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Mike wrote:Duncan Designed is pretty much analogous to "no name"

Ah, oh well. I just remember absolutely loving the P90s in my Squier Tele Custom II. They were stupidly good.

ekwatts wrote:Yeah, I think the price makes these, really. If they'd been closer to £300 then they really would have seemed irrelevant as another £100 or so buys you a "proper" Fender Blacktop Jazzy with the proper bridge and everything. But these are actually a real budget alternative at last, and ones that can be modded fairly easily

that leaves a price point for any future CV releases then

ekwatts wrote:

Mike wrote:Duncan Designed is pretty much analogous to "no name"

Ah, oh well. I just remember absolutely loving the P90s in my Squier Tele Custom II. They were stupidly good.

I agree, But Mike will not. He played a shitbox TCII. He hsould play mine because it's tits on glass.

ekwatts wrote:Just wondering; what are the JM pickups like on the Japanese Fender models? Considering the Squier has Duncan Designed pickups, is it in danger of sounding a bit better than the Fender?

Rubbish, apparently. I've heard that they were basically strat pickups in a Jazzmaster shell and didn't sound at all like JM pickups should. However I never had them in any of my JM's long enough to come to my own conclusions. I didn't think JM's were officially being exported by Fender Japan anymore, if this is the case then there isn't an official Fender model with 2xJM pickups, other than the AVRI, to compare them to.

aen wrote:

ekwatts wrote:

Mike wrote:Duncan Designed is pretty much analogous to "no name"

Ah, oh well. I just remember absolutely loving the P90s in my Squier Tele Custom II. They were stupidly good.

I agree, But Mike will not. He played a shitbox TCII. He hsould play mine because it's tits on glass.

Yeah, it was really bassy and woolly - undefined and mushy. I dunno why, but yeah it seems like I played a Lemon.

Mike wrote:

aen wrote:

ekwatts wrote: Ah, oh well. I just remember absolutely loving the P90s in my Squier Tele Custom II. They were stupidly good.

I agree, But Mike will not. He played a shitbox TCII. He hsould play mine because it's tits on glass.

Yeah, it was really bassy and woolly - undefined and mushy. I dunno why, but yeah it seems like I played a Lemon.

It's weird... the 'Duncan Designed' humbuckers in my Jagmaster sounded really woolly and indistinct. Some people seem to like the ones in theirs.

ekwatts wrote:

Mike wrote:Duncan Designed is pretty much analogous to "no name"

Ah, oh well. I just remember absolutely loving the P90s in my Squier Tele Custom II. They were stupidly good.

The neck PU in my Blacktop JM is the duncan design that came in it and it is a great sounding pickup.... If the Squier has the same Duncan Designed as the BT JM I would more than Pleased......

These are very reasonably priced. Squier is on a high at the moment.

The dream scenario now is, as has been said, for a more vintage correct CV model to be released and fill the gap between these VM and the BTs. Even more dreaming is required to hope that they'll make lefty models.

Mike wrote:Duncan Designed is pretty much analogous to "no name"

Guess I'll agree to disagree on that one . By experience . I was one that thought that Duncan Designed were just a cheap copout and a pickup that guitar companies put in their guitars to save money knowing that the buyers would evidently rip them out for real Duncans . I actually said that to a Duncan sales rep . He laughed at me . Then he explained them .
Duncan made them to the quality specs of the USA pickups using US parts with US machines and winders ......But in Korea . Most of the money saved in labor so they can sell them cheaper to guitar companies to have Duncan quality pickups but at a fraction of the price . I have 2 guitars in my living room as I type this with the same variants . 1 with Duncan 59s .... One with DD HB-102s . The same pickups supposedly but one was made overseas . Both sound fantastic . The HB-102s seem a little hotter but the same overtones as the US 59s .
One thing I have discovered is the consistency is better with the US ones but the DDs are very close .
I too have played the Squier Tele Custom with the DD P90s . Great pickups . Almost got one but went with the humbucker version . But one thing with the Duncan Designed pickups do have that the Duncan US ones don't is a lower end line which I would think would be in the newer Squiers . That said when of if I get one of those Squier Jags I'm ripping those fuckers out and donating them to the board if they are not up to snuff.

MikeG wrote:

Mike wrote:

aen wrote: I agree, But Mike will not. He played a shitbox TCII. He hsould play mine because it's tits on glass.

