I'm not that happy with my Jag :( (now with audio samples)

FedExPope

I bought a CIJ Jag a few months back and had some SD hot pups installed. So far I'm just not happy with it. Most if not all of the problem could be my amp (Vox AD30VT). The amp sounds great with my twin HB guitar but not with the Jag. The cleans are too harsh and if I try to roll back the tone it just becomes too weak. I was looking for some nice warm cleans. With any kind of distortion on its just muddy. You can hear everything breaking up. Again, its probably the amp.

I was looking into either a Peavey Classic 30 or a Crate Palomino but I'd hate to spend more $ on another amp and still be unhappy with the sound.

deathtolowEbuzz

go for the new amp just for the sake of having a good amp. The classic 30 has quite the nice warm clean, which should get you what you want. I've heard some bad things about those trans tube vox amps, and personaly I hate any amp thats advertised as trans tube.

perhaps try out some different EQ settings on the amp, if the cleans are too harsh just roll back the treble and give the bass and mids a wee boost, though I'm betting you've already gone through all that.

echelon

The Jaguar is naturally a very bright guitar, because of the 1meg pots and bridge. Humbuckers are always naturally warmer sounding. You def have the strangle switch turned off? 😉

Also you say with distorted you hear everything breaking up, yet you installed extra hot pickups!!

before upgrading your amp i say get a pair of Fender Jag AV pickups (about $90 for the pair), ive heard mostly bad about the SD jag pickups - i.e. theyre not very jag like.

paul_

have you re-done your amp settings to better suit the bright, sustainless jag? always a good idea. using the rhythm circuit and just using the neck pickup on the lead circuit are your best bets, because a hot SD jag in the bridge position will never sound warm.

see if your local guitar shop will allow you to test an amp or two with YOUR guitar, otherwise you'll be guess-timating with high stakes by buying a new amp.

BanditGuitarist1

I reccommend the Palamino I got the V16 and its awesome beautiful clean and a sweet overdrive works well with singles and hums.

PaLo_aLTo

echelon said:
before upgrading your amp i say get a pair of Fender Jag AV pickups (about $90 for the pair), ive heard mostly bad about the SD jag pickups - i.e. theyre not very jag like.

get the AV pickups...

but I got no problem with my SD hot..works fine..

FedExPope

Thanks for all the suggestions. Its not even that the guitar is too bright. It just doesn't sound that good. No matter what settings I use on the amp I can't get it to sound how I want it. I really think the amp is the problem. I'll have to take the Jag to guitar center and try out some amps.

BanditGuitarist1

try the Palamino you will probley enjoy it!

FedExPope

Here are some sound samples. Please exuse the bad guitarist 😉

Tell me what you think.

Clean neck pickup (sounds ok)

http://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?a ... F5749F5030

Dirty bridge pickup (i think it sounds awful - not tight enough)

http://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?a ... 5E09AC5931

BanditGuitarist1

WHOA I WANT A STOCK JAG NOW!!!!!!!! THATS A GREAT SOUND!

FedExPope

youre refering to the clean right?

BanditGuitarist1

no the distortion its sounds the way I like it very Hendrix/Frusciante style I like and your playing is pretty good man.

BanditGuitarist1

intrested in selling the jag? PM me haha

Malik

That does sound pretty good actually. I'm not sure what tone you're after, but that one would be good enough for me.

Elias78

Yup...that's what a stock jag would sound like...clean and dirty. It's the sparkly clarity of the overdriven notes that won me over. Have you played around with the rhythm pickup to get a warmer tone? I think before changing your amp, you might wanna consider using pedals to change your distortion sounds before forking out a huge amount for another amp.

I could get a pretty heavy sound by just combining my RAT2 and Metal Zone pedals and using the neck pickup (I'll try to get some clips up soon)

FedExPope

Elias78 said: Yup...that's what a stock jag would sound like...clean and dirty. It's the sparkly clarity of the overdriven notes that won me over.

Really, I feel like the overdrive is not clear enough. To me it sounds like its blown out. Almost like the speaker can't control the sound if you know what I mean. It sounds fuzzy when I want it to be tight.

After speding a while messing with the amp I am really pretty happy with the clean (i posted above). Its the distortion that I can't get right.

I don't know. Maybe a Tele is what I'm looking for.

BanditGuitarist1

hey what color is your jag????? Awesome bout the clean my latest geetar sounds beautiful clean but shall remain nameless till I get my camera ha

FedExPope

BanditGuitarist1

SCHWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET!

PaLo_aLTo

yeahhh!!!cool.....