Shoutbox

sysmalakian: Birthday month starts now!
362 days ago

diceophonic: Vampiro Classics 2024 reissue
343 days ago

SabedLeepski: Sunburn Surf Fest for some scorching hot surf music: https://sunb...
300 days ago

skeeter: I know a Polish sound guy.
228 days ago

skeeter: I know a Czech one too!
228 days ago

PatGall: Surfybear metal settings
148 days ago

Pyronauts: Happy Tanks-Kicking!
126 days ago

midwestsurfguy: Merry Christmas!
94 days ago

sysmalakian: HAPPY NEW YEAR!
88 days ago

SabedLeepski: Surfin‘ Europe, for surf (related) gigs and events in Europe Big Razz https://sunb...
49 days ago

Please login or register to shout.

Current Polls

No polls at this time. Check out our past polls.

Current Contests

No contests at this time. Check out our past contests.

Donations

Help us meet our monthly goal:

100%

100%

Donate Now

Cake March Birthdays Cake
SG101 Banner

SurfGuitar101 Forums » Gear »

Permalink New Fender Jaguar HH

New Topic
Goto Page: 1 2 Next

I posted a thread earlier about which new Jaguar is best.
I am happy report that I got a new Vintera 60s HH, it came in today and I couldn't be more thrilled with it!
The craftsmanship out of MIM is really impressive. I have bought many guitars from the Fender MIM facility as well USA made. The standards are high for the Mexican version.
Let me first say I am your average joe player, entertaining myself and maybe the Summer season backyard jam session.
So my needs are nothing like professional band, nor do I possess the skill level.
Am I easily impressed?
Heck no. Been playing 50 years and have owned at least 30 guitars, USA, MIM and Japan.
My longest time ownership has been with several Gibson Les Paul's.
Those always felt "right" with the short scale paramount but not fully
understood why.
I always gravitated to the easier playing style and sounds of SURF music.
But you really can't get that "twang" out of a dual humbucer rock machine..can you?
Not until now have I discovered the one instrument that has been designed for my needs..originally issued over 60 years ago!
How did this guitar fall from grace, then resurrected is a study in popularity vs needs.
All that aside it's great for a modern era playing classic Surf!

I was skeptical about "split coil' humbuckers..giving you classic single coil drive. And as dedicated humbucker does it really give you modern rock drive?
Amps matter.
Effects pedals matter.

But this guitar delivers a huge range of possibilities that any Amateur player can appreciate.

I could rip electronics out and upgrade to the vintage specs, or
I could leave it alone and discover new modern inspiration with a classic twang twist.
Its either an instrument that jets me back to the vintage era ,or brings me right back to current reality of rock.
I love my new first ever Fender Jaguar! Looking forward to what inspiration evolves..and thats really what matters.

Last edited: Oct 30, 2022 19:22:33

IceratzSurf wrote:

I posted a thread earlier about which new Jaguar is best.
I am happy report that I got a new Vintera 60s HH, it came in today and I couldn't be more thrilled with it!
The craftsmanship out of MIM is really impressive. I have bought many guitars from the Fender MIM facility as well USA made. The standards are high for the Mexican version.
Let me first say I am your average joe player, entertaining myself and maybe the Summer season backyard jam session.
So my needs are nothing like professional band, nor do I possess the skill level.
Am I easily impressed?
Heck no. Been playing 50 years and have owned at least 30 guitars, USA, MIM and Japan.
My longest time ownership has been with several Gibson Les Paul's.
Those always felt "right" with the short scale paramount but not fully
understood why.
I always gravitated to the easier playing style and sounds of SURF music.
But you really can't get that "twang" out of a dual humbucer rock machine..can you?
Not until now have I discovered the one instrument that has been designed for my needs..originally issued over 60 years ago!
How did this guitar fall from grace, then resurrected is a study in popularity vs needs.
All that aside it's great for a modern era playing classic Surf!

I was skeptical about "split coil' humbuckers..giving you classic single coil drive. And as dedicated humbucker does it really give you modern rock drive?
Amps matter.
Effects pedals matter.

But this guitar delivers a huge range of possibilities that any Amateur player can appreciate.

I could rip electronics out and upgrade to the vintage specs, or
I could leave it alone and discover new modern inspiration with a classic twang twist.
Its either an instrument that jets me back to the vintage era ,or brings me right back to current reality of rock.
I love my new first ever Fender Jaguar! Looking forward to what inspiration evolves..and thats really what matters.

My experience was that this model will do some serious twanging. It’s not exactly the vintage Jaguar sound, but it’s a good sound. I play most of my Surf on a Gretsch, which is definitely not a Jaguar sound, but I’m quite pleased with the sound.

