Shimming a VM Jaguar for the first time (and trying to set it up in general)

For help with setups and other technical issues.
User avatar
aliendawg
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 746
Joined: Tue May 13, 2014 1:11 pm
Location: brazil

Shimming a VM Jaguar for the first time (and trying to set it up in general)

Post by aliendawg » Fri Mar 30, 2018 6:35 pm

Hey, guys!

So I finally bought my first offset: a Squier Vintage Modified Jaguar in Olympic White. Gotta say I'm glad! Really enjoying the short scale :?

Before I bought it I read a lot about Jaguars in general, mainly here so thank you for that. Since the beginning I wanted to set it up myself and I'm trying to do it little by little based on this article (is it any good?) https://www.premierguitar.com/articles/ ... rs-jaguars.

So here's my journey as of now:

1. Shimming and Changing the Strings (30/03/2018)

It was the first time I officially removed a guitar neck. I was pretty nervous but tried to do it carefully.

Image

I put two shims made of business cards. I read it wasn't the best choice but that's what I had in hand. Will it do any damage?

Image

That's how it looks now

Image



2. Adjusting the bridge and pickup height (30/03/2018)

I'm actually still fine tuning it... I tried to avoid raising the saddles as much as I could and raise the whole bridge instead. Is it too high? Should I take one of the shims off? I know it's hard to judge by pictures though

Image

Now here's the thing. I don't know how high the pickups should be... Here's how they're currently placed

Image



That's it for now. The guitar is playing really good! I know it's a big post but I would really appreciate if you can give some advice. This website have taught me so much...
"With the resurgence of offsets it seems like we're also seeing a resurgence of people who don't know what to do with them" - 601210

User avatar
Zorro
PAT PEND
PAT PEND
Posts: 44
Joined: Mon Mar 07, 2016 4:24 pm
Location: Sweden

Re: Shimming a VM Jaguar for the first time (and trying to set it up in general)

Post by Zorro » Mon Apr 02, 2018 7:53 am

That (the sting angle over the bridge) looks about right to me! Maybe you should rise the bridge pickup a little bit. Nice work!

User avatar
aliendawg
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 746
Joined: Tue May 13, 2014 1:11 pm
Location: brazil

Re: Shimming a VM Jaguar for the first time (and trying to set it up in general)

Post by aliendawg » Mon Apr 02, 2018 8:19 am

Zorro wrote:
Mon Apr 02, 2018 7:53 am
That (the sting angle over the bridge) looks about right to me! Maybe you should rise the bridge pickup a little bit. Nice work!
Thanks man! I couldn't raise the bridge pickup any higher so I lowered the bridge just a little bit. The pickup doesn't stay in place no matter how much I loosen the screws
Last edited by aliendawg on Mon Apr 02, 2018 11:29 am, edited 1 time in total.
"With the resurgence of offsets it seems like we're also seeing a resurgence of people who don't know what to do with them" - 601210

User avatar
Zorro
PAT PEND
PAT PEND
Posts: 44
Joined: Mon Mar 07, 2016 4:24 pm
Location: Sweden

Re: Shimming a VM Jaguar for the first time (and trying to set it up in general)

Post by Zorro » Mon Apr 02, 2018 11:24 am

Under the pickup it should be a strip of plastic foam pushing it upwards when you loosen the screws, and maybe you can loosen there screws entirely, lift the pup with your fingers and check out what’s going on in the cavity. Maybe you have to put some more stuff in there, to lift the pup to the accurate hight.

User avatar
aliendawg
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 746
Joined: Tue May 13, 2014 1:11 pm
Location: brazil

Re: Shimming a VM Jaguar for the first time (and trying to set it up in general)

Post by aliendawg » Mon Apr 02, 2018 11:29 am

Nice! I'll try that
"With the resurgence of offsets it seems like we're also seeing a resurgence of people who don't know what to do with them" - 601210

User avatar
lastlol
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 1034
Joined: Tue Dec 02, 2008 6:41 am
Location: A mote of dust

Re: Shimming a VM Jaguar for the first time (and trying to set it up in general)

Post by lastlol » Sat May 12, 2018 7:12 am

I think you can remove one of the two shims, the bridge seems to sit rather high. You'll be able to lower it, and the pickups height will be ok. I shimmed a VM Jazzmaster some time ago and with one wood shim about the thickness of a business card it was perfect.

