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SurfGuitar101 Forums » Gear »

Permalink Tameing the highs on my Jag

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Hi All

Ive been wondering what my next move gearwise should be. I have an AVRI Jag set with Pyramid Gold 11's, Princeton reissue and go via a FRV1 pedal (sorry to mention that pedal again!). Thing is, I feel im getting some great tones with that set up especially in the bottom four strings but when I hit the top two it really barks back bright and shrill. So, turn the treble down on amp, guitar or tone on pedal which kind of works but the consequence is I loose the bottom end growl if you see what im trying to say.
Any suggestions?
Cheers
Nigel

How do you have the lead circuit switches set?

This is Noel. Reverb's at maximum an' I'm givin' 'er all she's got.

Hi Noel

It varies. I spent a lot of time with the bridge set to down/off which helps but takes too much away from the bottom end. It looses its bite. Im hoping to get a biteing bass with a mild top end. Is that possible with my set up? When I listen to recordings of Jags which im sure we have all heard I find i almost recoil at times at the shrill on those top two strings.

Last edited: Jun 19, 2012 16:30:12

image

Old punks never die... They just become surf rockers.

There are MUCH more experienced Jaguar owners here. Perhaps some even have your exact rig. Mine is a just-acquired CIJ Jag, but I used to use an FRV-1 and now have a Texotica reverb. I also use a Quilter MP-200 amp. Oddly, I was able to get rid of the shrill highs before I sold the FRV-1 and only made one minor amp setting change after plugging in the Jag. I did spend some time finding the sweet spot on that guitar so it could use my general settings for other guitars.

(I've also discovered that other pedals have a profound effect on the overall tone. FWIW, the Space Echo makes everything dreamy, creamy, mellow and spacious while my Ennio Trilogy Fuzz is total spaghetti twang but the Danelectro Kool Kat is total heavy metal.)

Anyway, here goes. Reverb: Tone, 3/12; Dwell, 12/12; Mix, 12/12. I also used to use a lot of dwell and mix but very low tone on my FRV-1. Amp: Bass,4/10; Mid, 8/10; Treb, 5/10. Amp's Boost is set to Bright and Presence is set to 8/10. One benefit of the Quilter is it doesn't get shrill as it gets louder; 2/10 or 10/10 has same overall tone.

I play with my Jag's Volume between 5/10 and 8/10. Upper switch: Lead circuit. Lower switches. Up, up, down. Tone knob, 8/10. The Jag snarls as it's turned lounder but the tone stays the same.

I haven't tried the Jag with my Fender amp (Stage 112SE). I've been curious about it but not enough to uncover it and plug it in.

I also have it (and my Strat) strung with Curt Mangen 11-52 Fusion Matched Flats (wound third). Maybe that matters too.

Hope this helps.

This is Noel. Reverb's at maximum an' I'm givin' 'er all she's got.

Have you tried lowering the treble side of the pickups a bit?

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I roll the tone knob on the guitar down to 7. Then I put a piece of electrical tape over it to hold it there.

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I have had the same problem with my cp Jazzmaster lately, but only since I started using an FRV-1. (My amp reverb went dead, and the frv I the only option I have until I finally win an eBay auction for a tank). I think the frv pedal is part of the problem, it really sounds shrill on the b string especially. I lowered the treble end of my pickups yesterday, and that helped a bit.

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PolloGuitar wrote:

I roll the tone knob on the guitar down to 7. Then I put a piece of electrical tape over it to hold it there.

Same here.

I would suggest using 12s and rolling off your guitar master volume to 9.
A thicker gauge string on the high end will give you fuller notes, while rolling off the volume will cut the inherent Fender "shrill".

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Thank you everyone. I think the one thing i havent tried is lowering the pick up on the treble side. will do that after work today. FWIW= Amp Volume 3, Bass 2 Treble 4. This is home use only hence volume at 3 and the guitar volume is nowhere near maximum.Thats where it stays for both Jag and strat and I do everything else from the guitars. May well try 12s one day too.
Thanks again.
Nigel

Last edited: Jun 20, 2012 00:46:38

Stainless flats?

He who dies with the most tubes... wins

Surf Daddies

Tubeswell, the Pyramid golds are listed as Chrome Nickel.

That Jag shrill high end is from the 1meg pots, put in some 250k CTS pots and it'll sound fatter and warmer. It's not something you can EQ out and the pickup height probably wont make that much of a difference for the shrillness. I honestly don't know how anyone can leave those 1megs in with a Fender amp, kills my ears!

The Del-Vipers

Last edited: Jun 20, 2012 13:31:53

Surfocaster wrote:

Tubeswell, the Pyramid golds are listed as Chrome Nickel.

Yep I saw that. I was wondering whether stainless flats would sound less ice-picky than chromes. (I've never tried chromes). Fender includes a set of stainless flats with their AVRI Jags and Jazzies, and the package is labelled "Fender strings, made exclusively for Jazzmaster/Jaguar" .011, .014, .020, .030, .040, .050. The 20 is plain. (Seeing as how its the manufacturers recommendation n'all).

I have .011 stainless flats on my jazzy and it sounds incredibly surfy (and that's with the 1M pots)

He who dies with the most tubes... wins

Surf Daddies

Last edited: Jun 20, 2012 19:46:27

Don't worry about the numbers on the knobs, just set your tone control on your guitar a bit back from full on to where it sounds smooth and balanced to you. I like to keep my amp's highs a bit bright to allow me to compensate for our drummer's enthusiasm. If I need a bit of bite to override the cymbals, I have it, then I can throttle back a bit to make it smoother

Also I replaced my 1meg pots with 500ks that mellows the tone out a bit. Most Strats are running 250k's that shunt a good bit more of the bite to ground.

Tweak my good man. Swapping out pots in a Jag is almost so easy it ought to be illegal.

Here once again is Eddie K's volume pot ez fix. Take a 1 meg resistor and bridge the two outside terminals on the 1 meg volume pot (outside terminal to the grounded terminal or pot body. Then tie a 1000 pico farad disk cap across the live terminal and the wiper......Bingo Instant Jazzmaster or Jaguar improvement.

The resistor shunts off some of the annoying bite and the cap allows the highs to remain present as you back off the volume control. I wouldn't leave home with out this mod.

ed

Traditional........speak softly and play through a big blonde amp. Did I mention that I still like big blonde amps?

Thanks everyone. Tubeswell, believe me , this set up sounds really surfy, fantastic in fact on the gentle tunes but the faster tunes where im digging in with the pick is when the top two strings shriek at me.I lowered the treble side of the bridge pup and then has taken a bit off the top string and a tiny amount off the second string, so thats a help. I think my next move will be up to 12s and back to stainless steel as tubeswell recommended but I want some mileage out of these pyramids first. If that doesnt work then I guess it would be time for a real tank. If that doesnt work should I go tweed? If that doesnt work then I guess there is something wrong with my ears!!
Cheers

Try Labella Flats. They sound great, and they're more balanced sounding between the wound/unwound than other sets I've tried.

http://www.reverbnation.com/thedeadranchhands

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZEW74mHjQk

Flats won't help you in the shrill B/E string department though. Use your tone/volume knobs on the guitar to get you where you want to be.

Ryan
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I like EddieKatcher's idea of lower value pots. IIRC, Mel Waldorf uses 250k pots.

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