I've owned my 90's MIJ Jaguar now for 18 years and have kept it stock since the day I bought it. I'm finally getting around to striking up enough nerve to upgrade it's parts. I lived with the horrible feedback it produced when running it through overdriven amps, but I'm making the decision to only use the Jaguar for surf/clean playing from now on. I might be a little crazy for saying the following. My wife recently got a VM Jag, and to my ears, it sounds better to me than my MIJ.

Having said that, I would like to try and improve it's character moving forward. First order of business would be to replace the stock MIJ pickups. What should be my best option of making my Jaguar sound era-specific? (Were the mid 90's reissues based on the '63?) Would swapping in AVRI bridge and neck pickups make an improvement in tone?
I'm not looking to go too crazy as I don't have a huge budget to work with, but would just like it to sound a bit nicer.

Last edited: Dec 13, 2014 22:10:13

Do the AV65 pickups instead of the AVRI pickups, a huge improvement. I love the AV65 Jag pickups, they really nailed it with them.

For me, new pots, wiring, is a given for MIJ Jag's I've owned. I would also suggest a Mastery Bridge(they make a specific one for MIJ guitars). The Mastery isn't a must, but all of mine have them.

The CIJ/MIJ wood is great stuff, the electronics just lacked. The vibrato isn't very good either... but if you aren't vibrato arm obsessed you'll be good.

So...
AV'65 pickups = $85-$100
New Pots - $10
New wire - $5
New tone cap - $5
I would ignore the rhythm circuit/remove it all together. They are expensive to upgrade. Also, the pots might not fit in the old control plate, I never had any problem though but I've heard some people have had issues.

And Mastery Bridge! - $150

I remember the nuts being pretty nice, but if yours looks plastic and poorly cut, get a new nut.

Pickups: Here they are cheaper: http://www.amazon.com/Fender-099-2238-000-Vintage-Jaguar-Pickup/dp/B00I3XGCZS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418575149&sr=8-1&keywords=jaguar+pickup

They sound much better, more transparent. Less coloration, less harsh, less dark. And I do mean dark as a negative in this sense(normally I like dark sounding).

The AVRI pickups sound like Fender tried copying a 40 year old pickup that maybe wasn't the best. The AV'65 pickups sound like Fender built a pickup to the original spec ignoring all of the aging that happened to the pickup. I normally love Lollars, but this is the one instance where they aren't the best.

Bridge: the buzz stop is NEVER an option. NEVER NEVER NEVER. It really alters the sound of a Jag by taking away that shallow break angle and the extra space behind the bridge.

Flatwound strings don't help. They mask the issues.

A properly setup guitar should have zero buzz, and this is 100% possible. I personally don't like mustang bridges, but I'm surprised yours is buzzing. Does it have adjustable saddles height screws?

The Vibrato(trem...) I'm surprised you prefer the feel of the Squier. I feel the MIJ/Squier are on par, both having issues. These vibratos do need to be setup, the center screw adjusts the action of the trem having big implications for how it plays. Also, the arm needs to fit tightly and there is a wealth of information on how to slightly bend the bottom of the arm for it to fit better or using teflon tape to make it more snug.

The American vibrato is better, you can find them on Amazon as well, make sure they aren't the Japanese one. Also, I'm not sure if they are selling them, but the AV65 vibrato is quite a bit better than the AVRI series, but the AVRI isn't bad. The spring is a little soft, but the rest of the unit is really solid. Again, they all need to be setup to play properly.

The Mastery vibrato also rules, amazing spring and the arm kills the Fender arms. Vintage vibratos are also great, and not much more expensive than Mastery vibratos. But that is a tangent, you don't need to spend that money.

I have one of those 90's Jaguars. The trem is problematic because the knife-edge is cut and plated, but the burrs aren't removed before the plating process. So when you run your finger along the knife-edge, it will feel rough and this prevents the trem from operating smoothly.

I used a file to smooth out the burrs and then lubricated the edge with silicon-based distributor grease. Anything slippery will work but you don't want to use something that will run and get inside of the trem cavity.

The pickups are another weak spot. It turns out the magnets aren't fully magnetized, so I used a rare-earth magnet to remagnetize the pickup magnets. I know this sounds like voodoo but it really did increase the output. First I did one pickup, then I took the guitar to practice and remagnetized the other pickup in front of my band so they wouldn't think I was crazy. Even so, the pickups are still not great but I haven't gotten around to replacing them.

The pots, switches, and other electronics aren't the best, but they are good enough. You really should install a ground wire from the volume control to the output jack. The Japanese Jaguars don't have a ground wire so the output jack is grounded through the metal control plate. If the volume control gets loose, the ground goes away and your amp might start picking up radio stations during a gig. Don't ask how I know this!

If you are ambitious, you can rewire the pickup switches to get series wiring when both switches are in the 'off' position. The series connection is louder but can be boomy/muddy, however, there are times when it is useful.

If it ain't broke, fix it until it is.

LeeVanCleef wrote:

I've had a set of AVRI '62 pickups in my CIJ Jag since I bought it, and they sound good. When you think about it, they've been good enough for many musicians for years. But I've just ordered a set of AV '65, I keep reading high praises about them and I'm curious about how much of an upgrade they really are.

They rule! I really had no gripes with the AVRI pickups, but I needed the ones in my Jag for a Bass VI so I bought the AV'65 for them and I'm so terribly impressed.

I've had my MIJ Jag since 2008 and have replaced a lot of the electronic parts. The bridge pickup is currently a Seymour Duncan Vintage for Jaguar, which I've been happy with. I've also replaced all four sliding switches with Switchcraft parts and changed to normal-sized 500k CTS pots, with an orange drop tone cap. I agree that the vibrato unit is somewhat lacking. Mine has a loose locking button. I keep it in place with a little strip of business-card magnet material - simple on/off when I want to lock it to change strings. I use the original bridge, but have filed slightly deeper grooves for the E strings, which has helped to keep them in place. In the back of my mind, I'm thinking AVRI pickups and a USA vibrato sometime in the not-too-distant future.

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Last edited: Feb 02, 2024 12:14:16

Tqi wrote:

Not to sound rude, especially since I'm known for having modded a few guitars in my time... but if you're impressed by the VM, why not leave the MIJ stock and pick one of those up instead?

They have lovely necks.

Thanks Tqi. I think that's one of the reasons I've left it stock for so long. I wanted to keep it original up until now. But after playing my wife's VM, I figure I finally should bite the bullet and make my MIJ sound/play the best I can within my budget. Hence, asking for suggestions from the board members on which road is best to take.

I'm grateful I've gotten many responses to give me ideas on where to go. Already I've gotten a roadmap to:

-Replace stock pickups with AV 's.
-Upgrade Trem/Vibrato to AVRI's.

And as Jake suggested earlier, other electronic bits.
"New Pots - $10
New wire - $5
New tone cap - $5"

Jake, where do you suggest I pick these up from?

I'm hoping doing these updates will get me close to making it sound much better and closer to the classic Jaguar tone.

F.Y.I. On my 2002 CIJ Jaguar, I 1st replaced all the electronics/pots and then the pickups with USA components. I left the Vibrato/tailpiece til last. The stock one did play much better with some of the setup tips from a Google search, including:

http://www.webrocker.de/jaguar/2007/05/12/setup-the-tremolo-system/

http://www.offsetguitars.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=86821

You are probably already are aware of all this, but I thought I would throw it out there...

give me 3-fingers of 1st Wave SURF