ShortScale.org

Les Paul or SG

I've been locking down trems and putting humbuckers in all of my guitars for years and it seems like the obvious thing to do is to buy a guitar with nice sustain and humbuckers and just be done with it. My current guitar is a CIJ Jaguar HH, beautified with custom-made maple neck and other aesthetic mods, I really like it but I always want more from it.

If I do end up doing this I will most likely be buying a Vintage (brand) LP or SG, the SG has gotten rave reviews and is down to £135, the LP around £190, so I would hope to get quite a bit back from selling the Jag. I don't think I could keep both, I only play at home so it wouldn't really be practical to keep two guitars around.

Here are the two Vintage guitars:





Do you think I'm a bad man?

Got to get some time in playing those two models I reckon. But realisticly this prices are really very cheap and you could just buy one and have two guitars until you decide if prefer it or your jag. Twooooooooo!

Show pics of Jag nao plz thnx

i love both guitars, but i'd say you have to try the SG, cause they're really i dujnno, body specific. if you have a gut, they're great, if you're a skinny dude, they can be frustrating ( i hear, i have a gut, so i dig em)

Black Cat Bone wrote:Got to get some time in playing those two models I reckon. But realisticly this prices are really very cheap and you could just buy one and have two guitars until you decide if prefer it or your jag. Twooooooooo!

Show pics of Jag nao plz thnx

Ha, I wish some shops had a loan scheme where you could pay a refundable deposit and borrow a guitar for a week or something. I do love the jaguar, I just don't want to get rid of it and then regret it...maybe you're right and I should just buy one of those other guitars and see how I like it first, I could return it if I didn't like it under the distance selling regulations or something.

Anyway, Jag pics (apologies for poor quality):
Mods are:

pearl pickguard, roller knobs painted & lacquered, white switches fitted, white humbucker surrounds, Gotoh adjustable TOM bridge, Warmoth maple neck with pearl dots (they sparkle in the light!!), white button Klusons.

LPs and SGs can be great guitars. I think the decision you have to make is one of durability. keep in mind rhys' thread from a couple days ago. I would say their major disadvantage is that these guitars can not take abuse like a fender can. if you have no problem babying your guitar, always sitting it in a stand or putting it in the case, it should be fine. but if you like to rock out a bit recklessly on occasion or would rather just not have to worry about it, I would continue to look for bolt on guitars.

Firstly - wow, your Jag looks awesome, love the neck! Maple and pearl dots looks really good.
Secondly - before you buy an SG or LP (and for the record my LP is my main guitar) I would think about a couple of things.
Are they the stock pickups in there? Thought about upgrading them? Could make a massive difference.
And Have you thought about doing the series/parallel mod? I've got this on my Jag and with the pups in series it sounds FAT!
Have got the wiring diagram if you need.

That jaguar is beeeauutifulslsuuu.

(too bad no tremolo, but otherwise perfect)

Thom wrote:Are they the stock pickups in there? Thought about upgrading them? Could make a massive difference.
And Have you thought about doing the series/parallel mod? I've got this on my Jag and with the pups in series it sounds FAT!
Have got the wiring diagram if you need.

Yeah, they are the stock pickups. I'm not very knowledgable about humbuckers and don't really have a clue which ones are available, I hate the look of the open-coil type and have not seen that many chrome-covered ones around. The only ones that I've had experience with were Dimarzio PAF pro, they were excellent but don't come in chrome as far as I know (could maybe fit covers to them?). Any suggestions?

ill trade you my sg for your jaguar

You can put covers over almost open coil types. You can get chrome robroes, or on that you could even try white robroes. You can also get ones that show the pole pieces of course.

Replacement humbuckers will make a world of difference. If you love the way it plays but can't quite get the sound changing the pickups is the way to go.

I'll give you a Epi Les Paul Custom for your Jag..

I know your gas, thats why i got the Epi. No matter what pups you put in that Fender its just not gonna be like a SG or LP. I spent years fitting allsorts in my Burgundy Jag and although it did sound good it was never a set neck Gibson.

If you want to go budget the Westfield stuff is worth trying, set necks etc. you may need a pup upgrade but you probably will with the Vintage brand as well in my experience.

TheBurbz wrote:

Thom wrote:Are they the stock pickups in there? Thought about upgrading them? Could make a massive difference.
And Have you thought about doing the series/parallel mod? I've got this on my Jag and with the pups in series it sounds FAT!
Have got the wiring diagram if you need.

Yeah, they are the stock pickups. I'm not very knowledgable about humbuckers and don't really have a clue which ones are available, I hate the look of the open-coil type and have not seen that many chrome-covered ones around. The only ones that I've had experience with were Dimarzio PAF pro, they were excellent but don't come in chrome as far as I know (could maybe fit covers to them?). Any suggestions?

