Dustin Kensrue of Thrice building a P-Rails Jaguar!

borrowedworld · Post by **borrowedworld** » Mon Aug 02, 2010 3:34 am

that actually sounds awesome in the trashiest way possible. i just didnt get the backlash considering "bastardization" was the among the first thing i saw. now personally a bronco with a p rail and i would be in fucking heaven

Post by **dots** » Mon Aug 02, 2010 3:40 am

no problem, dude. you had me at "dick in the butt."

Haze · Post by **Haze** » Mon Aug 02, 2010 4:10 am

Its a hardtail with a full scale neck. I love my Jaguar HH's hardtail bridge, its great, absolutely nothing wrong with it other than it DOESN'T have the great jaguar trem. I can see not wanting a shortscale neck when a lot of their tunes are in drop B. I freaking love the P-Rail pickups having a set myself and i totally get that he is ditching all of the jag's wiring to accommodate the new pickups. They're freaking monsters and they require a good bit of alteration from the standard electronics to get the most out of them. He's played Jags before, and the lead guitarist plays a baritone jag for their low tuned stuff. I don't think he's using the "jaguar" as a platform just to be cool, a month ago when they played in Tulsa he was using a Japanese Les Paul copy with a bolt on neck and the next pickup torn out and taped over. I hardly think he's building the instrument he wants for "street cred"

I've been tempted to put my set of P-Rails in my HH Jaguar and do some kick ass siwtching, and i'm sure everyone would go ape shit over it.

borrowedworld · Post by **borrowedworld** » Mon Aug 02, 2010 4:19 am

haha i can't help it i just never take anything seriously and say silly things constantly. i just remembered someone telling me the dude from this band was playing the baritone special jag thing not sure if it was him but it might expain things a bit better.

Justyn · Post by **Justyn** » Mon Aug 02, 2010 6:11 am

I'm interested.

If only because I've been thinking about sticking Prails in my classic player HH Jag for awhile now.

I kinda wish I got the HH special seeing how I don't use the trem nearly as much as I thought I would and I actually do use the rhythm circuit.

Ah well. I'll tinker with my guitar eventually.

Mages · Post by **Mages** » Mon Aug 02, 2010 6:41 am

dots wrote:
Mages wrote:the rhythm circuit is dumb though. it's way too dark and makes no sense for it to be only on the neck pickup when tone control is way more useful on the bridge pickup.
no, you're probably being dumb and doing it wrong. the rhythm circuit on my avri played through the jvm sounds amazing on every stage of gain i throw it on. i love the switching on a jag because the range of tones you can get is probably one of the widest you'll get on a stock instrument. super-dark rhythm, super-full lead with both pickups, sparkly lead w/ bridge, and then choke switch to really get things thin and cutting. diff'rent strokes for diff'rent folks, of course, but the jag's wiring makes total sense to me even if it isn't perfect or the easiest to get a handle on.

alright, that's fine I'm not saying the whole idea of the rhythm switch is crap, it's a cool idea but I don't think it was executed in exactly the most useful fashion. and besides the strangle switch it doesn't give you any more sounds than any other guitar with a volume and tone knob. the useful potential in the rhythm switch is more about having a tone "preset" that you can switch to on the fly. my point is, there is plenty of room for improvement on the design and at the very least some of the values could be tweaked a bit.* if you are into moding guitars, the switches on the jag and jazzy have a huge amount of possibility beyond the narrow uses of the original design.

* dull technical stuff:

► Show Spoiler

Mages · Post by **Mages** » Mon Aug 02, 2010 7:29 am

paul_ wrote:
Mages wrote:the rhythm circuit is dumb though. it's way too dark and makes no sense for it to be only on the neck pickup when tone control is way more useful on the bridge pickup.
It's for jazz. They did the same thing on early teles (til '67 I think).

is that so? hmm, I will have to look into that. I was under the impression that was only on really early, like early 50s early, teles.

paul_ wrote:A setting on a guitar not being useful speaks more about the player than the guitar. Strats STILL don't have tone controls on the bridge pickups and they've done alright.

