Just get a nice Fender tube amp. Better than any pedal.

Jacob, Dave, what am I gonna do with you two? I buy you books, I send you to school, and what do ya do? You slap around the new guy. Sheesh.

holikujak,

to the forums! I'm sure you'll like it here, but we do have problems sometimes, keeping these guys on a leash.

Since you aren't inclined to change amps (yet), fine, skip the Fender for the moment. You need that reverb tank, and it never hurts to have echo, so you're good to go at this point. Don't bother with any other pedals, unless that Marshall doesn't have any kind of tremolo (or it has one that's worthless).

The short answer is no, Jag pickups won't fit directly into a Strat pickguard. Worse, the length of a Jag pickup is too short to fit properly under the strings if you mount it in the bridge position like a Strat - slanted. The pole pieces won't line up under the strings, and the sound will be a bit weak and maybe thin. If you still wanna do this, go ahead, but first, are you sure that the Strat pickups have been adjusted to the correct height? Too low, and they sound like crap, muddy crap at that. Most guys will tell you that if you want the Jaguar sound, then buy a Jaguar. I tend to agree, but I'm not a purist about it. It's your ax, do what you want with it, just be prepared to go through the spat line if you make mods like this, and tell us/post pix of it.

The action of the vibrato tailpiece (called tremolo by Fender) can be stiffened up by either tightening the claw in the trem cavity, or you may need to add another spring. Trial and error is what you need here, just keep plugging away at it until you're satisfied.

HTH

unlunf

MY RIGHT HAND IS FASTER THAN YOURS!
(copyright 2003, Bruce Welch)

unlunf
The action of the vibrato tailpiece (called tremolo by Fender) can be stiffened up by either tightening the claw in the trem cavity, or you may need to add another spring.

unlunf is right on here...I have three heavy-duty springs in my Strat-o-trem...and I believe "the claw" in the cavity is pretty darn tight, too. I am running heavy-guage .013-.054 strings...lots of tension.

-dp

ps: apologies for harshing the new dude's gig...just preaching the gospel of Leo Fenderism, that's all

holikujak
my real question concerns my strat. ive never been happy with the middle and bridge pickups and never really use them, although i love the neck pickup for jazz so ill keep that but my idea was to replace the middle and neck with jaguar pickups, would jaguar pickups(w/ cover and claw) fit in a standard strat pickguard? also i dont like the sensitive trem, is there any way to make it more subtle like a bigsby or jag trem?

Hello and welcome.

Probably the best thing to do is experiment with different Strat pickups. There's a lot to choose from in the aftermarket...so, all kinds of tonal variations, some of which may float your boat.

As to the "sensitive" Strat trem. You might want to consider tightening the claw screws so that there's little or no clearance from the trem baseplate to guitar body. This will increase tension (and perhaps keep tuning stabler) and limit how much the strings go up in pitch when you pull on the trem bar.

Just my $.02 as a '94 AmStd Strat owner....

~ Jonathan

Last edited: Apr 04, 2006 15:20:50

holikujak
thanks for the advice guys, my friend's little brother is giving me a crappy squire strat so ill fiddle around with that. ive actaully been thinking about selling the marshall for one of the fender hot rods, which i might do this summer

Ahhh, a crappy squier! now that s good choice to f#$% round with!

as far as the amp goes, check back here again when the time comes, you might have way better options. though, one thing you might want to do is go to ted weber's page and check out the speakers as replacement for a hotrod/blues series fender. https://weberspeakerscom.secure.powweb.com/weber/

under the description for the ceramic california 12" speaker there's a soundsample of a hotrod deluxe amp - sounds great for surf, if you have your heart set on that amp, and it's worth the upgrade. might be a bit too low on the volume though.

WR

Rules to live by #314:
"When in Italy, if the menu says something's grilled, don't assume it is."

https://www.facebook.com/The-Malbehavers-286429584796173/

Ivan, funny, I went from a Marshall 100w combo (4xEL34, forgot the model no) via a blues deville to bigger amps.

I'd always suggest either a SF bassman with 2x12 or a 75 with speaker upgrade as low budget surf amp.

you want, i think, at least tube reverb, the blues/hotrod series has a ss driven reverb, I'd say for surf purposes you might consider it reverbless ... the springking probably sounds better.

but I'll stick to it, if you need an amp that can do oher tricks as well, the blues/hotrod series is excelent for te price.

btw, I 'll admit to it, one set-up I'd like to own is a cherry SG with a vintage bluesbreaker combo.... not for surf though

Rules to live by #314:
"When in Italy, if the menu says something's grilled, don't assume it is."

https://www.facebook.com/The-Malbehavers-286429584796173/

If I can make one suggestion as far as the pickups go...

I not-too-long-ago (in a galaxy not-too-far-away) finished my custom Bronco and wanted a pickup that would sound worlds better than the "mini-humbucker" that the DB before me had installed on it, so I did a decent amount of strat-sized pickup scouting, and found one that, for surf, was head-and-shoulders to me: The Seymour Duncan TwangBanger. It's a hybrid of a strat and tele pickup - possessing the quack of a strat pickup with the raw twang of a tele. I LOVE this pickup. Can't recommend it enough.
I'd think with all these twangers out here, more people would be giving these a shot.

~Bill~

Dave,> dp

unlunf
Dave, if you're using 13 guage strings, and have only 3 springs in there, that claw has got to be screwed down right to the wood, I should think, and it's possible that the bridge plate is still floating a little above the deck.

Man, I looked lastnight...I have FIVE springs in there!

My neck and action and tremolo plate are all flat,flat, flat...

-dp

Good to hear that all is flat (err, we are talking about your ax, right? )

On a related note, I've recently combed through some interesting pages regarding string tension and guages. The math was really deep on occasion, supporting some long-held beliefs and more than a few suspicions about why strings do certain things, like go out of tune when we play, or even when they just sit there.

Two things to note here: One, if you use a relatively light guage of string, the rough total of tension between the nut and the bridge is 120 lbs. give or take a few pounds. OTOH, 13's, called heavy these days, but they were called regulars back in Leo's time, they have about 50 to 55 lbs. more tension. Which brings up Point Two, the tone. We all know it from experience, but there's a technical reason for wanting to use heavier strings. They don't just "sound better", they actually tend to sustain longer than a lighter string at the same pitch. Think Newton's third law here.... an object in motion, etc, yadda, yadda. Heavier string, more tendency to keep on vibrating. Result: we hear it as more punch, more grit, and possibly, more purity in the fundamental (before the harmonics set in).

When Leo was designing his pickups, heavy (to us) strings were the norm. Most pickups today follow his design precepts pretty closely. It's now easy to see why lighter strings don't drive a pickup nearly as well, and why they sound much "thinner".

But back to the point......

A good balance between the strings and the springs (type that three times real fast!) will let you whammy your way into exctasy. Too much empasis on either one, and your vibrato will be too painful to tolerate. Adjust to suit your individual tastes, that why Leo put long screws on that claw!

unlunf

MY RIGHT HAND IS FASTER THAN YOURS!
(copyright 2003, Bruce Welch)