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Japanese Jaguar VS American vintage Jaguar SOUND CLASH!!!!!

Posted: Sat Oct 04, 2008 6:57 pm
by Hurb
Yeah so I recorded both and let your ears be the decider.


http://www.megaupload.com/?d=N38UNMVA

In case you can't understand my ramblings it is always japanese first followed by vintage, neck then bridge clean dirt then fuzz.

Posted: Sat Oct 04, 2008 6:59 pm
by Mike
Awesome. DOWNLOADIN;'

Posted: Sat Oct 04, 2008 7:04 pm
by aen
I htought for sure you did have sex with men in yoru mouth. Hmm, learn somethin every day i guess.

Posted: Sat Oct 04, 2008 7:12 pm
by benecol
Standard tuning Hurb? New one sounds lovely.

Although, I can't listen to the first riff without hearing Tracy Chapman...

Second riff maybe being The Breeders has helped redress the balance.

Posted: Sat Oct 04, 2008 7:14 pm
by Mike
Man the Vintage Jaguar has so much more body to the sound in the Bridge position (Mike Land), but it's incredibly subtle.

Really cool thing to do mate.

Posted: Sat Oct 04, 2008 7:14 pm
by serfx
i have no idea what you are rambling on about, i think i understood "gold"


but the fiddles sound fantastic

both are rocking to my ears

Posted: Sat Oct 04, 2008 7:24 pm
by Hurb
benecol wrote:Standard tuning Hurb? New one sounds lovely.
afraid so, been recording pixies for comp init.

Posted: Sat Oct 04, 2008 7:25 pm
by Hurb
Mike wrote:Man the Vintage Jaguar has so much more body to the sound in the Bridge position (Mike Land), but it's incredibly subtle.

Really cool thing to do mate.
yeah the vintage wins, but like you say its subtle. although the more dirt you put on the more you hear it.

yeah lets get rid of some cork sniffery lol

Posted: Sat Oct 04, 2008 7:26 pm
by Hurb
serfx wrote:i have no idea what you are rambling on about, i think i understood "gold"


but the fiddles sound fantastic

both are rocking to my ears
I never once said gold.

Posted: Sat Oct 04, 2008 7:27 pm
by Mike
You're definitely not going to hear it at a gig, or on a record if you can EQ the tracks afterwards (which you always can). A bit of mic placement could thicken up the Japanese version.

The microphonics really appear to be the only issue besides the "feel" of the guitar.

Posted: Sat Oct 04, 2008 7:34 pm
by Hurb
Mike wrote:You're definitely not going to hear it at a gig, or on a record if you can EQ the tracks afterwards (which you always can). A bit of mic placement could thicken up the Japanese version.

The microphonics really appear to be the only issue besides the "feel" of the guitar.
One thing I must say is, my first jaguar wasn't as nice as this jaguar is I don't know what to blame that on.
One thing to note also is the jap jaguar appears to be ash, and the vintage i think is alder.
Also another thing I forgot was, with the pickups I cant get them as close to strings as you can on the vintage, any closer than I have them and you get that horrible string pulling sound...I think the problem is the magnets in the new one are stronger and pull more than the vintage...this would be my guess but that's all it is.

Posted: Sat Oct 04, 2008 7:36 pm
by Mike
Interesting.

I always thought the Japanese Jaguars were Basswood or Alder and defo Alder if they were Sunburst, sicne Basswood is so fugly.

Posted: Sat Oct 04, 2008 7:37 pm
by stewart
i'm pretty stunned by how close they sound. no way would i say there's a grand or more's worth of difference between them.

i imagine there's a fair bit of difference in playability though...

Posted: Sat Oct 04, 2008 7:40 pm
by Hurb
Mike wrote:Interesting.

I always thought the Japanese Jaguars were Basswood or Alder and defo Alder if they were Sunburst, sicne Basswood is so fugly.
I could be horribly wrong about the ash...but I rarely am :P

luckily because of the looony paint strip job the dude did on the guitar. I can see the wood quite clearly. in places.

Posted: Sat Oct 04, 2008 7:46 pm
by Hurb
stewart wrote:i'm pretty stunned by how close they sound. no way would i say there's a grand or more's worth of difference between them.

i imagine there's a fair bit of difference in playability though...
The trem is big difference, the neck is fine although it's a little more uncomfortable near the headstock than the vintage. and the new frets have worn my fingers out a bit..I am used to low vintagey frets. not that the new jags frets are stupid high or anything.

The contours are better ona vintage so the guitar tends to hug your body more...but the Jaguar shape is so comfy anyway you could have no contours and not be as uncomfortable as you would be with tele or something.
Any other playability issues I tweaked out with a decent setup.

Posted: Sat Oct 04, 2008 7:55 pm
by stewart
did you say in the other thread you'd stuck a vintage trem on it?

i'm glad you've done this comparison, i'd be much less hesitant in future about buying a jap one and replacing a few bits of hardware with better components now.

Posted: Sat Oct 04, 2008 7:58 pm
by Hurb
stewart wrote:did you say in the other thread you'd stuck a vintage trem on it?

i'm glad you've done this comparison, i'd be much less hesitant in future about buying a jap one and replacing a few bits of hardware with better components now.
yeah I have. I had it hanging around. I would recommend anyone to get a avri trem for there jap offsetts. I have learned to love em over vintage ones.

Posted: Sat Oct 04, 2008 8:08 pm
by blacktaxi
awesome stuff! thanks much :D oh god it's so interesting! gonna listen to it asap...

Posted: Sat Oct 04, 2008 8:29 pm
by robert(original)
i know i took shots a long time ago and posted them up after aug said basswood was crappy and poplar was far superior.
but depending on the basswood region it can have some really nice grain to it.
and i have run into multiple peices that actually have ribbons(figured) on the grain.
i just recently burned a peice i was keeping to prove this point.
its odd that your jap jag might be ash just becuz i have never heard of it, but then again, that jag is a rather rare piece so you never can be sure.

Posted: Sat Oct 04, 2008 8:37 pm
by r40f
imo the clean tone of the vintage is much better, but once you add any kind of distortion, i can't tell between the two. i'd guess the vintage pickups are what's better about the sound - is that true?