SJAG-2 : Unorthodox Review

[Silence Kid]

Unorthodox Pickup + Orthodox guitar = unorthodox^2 ? Anyway. I now have a set of Jaguar "Hots" in a Strat (as well as a Performer Scorcher humbucker.) Standard/vintage controls (1v 2t, 250 pots.) They replaced a stock Tex Mex and Diamondback set. Good idea? Well...

Background; SJAG-1s are my favorite single coil; they're twangy, dynamic, solid in the bass and have enough power. I only bought the Hots on a whim, searching for another set of SJAG-1s. I also have experience with the "Hot" Jazzmaster pickups, which I prefer to vintage; I think a Jazzmaster ought to sound "fatter" anyway and even though vintage Jazzmaster pickups have less treble than say a Jaguar, Jazzmaster treble (in the bridge especially) is sometimes a bit ugly. I have not been a fan of the SSL-3 Strat "Hot" set... And I wonder if the wind for the Jaguar set is not very similar.

One more thing, my bar on "hot single coils" are the Rose Buff Beauty set I have in my Mustang; those pickups are perfectly in keeping with single cool character, they just push an amp more. I haven't tried SSL-5s but I think the idea is the same. On the other hand, the SJAG-2s are not my cup of tea so far. They're quite a hot cup of tea though(level with the pickguard, polepieces don't protrude at all... And they keep up.) They are quite compressed, the treble is very rolled off (shouldn't be surprising, at least they're not as warm as the Jazzmaster set, which are still dark with 1 meg pots(!) )

So they really don't sound like singles; not much sparkle, sound dull next to other single coils, etc. But what do they do well? They have a decent amt. of bass, they're very tight (at the expense I think of harmonic content I want from singles) and they're in general voiced for people who want humbuckers. Not a bad thing, but I actually like the splatty/wide/loose/gritty distorted single sound. I posted a while back that I'd stopped really liking or expecting much from the Tex Mex these replaced; but really, at least while those pickups had a bit more tightness they didn't totally lose the single coil character that there's only a sniff of with these. More bright sides; they quack pretty well, even combined with the bridge humbucker. They still have the nice quick response of a single coil that's especially evident if you switch to the Scorcher. They have a nice bit of song and punch. I am going to keep them in for a while and see if I like them more if I pretend they're humbuckers.

 

[Silence Kid]

Re: SJAG-2 : Unorthodox Review

Bonus Review: Performer Scorcher

My old, first aftermarket pickup (well, not this particular one, but still... The one that started it all for me.) It's not as hot as 25k sounds, but it is still quite hot; comes across a lot like a Duncan Distortion with plenty of highs, a ton of harmonics, and a not bad clean sound, if your amp has headroom. I like it, for a hot pickup... And it's not a terrible match to the SJAG-2s but I might switch in a JB or something else just to see. I do sort of miss the Diamondback, which was a lower output A2 , super-loose humbucker that was almost the opposite of this.

 

[Clint 55]

Re: SJAG-2 : Unorthodox Review

Way to go Silence Kid. I like the Jaguars a lot too. I was thinking about making an HH pickguard with 2 SJAG-1s in series in the neck and a SJAG-2 and 3 in series in the bridge. I'm sure you can get more sparkle with 300 or 500k pots. Or if you don't feel like ordering new pots, it might be easier to just disconnect your tone controls or no load them.

 

[jeremy]

Re: SJAG-2 : Unorthodox Review

i dont use the hot models in anything but the bridge. they are too dark in the neck or middle for my taste and the high output makes it hard to balance with anything but a bucker with decent output

 

[Silence Kid]

Re: SJAG-2 : Unorthodox Review

Another thing I might do is put a spare SJAG-1 in the neck and bump the middle/neck to the bridge/middle, etc.

No one is less afraid of 1 meg or 500k pots with singles than me, but it's just a bit more work when there are also singles that exist which work fine for me with 250k pots. And in my perception pots only go so far; the Jazzmaster I mentioned is still nearly my darkest guitar and it has 1 megs, and another Jazzmaster I have with a WRHB was still my brightest, and it had 250k.

Not trying to come across as complaining, a lot of people would probably like these a lot, but I'm picky enough that even stuff like APS singles bug me as not being vintage enough; then again, the Rose set I mentioned are excellent pickups at ~12-13k DC.

One more thing, the Scorcher isn't quite as hot as I perceived; it does not drive my crappy Presonus interface to clip, which all my other humbuckers guitars will. This despite it measuring 25k and confirming full output at the jack. That said, I have it lower than I usually keep humbuckers, just seems to sound better that way.

 

[jeremy]

Re: SJAG-2 : Unorthodox Review

the scorcher is hot for a single coil size bucker and if you moved it closer to the strings im sure the output would jump but tone should be more important. a full size bucker is typically higher output and wider sounding that a single coil size.

as far as the singles, i bet the hot jag in the bridge would sound good but i tend to be into more vintage pups in the neck and middle slots

 

[Clint 55]

Re: SJAG-2 : Unorthodox Review

Well if you don't like them you don't like them, but calling them too dark only trying them with 250k volume, 250k tone, plus a cap isn't the most scientific conclusion in the world.

 

[Silence Kid]

Re: SJAG-2 : Unorthodox Review

I can still say they're darker than other pickups; like, almost every pickup I own. I like the cap and taper combination in this guitar as-is and I'd rather not mess with that aspect of things. Maybe someday I'll feel more experimentational. Maybe there's some pickup out there that sounds great with some crazy value cap and pot combination but crap with stock Strat 250k; I promise I'll just let someone else figure that out vs. spend a month soldering and figuring it out for myself. Especially when I know I can get the tone I want by just swapping pickups.

I've swapped plenty of pots before though, and my conclusion is most of the time a pot swap creates a diff. but doesn't change my feelings much.

 

[Clint 55]

Re: SJAG-2 : Unorthodox Review

I would assume that they're darker and more compressed than the vintages but it doesn't take a month of soldering to move your tone controls off the neck and onto the middle and bridge.

 

[Mincer]

Re: SJAG-2 : Unorthodox Review

I gotta say, that guitar is awesome.

 

[Silence Kid]

Re: SJAG-2 : Unorthodox Review

Thanks! An update... I can't take back or add to anything I've already said about the pickups, but I'll say this; they really do have a pretty cool distorted tone. Also, I raised the pickups somewhat, which overall has me somewhat more pleased with the treble response, even if they're still dark. Not sure if I'd pick these if I couldn't sell them for twice what I bought them for but they are fun to play with.

But then I'm reminded that if I do sell them for a profit I can then buy a ton of pots and caps

 

[Clint 55]

Re: SJAG-2 : Unorthodox Review

a ton of pots and caps

YAS!