If they made these in Sunburst of Candy Apple Red, I’d be sorely tempted.

The artist formerly known as: Synchro

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

synchro wrote:
but it’s a good sound. I play most of my Surf on a Gretsch, which is definitely not a Jaguar sound, but I’m quite pleased with the sound.

While not my main surf guitar, I also have a Gretsch on which I love to play surf tunes. If it were my only surf guitar I would not be sad.

I have often wondered how much early surf was recorded with a Gretsch? At the time the Bigsby was the king of vibratos. I am sure there were many Bigsby-equipped Gretsches hanging around in the late 50’s and early 60’s. Even more recently groups like Man...Or Astro-Man? have recorded material with a Gretsch.

Makai

-

Last edited: Feb 02, 2024 15:39:32

I had tried several times to upload a few photos from my phone and finally figured it out.
My new Jag matches my own custom made amp really great too!
Peavy Classic 20W tube head, recovered tolex. Custom cabinet from birch ply with 15" Canabis Rex speaker.
Sounds great!

image
image

image

Last edited: Oct 31, 2022 06:29:45

DrakeSequation wrote:

synchro wrote:
but it’s a good sound. I play most of my Surf on a Gretsch, which is definitely not a Jaguar sound, but I’m quite pleased with the sound.

While not my main surf guitar, I also have a Gretsch on which I love to play surf tunes. If it were my only surf guitar I would not be sad.

I have often wondered how much early surf was recorded with a Gretsch? At the time the Bigsby was the king of vibratos. I am sure there were many Bigsby-equipped Gretsches hanging around in the late 50’s and early 60’s. Even more recently groups like Man...Or Astro-Man? have recorded material with a Gretsch.

Gretsch guitars surf with the best of them. Think of it like this, Duane Eddy played a Gretsch 6120 with Dynasonics, and while he didn’t play Surf, the whole idea of twangy guitar with reverb really got rolling with him. Besides that, Bigsbys absolutely do a great job.

As a side note, if you heard the Marketts recordings of the mid ‘60s, that was almost certainly a Tele.

IceratzSurf wrote:

I had tried several times to upload a few photos from my phone and finally figured it out.
My new Jag matches my own custom made amp really great too!
Peavy Classic 20W tube head, recovered tolex. Custom cabinet from birch ply with 15" Canabis Rex speaker.
Sounds great!

That’s a great match. A very surfy looking rig.

The artist formerly known as: Synchro

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

Love that rig, especially that cab's front panel cutout. Congrats!
image

cambeezy wrote:

Love that rig, especially that cab's front panel cutout. Congrats!
image

Looks a bit fishy, to me. Smile

The artist formerly known as: Synchro

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

OK!
I like to admit when I am wrong!
After spending several hours playing the new Jag HH and comparisons to a Strat w/ '59/'62 vintage PUs, then Telecaster w/'65 Vintage.. I have come to the conclusion that split coil humbuckers are NOT going to deliver classic twang vintage tone...specifically the gain.
The humbucker mode has powerful gain but obviously is not vintage sound.
When coil split, it seems so thin that I can't get the drive..not without a pedal boost.
The Neck pickup does not split with crisp highs, rather dry. The Bridge pickup does split better with decent highs but looses a drive.
At low volumes most everything sounds pretty good, but once you drive up the volumes the more everything returns to humbucker design...good if you want it, bad if you don't.
I bought this first Jag because I wanted to experience the short scale,
The neck profile with medium jumbo frets is ideal!
But my preference is for single coil twang.
I am skilled with working on instruments and so I decided to upgrade the pickups back to original '62 Jag single coil.
I will follow the vintage wiring by Fender for all switching options.
Why didn't I just get the other model all set?
Neck preference
Color..mattered
USA made is non existent.
MIM models only offered 7.5 necks with narrow tall frets..me no likey.
And while I am evaluating..the 'not so' vintage Tuneamatic bridge is going to stay. After all these posts about modification to the original issue bridge..go Mustang..or go Mastery $$..
I think this Tuneamatic will stay.
Maybe this modern update is worthy.
The break angle is shorter to tailpiece.
Hey Brian Setzer uses on his Gretch '59 6120. So..it stays.
I plan to begin a new topic after I get into the wiring and appreciate any feedback.

Last edited: Nov 01, 2022 08:01:09

Not surprising that the split coils are somewhat anemic. But I wonder if you put in some higher powered humbuckers whether they would give you more of what you are looking for when playing split coil.

edwardsand wrote:

Not surprising that the split coils are somewhat anemic. But I wonder if you put in some higher powered humbuckers whether they would give you more of what you are looking for when playing split coil.

