Squier Jaguar Short Scale Club Part 3

[ZenG]

Sorry....Can't help.....As I said previously, drop them a line....They're very helpful....

Contacted DiMarzio..

They said the DP-126 set was a model P and a model J pickup. They didn't say which ones.

However...they said it was perfectly o.k. to pair a DP-122 with an UltraJazz bridge pickup.

The UltraJazz is 'hotter' than their P pickup.....but that's o.k. because they recommend having the jazz bridge pickup hotter anyway.

From what I've read, the UltraJazz is a straight drop-in on the Jag with no shoehorn required.

 

[Another Rick]

A thorough cleaning, primer, and paint would work. It won't be durable without a clear coat though.
Might as well do the screws, input nut, and bridge too if you're going for the totally blacked out look.

Personally, I'd leave it be though. I like the chrome accent pieces.

For the middle ply, I'd just use a waterproof, permanent magic marker.

Funny, that's exactly what I did with the middle ply. Eh, looks good enough. I am going for the blacked out look (a change of pace for me). One thing I did forget about was the input nut. I ended up sanding the chrome with some 320 wet/dry, 2 coats primer, and two coats of paint. I hadn't considered the clear coat. I may have to do that.
Thanks Felis

 

[macmanlou]

Looking at replacing the pickups in my Jag SS.

Or at least replacing the bridge pup (not interested in the magnet mod).

Any suggestions for pups? Or just bridgepup?

Prefer pups with fat low end.

I kept the stock P pickup because it works fine for me. I replaced the bridge pickup with a DiMarzio Area J because it's split-coil and hum-cancelling. It's not as hot as the single coil J pickups, but it's a marked improvement over the weaker single-coil stock one.

 

[Bugmanuk]

Hi just want to say Hi, I recently bought a jag ss and found this forum. Is this a club I join? I'm just wanting tips on mods etc. Esp this spanky sound i have, oh and that bloody Jazz ppickup! Thanks, Ryan

 

[AltGrendel]

Post a pic of your Jag and ask. I'll give you a number.

 

[Bassnomer]

I'd like to join!

 

[darkwasthenight]

I've been getting picky over the sound of the low E recently. I've put heavier gauge strings on and gone up to .105's which helped a bit, but we tune to Eb and it still feels flabby and slightly pitchy when playing the first 3 or 4 frets. The heavier gauges also aggravate my tendinitis issues, which is one of the reasons I moved to short scale in the first place.

EXPERIMENT TIME

I did some banging around of the old brain cells and worked out that because of the pitchyness I have tended to stay away from the bottom end anyway, so the lowest note I use on any of our songs is a G (really a concert F#). My cheap solution was to lose the low string, move all the others down a place; then use a .035 from a Bass VI set to add a high string for tenor-ish tuning, giving me G# C# F# B. For songs that need the F# (about half of our set) I drop the low string down two steps for F# C# F# B.

This has proved slightly fiddly in action, but I didn't have chance to run through the songs in the new tuning before our first show so was mostly occupied with transposing on the fly. Just to keep me on my toes the screw on the neck straplock decided to strip out during the first song too, so I also spent a lot of the set trying to hold the bass up while playing. The new tuning sounded great - very springy and lively - and no-one else even noticed the change until I mentioned it after the set so there was no lack of low-end coming offstage. I'm also going to rewrite some of my lines to take advantage of the extended range. Having the low F# on an open string has given me a few ideas for interesting drone lines that wouldn't have been possible in normal tuning.

Next step is possibly a hipshot xtender to make retuning easier. Has anyone mounted one of these on a Jag SS before?

 

[mongo2]

I've been getting picky over the sound of the low E recently. I've put heavier gauge strings on and gone up to .105's which helped a bit, but we tune to Eb and it still feels flabby and slightly pitchy when playing the first 3 or 4 frets. The heavier gauges also aggravate my tendinitis issues, which is one of the reasons I moved to short scale in the first place.

EXPERIMENT TIME

I did some banging around of the old brain cells and worked out that because of the pitchyness I have tended to stay away from the bottom end anyway, so the lowest note I use on any of our songs is a G (really a concert F#). My cheap solution was to lose the low string, move all the others down a place; then use a .035 from a Bass VI set to add a high string for tenor-ish tuning, giving me G# C# F# B. For songs that need the F# (about half of our set) I drop the low string down two steps for F# C# F# B.

