my dilemma

[borrowedworld]

Hi guys, new to the forum, but not new in my fascination with shortscales. I'm currently choosing between the MIJ jaguar hh and the 69 RI Stang. I'd ahve to say i'm more of a fan of the body shapes and scale lengths than the tone so i will be swapping the pickups out in all likeliness. I have a few questions that i'm sure some of you could help with. First being, if i go with the mustang i plan to install lace sensor red in the bridge and probably a blue in the neck. I am a fan of very serrating sort of tone (Duane Denison of the jesus lizard and Kurt Ballou of Converge come to mind). I hear that these are fantastic pickups and have really good string seperation when distorted, problem is all i can find as far as sound clips go are blues or classic rock players. what are your experiences with these pickups? In addition if i go with the jaguar hh (i do like humbuckers and gibson style bridges) are there any pickups that work to retrofit the special design dragsters? (i always assumed what was special about them was their ability of coil blending, will any other pickups, preferably lace handle this?) Thank you in advance for any help with this problem, and i am sorry if these are common questions. i am very excited to finally own a short scale guitar and not just oggle them at stores or online.




thanks again,

Steve

[taylornutt]

I dont' think you can go wrong with either one. It mostly comes down to budget and preference. If you can't decide, I would go with the 69 RI stang cause the Jaguar HH are pretty easy to find again. The Duncan designed pickups in the HH are just standard humbuckers and you should be able to change them out no problem. You will need a new pickguard if you go for stock sized Jaguar pups. The neck is nice on MIJ Jaguar as well.

You mentioned coil blending on the humbuckers and I am not sure what you are referring to. The Japanese HH (black and chrome) works like a standard Jaguar even with the humbuckers. The Classic Player Jaguar HH (MIM) has coil splitting where you can take each humbucker down to single coil, but only on the Classic Player not the MIJ. Is this what you were talking about?

[Sparky]

Can't really add much to this, other than my opinion of red lace sensors. I have a dually in my Hi Flyer's bridge and it SUCKS!

[James]

Special in terms of the dragsters is just a nothing, marketing term. They're specially designed because they were made for that model. In the sense that if you get a haircut it's specially designed for you, it couldn't be anything else.

If you don't know how the lace sensors are going to work, how can you know how the stock pickups will work for you?

I'm guessing as you like that scale length that you've played both or at least one or the two. Definitely go with whichever feels most comfortable to play, and has tone approaching what you want. Some of the tone will be from the bridge setup and that sort of thing, so go with one that can get the sort of sustain you want, or at least approaches it.

The japanese pickups aren't fantastic, but don't plan too much until you're a little familiar with them and know which direction you want to go in.

[dots]

Hi guys, new to the forum, but not new in my fascination with shortscales. I'm currently choosing between the MIJ jaguar hh and the 69 RI Stang. I'd ahve to say i'm more of a fan of the body shapes and scale lengths than the tone so i will be swapping the pickups out in all likeliness. I have a few questions that i'm sure some of you could help with. First being, if i go with the mustang i plan to install lace sensor red in the bridge and probably a blue in the neck. I am a fan of very serrating sort of tone (Duane Denison of the jesus lizard and Kurt Ballou of Converge come to mind). I hear that these are fantastic pickups and have really good string seperation when distorted, problem is all i can find as far as sound clips go are blues or classic rock players. what are your experiences with these pickups? In addition if i go with the jaguar hh (i do like humbuckers and gibson style bridges) are there any pickups that work to retrofit the special design dragsters? (i always assumed what was special about them was their ability of coil blending, will any other pickups, preferably lace handle this?) Thank you in advance for any help with this problem, and i am sorry if these are common questions. i am very excited to finally own a short scale guitar and not just oggle them at stores or online.




thanks again,

Steve

these are my current shortscales:



from left to right:

squier classic vibe duosonic
i mod'd this with a texas special in the neck and a seymour duncan lil screamin' demon in the bridge. this thing cuts like a razor, is super loud, and cleans up really nice. the neck feels amazing.

jaguar hh special
replaced the dragsters with set of gfs p90's spaced for humbucker enclosures. the tone is phenominal, gives me the best of both the humbucker and single coil worlds with probably the most comfortable neck i've ever played. this is my favorite guitar by far in terms of look, feel (jags hug you), and sound.

american vintage re-issue jaguar
all stock. heavy, loud, great electronics, and tons of mojo. when my original hh-jag got stolen and this one miraculously didn't, i switched to using the avri for several months. don't believe the hype about these guitars not working well for harder rock situations because mine held up beautifully. they're just way too expensive these days at nearly $2k (i got mine before the price-hike).


hope that helps, and let me know if there are any other questions. hands down, though, i'd go with a jag first.

[taylornutt]

That's a nice lineup you have, Dots. I have the Squier Duo Sonic as well and it great. The Duo Sonic and Jagmaster is a cheap way to get into shortscales. I recently got a AVRI Jag Sunburst used for $700 and echo everthing you said. I love the White-red color combo. I will one day have a shortscale with that combination.

[Thom]

If you can't decide, I would go with the 69 RI stang cause the Jaguar HH are pretty easy to find again.

Not sure I agree with this - 69 stangs are all over the place
One major question would be do you want/need a trem or not? Yes? Then Mustang. No? Then Jag. Personally I would buy the Jag, Mustangs always feel a little bit like toys to me, they are so thin.

[taylornutt]

If you can't decide, I would go with the 69 RI stang cause the Jaguar HH are pretty easy to find again.

Not sure I agree with this - 69 stangs are all over the place
One major question would be do you want/need a trem or not? Yes? Then Mustang. No? Then Jag. Personally I would buy the Jag, Mustangs always feel a little bit like toys to me, they are so thin.

