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When I switched to the SS Jag from my P bass I had the same issue with the G string. I've only been playing for 6 months and saw it as poor form on my part. The wider neck of the P was, at least in that way, more forgiving of my sloppy fingers.
And if, like me, you get really hooked on playing bass your guitars will be neglected for the next year at least. I've told everyone I know over the past two years that I enjoy bass more than 30 years of guitar and have learned more theory through playing bass than I ever did on guitar.
I got some Gotoh res-o-lites. My reasoning at the time was I wanted more accurate tuning (28:1 instead of the original 20:1) and wanted less neck dive. It improved things a little but not as much as I was hoping at the time, particularly when they cost over half the price of the bass.
In saying that, just a few weeks ago on holiday there was an open mic night at a pub near where we were staying so my girls and I went along. I had my travel bass with me but there was a Jag shorty there to use so I thought I might as well give it a go. Tuning was not as accurate and the neck dive was noticeably worse, so while I probably wouldn't bother paying that much for tuners again, it did help...... probably more so than I just helped you (none??).
I'd take up fjadams on this offer rather than spending money..... what a legend.
Thanks fjadams will pm you!
Stacked pots fit just fine. There's more room under that plate than you think.
This is in the hot deals section but I thought I'ld cross post here: 127.30usd at musician's friend. Felt like I had to have a CAR version (arriving tomorrow night):
Squier Vintage Modified Jaguar Bass Special SS (Short Scale)
Squier Vintage Modified Jaguar Bass Special SS (Short Scale)
I did.
But there's so many posts in this thread that I'm not surprised that you missed it:
Squier Jaguar Short Scale Club Part 3
Had this purchased over a year ago with the intention of modding it. Well it's done (sort of).
Seymour Duncan 1/4 pound P with a switch from on-off-on with .1 hi cut to its own output
Stock jazz pickup with same switch but with .001 low cut and its own output.
Custom Labella deep talking set .128 - .50ish for drop Bb tuning. So compact yet "heavy".
What size is the Jazz pickup? I want to put a more aggressive and midrangey pickup in there to be the dirty spank to the somewhat scooped QP clea tone.
It's the standard Jazz bridge pickup size. I'm partial to split coils, so I went with a DiMarzio Area J, but you might like to pair that SD Quarter Pound P with the Invalid Link Removed. It would look good and the output specs look like what you're after.
Area J might work, not really concerned about looks other than black and more black. QP is assume would be more of the same.
Output doesn't matter they are two exclusive circuits going to two different pedal chains and either two different inputs or two different Amps!
I like the Area J because it's (1) split-coil so it doesn't hum, and (2) clean sounding with little mid-scoop. And it's a totally different sound than the stock P pickup. It uses Alnico 2 magnets (as opposed to Alnico 5) and isn't nearly as hot as many other offerings. The coils are wired separately so you could wire it to a switch for series or parallel options if you wanted to. The DiMarzio Ultra Jazz has heavier magnets and higher output, but the mids are scooped much more in comparison to the Area J.
BTW I installed the Area J initially with the height adjusted fairly close to the strings (on purpose because the less you move wood screws back and forth into relatively soft body wood, the better). I discovered what folks had been saying about pickup magnets possibly affecting intonation, was true. When I set them to about 1/8" from the strings (with strings fretted at the last fret), intonation was spot on (like it was before I replaced the PU).
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Very nice! Now I'll have to troll the classifieds for a control plate and stacked knobs.
Hello! New to the website and this forum. Just completed a Squier Jag SS modification project and I thought I would share it. Cruising this website was fantastic inspiration! Truly amazing members here!
- Sanded down the head stock and added the Fender waterslide decal.
- Seymour-Duncan SBJ-3 bridge pickup (stock was really weak as most contributors have stated. The Seymour-Duncan complements the rather hot P pickup. Bright/hot/grindy sound overall! Great blend with both at 100%)
- Still debating about the Fender high mass bridge, it raises the strings a bit too high for my taste even at the lowest setting. I would really like to find a Mustang bridge.
- Pearl pickguard, I ordered this even before I had the bass from Amazon. I dig it!
- Vinyl racing stripe from Osaka, Japan. Looks good but I don't really consider it a permanent solution.
- Aluminum HVAC tape as an improvised internal shielding.
- Sanded down the head stock and added the Fender waterslide decal.
- Seymour-Duncan SBJ-3 bridge pickup (stock was really weak as most contributors have stated. The Seymour-Duncan complements the rather hot P pickup. Bright/hot/grindy sound overall! Great blend with both at 100%)
- Still debating about the Fender high mass bridge, it raises the strings a bit too high for my taste even at the lowest setting. I would really like to find a Mustang bridge.
- Pearl pickguard, I ordered this even before I had the bass from Amazon. I dig it!
