HH to SS conversion, or cheaper Japanese Jag source?

Phred

Hi, I was recently looking into getting a Jag (I'm mostly a bassist, but play some guitar), but the Japanese reissues are difficult to get (and seem a bit expensive) and the American ones are out of my price range. Is there some awesome secret source for Japanese Jags? Alternately, is it feasible to buy a Jaguar HH and replace the pickguard and the pickups with single coils and wind up with a traditional Jag, albeit with a fixed tailpiece? That seems cheaper than eBay or the Japanese sources listed here.

TIA.

Fran

In the UK the HH Jags seem more expensive but saying that i bought a HH already converted from US ebay really cheap. The colour scheme was a bit rubbish so i fitted a red tort scratchplate. I tried the stock set up and the DiMarzio singles had a far superior sound to the dragster humbuckers, so this is how it ended up.....

Phred

Awesome - exactly what I was hoping. I was looking at a tortoise shell pickguard too - looks very nice against the black. Thanks for the info!

ThreeStringGuitar

I've had this thought myself for a while. Being a fan of TOMs it's perfect too, you an always add a Bigsby too if really need vibrato.

I just found a mint Jaguar HH for $499 at a local pawn shop; sadly I'm broke right now though. Fran the man, yours turned out great, I have a Gibson Melody Maker in black with a tort pickguard, I love that combo.

I was thinking if and when I get one I may go with lipstick pickups or P90s. I'm surprised that more people haven't converted the HH's to a more standard Jaguar set up.

Fran

The HH is slightly lighter in weight and seems to have a flatter neck radius as well.

P90's would be interesting, i have a Gibson LP Junior so i am a fan of them pickups but i do beleive a lot of that 'killer tone' comes from the set neck and slab of mahogany..... something the Jag does not have.

As for the conversion not being popular i think it reflects that the Jaguar is'nt a 'common' guitar and its users generally opt for the classic Jag with tremelo. Of course you have a great point about the TOM already being on, and there is also no need for any routing whether you use humbuckers, P90's or single coils.

It seems like a winner for the non-traditionalist or the Jag lover looking for a 'rockier' guitar.

Phred

One more quick question - how do the pickups mount? Just a screw into the wood, or is there some sort of mounting mechanism beyond that?

Fran

Same as the standard Jag, you just screw into the wood with the pickups height supported by a piece of foam. Quite primitive really.

One thing to consider is the metal 'claw' and covers on the pickups.. if you buy triangular shaped Strat single coils you cannot fit the claw. And the Jag pickup covers are difficult to fit with any pickup other than a direct Jag pickup replacement. The reason i point this out is because the pickup routes on a Jag scratchplate are quite large to accomodate all this, you may spot the gap on my HH photo.

Phred

That's exactly why I asked. I do plan on getting direct Jag replacement pickups, and might get a metal insert to make the mounting a little more robust. I just wanted to know what I was getting myself into on the mounting issues, since one routed for 'buckers is almost certainly not going to have the mounting mechanism set up or pre-drilled for single coils. Thanks again for the tips!

MrArkadin

i specifically bought the HH over regular models because:

1. i always wanted a Jag, but

2. i hate trems

3. i prefer a humbucker in the bridge position for rock

4. i prefer a humbucker in the neck position for e bow

So for me the HH was a perfect pick. In fact i'm about to buy the baritone version. i am thinking of changing the scratchplate (can't really see it with the black on black) and changing the knobs for the proper black plastic ones, and installing a coil tap for some more single coil Jaggy sounds.

JMA689

this modified HH Jag looks pretty good... nice colors too 😀

Perdie

hey do normal jaguar pickguards fit the hh or do i have to get a special one if so where did you get yours?

Fran

The normal one will fit.

Just bear in mind the pickup routes in the pickguard are to accomodate a pickup, cover and claw... of a normal jaguar.

If you want to fit humbuckers you will have to make the holes larger.

grunge-fan

yea i got one to ive always wanted to change the pg for a red tort andmod the buckers but seems like my m money is always going somewhere

nirvana23freak

if i had a jag HH id get a white pg so its more vintage like

grunge-fan

i have definately thought about that but i would take off the silver pup covers because they look strange on white

nirvana23freak

yea they would, but if i had a HH i would probably get some open coil ones cuz i like there look more than the silver ones

nirvana23freak

or get some of these

Perdie

Got a white pickguard coming turns out I had to send in a tracing of my pickguard the guy said it needs to be custom made for HH's. And you dont have to buy new pickups if you dont like the silver i took the covers off mine and they sound much brighter 😀

nirvana23freak

did you get yours from pickguard heaven?

Perdie

Yeah