User avatar
aliendawg
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 746
Joined: Tue May 13, 2014 1:11 pm
Location: brazil

Re: Shimming a VM Jaguar for the first time (and trying to set it up in general)

Post by aliendawg » Sat May 12, 2018 8:41 am

lastlol wrote:
Sat May 12, 2018 7:12 am
I think you can remove one of the two shims, the bridge seems to sit rather high. You'll be able to lower it, and the pickups height will be ok. I shimmed a VM Jazzmaster some time ago and with one wood shim about the thickness of a business card it was perfect.
Thanks for the advice. I started to notice the bridge was bit too high indeed. I like that there's a lot of pressure on the bridge so the strings are far from slipping.

But I really can't move the pick ups any higher. I was thinking about placing more foam underneath the pups but maybe removing one of the shims is the way to go

What's the right way to raise the bridge? I couldn't get an allen wrench to fit inside the posts so I had to remove it and turn the screws with my fingers until I get it right
"With the resurgence of offsets it seems like we're also seeing a resurgence of people who don't know what to do with them" - 601210

User avatar
lastlol
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 1034
Joined: Tue Dec 02, 2008 6:41 am
Location: A mote of dust

Re: Shimming a VM Jaguar for the first time (and trying to set it up in general)

Post by lastlol » Sat May 12, 2018 10:40 am

If you bought the guitar new, you should have an Allen key with it that must be used to raise or lower the bridge. Remove one shim, adjust the bridge and pickups consequently, check the neck bow (it should be straight), adjust the truss-rod, done !

User avatar
andy_tchp
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 8010
Joined: Fri Apr 02, 2010 1:36 am
Location: Brisbane

Re: Shimming a VM Jaguar for the first time (and trying to set it up in general)

Post by andy_tchp » Sat May 12, 2018 4:14 pm

??? Huh? The bridge doesn't look 'too high' in the slightest. You could go a touch higher without issues.

If it plays well and the strings don't catch on the back 'lip' of the bridge call it good. There must be many, many thousands of Fender guitars using cut up business cards for neck shims - nothing wrong with this and no it won't cause damage.
"I don't know why we asked him to join the band 'cause the rest of us don't like country music all that much; we just like Graham Lee."
David McComb, 1987.

User avatar
aliendawg
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 746
Joined: Tue May 13, 2014 1:11 pm
Location: brazil

Re: Shimming a VM Jaguar for the first time (and trying to set it up in general)

Post by aliendawg » Sat May 12, 2018 4:44 pm

andy_tchp wrote:
Sat May 12, 2018 4:14 pm
??? Huh? The bridge doesn't look 'too high' in the slightest. You could go a touch higher without issues.

If it plays well and the strings don't catch on the back 'lip' of the bridge call it good. There must be many, many thousands of Fender guitars using cut up business cards for neck shims - nothing wrong with this and no it won't cause damage.
Thank you! What about adding more foam to increase pickup height? Will regular foam do the trick? Can I just add up a piece or should I redo the whole thing?
"With the resurgence of offsets it seems like we're also seeing a resurgence of people who don't know what to do with them" - 601210

User avatar
Embenny
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 10363
Joined: Tue May 24, 2016 5:07 am

Re: Shimming a VM Jaguar for the first time (and trying to set it up in general)

Post by Embenny » Sat May 12, 2018 4:50 pm

Luiz Spindola wrote:
Sat May 12, 2018 4:44 pm
andy_tchp wrote:
Sat May 12, 2018 4:14 pm
??? Huh? The bridge doesn't look 'too high' in the slightest. You could go a touch higher without issues.

If it plays well and the strings don't catch on the back 'lip' of the bridge call it good. There must be many, many thousands of Fender guitars using cut up business cards for neck shims - nothing wrong with this and no it won't cause damage.
Thank you! What about adding more foam to increase pickup height? Will regular foam do the trick? Can I just add up a piece or should I redo the whole thing?
In terms of foam, I use the dark grey high-density kind you find at hardware stores as weather stripping. Works great, and a whole roll that will last you forever is something like $5-$10.

You need something dense enough that it actually pushes the pickups upward. Low-density foam crushes down once you put any weight on it at all.