Yeah, it was really bassy and woolly - undefined and mushy. I dunno why, but yeah it seems like I played a Lemon.

It's weird... the 'Duncan Designed' humbuckers in my Jagmaster sounded really woolly and indistinct. Some people seem to like the ones in theirs.

I had a jagmaster with the duncan designed humbuckers and I also hated them. They were just very characterless.

For those thinking that there are going to be CV versions of the Jaguar and JM--is there really a need for another price point between the Vintage Modified and the Blacktop series? There's only a $220 difference. I could understand if their offsets were selling like Teles and Strats, but I'm starting to wonder why someone wouldn't just pay $220 more and get a Blacktop.

And, if there were to be a CV version of each, what do you think the differences (realistically) would be between those and the VMs?

$220 is a lot of money for some people.

Billy3000 wrote:

MikeG wrote:

Mike wrote: Yeah, it was really bassy and woolly - undefined and mushy. I dunno why, but yeah it seems like I played a Lemon.

It's weird... the 'Duncan Designed' humbuckers in my Jagmaster sounded really woolly and indistinct. Some people seem to like the ones in theirs.

I had a jagmaster with the duncan designed humbuckers and I also hated them. They were just very characterless.

My M-80 has DD's and they're spectacular. DD versions of the JB/Jazz combo. I had the same setup in my LP briefly but actual SDs and the LP's pups didn't sound any better than the M-80's.

I think with the squier guitar and the DD pickups it is all in QC. Neither squier (except the CV series) or DD have the greatest quality control. You can pick up 3 of the same guitar and they will sound differently. CV's seem to be pretty consistent across the board. I have played 4 (owned 2) different CV 50's and they were all great).

As far as a CV jazz or jag I doubt it. Maybe if these new squiers are a huge hit they would roll them back and come out with a cv series but I doubt there is enough interest to justify:

Squier jag
squier jaz
cv duo
blacktop jaz
blackyp jag
CP jag
CP jaz
and AVRI jag and jazz (along with the CIJ/MIJ ones in the system already)

I think we would be more likely to see the Blacktops go away in a yr or 2 and then have a MIM jazzmaster/jaguar Standard for $500 with normal single coils and no fancy switches....

and if that happens I want a MIM Jazzy Standard in LAKE PLACID BLUE!!!!

I donno I generally like the VM line of instruments. Granted they have taken a lot of liberties here but these are two more options you have for an affordable offset guitar from Squire / Fender; and more options is always a good thing as far as I am concerned.

SGJarrod wrote:I think we would be more likely to see the Blacktops go away in a yr or 2 and then have a MIM jazzmaster/jaguar Standard for $500 with normal single coils and no fancy switches....

and if that happens I want a MIM Jazzy Standard in LAKE PLACID BLUE!!!!

yay no fancy switches!

I just have one question about the Jaguar: Has anyone heard whether the Jaguar neck is conversion neck or actual 24" neck? I just noticed that it has the extra fret after the dot like a traditional 24" neck which both the Jagmaster and the Duo Sonic don't have. The website says the Jagmaster is 22 fret neck, but I just counted it and it only has 21 frets like the CV Duo Sonic. Wouldn't be the first time the website has been wrong.

Is there any way to tell by looking at the photo? Why would the go the conversion route over a genuine 24" neck? Is it so they can just make 25.5" scale bodies only and the neck fixes the scale length?

I would put my money on conversion because then they can use the same body for the Jag and Jazzmaster. It is hard to tell from the photos but I don't think the top horn is different AND they could reuse the Jagmasters neck . . .

I guess they could still use the same body because you can use the same body and put the bridge in a different place, but I wouldn't expect them too.

endsjustifymeans wrote:

Billy3000 wrote:

MikeG wrote:
It's weird... the 'Duncan Designed' humbuckers in my Jagmaster sounded really woolly and indistinct. Some people seem to like the ones in theirs.

I had a jagmaster with the duncan designed humbuckers and I also hated them. They were just very characterless.

My M-80 has DD's and they're spectacular. DD versions of the JB/Jazz combo. I had the same setup in my LP briefly but actual SDs and the LP's pups didn't sound any better than the M-80's.

I have a squier and a fender tom delonge strat, and honestly the DD pickup in the squier sounds just as good as the one in the Fender. I'm surprised that I hated the pickups in the jagmaster as much as I did. I've never played the SD versions of those pickups though, so maybe I just don't like those pickups at all.