My Jagstang - Customized But Needs Tweaking

cpercival1985

First Things first. I own a 97/98 Fiesta Red Jag-Stang Which is my prized posession. I wouldnt part with it for any other object on earth and I mean that. Thanks Dad.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3 ... =656959808

(my Jagstang)

I am quite wary and inexperienced in terms of the little tweaks which can make all the difference as the essay below shows. I was always happy and always played what I had (stock) until I came across sites like these.

I have done loads and loads of research on this site and also Cobains Equipment sites. I know you cant get a guitar which is a exact replica of what Kurt would have had in his hands even with the same (Pickups/circuitary/Bridge/Strings wise etc), as so many other factors come into it. Amp/Speakers etc and to be honest I dont want an identical sound as thats why Nirvana were unique and all the best bands/artists are unique - they could get sounds or had a sound which other people craved and loved.......Voodoo Child Comes to Mind...

I just want a guitar that sounds really nice just like Kurt would have done, and trust his pickup mods etc to help me on my way. Which is where my influences come from.

Ok so here is What I have done since I got my wife (the Jag-Stang) - I was happy with it stock but its so easy to pop on these sites and then be intrigued and even in awe of some of the differences that can 'apparently' be made. p.s any quesiton I ask preceeded with a **** is kind of a priority and more imporatant than some minor Issues I have raised.

Chrome Tone/Volume Knobs

Orange drop capacitor

500k Pots on Volume & Tone

Seymour Duncan JB (SH4) - Bridge

DiMarzio Super Distortion S - Neck

**** Anyway I have a major Dilemma. I bought the 'Super Distortion S' as I was stuck between the JB and Standard Super Distortion Humbucker. So I got the JB Humbucker, and Super Distortion S (Its the Single Coil Equivalent of the Super Distortion Humbucker). The main problem is its a Bridge position pickup, whereas ive put it in the neck. Its sounds amazing yes (Bluesy Clean - Dirty Distorted), but very VERY bassy without distortion (as if my Marshall 50w amp is saying HELPPPPPP) and after research its because ive put it higher up the guitar when its made for the tingyness of the bridge due to the tension. I am wondering how I can help this. Dont get me wrong the pickup sounds amazing when the bass is turned right down on the amp. So do I..........

1) Lower The Pickup - I can do this but dont want to lose the overall sound of the pickup - so if I do it, how high should it be.

2) Turn the bass right down on my amp, but then the JB has no ooomph

3) Buy a new pickup reluctantly

4) Play with Both pickups ON and have the nice compliment which they give eachother. In an ideal world I would want to play certain songs with certain pickups for obvious reasons and also to add a bit of variation to the sound.

A few more questions which can help me tweak my guitar.

1) Should I often clean the Fretboard with fretboard cleaner? (Ive never ever done that! - does anyone?)

2) How High should the TailPiece be? - Should the Low E String be further way from the strings than the High E

3) How do I get the god damned springs off the underside of the bridge. They are too Tought. Also which position should the spring be on for best result in terms of tuning stability) - Is doing this a must??

**** 4) How the heck do I flip the tailpiece around so the strings dont bend down and under and up (you know what I mean) - Is this an advantage? I dont ever use a tremolo.

****5) How High should the bridge pickup be from the strings. Before you say wait.....theres a help section which says something like 4/64" - that means nothing to me! HELP! Can you say it in Mm or Cm.

**** 6) How high should the strings be off the fretboard....I prefer Rhythym, but have got into Lead guitar and want to have a neutral situation.

**** 7) The polepieces in my JB has screws, should I lower the overall pickup and raise the pieces? Should I raise the pickup and keep the pieces the same.....should I shaped them like a curve just as the strings are curved?

**** 😎 Is it True you should never restring a guitar a guitar by taking all the strings off (i.e you should always leave one on? If so.....ooops ive never done this method 😲 Does that mean my neck needs professionally adjusting?)

My guitar sounds awesome but I know it can be improved with the right tweaks. Im very happy with her at the moment but I know the potentials there to make this guitar run on full power as I feel its only running on 80% potential with the customisation I have done.....and yes thats wnother thing....I WANT MY MONEYS WORTH HAHA!!!

P.S - There was a thread...."PICS of YOUR Jag-Stang".This is not a dig as you are all entitled to do what you want but How can some of you guys put silly stickers on these lovely guitars and even physically modify the body/bridge/Respray etc with any gratitude or satisfaction? As soon as you do this, the value of these guitars are gone and even if they are for life - surely in its original form is the way forward?

I suppose you can say we all have different tastes but I believe my mods are things that can easily be reversed (under the hood so to speak) and the guitar is easily put back to stock as I have kept all the parts.

The Jag-Stang sure is Unique and its that extra bit special for that reason. Thanks for Fender, Jaguars, Mustangs, Cobain and Jag-Stang.com!

Thanks to anyone who actually read all that without falling asleep and some help on any of the topics would be greatly appreciated! Sorry about a lot of silly questions but the ones preceeded with a *** are priorities to me personally!