- Vinyl racing stripe from Osaka, Japan. Looks good but I don't really consider it a permanent solution.
- Aluminum HVAC tape as an improvised internal shielding.
Nice!!
Which pickguard did you end up getting?
This place looks like they can do me anything I would want with a preloaded template which is pretty cool: Invalid Link Removed
Nice job! I like the stripe and pickguard.
The stock Mustang bridge is string-through-body only, and the bolt pattern is quite different from the stock bridge. I've got two Mustangs and I like the bridges a lot, but if you want one for your Jaguar make sure you get a set of body ferrules to go with it. And you'll need a set of medium scale strings to allow for through-body stringing. LaBella makes special sets for the Mustang and "short scale" Thomastiks are really medium scale length.
Hi, so 11 days into owning my bass, and absolutely loving it. Losing our bass player was the best thing that could have happened, as I'd never of thought of switching to bass if that hadn't happened.
I've finally waded through the whole of part 3 of this thread, and one thing puzzles me.
I went to the shop twice to try these out before buying. The first time I went I clearly noticed a big difference between the P and J pickups, the J was much, much weaker. The second time I was trying a different one (the red one I bought) and didn't notice it so much in the shop. At home, I could tell the J was a bit weaker, and I was considering trying to track down one of those magnets over here in the UK, and looking at replacement pickup options/costs, then I thought I'd try just raising it up a bit and see what that did. Made a huge difference. Both pickups are just as strong as each other now as far as I can tell from my ears and looking at the levels I see in the DAW it's going into. For the first time having both on full creates a distinctive blended sound instead of the J being completely drowned out. I'm feeling really happy about that and no longer see a need for changing anything.
So I guess my question for everyone who has swapped out the J pickup, or done the magnet mod, did you try raising the J pickup first to see if it made a difference? Is there just something a bit odd about my particular one? Or are my ears (and eyes) deceiving me and the J pickup doesn't really sound as loud now as I think it does? I'm new to basses so can't say how it compares to other Jazz pickups in terms of tone, and I'm sure there are tons of great reasons to choose different pickups to do other things, but this could be an easy fix if it's just the output level that's the problem for some people.
I've finally waded through the whole of part 3 of this thread, and one thing puzzles me.
I went to the shop twice to try these out before buying. The first time I went I clearly noticed a big difference between the P and J pickups, the J was much, much weaker. The second time I was trying a different one (the red one I bought) and didn't notice it so much in the shop. At home, I could tell the J was a bit weaker, and I was considering trying to track down one of those magnets over here in the UK, and looking at replacement pickup options/costs, then I thought I'd try just raising it up a bit and see what that did. Made a huge difference. Both pickups are just as strong as each other now as far as I can tell from my ears and looking at the levels I see in the DAW it's going into. For the first time having both on full creates a distinctive blended sound instead of the J being completely drowned out. I'm feeling really happy about that and no longer see a need for changing anything.
So I guess my question for everyone who has swapped out the J pickup, or done the magnet mod, did you try raising the J pickup first to see if it made a difference? Is there just something a bit odd about my particular one? Or are my ears (and eyes) deceiving me and the J pickup doesn't really sound as loud now as I think it does? I'm new to basses so can't say how it compares to other Jazz pickups in terms of tone, and I'm sure there are tons of great reasons to choose different pickups to do other things, but this could be an easy fix if it's just the output level that's the problem for some people.
Downsman: My J pup is definitely weaker than the P, irregardless of height adjustment. But then again, the P seems hotter than most of my other basses that have a split P pickup. So, I usually just back the P volume down to match the level of the J. I always wondered why more people don't do the same. The sound is very nice once the two p'ups are adjusted to match each other, IMO. Does anyone else do this?
Yes, yes I did.
I bought mine to learn how to mod anyway, so that didn't stop me.
Oh, yes, I totally get that. I have and love the Squier VM Jaguar guitar, but have swapped out the nut, saddles, have a buzz stop, and learned to solder in order to do the series mod to add an extra set of tones on top of all the ones it came with. Only the nut was necessary as I got it second hand and think the previous owner had messed it up. The rest was really just to customise it and make it a bit more personal to me and my tastes.
It's just after wading through 67 pages in this thread, again and again I saw people saying how they had to swap out the J pickup because it was so weak, or do the magnet mod, and I don't seem to be having the same problem on my one after raising it a millimetre or two. Couldn't see any posts from people saying their pickups had matching output without having to do more than that.
That's interesting. At a minimum my one was set up differently either at the factory or by the shop to the one I tried a few days earlier because that one had a big difference between the pups and my one was much harder to notice even before I did anything.
Actually, just noticed something odd. One of the screws on the P pup is a different colour to the others. Either the black on top has worn off, or was never there. Might have nothing to do with anything, but maybe something was done to that one, lowered maybe, to help balance them out.
I love mysteries.
