Possible Jagstang purchase...

[Ankhanu]

Dude still hasn’t responded... this guitar isn’t for me.

A friend had an original ripen Jagstang in fiesta back in the 90s, and I loved it... though I’m not sure I ever really played it through an amp. Like Rob said, the neck was unbelievably good. They look wonky, but it’s part of the charm. Minor pickup changes could probably bring it to some good tones to go with the feel.

I do have a Jaguar (MIJ ‘66 Classic), which I like quite a lot, especially after swapping to ‘62 AVRI pickups... but these things are somewhat different.

[jagsonic]

Against most of us i really like jagstangs. The way they look is so quirky and false. But that's what it takes different. I have my jagstang since '96 and put a seymourduncan jb in bridgepos. I really dig it. If you like jagstangs and could get one - do it

[Doog]

A friend had an original ripen Jagstang in fiesta back in the 90s.

I dunno, that other one looked pretty ripe already

[Ankhanu]

+++

[robroe]

mine sounds fucking great.

you guys just didn't do it right

[robroe]

if whatever you try to put in the bridge ends up sounding like shit, quit fucking running your face into a brick wall with it.
tear all that shit out, put a jaguar pickup in the neck and it sounds fucking amazing.




(yeah dude goat beer)

[Doog]

Thanks Rob, I'll email that very useful advice to myself 15 years ago

The point is that it wasn't the pickup; that sounded great in other guitars. Mike and I both replaced the pots, the wiring, got new fancy pickups and new pickguards with a non-angled humbuckers to make the polepieces actually line-up with the strings. Still didn't quite sound right to our tastes.. WHICH ARE MAYBE DIFFERENT TO YOURS 😱😱😱

[Mike]

Thanks Rob, I'll email that very useful advice to myself 15 years ago

The point is that it wasn't the pickup; that sounded great in other guitars. Mike and I both replaced the pots, the wiring, got new fancy pickups and new pickguards with a non-angled humbuckers to make the polepieces actually line-up with the strings. Still didn't quite sound right to our tastes.. WHICH ARE MAYBE DIFFERENT TO YOURS 😱😱😱

Yeah. a neck pickup is fuck all use if you wanna play music which requires a bridge pickup.

The neck pickup was never the issue - it sounded lovely.

The bridge pickup, which I use for 70% of my playing was wooly/muddy nonsense.

Same pickup in a different guitar - fine - spanky even!

Different pickup in Jag-Stang - still muddy
straighten the wonky routing so the polepieces actually fucking line up (which makes sense)? still muddy
reduce tone cap or remove entirely? no change
increase pots to fucking 1MEG? still not bright
remove pots entirely and go direct to jack - still not bright

There is something wrong with the way that guitar is constructed. The basswood or something? It's a disaster.

I put hours and hours and hundreds of pounds into trying to make that instrument sound any good for LOUD DISTORTED MUSIC like it was DESIGNED FOR and failed miserably. So fuck that guitar.

I've played thousands of other guitars that out perform the Jag-Stang at a fraction of the price stock.

[Bacchus]

EMG 81?

Did Fran have an EMG 81 in his?

[Mike]

I don't think Fran is a reliable judge of treble content.

Guy has been playing in LOUD ASS ROCK BANDS his whole life.

[Nick]

[Fran]

EMG 81?

Did Fran have an EMG 81 in his?

No, that was Mad Mike.

I've used Duncan Customs in several of mine.

Bizarrely, the one I built from scratch from a block of mahogany still sounds like the stock models. It's a bit dull and bassy.
I reckon Kurt upset a gypsy or something, the design has a curse on it.

It worked well with the Stoner/Doom stuff but wasn't up to much when I took it to rehearsal the other week with the Indie band. Never heard Sit Down by James sound so dark and moody.

[Mike]

SEE? It's just a bad design

Kurty poos was a helluva songwriter, singer and player but turns out chopping up two photos of guitars and glueing them together in your journal is not a great way to design an instrument?

WHO KNEW?

[Bacchus]

I dont understand why! And it frustrates me!

I don't think the wood has anything to do with it. The weird angle definitely could. I think the shape of the instrument has an effect but that that is often overstated.

Light strats sound better than heavy strats, according to lore. Is the body too big and unwieldy and heavy? Sounds difficult to believe.

[Mike]

Both Doog and I fixed the angle of the bridge pickup by routing and making new pickguards

Got the spacing perfectly lined up with the strings and a trembucker spaced pickup. it just didn't work

I remember it being very heavy and the body being thicker than any mustang or jaguar though. because for some reason it's a slab.

[Bacchus]

Sorry, yeah that's why I mentioned the angle. Because that's been fixed and it's not that.

Body is standard Jag thickness no?

[Mike]

Seemed thicker to me having know got an old and new jag

It was a slab
Jaguars have contours

My 70s mustang also has contours

It's obviously just a dim memory but I remember it looking chunky to me

[Bacchus]

I remember my first time playing a real Mustang and I couldn't believe how light and flimsy it was. I'd assumed they were all Jag-Stang thickness, given that it's usually the trem that would determine how thick the body needs to be.

[Doog]

hahahaha

I personally don't think it's down to the wood, but am still very curious as to what the issue was.

I know it was from The Land Before We Understood Buffers And How True Bypass Isn't That Good, but different guitars would sound spankier with the same set-up.

-Were we too poor to change strings more than annually?
-Crummy slidery switches robbing us of our precious, precious treble?
-Some other third thing?

Would love to try one now, for the sake of science.

[Nick]

Yeah I was reading this and thinking back on your recent revelation that DS1s only sounded shit because we were playing them through cheap 90s amps.