Jag-Stang neck pickup

Jarredthealien

Hey all,

I'm looking to put some new pickups in my Jag-Stang, specifically a Seymour Duncan JB trembucker in the bridge and a Mustang pickup in the neck. So, essentially I'm giving it Cobain Mustang hardware.

Would the Mustang pickup fit in the neck? Is there anything I should look for or worry about or is it a perfect fit?

I also plan to put some 500k pots in.

Mad-Mike

Yes, the Mustang pickup will fit, it's essentially a stratocaster bobbin with the pole pieces ground flush with the flatwork. There should be no issues there at all.

500K pots will brighten the sound a little bit, in my opinion, with the Jag-Stang, that's a good thing because they tend to be naturally very warm and wooly sounding guitars naturally (usually).

Jarredthealien

Well, I went ahead and got the pickups. The Mustang pickup fit perfect, but the JB Trembucker was a bit too big. I suppose I have to order the regular JB Humbucker.

Ricey

I had a Jag-stang back in the mid nineties and it came with an "Atomic Humbucker", which was a rebranded Fender DH-1 PUP. The DH-1 is a very good PUP designed by the late Bill Turner and it's specs are almost identical to a Duncan JB, so I don't think you will notice much of a difference in sound going to a JB. Of course, this is only true if you have one of the older Jag-Stangs. I don't know what PUPS they put in the later re-issues.

Ricey

Actually, I might be mixing up the "Special Design Atomic Humbucker" on the original version of the Cyclone with the "Special Design" humbucker on my original Jag-Stang. I think the Cyclone may have been the JB like DH-1. I am not sure what the Jag-Stang used. Somebody on here once said it was a Dimarzio.

Mad-Mike

From my well warped mind......

The Jag-Stang either had the same pickup marketed under 2 names or had 2 different pickups depending on production run stock from the factory.

The initial run (1995-2001) - Those guitars were marketed and said to have a DiMarzio pickup in them - which I can believe, as at that time of production, DiMarzio was Fender's primary pickup outsource (Fender always had an outsourced pickup brand, and then their own in-house designed and built stuff to provide a broader range of options - I think this started sometime in the eighties so they could built the Yngwie Malmsteen Stratocasters for production, which lead to Dimarzio pickups being used in a lot of guitars including the Heartfield series and Heartfield based Prodigy model). The initial Jag-Stang pickup was said to be a 7.71K Ohm Ceramic humbucker similar to a Dimarzio Evolution neck pickup called the H8 or Hsomething at least. They were notoriously bad and low output for the application these guitars would typically be used for. I have played one of these pickups in a 1998 CIJ Jag-Stang many many many years ago.

By the second run (2003-2006) - Fender had changed their outsource to Seymour Duncan (hence all the Duncan Designed pickups on Squiers, and the offering of the Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates in the LoneStar strat, among others). So Fender either used some Japanese made pickup possibly designed by Duncan, an approximation of the original H8, or something closer. I've had people tell me these newer pickups were better and hotter than the original Jag-Stang default bridge pickup. The pickup was marketed as the Fender "Santa Ana" Humbucker.

As for how it is now, I think Fender probably has some other arrangement now where they can use anyone's pickups, which would be the preferred thing as the mainstream technie guitar public wants glorious options from everywhere. I think it's way different now, that's the only way I could explain them having Seymour Duncan JB's in the Kurt Cobain Mustang and DiMarzios in the Jaguar. If it were 1993 and Fender was making those models, the Mustang would have a DiMarzio in it, and the Jaguar would be the only one doable 100%.

Acidhouse

I just had an old 80s JB '59 rewound as it was dead. I am planning on installing it in the bridge position. I've often wondered if there isn't a wiring issue with the Jag-Stangs. I swapped out the original pup and put in a hotter bucker and I still get a thin, tinny sound out of the bridge. If the JB '59 fails to please, I am guessing it's the wiring. I don't know if this is the case with all JS's but mine sounds like a single coil surfy pickup in the bridge position.

Mad-Mike

Sounds to me like you either have one coil that's not engaging, or it's not wired right. Jag-Stang's are pretty thick and wooly guitars to start with that absorb a lot of the highs (that's why I think EMG's work so well in them). Might want to make sure you don't have a dead coil or something not connected either within the pickup or the guitar. Any 4 conductor humbucker being used as a straight-up humbucker needs 2 of the four wires wired together as that completes the series link between the coils and makes full use of the pickup. The Jeff Beck humbucker and a 59' also tend to be different. The JB is a rewound 59' humbucker that's wound hot, around 12+ K Ohms IIRC, the 59' is a vintage ouput humbucker ranging averaging around 8.4K and sounds a little thinner and can sound surfy.