Newbie Question

Lobsterman

I've never had this problem with a guitar before but some of my basic chords sound a bit funny. It's almost as if the guitar sounds out of tune but it isn't. I don't really have any other problems other than the D, A, and Am chord (just the basics that I've been testing). I think I've narrowed down the problem to the 2nd fret. Especially the G string. Whenever I press too hard on the g-string on the 2nd fret it goes wildly out of tune. Is it just a bad set-up or does it need refretting or anything? I'm going to change the strings when I get back to college in a couple of days so maybe that'll fix it. I'm really not sure what to do, any suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

BTW: It's a MIM 2007 Olympic White Classic Player HH Special Jaguar (I think). I just got it so I don't know much about it. Also, what's the difference between MIM and MIJ/CIJ Jags?

DANN

I say it's yer intonation, mainly. Had a huge problem with it myself... If you're not comfortable doing it yourself you should take it to a decent shop and have them set it up for you. As soon as I got mine I took it to a ####ty shop and they didn't seem to know what to do with it. So I asked about it on here and got tons of help. Jaguars are fiddly and apparently never perfect. But they sound like no other...

I put a Gotoh Nashville Tune O Matic bridge on mine and adjusted the neck and it's as good as gold now. It's all quite simple to do, I guess. Just make sure you've got the patience to keep taking the neck off. I tried to adjust the truss rod with the neck still attached and it just cracked the lacquer under the scratchplate. Invisible but foolish, like.

There are loads of little tips on this site and many others on what you can do to make your Jag easier to use, it's worth looking around.

The difference between MIJ and CIJ is, allegedly, nothing but age. MIJs are older. Hence cooler!

And I doubt changing the strings will do anything. Think I got the bridge for about £20.

Welcome to hell

DANN

Also, at the bottom of the page it says 'Yahoo' is reading this, even though they're not regitered, a guest, or anon...

What's that all about?

Creepy!

Lobsterman

I just learned the jaguar has medium jumbo frets so it's supposed to sound this way. Turns out I'm just slamming on the fretboard too hard (first guitar I've ever had that has these kind of frets). By the way, my intonation was also slightly off so I fixed that too. Thanks for all the help.

Lobsterman

I was also interested in buying a new bridge for it. I have an MIM Classic Player HH which has a tune-o-matic bridge. I would like to replace it with a mustang bridge (which I'm told is a big improvement from the jaguar bridge). Would the bridge fit on my guitar without any modifications? If not, what would you all suggest instead?

Thanks.

DANN

Never done it myself, but there shouldn't be any problems with a straight swap. From what I've dredged from all these sites is that there's no difference except for the saddles...

AngryHatter

Lobsterman said:
I was also interested in buying a new bridge for it. I have an MIM Classic Player HH which has a tune-o-matic bridge. I would like to replace it with a mustang bridge (which I'm told is a big improvement from the jaguar bridge). Would the bridge fit on my guitar without any modifications? If not, what would you all suggest instead?
Thanks.

It's an improvement over the ORIGINAL Jaguar bridge, not over the TOM.

brandonwinmill

Go back to basic fundamentals. Make sure you are holding the chords correctly. I do this sometimes when i play a guitar with a neck i'm not used to also. I sometimes find that i'm holding certain strings in the chord wrong. I'll lift one finger at a time so i can see exactly where my fingers are on the fretboard. I actually do this on some minor chords and it's always my pointer finger hitting the board either on the fretwire or too far behind it. Think back to when you first started playing and place your fingers properly where they go right before the wire and strum slowly and see if the signal is going out of tune or is out of tune. Listen close, sometimes they start right and when they ring i notice exactly what you are talking about, it's like they ring out of tune. i can't articulate this well. I'm not trying to say you can't play either, this happens to everyone especially when they are used to a certain neck and then try a guitar with a different neck. I would also play a scale with open strings slowly, pentatonic scale maybe, and look at a tuner and see what it does as it rings.

Don't take this the wrong way please. I have 9 guitars and this happens to me a lot when i go from a fender to my les paul. I don't know much about hardware so this was the only advice i was able to give you from experience. I hope you figure it out. Good Luck!