danglybanger
ReelItInologist
Straight out of the "two people will read this, ever" files 
But maybe more will, to chide me about hanging on to my stock singles for so long.
The stock ones sounded very nice clean (CIJs), but I started having a few issues with them (or rather, started missing a few features...) So I was pissed off at the fact that the neck pickup in my Jag seemed to mud out a tiny bit under distortion. It just didn't make sense when you consider that my Mustang doesn't, and it has 250k pots and A2 pups. Those pups were Duncans. So...
CIJ stock singles are the same for bridge and neck (supposedly, but manufacturing processes cause them to vary as all things), and as such they're not RWRP and won't buck hum in the both on position like the duncans will, also the CIJs aren't wax potted...
I'd always LOVED the clean sound of the CIJ pups and was afraid I'd lose that above all, but I decided that in order to further be a compendium of Jag knowledge I'd sorta HAVE to try them anyway Plus the playing field had to be levelled with my Mustang, which has APS2s...
It's a bit early (had the bridge pickup in for a few days, the neck for less than one), but I decided to offer up anyway... A few points of interest.
-The SJag-1 description claims they're hotter than vintage pickups, but at 6.4 and 6.35 ohms for the bridge and neck respectively, (though the neck was later cut down to around 6.33 because I was a moron with the pup cover and took off a winding to solder **** back together :laugh2
, the CIJ pickups are actually hotter, than the SDs or apparently most vintage pups... (they were around 6.6 and 6.5 for the record)
-Handy little nub of wire on the bottom of the pickup that grounds the claw without soldering Superficially, MUCH shorter pole pieces than CIJ pups.
-My initial impressions: With clean tones, about what the tone chart says. Not as much mids, a more hollow, lush, organic tone than the CIJs... much spongier and heavier all around, which is what I was going for, a bit fewer highs than the CIJs, but they're still definitely there, don't worry, it's still a Jag Overall they seem to pick up EVERYTHING better... even the sympathetic ringing behind the bridge, which is really nice. They really do let more of the Jag tone through, I basically had the RHCP BSSM tone dialed in automatically.
-Dirty tones: A bit less bite in the bridge position, but gives a fuller, bigger (VERY big) tone that still has clarity... Somehow a Jag still shines through as being a twangy, surfy guitar even at metal distortion levels, which btw now I can do without squealing, lol. Definitely more grind than buzzsaw now in the bridge.
The neck pickup's distortion (what I really wanted improved) is also now more clear, grindy, won't mud out at all, even with open chords you can hear every note... odd how the brightness and clarity are retained and exaggerated even when the pickup is on the whole heavier. Spongy, spongy, spongy.
The rhythm circuit and both pups on positions are now accessible to distortion, whereas before that's just something I wouldn't do. Speaking of all that, there's more difference now between the rhythm and lead circuits, as well as with the bright switch, and the volume controls clean up the sound better.
Yeah, ok, all my axes have Duncans now and I like em wtf.
I was worried that they'd err on sounding like the AV pickups I've tried, which seem to lack high end (almost as if they're trying to make the guitar sound more "normal", or more like a Jazzmaster or something...) but no, the SJag-1 was apparently designed by someone who knew not to compromise the Jag. The twang shines through, even moreso.
I still want to try those... in fact I'd like to get a beater Jag to try just about every pup on the market in + wiring combos, but I'm not touching this one. It's perfect, at least probably til I'm rich enough to try Novaks or Antiquities... But yeah, the CIJs aren't going back in really.
Hopefully someday four years from now when someone searches for Jag pickups, someone will actually read this :smokin: I know this is lengthy, but I'm always frustrated when I look for information and find vague, one word, "try em, you'll like em" answers, which is probably why I didn't do this sooner.
But maybe more will, to chide me about hanging on to my stock singles for so long.
The stock ones sounded very nice clean (CIJs), but I started having a few issues with them (or rather, started missing a few features...) So I was pissed off at the fact that the neck pickup in my Jag seemed to mud out a tiny bit under distortion. It just didn't make sense when you consider that my Mustang doesn't, and it has 250k pots and A2 pups. Those pups were Duncans. So...
CIJ stock singles are the same for bridge and neck (supposedly, but manufacturing processes cause them to vary as all things), and as such they're not RWRP and won't buck hum in the both on position like the duncans will, also the CIJs aren't wax potted...
I'd always LOVED the clean sound of the CIJ pups and was afraid I'd lose that above all, but I decided that in order to further be a compendium of Jag knowledge I'd sorta HAVE to try them anyway
Plus the playing field had to be levelled with my Mustang, which has APS2s...It's a bit early (had the bridge pickup in for a few days, the neck for less than one), but I decided to offer up anyway... A few points of interest.
-The SJag-1 description claims they're hotter than vintage pickups, but at 6.4 and 6.35 ohms for the bridge and neck respectively, (though the neck was later cut down to around 6.33 because I was a moron with the pup cover and took off a winding to solder **** back together :laugh2
, the CIJ pickups are actually hotter, than the SDs or apparently most vintage pups... (they were around 6.6 and 6.5 for the record)-Handy little nub of wire on the bottom of the pickup that grounds the claw without soldering
Superficially, MUCH shorter pole pieces than CIJ pups.-My initial impressions: With clean tones, about what the tone chart says. Not as much mids, a more hollow, lush, organic tone than the CIJs... much spongier and heavier all around, which is what I was going for, a bit fewer highs than the CIJs, but they're still definitely there, don't worry, it's still a Jag
Overall they seem to pick up EVERYTHING better... even the sympathetic ringing behind the bridge, which is really nice. They really do let more of the Jag tone through, I basically had the RHCP BSSM tone dialed in automatically.-Dirty tones: A bit less bite in the bridge position, but gives a fuller, bigger (VERY big) tone that still has clarity... Somehow a Jag still shines through as being a twangy, surfy guitar even at metal distortion levels, which btw now I can do without squealing, lol. Definitely more grind than buzzsaw now in the bridge.
The neck pickup's distortion (what I really wanted improved) is also now more clear, grindy, won't mud out at all, even with open chords you can hear every note... odd how the brightness and clarity are retained and exaggerated even when the pickup is on the whole heavier. Spongy, spongy, spongy.
The rhythm circuit and both pups on positions are now accessible to distortion, whereas before that's just something I wouldn't do. Speaking of all that, there's more difference now between the rhythm and lead circuits, as well as with the bright switch, and the volume controls clean up the sound better.
Yeah, ok, all my axes have Duncans now and I like em
wtf.I was worried that they'd err on sounding like the AV pickups I've tried, which seem to lack high end (almost as if they're trying to make the guitar sound more "normal", or more like a Jazzmaster or something...) but no, the SJag-1 was apparently designed by someone who knew not to compromise the Jag.
The twang shines through, even moreso.I still want to try those... in fact I'd like to get a beater Jag to try just about every pup on the market in + wiring combos, but I'm not touching this one. It's perfect, at least probably til I'm rich enough to try Novaks or Antiquities... But yeah, the CIJs aren't going back in really.
Hopefully someday four years from now when someone searches for Jag pickups, someone will actually read this :smokin: I know this is lengthy, but I'm always frustrated when I look for information and find vague, one word, "try em, you'll like em" answers, which is probably why I didn't do this sooner.
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