As James said, you can get chrome robroe covers to put over any open coil pickup.
Seymour Duncans are a good standard choice and I've had both SH-4 and SH-5 (which i preferred) and they are good and not tooooooo expensive.
Personally I'm a bit anal with my pickups and can't get away from Bareknuckles. You can order all of them with covers already fitted and frankly they are phenomenal - cannot beat them for note definition and clarity. They are of course rather pricey. If you're interested I can tell you which I have had and what I would recommend for you.

Fran wrote:I'll give you a Epi Les Paul Custom for your Jag..

I know your gas, thats why i got the Epi. No matter what pups you put in that Fender its just not gonna be like a SG or LP. I spent years fitting allsorts in my Burgundy Jag and although it did sound good it was never a set neck Gibson.

If you want to go budget the Westfield stuff is worth trying, set necks etc. you may need a pup upgrade but you probably will with the Vintage brand as well in my experience.

That's the thing, I'm after the growl and sustain that a set neck can offer. I'm looking at Rally guitars, apparently they make guitars for Epiphone but are not allowed to tell anyone, they have excellent reviews on HC. Cannot find anyone who stocks the Rally LP Custom though.

Rally GL400:

TheBurbz wrote:

Fran wrote:I'll give you a Epi Les Paul Custom for your Jag..

I know your gas, thats why i got the Epi. No matter what pups you put in that Fender its just not gonna be like a SG or LP. I spent years fitting allsorts in my Burgundy Jag and although it did sound good it was never a set neck Gibson.

If you want to go budget the Westfield stuff is worth trying, set necks etc. you may need a pup upgrade but you probably will with the Vintage brand as well in my experience.

That's the thing, I'm after the growl and sustain that a set neck can offer. I'm looking at Rally guitars, apparently they make guitars for Epiphone but are not allowed to tell anyone, they have excellent reviews on HC. Cannot find anyone who stocks the Rally LP Custom though.

Rally GL400:

► Show Spoiler

Well, when i got that LP off Noirie my missus hated it, but when i plugged it in her expression changed. They just produce an awesome sound even though a lot of dicks use them its just undeniable.
Not heard much about Rally but seen them on 'bay often. There is a lot of snobbery with brand names, some people dont realise the same factories make a lot of different brand stuff. Like Samick for instance, they are one of the biggest companies in the east and they build for Washburn, Epiphone and Hofner to name a few. Same with the Chinese stuff, their build quality is now pretty good but they seem useless at setting guitars up. So companies like Tokai take care of that side of things.
We're all suckers for vintage and 'authentic' stuff but its becoming exhausted unless you've got a lot of money, besides, it does'nt make sense anymore when you can get similar quality at a fraction of the price. I've met a few guys that have been playing years that now use cheaper guitars, one of which a Jazz guitarist that used a Tanglewood semi, he did'nt feel the need for his guitar to say Gibson on the headstock coz either way he's a fucking awesome guitarist.
I also read an interview with Metal band 'Saxon' guitarist, he tours with the brand Vintage and leaves his 60's SGs at home just for studio use. He said they do the job well, he does'nt have to worry about them being damaged in luggage, they are easily replaced if stolen, etc.

If you want go for it dude, try a Rally, might be great.

Holy shit, look at this beast:
In other news, I emailed the distributor of Rally guitars and they said they can get one sorted for me if I call them tomorrow, I think they're around £199 so I just need to decide if I want it or not. I wonder how much I would get for the Jaguar if I do sell it?

What happened to the stock neck? You might be better off selling the warmoth neck seperately as 24" necks are quite in demand.

Oh it never had one, I just bought the loaded body off ebay. I was thinking of selling the body separately as I have a mahogany Jagstang project that this neck was already meant for, I only put the neck on the Jag because the Jagstang is on hold as I could not find anyone to plane the body down for me. The Jagstang was/ is going to have all white switches and whatnot too but it'll be sonic blue instead (if I ever find a kind man who owns a planer).

Here is the old Jagstang I made, notice how the pickguard and control plate actually follow the body properly :

Nice to see the JS in progress.
On a UK sale i personally would not split the Jag up because as you know, finding a short scale neck over here is very difficult.
Jags seem to be back in favor so i reckon you'd easily get £300+, maybe more like £400 on the right day. If you do keep the neck, i'd put the Jag body on here and OSG classifieds. Its a niche market and this is the best place to start, plus someone is more likely to have a 24" neck lying idle round these parts.

Fran wrote:On a UK sale i personally would not split the Jag up because as you know, finding a short scale neck over here is very difficult.

That's the reason I'd split it up. The neck should fetch good money because 24" necks are so hard to come by. Unheard of with maple fretboards too.

Hmm, your theory could mean better profit, but he's gonna be neckless for the JS and maybe lumbered with a Jag body if there are no takers on the forums.
Mind you some idiot would buy it then complain his affinity Strat neck does'nt fit it right.