I always wire a tone knob the the bridge pickup.

sure, you can always get some use out of the stock wiring... but why would you want to?

hotrodperlmutter · Post by **hotrodperlmutter** » Mon Aug 02, 2010 2:09 pm

Haze wrote:I've been tempted to put my set of P-Rails in my HH Jaguar and do some kick ass siwtching, and i'm sure everyone would go ape shit over it.

you're clearly demented, as everyone would love that. if you changed the scale, that would be a different story altogether.

Post by **dots** » Mon Aug 02, 2010 6:05 pm

Haze wrote:Its a hardtail with a full scale neck. I love my Jaguar HH's hardtail bridge, its great, absolutely nothing wrong with it other than it DOESN'T have the great jaguar trem. I can see not wanting a shortscale neck when a lot of their tunes are in drop B. I freaking love the P-Rail pickups having a set myself and i totally get that he is ditching all of the jag's wiring to accommodate the new pickups. They're freaking monsters and they require a good bit of alteration from the standard electronics to get the most out of them. He's played Jags before, and the lead guitarist plays a baritone jag for their low tuned stuff. I don't think he's using the "jaguar" as a platform just to be cool, a month ago when they played in Tulsa he was using a Japanese Les Paul copy with a bolt on neck and the next pickup torn out and taped over. I hardly think he's building the instrument he wants for "street cred"

I've been tempted to put my set of P-Rails in my HH Jaguar and do some kick ass siwtching, and i'm sure everyone would go ape shit over it.

i have a hard tail jag hh, too. i even put p90's in it. the switching, scale, and vibe of the guitar is still very jag. plus, it's not like i made alterations or chose this model because it was anti-jag. i just like the look of the guitar, the way it plays, and the version i have only comes in hard tail. you have to admit that situations like yours and mine are a far cry from "somebody's building me a jaguar that will look and play almost nothing like one", no? and for like the millionth time, to each his own; dude can play whatever the hell he wants, and nobody's said anything to the contrary. the tone of the guy's own words just comes off douchey to more than just a couple people, so i don't think it's unfair to call it as you see it.

Post by **dots** » Mon Aug 02, 2010 6:20 pm

Mages wrote:
dots wrote:
Mages wrote:the rhythm circuit is dumb though. it's way too dark and makes no sense for it to be only on the neck pickup when tone control is way more useful on the bridge pickup.
no, you're probably being dumb and doing it wrong. the rhythm circuit on my avri played through the jvm sounds amazing on every stage of gain i throw it on. i love the switching on a jag because the range of tones you can get is probably one of the widest you'll get on a stock instrument. super-dark rhythm, super-full lead with both pickups, sparkly lead w/ bridge, and then choke switch to really get things thin and cutting. diff'rent strokes for diff'rent folks, of course, but the jag's wiring makes total sense to me even if it isn't perfect or the easiest to get a handle on.
alright, that's fine I'm not saying the whole idea of the rhythm switch is crap, it's a cool idea but I don't think it was executed in exactly the most useful fashion. and besides the strangle switch it doesn't give you any more sounds than any other guitar with a volume and tone knob. the useful potential in the rhythm switch is more about having a tone "preset" that you can switch to on the fly. my point is, there is plenty of room for improvement on the design and at the very least some of the values could be tweaked a bit.* if you are into moding guitars, the switches on the jag and jazzy have a huge amount of possibility beyond the narrow uses of the original design.

* dull technical stuff:
► Show Spoiler
the circuit values on the tone pot in the rhythm circuit (.022uf cap and 50k pot) gives you a range of adjustment from dark to really dark. either the pot or the cap value needs to be tweaked. using a .01uf cap or a 100k pot would work a lot better. I actually used just a 25k resistor in series with the cap it worked great. with the tone control all the way off it just rolls off some of the highs and then with it all the way down you have the familiar dark rhythm circuit sound.

also, they could have given you those tones you like with a whole lot of other (more useful IMO) tones as well if they set the rhythm switch to work off of the pickup selector instead of being locked into the neck pickup. that's how I wired my jazzmaster and it was great. you could still get the "jazz tone" if you wanted or cop gibson-esque bridge pickup tones as well.

meh, i see what you're saying, and again, it's not like nobody here has ever modified a guitar's electronics. a different cap here or resistor there isn't going to make anybody think you've ruined and disassociated your jag. . . and everybody defending him just keeps bringing up examples of "i switched out a pup on somethin too lol." not the same league, honestly.