This has proved slightly fiddly in action, but I didn't have chance to run through the songs in the new tuning before our first show so was mostly occupied with transposing on the fly. Just to keep me on my toes the screw on the neck straplock decided to strip out during the first song too, so I also spent a lot of the set trying to hold the bass up while playing. The new tuning sounded great - very springy and lively - and no-one else even noticed the change until I mentioned it after the set so there was no lack of low-end coming offstage. I'm also going to rewrite some of my lines to take advantage of the extended range. Having the low F# on an open string has given me a few ideas for interesting drone lines that wouldn't have been possible in normal tuning.

Next step is possibly a hipshot xtender to make retuning easier. Has anyone mounted one of these on a Jag SS before?

What do you mean by "pitchy" and "pitchyness" how does that sound?

 

[darkwasthenight]

What do you mean by "pitchy" and "pitchyness" how does that sound?

It's probably a combination of my heavy technique and tuning down, but I felt the low end had some awful overtones that made it sound out of tune or 'wavering' sometimes. I adjusted the nut and intonation, tried a few gauges of strings, and tried playing with the tuning slightly out to adjust, but to no avail. This new tuning has turned out to be a happy compromise and opened up some new angles for creativity.

I had the same problem with the G above the 12th fret, where the note was registering as in tune on the tuner but sounded off in context, but did manage to minimise that after a lot of intonation adjustment.

 

[mongo2]

It's probably a combination of my heavy technique and tuning down, but I felt the low end had some awful overtones that made it sound out of tune or 'wavering' sometimes. I adjusted the nut and intonation, tried a few gauges of strings, and tried playing with the tuning slightly out to adjust, but to no avail. This new tuning has turned out to be a happy compromise and opened up some new angles for creativity.

I had the same problem with the G above the 12th fret, where the note was registering as in tune on the tuner but sounded off in context, but did manage to minimise that after a lot of intonation adjustment.

The "wavering" seems like it could also be what's called "chorusing" which can indicate a witness point issue at the bridge saddle and/or pickups being too close to the strings.

 

[AltGrendel]

...Having the low F# on an open string has given me a few ideas for interesting drone lines that wouldn't have been possible in normal tuning.

Next step is possibly a hipshot xtender to make retuning easier. Has anyone mounted one of these on a Jag SS before?

Yes, I have one on mine. Works like its supposed to. The pitch may drift a bit when switching back to the "upper" note but nothing too dramatic. A quick tweak usually fixes it.

EDIT:
Don't know if you've had one before but make sure you read and follow the instructions on setting one up and how to tune. Would have saved me a ton of time if I had.

 

[AltGrendel]

I'd like to join!

You are 183. Welcome to the club.

 

[AltGrendel]

It's probably a combination of my heavy technique and tuning down, but I felt the low end had some awful overtones that made it sound out of tune or 'wavering' sometimes. I adjusted the nut and intonation, tried a few gauges of strings, and tried playing with the tuning slightly out to adjust, but to no avail. This new tuning has turned out to be a happy compromise and opened up some new angles for creativity.

I had the same problem with the G above the 12th fret, where the note was registering as in tune on the tuner but sounded off in context, but did manage to minimise that after a lot of intonation adjustment.

Yea, I was going to point out that a heavy fretting technique would cause issues. That's a hard habit to break but pretty well could be one of the root causes of the problem.

 

[RoadRanger]

I've been getting picky over the sound of the low E recently. I've put heavier gauge strings on and gone up to .105's which helped a bit, but we tune to Eb and it still feels flabby and slightly pitchy when playing the first 3 or 4 frets. The heavier gauges also aggravate my tendinitis issues, which is one of the reasons I moved to short scale in the first place.

I tune to "D" (or "Db" for one band that tunes Eb) and have a 125 flatwound on the bottom. Not flabby at all LOL.

 

[Bassnomer]

I tune to "D" (or "Db" for one band that tunes Eb) and have a 125 flatwound on the bottom. Not flabby at all LOL.

I'm currently tuned to D on my Jag shorty with .104 La Bella Quarter Rounds. I was tuned to Db yesterday while recording and didn't have any issues!

 

[darkwasthenight]

I tune to "D" (or "Db" for one band that tunes Eb) and have a 125 flatwound on the bottom. Not flabby at all LOL.

