Silence Kid
New member
So for maybe twelve years my Jaguar has had the SJAG-1 neck pickup pictured below; somehow during installation (probably the cover,) I managed to blow a winding (pic from ~2006 .)
I repaired in the below fashion; unwrapped a winding or so, tied both ends together and soldered the excess. And it's been "fine" for over a decade (pic from 2018 .)
I was ****ing pissed off I destroyed a brand new pickup, but somewhat relieved I managed to get it functioning. Again, there were no evident ill effects; it didn't squeal inordinately, sounded good, but at times I couldn't resist feeling it was missing something and it might somehow sound better with that extra winding loaded in there, and less sloppy excess (so basically it was all psychological.) For years I kept an eye out for an extra loose used SJAG-1n ('loose and used' being the key words, as they often are.) I *never* located one.
(But I did net a brand new clearance bridge SJAG-1 for about $12 , and for $15 a whole SJAG-2 set only slightly used!)
Anyway I couldn't stand it any longer, so finally grabbed a brand new SJAG-1n and promised I would treat this one with care. So it's installed. The big question: Did I **** it up? Does it sound different than it did before?
Keeping you in suspense: I measured the repaired SJAG-1 and got about 6.1k DCR at the jack, on removal 6.3k; the new pickup was 6.5k out of the box, and 6.3k installed. So you could basically breathe on it or wait ten mins. to make it the same DCR, in my view.
For a bit more suspense and on an almost un-related note, the bridge pickup was also an older model SJAG-1 bridge, and it clocked at 6.3 installed. The new SJAG-1 bridge was 6.5k out of the box, and I elected to not swap it in quite yet as I'm pretty happy with the old SJAG-1 already installed.
...
So now that I've gone on a few tangents, again I'll ask: Ought the new pickup sound different than the old/broken model?
Answer: Yes! But I'm not going to attribute it to a couple lost winds and a loose/crappy looking fix I did when I was twenty-one. The new pickup is quite a bit louder; it needs to be set a decent amt. lower to balance with the bridge pickup, so there's more output for sure. The tonality/balance seems similar, but perhaps there's a bit more of a harmonic high-end note content. Overall I'm quite happy with the sound of the new pickup and glad I did it.
My suspicion is the gauss of the magnets must be to blame for the increased output; either my old pickups have de-gaussed or the magnet spec changed since 2006 , I really don't know because I can't measure. Based on that I might install the new bridge pickup soon to see if I notice a difference. Other than that, a few noteworthy points about the SJAG1 bridge & neck:
One more thing: I do plan on asking the custom shop to re-wind the old pickup for me and do something somewhat special. So the saga hasn't ended
I repaired in the below fashion; unwrapped a winding or so, tied both ends together and soldered the excess. And it's been "fine" for over a decade (pic from 2018 .)
I was ****ing pissed off I destroyed a brand new pickup, but somewhat relieved I managed to get it functioning. Again, there were no evident ill effects; it didn't squeal inordinately, sounded good, but at times I couldn't resist feeling it was missing something and it might somehow sound better with that extra winding loaded in there, and less sloppy excess (so basically it was all psychological.) For years I kept an eye out for an extra loose used SJAG-1n ('loose and used' being the key words, as they often are.) I *never* located one.
(But I did net a brand new clearance bridge SJAG-1 for about $12 , and for $15 a whole SJAG-2 set only slightly used!)
Anyway I couldn't stand it any longer, so finally grabbed a brand new SJAG-1n and promised I would treat this one with care. So it's installed. The big question: Did I **** it up? Does it sound different than it did before?
Keeping you in suspense: I measured the repaired SJAG-1 and got about 6.1k DCR at the jack, on removal 6.3k; the new pickup was 6.5k out of the box, and 6.3k installed. So you could basically breathe on it or wait ten mins. to make it the same DCR, in my view.
For a bit more suspense and on an almost un-related note, the bridge pickup was also an older model SJAG-1 bridge, and it clocked at 6.3 installed. The new SJAG-1 bridge was 6.5k out of the box, and I elected to not swap it in quite yet as I'm pretty happy with the old SJAG-1 already installed.
...
So now that I've gone on a few tangents, again I'll ask: Ought the new pickup sound different than the old/broken model?
Answer: Yes! But I'm not going to attribute it to a couple lost winds and a loose/crappy looking fix I did when I was twenty-one. The new pickup is quite a bit louder; it needs to be set a decent amt. lower to balance with the bridge pickup, so there's more output for sure. The tonality/balance seems similar, but perhaps there's a bit more of a harmonic high-end note content. Overall I'm quite happy with the sound of the new pickup and glad I did it.
My suspicion is the gauss of the magnets must be to blame for the increased output; either my old pickups have de-gaussed or the magnet spec changed since 2006 , I really don't know because I can't measure. Based on that I might install the new bridge pickup soon to see if I notice a difference. Other than that, a few noteworthy points about the SJAG1 bridge & neck:
- They give you Strat screws and surgical tubing to install (not Jaguar direct mt. wood screws.) Why?
- The stock MIJ covers are about a half mm off for fitting properly, but can be used (knew this first time around)
- The claw grounding wire is longer on on the newer pickups
- They're MUCH better than stock MIJ pickups, which are wound so loose the wire rattles on the bobbin
One more thing: I do plan on asking the custom shop to re-wind the old pickup for me and do something somewhat special. So the saga hasn't ended
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