I am all IN for the '62 Jag pickups now. The upgrade was really not that pricey either, $100 including a new pickguard. No reason to turn back now.

IceratzSurf wrote:

edwardsand wrote:

Not surprising that the split coils are somewhat anemic. But I wonder if you put in some higher powered humbuckers whether they would give you more of what you are looking for when playing split coil.

I am all IN for the '62 Jag pickups now. The upgrade was really not that pricey either, $100 including a new pickguard. No reason to turn back now.

Go for it!

The artist formerly known as: Synchro

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

I’m not 100% sure but it would seem that humbucker routes are deeper an jag routes and you might need to make some risers for the replacement pups.
image
image

Reverbdrips wrote:

I’m not 100% sure but it would seem that humbucker routes are deeper an jag routes and you might need to make some risers for the replacement pups.
image
image

YES I am expecting to do that. I read others just using squishy density foam block so you can adjust the PU height while the pickguard is on it.
I was wondering about the cavity PU width more, whether I should infill block that with solid wood. (?)

I wouldn’t go to the extra trouble, i can’t imagine adding the extra wood on the sides would do anything other than add weight that you don’t necessary need.

I do know that a pickup sounds different based on how it’s mounted. Pickguard/ floating vs direct mounted to the body, vs mounted to tone sucking foam will all produce varying end results.

Reverbdrips wrote:

I do know that a pickup sounds different based on how it’s mounted. Pickguard/ floating vs direct mounted to the body, vs mounted to tone sucking foam will all produce varying end results.

What holds "floating pickups" if it's not screws mounted in the body wood? And how could foam under pickups suck any tone? Please elaborate.

Daniel Deathtide

IceratzSurf wrote:

I had tried several times to upload a few photos from my phone and finally figured it out.
My new Jag matches my own custom made amp really great too!
Peavy Classic 20W tube head, recovered tolex. Custom cabinet from birch ply with 15" Canabis Rex speaker.
Sounds great!

image
image

image

Thats a nice setup!
I have a '53 Scripty RI and using both of the Dyno's, a whole Lotta reverb from the tank and Im real good with my surfy-sound. But I prefer my Jag for the style of surf I like to play, ala Dick Dale. My Scripty is my main are and I also play rockabilly.

DeathTide wrote:

Reverbdrips wrote:

I do know that a pickup sounds different based on how it’s mounted. Pickguard/ floating vs direct mounted to the body, vs mounted to tone sucking foam will all produce varying end results.

What holds "floating pickups" if it's not screws mounted in the body wood? And how could foam under pickups suck any tone? Please elaborate.

I have never heard of foam base sucking tone out of the pickup either.
I plan to basically mount just like a Telecaster neck PU, which uses rubber tubes around screws set into the wood body.
The PUs are not going to 'float' or be attached like Stratocaster PU dropped from the pickguard .
It's going to be a stable fixed mounting.
I read of others using foam block below the pickups but it's still screwed down to the wood.

Hey look here from Stew Mac guitar parts supplier.
Foam block with springs for mounting pickups. Sets specifically for Jaguars.

image

image

Last edited: Nov 01, 2022 17:44:01

If you look at a guitar as a whole, we all know swapping parts changes how they sound. That happens because wood, metal, and various other materials have different weight and vibrate differently.

Here is an extreme example -

The guitar neck mates perfectly with the body and all four screws are well mounted, add string tension and strum a chord. Let’s call this the perfect sound we can expect this neck and body can achieve without adding the variable of swapping bridges or other parts.

Now take a piece of cardboard, rubber, etc and put it between the neck and body. The tone or sound of that guitar will fundamentally change.

The same concept applies to pickups and how they are mounted. Because a pickup has characteristics of a microphone they can behave in a similar way. Direct mounting a pickup to wood sounds different than it suspended in the air with springs or under foam.

The first time I’d heard of this was watching a video on G.E. Smith talking about his favorite tele that was the base of his signature model produced by Fender. He preferred the tone of the pickups in old lap steels from Fender which were very similar to Tele bridge pickups. He would take those pickups and mount them in the bridge of a tele and not get the tone he was after. It wasn’t until he cut his bridge in half and then direct mounted the pickup to the body did he get the sound closer to the lap steel tone. This is why his signature model has the half bridge and pickup direct mounted.

This happens in other guitar manufacturers as well, Anderson and MotorAve to name a few.

Sorry if my snarky comment of “tone sucking” was taken the wrong way. Plenty of guitars have foam mounted under the pickups and that has its own sound, neither good or bad.

Goto Page: 1 2 Next
Top