neepheid Posted October 18 Share Posted October 18 Some of you might recall I bought a Squier Jag H from Thomann, and it got bashed in transit, followed by a massive hoo-ha about whether or not I could keep it for a discount, discount offer was unacceptable, couldn't get a DHL "service"point to accept a parcel that size, currently waiting on a courier to come to the house to collect it. In the meantime, I managed to snag another one on eBag and here it is (next to the ill-fated charcoal one) So, I took it to a gig, and it played quite well, stock pickup is a little muddy/vague so I thought I could make it a little better. I acquired a fine replacement pickup - the Ibanez CAP dual humbucker out of an ATK810, thanks to @TheDaivisch of this very parish (arrived today, thanks mate, over and above). Today I fitted the pickup: Unfortunately, it's a chunky bugger so the pickguard doesn't quite fit over it. Gonna have to attack the pickguard with a file. Sounds good though, it's a mighty fine sounding, punchy, articulate pickup. Just wired it in series just now with the stock electronics, it will get treated to a full rewire with new pots and probably will fit a 3 way switch for series/single/parallel options, because why not. Earlier, before the pickup arrived, I did some idle scheming in the GIMP: So as you can see, I'm thinking black pickguard and some black "blocks" ie. stickers just to make it a little fancier. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulThePlug Posted October 18 Share Posted October 18 No Plate Rocks! For more of that smashing colour... just the chrome control plate! Leave it a while and see.... 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LowB_FTW Posted October 18 Share Posted October 18 2 hours ago, PaulThePlug said: No Plate Rocks! For more of that smashing colour... just the chrome control plate! I too though the same as above when I saw the image of no scratchplate bass. Mark 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheDaivisch Posted October 18 Share Posted October 18 Looks fantastic mate. I bet it sounds great too. Enjoy 👍🏻 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted October 19 Author Share Posted October 19 Nah, I've been looking at it sans pickguard and it looks wrong. Control plate in isolation looks so lonely and a bit bereft. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LowB_FTW Posted October 19 Share Posted October 19 Fair enough. I can certainly understand your reasoning. I just prefer the look sans scratchplate, but it ain't my bass. Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted October 20 Author Share Posted October 20 A half hour of fettling with files and sandpaper and the original pickguard can now fit over the new pickup... I couldn't find my round file so had to improvise in the corners - they're maybe a tad square but TL:DR, it's on. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheDaivisch Posted October 20 Share Posted October 20 I guarantee once you add the split coil operation you'll get some awesome fat (and hum free) precision-esque tones too. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted October 25 Author Share Posted October 25 Last night I did a little bit of work to kick the can down the road... 1) fitted new bridge - I have nothing against the BBOT per se, but I do have a problem with it when it's got rattly springs that I can hear reverberating when I pluck a string. Giving a cheapo Guyker £19 Amazon job a go. Kinda like those part threaded saddles. 2) Drilled out a hole for the three way switch in the Jag's control plate. It was late, so I did it by hand. Which took a predictably long time, but at least it was quiet. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted October 25 Author Share Posted October 25 This is the bridge, in case anyone sees it and thinks they might want to give it a go: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0B8VZGRP6 Oddly enough, it uses hex heads for both the string height grub screws AND the intonation adjustment screws. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackroadkill Posted October 26 Share Posted October 26 This has all the hallmarks of a great project; It'll be a real sleeper. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted October 27 Author Share Posted October 27 (edited) Yesterday afternoon, a bit more progress. Got the electronics sorted - VT with a three way switch for parallel, single, series options. Don't have any pics of it fully wired before assembly, was too keen to get it in and tested. To my amazement, it worked first time! Then I felt cocky so I took it and played it at a 3 hour gig. This passed flawlessly. This has done my confidence the world of good - the last time I did a full rewire (to be fair it was a more complex wiring job - 2 pickups, VVTT with series parallel push/push pots on both tones and a pickup selector switch) I made a complete hash of it and was so dispirited that I handed it over to the local guitar shop to bail me out. This time I went super methodical, putting pen through wires on a diagram as I did them, checking continuity as I went after every few solder joints. The only thing that tripped me up was that orange drop capacitor and the less than capacious control cavity on this bass - I thought I was being neat and tidy putting it alongside the three way switch but where it sat it was sticking out just too much for the control plate to go down and line up with the screw holes. Baws! Thankfully there was some latitude to squish it harder up against the switch and then it just made it. Phew! Delighted with the results - that Ibanez CAP dual humbucker is a beast - especially in series mode. What a thump it delivers, but not muddy, clear and punchy, loads of authority. I love it! Some cosmetics to do, but then I'm going to call this one done. Edited October 27 by neepheid 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted October 27 Author Share Posted October 27 Prep for some cosmetic treatment - fret polish time... Mmm, shiny frets r gud frets... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeftyJ Posted October 28 Share Posted October 28 Is this a triple-coil like the original ATK pickups, or is it just disguised as one with the three rails? Because the original ATK300 wiring is very functional too, and maybe worth investigating. It uses the center coil as a phantom coil for hum cancelling in the single coil positions, and rather than offering series/parallel/single it gives you parallel/single/single with treble cut. The latter gives very useful P-like tones despite the pickup being closer to the bridge on the ATK's than it is on your Jaguar. Having owned both a couple of ATK's and a "proper" Stingray 5, I would say the series/parallel option on the SR5 was the more useful switching option to have - but I would have loved to have the treble cut of the ATK in the singlecoil setting on the SR5. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted October 28 Author Share Posted October 28 20 minutes ago, LeftyJ said: Is this a triple-coil like the original ATK pickups, or is it just disguised as one with the three rails? Because the original ATK300 wiring is very functional too, and maybe worth investigating. It uses the center coil as a phantom coil for hum cancelling in the single coil positions, and rather than offering series/parallel/single it gives you parallel/single/single with treble cut. The latter gives very useful P-like tones despite the pickup being closer to the bridge on the ATK's than it is on your Jaguar. Having owned both a couple of ATK's and a "proper" Stingray 5, I would say the series/parallel option on the SR5 was the more useful switching option to have - but I would have loved to have the treble cut of the ATK in the singlecoil setting on the SR5. No, it's the CAP double humbucker from the ATK200/810/1200 etc. Yes, I'm aware of the triple coil and initially I thought I was dealing with the same beast - the three mouldings on the top of the casing are very misleading as you have pointed out! So it's just a simple quad coil bruiser. I like it - especially in series mode! If you've ever attacked some drywall with a club hammer, this pickup, centrally located, makes me think of that each time I hit a note. Because it's centrally mounted, I think it could probably do P bass-ish without trickery, but I honestly don't pay much attention to these things. If I'm ordered to provide a P bass sound, I'll play my G&L Tribute LB-100. I want all my basses to be themselves, and I treat them as such. I have a loosely defined notion in my head of what "good" sounds like, and that's as far down the rabbit hole as I'm willing to go. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted October 28 Author Share Posted October 28 So, I did this before bed last night... The jury is very much out on this sticker business - looks OK in that photo but I went a bit wonky on 7 and really quite a lot wonky on 9 - not centred side to side and very noticeable (to me anyway) when the strings went back on. Also it's pretty obvious they're stickers - not so much the edges but you can see little depressions in the stickers of where the dots are underneath in the light. I'll wait until the black pickguard arrives before deciding whether or not to keep them (in which case I might order another set and redo 7 and 9) - or just lift them all and go back to the stock dots. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeftyJ Posted October 28 Share Posted October 28 9 minutes ago, neepheid said: I want all my basses to be themselves, and I treat them as such. Aye, same - but it was a long journey for me to come to that epiphany. I've spent years looking for ultimate versatility in a single instrument before coming to terms with that. Now I just need to convince my girlfriend that I really DO need all these different instruments with their unique characters and that yes, in fact, the audience will hear it too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted November 5 Author Share Posted November 5 Final piece of the puzzle should be arriving tomorrow... Pointless update I know but I'm excited Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted November 7 Author Share Posted November 7 Well, that's it done now. New pickguard arrived from earlpilanz (Brian Pillans) yesterday - excellent as always - fit first time, even around the chonky ATK pickup. Bear with him if your pickguard is taking a little longer to arrive than you're used to - he's moved from Glasgow to Newcastle and is working through a backlog as well as the general upheaval of setting up a new workshop and all that. I had band rehearsal last night, so I quickly fitted it before bed and took a couple of quick pics: Will probably take some nicer, whole bass pics at the weekend to wrap this up, but apart from deciding whether or not to keep the block inlay stickers, that's it done. Very happy with how this turned out. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alittlebitrobot Posted November 7 Share Posted November 7 100% keep the blocks. This looks great 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted November 11 Author Share Posted November 11 (edited) Right, that's a wrap. I'm really pleased with how this turned out. It will be known henceforth as the ATJ (Jaguar with ATK pickup). Summary of mods: Pickup replaced with Ibanez CAP double humbucker Bass rewired with a parallel/single/series switch Bridge replaced Black pickguard fitted Block "inlays" (stickers) added I can hear why people hold the Ibanez ATK in such high regard - this is a fine sounding pickup, very punchy and authorative, loads of power, but tight and defined at the same time. Played it at a gig this Saturday past and it was glorious. I really like the 32" scale, it's not noticeably toy feeling like a 30" scale, just subtly different, maybe slightly easier to play, maybe it's all in my head. But it plays really well, that I can say. Fitting the chunkier pickup and bridge seems to have removed some of the natural tendency of this bass to neck dive, as a bonus. TL:DR - it's a big improvement over the original, IMO. Edited November 13 by neepheid 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LowB_FTW Posted November 11 Share Posted November 11 (edited) I still like it without scratchplate, but that black looks lovely on it. Good choice there for sure. Mark Edited November 11 by LowB_FTW Typo 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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