Custom Jaguar Upgrades-Pickup Questions and more.

[Hopeless.Ghosts]

Hi there,

First time posting but long time coming here for ideas and help.
Had my MIM Classic Player Fender Jaguar for 10 years now and I've decided to finally finish my favourite guitar.
I've already removed the gloss finish relic'd the body a little (which turned out really, really nice)
And I currently have a Mastery Bridge.

Now I'm looking for a few more upgrades! But have some questions.

1. Pickups: Lollar, Novak, or Antiquity?
(I like the controls on the Jag to combine tonal features, so I'm looking for a Bridge PUP with a lot of bite and thickness and a Neck PUP with a warm, clean and glossy tone, I play heavier Alternative-Rock and Grunge-ish styles of music mostly)

2. Tremolo: Full on Mastery Replacement or Staytrem?
(I hate that mine always falls through and doesn't sit where I want it)

3. Tuners: Looking for a set (preferably locking) that will fit the Jag without modification, if they're USA Fender that's a bonus.

4. Any other mods you'd suggest while I'm at it?

Thanks!

[Larry Mal]

For tuners, look to the locking Kluson Revolution sets and don't look back. Best tuners out there. I have them on both my Jazzmasters, my Lead, a bunch of Gibsons, etc. Probably about ten sets in all.

[Rasalrew]

Hello & Welcome!

I recently did a re-fin very similar to what you mentioned. Did a plethora of 'upgrades'. Pots tuners bridge pickups caps wires. Almost everything actually.

There is a PU comparison thread covering Lollar/Novak/Antiquity pickups AVRI's etc. You can find that over in tech/setup.
Between Lollar & Novak you can't go wrong. I'm a Novak Loyalist purely out of doing business with him for many years. He's always got new designs coming out and the customer service is great.

For drop in Jaguar replacements he's got some terrific options. Depends on what you're going for. I would email whoever with your specific tonal needs and they'll match you to what you may want. Do you want to keep that Jag sound? or do you want the jag look with something different output wise? I opted for the latter. Heres a link to my Novak Pickups. I have a Lipstick (6 ohms) in the Neck & a Jag V (8ohms) in the bridge configured in Brdg/brdge&neck/neck/Series. https://soundcloud.com/ryan-salisbury-4 ... yote-queen

I upgraded the system to a Mastery Bridge & then a Trem Plate several months later. It matches nicely and FEELS great, especially the movement of the trem arm. I do not inherently notice anything sounding "better", besides just a little sustain from the bridge.

Tuners: Bought some fender vintage kluson style tuners (I think) and dropped them into my warmoth CBS jag neck. feeling like upgrading as they seem to slip a little. so if you come across anything special please recommend.

Shadoweclipse has a schematic page up & running with all sorts of pickup configurations and cap suggestions. Read through that if you're willing to go under the hood and change some of the stock parts. You can do phase, series switches, kill switches, cap selectors, and if you're willing to put a battery in you can do some other tiny little effects. If your playing alt/rock/grunge look into doing a series switch. the output is heavy and works with distortion. its one of my favorite options on my Jag.

[BrendanP]

I highly recommend one of the wiring schematics that lets you chose "in phase" or "in series" options when both pickups are on. I know there are several on this site. I chose one that lets me use the stock switches for appearance. "In series" gets a nice thicker sound and makes the guitar much more versatile for me.

[jvin248]

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Look up the Johnny Marr schematic (4-way switch) for an easy series humbucking option.

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