About Jaguar pickups

[Mark Hammer]

Well, in view of both Jason's and Ken's comments, it makes me wonder about the microphonic properties of other single-coil form-factor pickups with such "side-structures", like the Lace, Kinman, or the virtual vintage, or any other designs that have some sort of channeling or additional "side metal".

Are those designs decidedly better-adhered than the Jaguar, and if so, how? Or put another way, if they are NOT microphonic, what is it about them that escapes the flaws of the Jag?

I'm not obsessing about this, but I'd like to make this sow's ear a little more silk-purse-like....at least as much as is feasible. The claw seems to be a serviceable idea, just poorly implemented in this instance. Of course I may change my mind once I have it built. It still faces the most critical test of sounding like something other than ass.

[Ward]

All this negative talk man I tell ya, I put a couple of Jag pickups into a strat, absolutely no micro at all, it sounds fantastic, it's just wired up like a tele but with 1 Meg pots and a .01uf tone cap. It's my favourite guitar out of 15 that I have here. The reason I wanted to do this is because someone came over with his 65 Jag, it didn't squeal either, I thought most of the tones were dull but the one bright tone was awesome to my ears, no one knew exactly what all those switches did on that day but I figured a couple of Jag pickups in one of my strats would be a good experiment, I couldn't find parts to wind any up so I just bought a couple of Fender ones, they were $40 ea. In the end as I said, it's a killer guitar. The craw ( not craw, CRAW!!!, sorry about that Mr Craw) has holes in the bottom so the mags don't actually touch it. If I was gonna make these I'de super glue the craw on the bottom and then pot as usual. The bridge pickup is what I love about this guitar, there's a lot more top end but it's nothing like a strat or tele, well there's more but it's nice, you have to hear it I spose,I figure the angle or lack of also contributes to the tone but the bridge pickup has a very strong kick with the guitar on full, you play mostly with the vol on 7 or 8 and then when you go to 10 it really hoots for solos, similar to a P-90 in that regard, don't believe a word of this negative crap here, both the 65 Jag and this hybrid one sound awesome.[IMG][/IMG]

[Mark Hammer]

Thanks! I look forward to the outcome of this little adventure.

[big_teee]

All this negative talk man I tell ya, I put a couple of Jag pickups into a strat, absolutely no micro at all, it sounds fantastic, it's just wired up like a tele but with 1 Meg pots and a .01uf tone cap. It's my favourite guitar out of 15 that I have here. The reason I wanted to do this is because someone came over with his 65 Jag, it didn't squeal either, I thought most of the tones were dull but the one bright tone was awesome to my ears, no one knew exactly what all those switches did on that day but I figured a couple of Jag pickups in one of my strats would be a good experiment, I couldn't find parts to wind any up so I just bought a couple of Fender ones, they were $40 ea. In the end as I said, it's a killer guitar. The craw ( not craw, CRAW!!!, sorry about that Mr Craw) has holes in the bottom so the mags don't actually touch it. If I was gonna make these I'de super glue the craw on the bottom and then pot as usual. The bridge pickup is what I love about this guitar, there's a lot more top end but it's nothing like a strat or tele, well there's more but it's nice, you have to hear it I spose,I figure the angle or lack of also contributes to the tone but the bridge pickup has a very strong kick with the guitar on full, you play mostly with the vol on 7 or 8 and then when you go to 10 it really hoots for solos, similar to a P-90 in that regard, don't believe a word of this negative crap here, both the 65 Jag and this hybrid one sound awesome.[IMG][/IMG]

Nick, but I bet everything sounds good on that Stack of HomeBrew Marshalls you have all stacked up!
Good Looking Guitar, and what I really like about it is, it's a Lefty!
Later,
T

[Ward]

Thanks Terry, I forgot to mention when I said the bridge pickup has heaps of treble, although it does and it is very apparent it's a good treble because there are lots of bottoms and mids to balance it out unlike a strat or tele single, you can always dial it out from the amp if you want. The "craw'' apparently is not for shielding but to concentrate the magnetic field, at least this is something I read after much searching. I put the two lower teeth on the treble side from said research as well. I did measure the DCR but I forget what it is now and I didn't write it down but I was sure it was more than 6.5, I have some black covers coming so I'll measure them but one thing's for sure, there is a bit more output with the Jags and as such they can really do some serious kickin, well the bridge anyway, I haven't met a neck pickup yet that I loved.
Anyone who thinks the jag in just a surf guitar is totally misguided, this thing is a rocker big time and I wouldn't want to foul up the tone pushing it with one of those pesky pedals even though you see a few in the amp pic below. I have a couple that I use for humbuckers to push them a bit but you don't want them for the Jag pickups IMO.
I have some Jazzmaster pickup parts coming soon for another strat so I'm looking forward to that, they have the 1 meg pots as well. Oh in case anyone gives a rats, I put a treble bleeder on the vol pot, .001/200k in series.
Here's a pic of the amp stack in case anyone's interested. All Marshall clones. Nic.
[IMG][/IMG]

[jason lollar]

Ward, I stand corrected! Sometimes when you are full of crap it spills out all over Thats alot of amps!- you dont actually take all those to a gig?????
I have seen it though-but thats from making and repairing hundreds of them, its easier to see the flaws over a large quantity.
if you look at the lace reflectors- those are much smaller so they would resonate at an extremely high frequency if they did at all.