There is also an upper limit to how high the pickups can go, relating to how long your pickup screws are. They need to bite into the wood, so they can only go so high before you need longer ones. That is a $0.25 fix at a hardware store, though.
The artist formerly known as mbene085.

User avatar
solfege
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 544
Joined: Sat Feb 10, 2018 5:05 pm
Location: Philly

Re: Shimming a VM Jaguar for the first time (and trying to set it up in general)

Post by solfege » Sat May 12, 2018 4:52 pm

If this is anything like a JM, the foam gets squashed over time. For my JM, I went and got some thickish weatherstripping foam from the hardware store, cut two little bits and stuck them under the foam that was there. I could easily have pulled it off too, it's just foam rubber and electrically inert.

User avatar
timtam
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 2729
Joined: Sun Oct 22, 2017 2:42 am
Location: Melbourne

Re: Shimming a VM Jaguar for the first time (and trying to set it up in general)

Post by timtam » Sat May 12, 2018 6:10 pm

Luiz Spindola wrote:
Sat May 12, 2018 8:41 am
But I really can't move the pick ups any higher. I was thinking about placing more foam underneath the pups but maybe removing one of the shims is the way to go
I don't like guitars with pickup height screws that go into the wood, with the foam to push them upwards. It's such a cheap solution. I would only leave them that way on a vintage guitar. On others I have drilled rivit nuts (or brass PCB standoffs) into the base of the cavity to accept humbucker-style screws, with springs. Then the pickups adjust up and down easily, as they should. Of course some people only ever set pickup height once, but I like to fiddle. ;)
"I just knew I wanted to make a sound that was the complete opposite of a Les Paul, and that’s pretty much a Jaguar." Rowland S. Howard.

User avatar
solfege
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 544
Joined: Sat Feb 10, 2018 5:05 pm
Location: Philly

Re: Shimming a VM Jaguar for the first time (and trying to set it up in general)

Post by solfege » Sat May 12, 2018 6:48 pm

timtam wrote:
Sat May 12, 2018 6:10 pm
I don't like guitars with pickup height screws that go into the wood, with the foam to push them upwards. It's such a cheap solution. I would only leave them that way on a vintage guitar. On others I have drilled rivit nuts (or brass PCB standoffs) into the base of the cavity to accept humbucker-style screws, with springs. Then the pickups adjust up and down easily, as they should. Of course some people only ever set pickup height once, but I like to fiddle. ;)
This is an interesting suggestion. I picked up some small compression springs for one of the pickups on my Cyclone the other day. I wonder if they could be used on my JM. Any issues with microphonics?

User avatar
timtam
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 2729
Joined: Sun Oct 22, 2017 2:42 am
Location: Melbourne

Re: Shimming a VM Jaguar for the first time (and trying to set it up in general)

Post by timtam » Sun May 13, 2018 5:06 pm

solfege wrote:
Sat May 12, 2018 6:48 pm
timtam wrote:
Sat May 12, 2018 6:10 pm
I don't like guitars with pickup height screws that go into the wood, with the foam to push them upwards. It's such a cheap solution. I would only leave them that way on a vintage guitar. On others I have drilled rivit nuts (or brass PCB standoffs) into the base of the cavity to accept humbucker-style screws, with springs. Then the pickups adjust up and down easily, as they should. Of course some people only ever set pickup height once, but I like to fiddle. ;)
This is an interesting suggestion. I picked up some small compression springs for one of the pickups on my Cyclone the other day. I wonder if they could be used on my JM. Any issues with microphonics?
Never thought about microphonics, but no issues AFAIK. Parts are a buck or two on ebay, usually from numerous sellers, eg ....

M3 (3mm), 27mm long humbucker-style screws with springs
https://www.ebay.com/itm/6-pairs-of-hum ... 2695087020

Rivet nuts (M3, 9mm long), goes in enlarged original screw hole ...
https://www.ebay.com/itm/20Pcs-Flat-Hea ... 2062099607

or

Brass PCB standoffs, plastic also available (M3, length choice depends on how much will be within enlarged screw hole in cavity, how much above)
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Brass-M3-4-M3- ... 2421666599
"I just knew I wanted to make a sound that was the complete opposite of a Les Paul, and that’s pretty much a Jaguar." Rowland S. Howard.

Post Reply