Would Jag pickups be unsuitable for a hollow body guitar like a 335 or even a big boxy hollow jazz guitar? I was thinking about it because Gretsch guitars often have such a nice spag-western/pseudo-surf sound. P90s for example are equally suited to solid and hollow body guitars but Jag pickups seem to be used exclusively on solid guitars. Also, just how awful would the fit of a Jag pickup into the pickup rout be on the majority of hollow guitars? Most hollow body guitars seems to have PAF style pickups which have a much bigger footprint than a Jag pickup, or P90s which are smaller than PAFs but still bigger than Jag pickups. Even if it it had ugly gaps either side of it, would it at least be possible? Thank you!

Was the string spacing wrong because of the wrong bridge saddle spacing?

clackclack
Would Jag pickups be unsuitable for a hollow body guitar like a 335 or even a big boxy hollow jazz guitar? I was thinking about it because Gretsch guitars often have such a nice spag-western/pseudo-surf sound. P90s for example are equally suited to solid and hollow body guitars but Jag pickups seem to be used exclusively on solid guitars. Also, just how awful would the fit of a Jag pickup into the pickup rout be on the majority of hollow guitars? Most hollow body guitars seems to have PAF style pickups which have a much bigger footprint than a Jag pickup, or P90s which are smaller than PAFs but still bigger than Jag pickups. Even if it it had ugly gaps either side of it, would it at least be possible? Thank you!

The single coil pickups on Gretsch guitars don't have much in common with either Jaguar pickups or P-90s IMHO. I actually think of my Dynasonic Duo Jet as a husky sounding Tele. I think that the focused sound of any single coil can give you a decent spaghetti western sound and even the mini humbuckers (Filtertrons) that Gretsch uses do pretty well. My guess is that Jag pickups on a true hollow body would sound thin.

The artist formerly known as: Synchro

When Surf Guitar is outlawed only outlaws will play Surf Guitar.

Interesting. I was thinking about putting them on an Epiphone Casino (with flatwounds) which, like the 335, doesn't have as deep a body as a Gretsch, but is fully hollow and does not have a block of wood running down the middle like the 335.

I suppose I'm pursuing the Jag tone, but airier and more resonant. It's difficult to factor in how much the string length behind the bridge and the charmingly poorly-designed bridge of a Jag contribute to its sound. Many folks swap the Jag bridge for a Mustang one without sacrificing the Jag's tonal character. Also, the long string length behind the bridge is pretty common on the kinds of guitars I'm talking about: http://d1058730.i105.quadrahosting.com.au/shop/images/79335.jpg

Do you think that seeking a more resonant Jaguar tone is a contradiction in terms? Does the poor bridge and long string length behind the bridge make it UNresonant, owing to the charm of the Jag sound? I suppose the bridge decreases sustain but I've never really known the effect of the long string length behind the bridge.

A jag is fairly resonant for a solid body when unplugged. When plugged in, the resonance doesn't come across into the sustained guitar tone.

The long string length takes up string energy, which is sustain.

Look at a Guild T-100, maybe that is something you are looking for. I'd prefer to not think of mine sounding likea Jaguar, but the pickups are a little on the thin size, but the body and bridge give it a nice full sound.

String length behind the bridge can be varied with the kind of Bigsby you decide for.

The Exotic Guitar of Kahuna Kawentzmann

You can get the boy out of the Keynes era, but you can’t get the Keynes era out of the boy.

From some experiments I've done and conversations w/a manufacturer, a Jag PU by itself is not that dissimilar to a Strat bridge PU w/a baseplate. That metal shielding around the Jag PU gives it some extra punch just like the Strat baseplate. Also, if you're stressing the Jag-ness of the PUs, you'll need to put in some 1M control pots (compared to the warmer sounding 500Ks used for Gibsons or 250Ks used on most other Fenders...Strats and Teles in particular). This adds brightness to the punch provided by the shielding.

I think it will work...assuming you can get the PUs mounted cleanly...maybe working with Strat bridge PUs + baseplates would be easier to accomodate? At any rate, I'm sure you'll pick up some of that airy-ness even in a semi hollow body. A good example are the Jerry Jones guitars which have much more wood supporting them than the early Danelectros they're based on. They're tighter sounding (more solid body sounding) but still have that "hollow" feel to the tone.

Kawentzmann
Jake, anymore anatomical difference to come across real knowledgable? What about the differences in wood?

Maple body in the majority of hollow/semi hollows versus the alder of the Jag. Yet one more reason the Jag pickups won't make it sound like a jaguar.

Is that real knowledgeable for you?

Kawentzmann
So, has anybody except myself actually done it and can chime in?

Definitely not me. But that isn't the point of what I was saying. Instead of this guy potentially doing a ugly and perhaps harmful mod to his guitar, I suggested some alternatives. The chances are it wouldn't even sound like a Jag. You didn't mention how it sounded, just that you did it.

But you know what I have done many times? Swapped out pickups, and putting a different set of pickups in a guitar doesn't make that guitar sound like a different model of guitar.