[Ward]

Hey Jason, I'm sure you know I wasn't having a go at you, I have very limited exp with Jag pickups and I'm sure you have seen a lot of micro jag pickups, it just looked like the thread was heading in the " Jag pickups are crap" department and I had to put my 2Cs worth in and stand up for them. So anyway, maybe I'll be in for some micro when I swap the covers and may need to pot again? I hope not, my main point is that I think the Jag bridge pickup with 1meg pots is just brilliant and I saw the pickup's rep dying on this thread and well you know how quickly things can spread. I love the pickup myself.
Lot of amps, yes it's a bit silly really because they all sound pretty much the same except that the 100s are louder. Nothing better to do. It's the same with my home made guitars.

[ken]

I'm not bitching about the pickup... Jag pickups per se aren't crap, just the 'craw' design. I'm just saying what ten years or so's practical experience with them left me. Besides, I think the Jag's real issue was the really short scale, making it almost impossible for most adults to play past the 10th fret. This is why in the end I bought a '61 Jazzmaster instead. I miss my '64.

What scale is the guitar in the photo? If it's a 'normal' (25 1/2") scale, the longer scale's bass response would add to the pickup's apparent bass response since there is more there to be had. Remember that the same pickups sound good in the Bass VI.

Don't ask me though, let's ask the band at the Shanghai A Go Go disco. Ward here can take Max and 99, and I'll take Princess Ingrid and... and... and... um... what were we talking about again?

[Ward]

Ken, yes it's 25 1/2'' scale. The 65 Jag that came over was a righty so I couldn't play it but it sure sounded good to me on the br pickup. By the time I got the Jag pickups into my strat I had forgotten exactly how the real Jag sounded so I'm not sure about the bass response but you're probably right, in the strat there is a good amount of bass. The craw IMO is what allows the Jag pickup to do what it does, the way it sounds and responds in the strat I have not come remotely close to that ever with any other pickup so the craw stays. Without it you've just got another strat pickup really. I've had bigger micro dramas with Teles.
Weeeelllll, there you have it Chief

[ken]

You know, what this place really needs is an emoticon for 'dirty minded snickering'. I can still see Princess Ingrid running across her hotel room floor toward Max and errr... kissing him, while 99 did a great 'slow burn'. If I was Max, I know I sure wouldn't have been complaining.

ken

[Ward]

They broke the mould that's for sure.

[Sweetfinger]

The guitar actually needs the added mass of the 12-54 strings to have any kind of bass response at all.

What was Leo thinking???

ken

.

12 - 54 would have been a standard light guage string that everyone used. Think of it as that time period's Super Slinkys. A few years later, the blues guitarists "in the know" would substitute banjo strings in order to get a super light "bending" set.

[jason lollar]

I never said I didnt like how the pickup sounds, I said
"Dont overwind it because these sound fat already due to the claw- they are also prone to horrible shrieking microphonic feedback which comes entirely from the claw,When i make them- I think I am the only aftermarket guy that supplies the claw with the pickup- I pot the claw to the cover and it helps"
Prone meaning the design is more sensitive to microphonics than typical- tele bridge pickups and the bridge assemblys can do the same thing.
I think its a really good bridge pickup, in a jag guitar the bass can get boomy fast. I wouldnt make something I thought was crap- I just made 40 sets for a guitar maker in japan and have finally made enough it was worth investing in having the claws made from scratch- I just sent my first batch out for plating last week. I was having to pay something like $10 or $15 each and they were hard to get consistantly so I would have to buy 50 pieces at a time at that price. Its a pretty simple part to have made.
Pedal steel guys are hyper sensitive about microphonics - they do not want to hear thier pdals at all-so for that application I wouldnt reccomend it.

[Mark Hammer]

Well, I wound it yesterday, with some nice green Elektrisola #43, to around 6.85k, using my electric drill. And, after an evening of scraping and filing, I mounted it in the bridge position of a cheap Strat-clone body modded from vibrato assembly to hardtail (a "Jagard" I think, which seems fitting in a way), that came routed for two SC pickups, slanted Mustang-style. The neck pickup is a Strat-type that I wound up to around 7.1k with the same #43 and some .187 x 710mm A3 polepieces. I think the combination of bright neck and ballsier bridge might sound interesting.

I tried melting wax into the space between claw and flatwork but the claw has a way of sucking heat out too quickly for the setup I was using. I Crazy Glued the claw into place and will try and drip some additional wax into the holes around the base of the claw for insurance.

I'm a couple of hours away from full wire-up. I'll let you know how it sounds, once I drive my wife to the baby shower this afternoon, come home, and crank it up.

[Mike Sulzer]

I Crazy Glued the claw into place and will try and drip some additional wax into the holes around the base of the claw for insurance.

How about setting it in place it on with Gorilla glue? The foam might do a better job of filing holes and also contribute some damping.