Where I am, The Jag HH is in every Guitar Center. Mustangs are much more difficult unless you hit eBay or occasionally CL.

[Thom]

If you can't decide, I would go with the 69 RI stang cause the Jaguar HH are pretty easy to find again.

Not sure I agree with this - 69 stangs are all over the place
One major question would be do you want/need a trem or not? Yes? Then Mustang. No? Then Jag. Personally I would buy the Jag, Mustangs always feel a little bit like toys to me, they are so thin.

Where I am, The Jag HH is in every Guitar Center. Mustangs are much more difficult unless you hit eBay or occasionally CL.

Fair enough Guess I was really thinking about eBay and stuff, not new.

[borrowedworld]

i have played the jag, was very impressed at first, when i played it again i thought the pickups left a bit to be desired. in reference to the fact that they are not special design, i have not ever seen a guitar with coil blending besides this one. if i were to get it i would like to keep it as a feature. i'm wondering if it is a wiring issue or the design of the pickups themselves. i have only played vintage mustangs (a 78 i believe?) and never plugged in. i am a short guy with short arms (about 5"4), what feels like a toy to you may be a little bit more comfortable for me. i don't really desire a trem, but that's only because i haven't even really had a guitar with one. past guitars i owned were gibson sgs, a guild s 100 (love it but it's on loan to a friend at the moment) and telecasters. Basically i am looking for a very quiet pickup with a lot of versatility, as i play anything from post-rock akin to *shels to fugazi influenced post-punk to thrash metal and power violence. i'd like to be able to pull all of this off in one guitar. i do enjoy p-90s. have any of you had any experience with the seymour duncan p-rails? thanks for all of the responses by the way

[borrowedworld]

taylornut, do you have any clips of you playing that duo sonic? your comments on it's tone make me think that the mustang with pickup mod is the way to go.

[robert(original)]

dots bring that jag hh to the albq, i have never liked one, but you make yours sound like sex and hard candy.

[taylornutt]

taylornut, do you have any clips of you playing that duo sonic? your comments on it's tone make me think that the mustang with pickup mod is the way to go.

Ask and you shall receive. The guitar sounds a little out of tune at first because I was using .10s and needed a neck adjustment. It currently has .11s and the neck was tightened and is so fun to play. If you don't like a trem, you might go Duo Sonic since it has a hardtail bridge.
[youtube][/youtube]

[taylornutt]

Which Jaguar HH you are looking at?

or

[borrowedworld]

the mij one with the adjusto-matic, except in the "gunmetal red burst" or whatever they are calling it. i think everyone here is under the impression that i have just window shopped these on the web, not the case, i have played the black and chrome model about 10 times and i like it except for the pickups. i guess the real dilemma is jag with p rails or mustang with lace sensors, or maybe even jag with those alumitones. as for the comment about how i should get comfortable with the guitar before i think about modding it, that is not going to work because i am set on modding it, i am really trying to make whichever one i get uniquely mine. sorry to get off topic, but is the duo sonic THAT bassy or is it your settings/ the video you used? sounds like it has a fatter, sweeter tone than i thought, i just keep getting more and more on the fence!

[endsjustifymeans]

the mij one with the adjusto-matic, except in the "gunmetal red burst" or whatever they are calling it. i think everyone here is under the impression that i have just window shopped these on the web, not the case, i have played the black and chrome model about 10 times and i like it except for the pickups. i guess the real dilemma is jag with p rails or mustang with lace sensors, or maybe even jag with those alumitones. as for the comment about how i should get comfortable with the guitar before i think about modding it, that is not going to work because i am set on modding it, i am really trying to make whichever one i get uniquely mine. sorry to get off topic, but is the duo sonic THAT bassy or is it your settings/ the video you used? sounds like it has a fatter, sweeter tone than i thought, i just keep getting more and more on the fence!

The HH Jag with P-rails would give you an awful lot of available tones. you could use the rollers to roll between the rail and the P-90. Sexy.

[taylornutt]

the mij one with the adjusto-matic, except in the "gunmetal red burst" or whatever they are calling it. i think everyone here is under the impression that i have just window shopped these on the web, not the case, i have played the black and chrome model about 10 times and i like it except for the pickups. i guess the real dilemma is jag with p rails or mustang with lace sensors, or maybe even jag with those alumitones. as for the comment about how i should get comfortable with the guitar before i think about modding it, that is not going to work because i am set on modding it, i am really trying to make whichever one i get uniquely mine. sorry to get off topic, but is the duo sonic THAT bassy or is it your settings/ the video you used? sounds like it has a fatter, sweeter tone than i thought, i just keep getting more and more on the fence!

I just wanted to make sure we were talking about the same jag HH. The stock Dragster pickups aren't good. I put them in a Squier Jagmaster and I ended up selling the guitar. The Duo Sonic is a little bassy and I love the stock pups. I did run it through some effects towards the end of the demo. So Fun to play. Squier Classic Vibe guitars are awesome! Best thing Squier has done since their Vista Series guitars.

[borrowedworld]

that's the idea, how many tones in that hh is what drew me to it in the first place. i'm just scared of wiring those p rails myself and i don't want to pay an arm and a leg for some old guy to solder for me.

[endsjustifymeans]

Squier Classic Vibe guitars are awesome! Best thing Squier has done since their Vista Series guitars.

Squier Master Series is the best thing they've done since the Vistas.

[endsjustifymeans]

that's the idea, how many tones in that hh is what drew me to it in the first place. i'm just scared of wiring those p rails myself and i don't want to pay an arm and a leg for some old guy to solder for me.

Nothing to be afraid of. The SD website has diagrams for this stuff and there enough people here willing to offer advice that it shouldn't take you more than a night.