Would love to go that route, but as I mentioned I have tendonitis issues so had to find a workaround. I've got a Jazz with heavy flats on that I've been unable to gig for a while now - that and the weight were the main reasons for me moving onto the Jag.

I'm currently tuned to D on my Jag shorty with .104 La Bella Quarter Rounds. I was tuned to Db yesterday while recording and didn't have any issues!

Yeah, I'm just being picky and wanted an excuse to try another tuning!

 

[carlwilson6]

Hi all,
I've had my jag for over a year now and after playing a starcaster bass for the last 6 or so months am wanting to start a bit of a project modding my jag now that it's currently unused.

Should start off by saying this will be my first mod so any and all help will be much appreciated. Have been reading around on the thread and am wanting to do the following:

Bridge - replace this out as a priority, always found sustain to be an issue when I played this. Have read on here that something high mass should improve sustain and tone in general? Again a bit of reading has pointed me in the direction of the hipshot kick ass/fender badass/babicz - does anyone have a suggestion, even if its so far as it being the easiest to fit, given my experience hah!

Pickups - swap these out entirely. I know the P pickup isn't so bad but again used to find tone a bit thin throughout. Have narrowed this down to Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounders or Dimarzio DP126, again suggestions much appreciated!

These are my two priorities but other than that will maybe get round to changing the tuners, never struggled with the neck dive too much. My band does however play in drop D fairly often so will probably fit a Hipshot drop D tuner on. If I'm doing this is it worth me just changing out all the tuners at that point or can I just fit the Drop D tuner and leave the other stock tuners in?

Just another point to note too - my band plays rock sort of on the heavy side, QOTSA sort of stuff I guess? I know a lot of you Jag fans give the La Bella Deep Talkin strings a real plus for this bass, would these suit this style or am I best off sticking with roundwounds?

Look forward to starting and hearing back from you all, will get a picture up shortly to get my number.

Thanks,
Carl

 

[AltGrendel]

@carlwilson6:

Hey Carl, glad you're trying out mods, they are fun and I've always felt that the Jag SS was a great platform for that.

First thing, do not expect drastic changes. There will be improvements, but it'll be incremental.

Bridges:
Yes, any hi-mass bridge will help. I'm partial to Schallers so I can't answer about the ones you mentioned. Schallers have a different screw pattern, so I'd stay with one of the brands you mentioned.

Pickups:
I installed a DP-126 set and am very satisfied with it. I describe it as a "work horse" pickup set, it does what you need and expect and is extremely serviceable. Recommend unless you have specific sonic goals.

Drop-d tuner:
I have one on mine, works just like on the 34' inch scale instruments. I didn't have to change out any of the other tuners, they're all stock. I also used the original Jag SS collet with the extender, fits just fine. Read the instructions on setup and tuning, wish I had at the beginning, tuning would have been less frustrating.

Strings:
You can stick with Rounds if that's your preference, I would recommend going to a 105 or so set especially if you install the Hipshot Extender. The heavier/thicker gauges tend to do better on short scales.

Misc note:
I don't know how they are now, but the neck on mine was "tweaky" for about 3 years. After that it settled in and now rarely needs adjustments.

Hopefully others will chime in with their 2 cents.

Edit:
Forgot that I changed string brands. I now use La Bella Quarter Rounds 104 set. Very happy with it.

 

[Fat Freddy]

Carl,

Probably not much help but I swapped out the stock pickups for the Dimarzio DP126 set and replaced the pots with Dimarzio 500K for volume for a wider frequency response, with a 250K for tone.

Also changed the capacitor for a .033mFd. The pot and cap values were at Dimarzio's recommendation....

Haven't felt the need to swap out the bridge....I have plenty of sustain with the stock one.....

I've also left the tuners as stock and have had no probs with a "tweaky" neck.....

One small truss rod adjustment when it was new and haven't had to touch it since.....

As I said....probably not much help but I've been very happy with my bass after the couple of mods were done....

 

[GoLeafsGo]

Hi Carl, I also did a few mods to mine after a couple of years. Biggest was to change the pups, I went with the 1/4 pounders and noticed quite an improvement, especially on the bridge pick up. And they fit perfectly with no need for additional routing. I tried D'Adarrio black tapewound strings, and I really like those as well. Have fun!