Cyclone II on SF Craigslist

[Nick]

JAGWIRE PICKUPS

[MMPicker]

I have always been really fond of these Cyclone guitars. The colors and competition stripes are awesome. Unfortunately the placement of the pickup switches was very ugly and not very functional. I have never accidentally hit the pickup switches on my Jaguars, but I am worried about hitting these switches. If I ever can get on of these, I would love to cut a new pickguard with a different switch placement or an entirely new switch plate design.

I wouldn't worry about that. You won't hit them.

By contrast, laterallateral said one might well worry about that.

To be specific, in 1:54- 2:00 in the video he posted, linked above, he says"you have to be careful, because you can strum and hit your [can't hear this word] and turn it off".

I guess maybe it depends on one's strumming technique?

And if you're really worried, pop some spacers on the screws under the plate, shorten the amount of switch sticking out of the plate (like on the Pawn Shop Mustang).

Yeah one could do that, but maybe then it might be more difficult to hit the switches when you actually want to do it. And you can still accidentally shut yourself off, by turning one off, by feel without looking, thinking you have another pickup on, when you don't. And you still would often have to manipulate multiple switches just to change pickups. If it were me I'd rather have a slider switch in there. There may be a couple pickup combinations sacrificed that way, but it's safer.YMMV.

I don't know anybody who bought a Jaguar because they actually prefer the Jaguar lead circuit switching method, actually that is one of the things most frequently cited as a reason people don't like the Jaguar. People buy jaguars in spite of this, if they do, not because of it. It is not something I would be seeking to promulgate on a new guitar design, if my goal was to actually sell lots of this model of guitars. I'm surprised they did it this way.

[Pens]

And if you're really worried, pop some spacers on the screws under the plate, shorten the amount of switch sticking out of the plate (like on the Pawn Shop Mustang).

Yeah one could do that, but maybe then it might be more difficult to hit the switches when you actually want to do it. And you can still accidentally shut yourself off, by turning one off, by feel without looking, thinking you have another pickup on, when you don't. And you still would often have to manipulate multiple switches just to change pickups. If it were me I'd rather have a slider switch in there. There may be a couple pickup combinations sacrificed that way, but it's safer.YMMV.

I don't know anybody who bought a Jaguar because they actually prefer the Jaguar lead circuit switching method, actually that is one of the things most frequently cited as a reason people don't like the Jaguar. People buy jaguars in spite of this, if they do, not because of it. It is not something I would be seeking to promulgate on a new guitar design, if my goal was to actually sell lots of this model of guitars. I'm surprised they did it this way.

Posts requesting deletion cleaned up.

And I would actually concur with your statement here. I really do hate the switching of the Jag despite loving it, aside from the bridge the switch placement is the other thing I hate about that guitar. I'm a really "energetic" player and move around a lot, and it's so easy to hit those switches and turn the guitar off. I have a whole mess of duck tape covering all of the switches on that guitar to prevent this from happening live.

[Ankhanu]

*shrug*
I do like the Jaguar switching; and the same sort of switching on my Ultra VI. The switching is part of what I like about the Cyclone II, and why I like it so much more than the Cyclone. I find these switches easy to use, aesthetically pleasing, and a distinguishing feature. It's true that you can't make switches as fast as with a blade or toggle, but, it's not exactly hard. I've also never had any kind of issue with hitting the switches on either my Jag or Ultra VI while playing... but I'm not as heavy handed as some.

[MMPicker]

I have a whole mess of duck tape covering all of the switches on that guitar to prevent this from happening live.

I played a Les Paul for most of my electric-playing life. When I bought my Jaguar, I had it about a week and the switches were driving me crazy; I shut myself off accidentally several times. So I had the individual sliders replaced with a toggle switch, and never looked back. I was worried that I would hit the toggle while playing, but fortunately that does not happen.
For a three pickup guitar though I'd rather have strat type switching than a toggle.