leave the neck stock, that's what i've done and i can comfortably play anything from ambient shoegaze to thrash metal on the Jag.

rebecca599106

Fran the man said: Your talking about high gain styles of music so i'd go for the QP in the bridge and leave the neck stock, that's what i've done and i can comfortably play anything from ambient shoegaze to thrash metal on the Jag.

Alright! Thanks, man.

Tweez

Does the QP still sound like a Jag though? I've been considering loads of pickup combinations, but I wouldn't want to fit something that makes it sound like a Strat, it defies the point of a Jaguar.

Fran

Tweez said: Does the QP still sound like a Jag though? I've been considering loads of pickup combinations, but I wouldn't want to fit something that makes it sound like a Strat, it defies the point of a Jaguar.

Generally speaking yes, like i said the Jag is still in character with the capability of heavier styles but you can still get stock sounds.

Tweez

Cool, I may have to investigate that, and the 'hot' for Jaguar. I may also have a go at the double boiler wax potting the stock pickups, or getting some AV reissue ones as I use a lot of gain, and it feeds back viciously (which is great, but not when you want to play properly).

Fran

Tweez said: Cool, I may have to investigate that, and the 'hot' for Jaguar. I may also have a go at the double boiler wax potting the stock pickups, or getting some AV reissue ones as I use a lot of gain, and it feeds back viciously (which is great, but not when you want to play properly).

Cool. The waxpotting has been covered on previous threads in this forum thanks to 'Spitfire' and it does work.

It's easy to do, just be sure to pay attention to health & safety. 😉

Tweez

Yeah I've seen the thread, although health and safety isn't my strongpoint, I set fire to the garden once when burning an old wardrobe in our incinerator.

Fran

Tweez said: Yeah I've seen the thread, although health and safety isn't my strongpoint, I set fire to the garden once when burning an old wardrobe in our incinerator.

😎

echelon

Tweez said: Does the QP still sound like a Jag though? I've been considering loads of pickup combinations, but I wouldn't want to fit something that makes it sound like a Strat, it defies the point of a Jaguar.

yeh i was curious as to the point of the SD Quarter Pounder.

If you want that sort of output (12k), why not get a humbucker? I dont see the point of a single coil that overwould - surely it'll lose the single-coil clarity anyway, and with all that winding it'll be as noisy as hell.

But if it does still sound jag-like, thats awesome.

echelon

rebecca599106 said:
I was deciding if I wanted the QP or the Hot in the bridge. The dude at the guitar store said that the Hot has more output. I just checked the Seymour Duncan website and you were right.

So Rebecca, did your black and red jaguar turn up? If so, how you finding it (in terms of sound, playablity, "feel" etc)?