Fender for a Gibson Lover

[splasher]

Hi all.

Recently I decided to put my prejudices to one side and have bought a relatively innexpensive Mexican-made Fender. I bought a Jaguar Blacktop HH FSR which with its bound neck, short scale and humbuckers is quite a Gibsonesqe choice. I have to say, I really like the way it feels and plays.

Now to the point of the post, I bought the HH model because it seemed the safer bet in terms of future mods but I was tempted by the model with P90s. So what I planned to do is fit P-Rails, which seems to be a fairly standard mod to HH jags, and wire the Pups to a 3 way switch to give both SC plus HB sound.

To try to keep it Jag-esque (if the Blacktop HH would ever be considered Jag-esque by the hardcore) I would like to fit a slider switch for the tap and I think the mustang has an on-off-on slider so I have ordered one. The sliders seem more robust in terms of breaking off and less likely to get knocked as well.

Sorry for the essay - two questions:

1. does this sound like a sensible approach to achieve a versatile Fender (to compliment a Tokai '85 Les Paul with the cliched/classic Jazz/JB combo)

2. Any tips of making the opening/holes in the scratchplate (sorry I'm British - Pickguard) for the slider switch.

Thanks.

 

[stevie_bees]

Re: Fender for a Gibson Lover

Welcome to the forum!

I'm wondering if it might be better to look at using the Triple Shot's to give your switching?

It should minimise the amount of work required for the mod, and it works superbly with the P-Rails.

 

[splasher]

Re: Fender for a Gibson Lover

Thanks - I considered the triple shots but it's more work, more cost and whilst I end up with all the options in the world, I also end up with four switches rather than one.

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Fender for a Gibson Lover

What do you want the slide switch to do? Switch between P90 coil alone and both coils in series?

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: Fender for a Gibson Lover

You'll be missing out on half of what you have available with the P-Rails. If you have it split to the P-90 coil, then you're missing out on the very Stratty Rail coil. If you wire it to split to the rail, then you miss out on the best P-90 sound around. Whichever way you go with just a slider, you're going to be very disappointed.

It seems to me that you ought to be able to make your Strat sound like a Strat occasionally when you want. And since it is designed to be somewhat similar to a Gibson, you should be able to have the option of making it sound like a LP with two series buckers. Or sometimes make it sound like a Goldtop or an SG with two P-90s.

You have the basic setup for a very versatile guitar, but you are purposefully limiting its versatility. Very counter productive IMO.

 

[astrozombie]

Re: Fender for a Gibson Lover

a bound neck?

 

[splasher]

Re: Fender for a Gibson Lover

Sorry for any confusion, I should have made it more clear in the original post- I meant both Single Coil sounds (rail and P90) plus series humbucker. The Mustang switches are three position on-off-on so can give all three. The wiring diagram is the same as the DPDT mini-toggle just with a slider rather than a toggle.

Not sure what the question is regarding the bound neck. This is not my web-page but it's the same guitar http://blacktopjaguarwithbinding.wo...fsr-jaguar-with-bound-neck-in-blizzard-pearl/

 

[splasher]

Re: Fender for a Gibson Lover

Thanks to those who replied. I didn't really get much info on the original questions but implied in the confusion about how I was planning wire the pickups seemed to be the suggestion that a Jag with P-rails was a good idea so I've bought some.

Can anyone tell me which wire pair is the P90 coil and which the rail coil please. I've ordered a spare pickguard to install the slider switch so just while I wait for that to arriveI thought I'd install them as P90s.

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Fender for a Gibson Lover

Er, the Rail coil has a narrow coil around a single metal polepiece that shows through the top of the pickup and resembles a rail. The P-90 coil has a fat coil and six screws showing in a line.

It is a shame that I did not discover this thread sooner. I would have recommended two TV Jones Classic Filter'Tron replica pickups a la Fender Cabronita Telecaster.

 

[UberMetalDood]

Re: Fender for a Gibson Lover

I have the Fender DH-1 humbucker in one of my strats. I have tried to replace it with Duncans, Dimarzios, etc... but it always goes right back in there. I can't live without having at least one guitar with it because it's a superb pickup and probably one of the most underrated pickups there is. It has a beautiful and complex midrange, a subtle squashiness yet still relatively tight, ample bass but not overpowering, detailed high end without even a hint of harshness. It's just a really, really great pickup and I regret not taking it seriously all of these years.

Kudos to you if you have discovered the brilliance of Fender pickups. I think their pickups are incredible such as Texas Specials, DH-1, Atomic (DH-1 with A2 magnet), 57's & 62's, etc...