NGD: 2008 Squier Standard Jagmaster

[toomanycats]

Those of you who, like me, regularly troll pawn shops for used guitars will acknowledge that amongst Fender style instruments Strats are by far the most frequently seen. Teles are significantly more scarce. But offset guitars . . . your Jazzmasters, Mustangs, and Jaguar types . . . these are very rarely seen.

Why is this so?

On the one hand I think it must simply be a matter of numbers. They don't make as many cheap offsets as they do Strats or Teles. On the other hand, perhaps the type of people that buy these guitars tend to hold on to them.

Whatever the reason for their relative rarity, the fact is that I saw one today that had been recently pawned and knew that I was being given a rare opportunity. So it went home with me.

It has a serial number beginning with "CY," which means the Yako factory in Taiwan. This is a good thing in my book.

It came with a very nice quality Road Runner soft case and a Peavey strap. I believe that the only modifications are Fender Infinity strap locks having been installed. Somebody had set this guitar up very well and it plays superbly.

The pickups are a a pair of Duncan Designed HB-103 humbuckers, which are ceramic magnetic pups based on Duncan Distortions. The bridge is about 16.32 K and the neck is 7.46 K. I'm thinking that all I'll need to do is pop an A2 magnet in the bridge pup and an A5 magnet in the neck pup and call it a day, because there's nothing else that needs to be changed on this guitar.

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[toomanycats]

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[toomanycats]

Couple things I want to run by you guys.

First, I just realized that this guitar is 24" scale length. While that doesn't seem like it's much different from standard Fender or Gibson scale length, it does make a noticeable difference in terms of string tension and even tone.

The other thing is that I'm kicking around an idea for the pickups and would welcome feedback. As I said in the OP, they are ceramic, with the bridge measuring 16.32 K, and the neck 7.46 K.

My idea is to put the 7.46 K neck pickup in the bridge position with the intention of achieving an under-wound PAF vibe. I'd use either an A2 or A5 magnet.

I'd then put the bridge pickup in the neck position but only wire in the outside coil (adjustment screw side nearest to the neck). Again, I'd use either an A2 or A5 magnet. As the full pup is 16.32K, using only a single coil I'd land at something like 8.16 K. Going for a pseudo P-90 type thing here, if that makes any sense.

Any thoughts?

[toomanycats]

Gheeeesh, tough room. Nobody here has ever switched positions of a neck and bridge humbuckers then wired in one of the coils in the neck position? Am I actually about to do something totally unprecedented? Thought I'd be able to get some feedback here before I went down a wrong path.

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[mozz]

The single may not be as loud, big difference in levels between the pickups. You may want it like that. Adjusting heights may even it out somewhat.

[toomanycats]

The single may not be as loud, big difference in levels between the pickups. You may want it like that. Adjusting heights may even it out somewhat.

Do you think there will be that big of a volume difference between a 7.46 K humbucker bridge and a 8.16 K single coil neck? I know that the neck position is inherently louder.

The bridge humbucker/neck single coil combination I can think of right off the top of my head are what is in the Charvel Warren DeMartini signature guitars. The bridge is a 17-18K output humbucker and the neck is a 13.3K single coil.

[nomadh]

Couple things I want to run by you guys.

First, I just realized that this guitar is 24" scale length. While that doesn't seem like it's much different from standard Fender or Gibson scale length, it does make a noticeable difference in terms of string tension and even tone.

The other thing is that I'm kicking around an idea for the pickups and would welcome feedback. As I said in the OP, they are ceramic, with the bridge measuring 16.32 K, and the neck 7.46 K.

My idea is to put the 7.46 K neck pickup in the bridge position with the intention of achieving an under-wound PAF vibe. I'd use either an A2 or A5 magnet.

I'd then put the bridge pickup in the neck position but only wire in the outside coil (adjustment screw side nearest to the neck). Again, I'd use either an A2 or A5 magnet. As the full pup is 16.32K, using only a single coil I'd land at something like 8.16 K. Going for a pseudo P-90 type thing here, if that makes any sense.

Any thoughts?

I think it sounds interesting. How is the balance between them now? It seems insanely out of balance.

[mozz]

Probably not out of balance now. The 16k is 43 or 44 gauge wire hence the higher reading. The 7k neck is 42 gauge.

Edit: if the bridge is overwound, it makes it a bit darker. Even 1 coil would be darker than normal, so in the neck position it may be too dark. Doesn't hurt to try if it's got 4 conductor already there.

[toomanycats]

Couple things I want to run by you guys.

First, I just realized that this guitar is 24" scale length. While that doesn't seem like it's much different from standard Fender or Gibson scale length, it does make a noticeable difference in terms of string tension and even tone.

The other thing is that I'm kicking around an idea for the pickups and would welcome feedback. As I said in the OP, they are ceramic, with the bridge measuring 16.32 K, and the neck 7.46 K.

My idea is to put the 7.46 K neck pickup in the bridge position with the intention of achieving an under-wound PAF vibe. I'd use either an A2 or A5 magnet.

I'd then put the bridge pickup in the neck position but only wire in the outside coil (adjustment screw side nearest to the neck). Again, I'd use either an A2 or A5 magnet. As the full pup is 16.32K, using only a single coil I'd land at something like 8.16 K. Going for a pseudo P-90 type thing here, if that makes any sense.

Any thoughts?

I think it sounds interesting. How is the balance between them now? It seems insanely out of balance.

They sound nicely balanced right now.

I must say again, the Duncan Designed HB-103 set aren't bad pickups, though they don't make the tones I find most inspiring and useful for the kind of music I do.

Speaking of ceramic pickups in general, I can say that what I appreciate about them is that they tend to be strong, articulate, and tight. There are applications where those qualities are of paramount importance, namely, in high gain, fast metal riffing type situations. But I don't do much of that.

I do like a pickup to have good output, and be clear and defined, though maybe a little loose at the same time, and airy, and woody. I hate compressed tones. It's got to breathe.

With pickups it's not just about how they sound. Most talk about pickups is about how they sound. For me it's also about how a pickup feels, the responsiveness under the fingers, the push and pull with the amp.

[toomanycats]

I finally took the plunge last night. Didn't switch positions of the bridge and neck pickups, but instead opted to leave them in place and swap out the ceramic magnets for an A2 in the bridge and an A5 in the neck. Very happy with the results. It' so much more to my liking, with the bridge now sounding similar to a JB2 and the neck something like a proper PAF.

Will try to get a sound demo posted, but in the meantime here some pics of "under the hood."

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