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3 ... =656959808

(my Jagstang)

Thanks for your time

Rock 'n' Roll

JaguarOW

Firstly, nice fro 😉

you could use an EQ pedal to get rid of some of that bass, and then turn it off when you switch to the JB

1) I clean my fretboard with lemon oil every time i restring, it makes it look nice 😆

6) everyone has a different preference in this but try and get the strings as low as possible without string buzz occouring and it should be comfortable for lead as well as rythym

7) I'd keep them as they are

there are lots of guides around this site about setting up the bridge, like this one

sorry i dont know alot about this guitar but ive answered what i can

people modify the appearance of their guitars because they want their's to look different and often dont ever want to sell them and so dont mind its depreciation in value 😉

cpercival1985

Thanks for your advice. Ive bought some Lemon oil and also for the price of an EQ pedal, ive decided to Buy a Fender Texas Special neck pickup from USA.

Can you tell me why some pole pieces are pushed in and are different heights (according to pics)? Are they manufactured like this? Thanks

Fran

Welcome to the forum.

Pole pieces are set to a different height on some Strat pickups to balance out the sound, there is a popular pattern which most manufacturers offer on some model or other.

DONT raise your pole pieces on the JB! You are likely to knock the balance out unless you fully understand what you are doing. Dont worry too much about the pole pieces, they are tweakable for each string but generally speaking most players never bother with this. If you are looking for the subtle nuances of Jazz (which i get the impression your not) maybe, but using distortion, power chords and stuff they wont need adjusting.

The bass issue is a comment complain on the JS but its usually the bridge pup that is the offender. What value Orange Drop did you fit? With 500k pots and the humbucker you should be looking at a .047uf. It does help, but, the JS is basswood and tends to be a dull sounding guitar. You could try lowering the neck pup height, and more so at the low E end (preferred Strat set up).

You have so many questions. I do advise you check Mad-Mikes JS set up thread, it goes into detail about the tremolo and other things. 😉

Fran

P.S. Cool pic dude. 😎

cpercival1985

Hi thanks about the hair lol.

Its too late in regards to the pole pieces, I remember when I first got it a couple of years ago I was fiddling with it! Is it possible to re-calibrate the pickup if I took it to a guitar shop?

Also to be honest the bridge questions were more for knowledge reasons. Its more the string heights/pickup heights/Saddle Height that im more bothered about. I only just realised the proper way to string it the other day by putting the strings in the holes first! That will surely help keep it in tune as I was wrapping them round as if they were the Strat Maschine Heads.

Im going to have to sell my Super Distortion or keep it for when I either get a Jaguar or Mustang......thats another topic altogether!

Thanks for the help so far

cpercival1985

Sorry had a 0.022 Orange Drop put in

VoodooChild

If you switch the tailpiece around the strings might not originate low enough to create tension against the bridge. I wondered the same thing but came to this conclusion before I experimented with it. Let me know if it is indeed possible 😀

Earth

Just a tip:If you want to use a TOM (or not) on it you don't need to turn the tremolo piece around and it doesn't sound any different either way, just adjust it( raise it) so its vertical when you are tuned to your tuning(having the trem piece vertical is exactly how it was intended to be set up BTW) . This still gives enough tension over the bridge and is quite stable. You need to shim the neck a tiny bit to use TOMs. the inner end slightly more so then the outer...of the neck pocket. Its an adjust and feel process that usually requires taking the neck off at least twice to get it right. Then you make the fine action adjustments on the TOM itself with the height adjustment screws once you have the neck profile right.

To raise the tremolo piece insert the correct size allen key into the two little holes on the top of it.

I used to have mine pointing towards the butt of the guitar and low so the low E would rest on the chrome plate, this only allows tremolo movement down pitch. The first way I mention,although allows pitch to be either raised or lowerd seems to be more stable, and this is how I have my mustang set up....like a hardtail but the trem is free to move if I wanted it to. I find this method more stable than the second method I mentioned because if the trem does get bumped you can always move it back and forth to get back in perfect tune, the second method doesn't allow this.

The TOM to buy is the Gotoh Nashville type. Also, A TOM really changes the sound of Mustangs/Jagstangs/Jaguars, you don't realize how much until you actually do it and for those of you after "that cobain sound" a TOM is a must IMO and IME.

Mad-Mike

I'll just go on and say how I'd do the similar stuff...

- Pickups - Seymour Duncan Antiguity Mustang/Duo-Sonic in the neck position, either that or a weaker wound Lindy Fralin (6.0-6.6K), unless I wanted the pole pieces, then I'd go for a Vintage strat pickup like a SD 60's Strat pickup in the neck. Bridge position would likely be a Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates or Seymour Duncan J.B.

- As for the bridge, I'd do this...since I'm not a fan of the TOM

- Remove Mustang bridge, go to the hardware store, and find some metal pipe of the right thickness to fill the gap between the thimbles and the legs. Saw the pipe to the size needed to fill the Thimbles, drop the Mustang bridge back in with the pipe around the legs to stabilize the bridge.

- As for the trem, I'd unscrew the legs from the bar on the back, remove the springs, get some washers that are fairly skinny on the outside but wide enough to clear the screws inside, stick the legs back through the plate, throw the washers on around the screw threads of the legs (about 3-5 of them), and then lock those legs down TIGHT. I'd still have the strings passing under the tailpiece so the ball end side would still be facing the nut. Under the bar gives more string tension behind the bridge therefore better sustain and none of the string skipping problems that I've seen on Mustang trems that are not well setup.