Hot rails vs super distortion?

bear

Looking to change up my sound on my Jag

Does anyone have an opinion on either of these

pups and which might sound better in bridge

I have never played with either, just looking

for something that will overdrive with a fat warm

sustain. But still when played clean keeps nice

tone. Obviuosly I am talking about single coil

size humbuckers I am not getting in to routing

and such. Any thoughts appreciated

Fran

Hotrails or JB Jr are possibly your best choice, very similar to my ears as well. The problem is you will struggle to fit the 'claw' and pickup cover afterwards as them pickups are not specifically designed for the Jaguar. To keep the guitar looking aesthetically right the highest output pickup to my knowledge is the Seymour Duncan QuarterPound for Jaguar.

bear

Wow-

didn't know if anybody would even respond thanks Fran!

I didn't think that single coils could repsond like

humbuckers in a certain sense but after listening to the

quarterpound I was rather impressed.

Would it be worth my while to just forget the claw housing

and pickup guard for a hot rail or duncan jb jr

or just go with the duncan quarter pound for neck and bridge?

Any thoughts on Dimarzios super distortion single coil hums?

Extremely helpful thanks!

Got this Jag from my father he played its a 1966

candy red sounds great with stock pups but isn't versatile with fuzz

trying to keep the amazing tone clean tone while accepting some drive

and sustain. I guess everyones goal! Nonetheless I play

Gibsons and Gretsch don't really play strats etc.. hence the questions

plus I don't want to ruin integrity of guitar with hole cutting or routing

I alreday replaced bridge, want to replace tuners any suggestions

the split tuning heads are just plain worn out.

Fran

If it is a vintage '66 i would do my upmost to keep it that way. If you replace anything i would browse ebay for vintage parts, they are always on there.

As for pickups i seriously would not swap them. People pay a lot of money for that sound that you have, so it almost seems criminal to put seymour duncans in there. You may be able to get the sound you want using an EQ pedal rather than altering a vintage instrument, thus lowering the value of it.

However if you do swap them, the guitar can look 'lacking something' without the claws and covers. Here is a picture of my CIJ sunburst with hotrail in bridge and JB Jr in neck, notice the gap around the pickup without claw and cover:

bear

It is a 66 and in no way do I want to do anything

I can't undo. I would never alter it. Thanks for the photo

I can see what you are talking about. Maybe the quartepound

the way to go, and your also right the intonation and range of sound

of this guitar is unbelievable. Did you replace tuners on yours

or kept factory? And how does your guitar sound? You know with

the hot rails and Jb jrs?

Fran

I have three Jags and my sunburst Jag is the one i modded the most. I fitted a mute then changed the scratchplate and pickups. I find the tuners as stable as any including what are on my Gibson and other Fenders.

With the mini humbuckers i have lost a lot of the traditional Jaguar sounds but it can handle most styles of playing now, including thrash metal. Having said that it is still fairly bright sounding and by no means as deep or bassy as a Les Paul... there is no substitute for a set neck and slab mahogany body.

I understand where you are coming from on wanting more sustain etc. but Jags do suffer less sustain due to the design. Still, it is a beautiful in its own right just like your Gretsch and Gibbo's.

I'd try an EQ pedal to start with. 😉

bear

What about just putting a SD quarter in bridge and keeping

factory neck pup? would that keep things balanced

I understand what your saying I just have way to many pedals to start

The tuners are split and just not practical anymore

and new ones that can take same set up ie screw holes

so don't have to make any new ones?