Haze · Post by **Haze** » Wed Oct 27, 2010 6:02 pm

Finished on time for their tour in Europe, definitely a change from his Variax'd guitars he's played on the last two albums but still sounds perdy good with the rented ac30. [his usual amp is a hand wired ac30cc1]
[youtube][/youtube]

laterallateral · Post by **laterallateral** » Wed Oct 27, 2010 6:42 pm

[youtube][/youtube]

Boab · Post by **Boab** » Wed Oct 27, 2010 9:58 pm

^IRLLOLS

fiveways · Post by **fiveways** » Sun Nov 07, 2010 8:15 pm

I guess I am in the minority, I never turn off the rhythm switch. Or rarely do.

Earth · Post by **Earth** » Tue Nov 09, 2010 5:56 am

Who gives a shit what he does with a jaguar, I do what I like to mine as it MINE to do with as I please!! (Its not some untouchable thing, its just a fucking guitar)

But, the guy does seem like a true wanker! Changing the scale makes it a Jazzmaster with a slightly different upper horn shape so why not "commission" *wanker* 2 jazzmasters instead?!?!?!?

SKC Willie · Post by **SKC Willie** » Tue Nov 09, 2010 6:20 am

Earth wrote:Who gives a shit what he does with a jaguar, I do what I like to mine as it MINE to do with as I please!! (Its not some untouchable thing, its just a fucking guitar)

But, the guy does seem like a true wanker! Changing the scale makes it a Jazzmaster with a slightly different upper horn shape so why not "commission" *wanker* 2 jazzmasters instead?!?!?!?

Maybe he like the chrome and knob placement. i think the guitar is fuckin' rad.

Haze · Post by **Haze** » Tue Nov 09, 2010 7:26 am

P-rails are pure awesome, thats a fact
Mini-humbuckers in the neck position are amazing, thats a fact
The Jag's chrome adds sex apeal, thats a FZCT\
Longer scale is better for low tunings = 90% of their tunings
Stop-tail is dead reliable. I own a Jag with a stop-tail, good luck convincing me otherwise.
Nash makes some bad ass guitars. Best looking relics next to Danocaster imo
"blogs" make anyone sound like a wanker, fact yo

i dig it.

I've had the pleasure of meeting him when Thrice played here in Tulsa, couldn't have been more kind. His solo stuff is very spritually driven and he's a great singer/songwriter. Huge family man as well. P-rails into a cranked AC30, add a little chrome and i'm all ears.

paul_ · Post by **paul_** » Fri Nov 12, 2010 10:30 pm

Haze wrote: Nash makes some bad ass guitars. Best looking relics next to Danocaster imo

"Looking" being the key word. Judging from the Nash Teles I've played, that's what you're paying for.

stilwel · Post by **stilwel** » Thu Dec 09, 2010 6:43 am

I'm going to install a P-Rail and a Triple-Shot pickup ring in the Blacktop Jazzmaster I just picked up.

Good to hear so many positive things regarding the pickups.

fwiw...I dig Thrice.

Space_Expert · Post by **Space_Expert** » Thu Mar 24, 2011 3:48 am

paul_ wrote:
Haze wrote: Nash makes some bad ass guitars. Best looking relics next to Danocaster imo
"Looking" being the key word. Judging from the Nash Teles I've played, that's what you're paying for.

That looks pretty badass. Where can you get a switching system with a toggle in it? I'm guessing the other two sliders turn the stangle switch on/off and make the middle position series/parallel. I'm kind of interested in that for my Jaguar.

Also, is Dustin just using a Warmoth neck for his Jaguar? I kind of want a longer neck on my Jag (LOVE how it sounds, but I just feel more comfortable when I stand and play using a 25.5 in neck) and have been trying to figure out where to get a 25.5 in neck to fit a Jaguar.