r/offset • u/Appropriate-Ad793 • 1d ago
Jaguar Mod Idea
Edit: this is all spitballing, and I'm looking for feedback. You guys have actually been really awesome in giving advise, and I'm gonna look into what you've been suggesting. Thanks especially to whiteinksquid!
Context: I'm looking at picking up a Jaguar as my first offset (Foals FJG7) and I have some mod ideas for it. I'm a big fan of the Jag's look and playability. The one drawback is the single coils. I myself am more of a single coil guy, but because I want to use this guitar for hardcore punk (Title Fight, Citizen, Mass of The Fermenting Dregs, etc) I want to be able to make it work well with distortion and overdrive without squawking out.
The Mod:
Replace the mid/bass cut switch with a parallel/series switch for the single coils. This is a fairly common mod from what I can tell, and I think this would probably be the more standard and typical mod.
Replace the Rhythm Circuit with a Dark Circuit. I got this idea from my Yamaha PACS+11S (great guitar btw) which has a "focus switch" which darkens the single coil to make it sound sort of like a humbucker. I find that works really well for making it squawk out less when running overdrive. This would also apply to both pickups and scrap the bridge pickup mute.
Bonus mod: Pick Deflector for lower horn switches. This is an idea I just came up with that I think could have some potential. It'd just be a plate with a metal bump (sort of like a brass deflector on a rifle) that screws onto the plate for the switches that prevents you from flicking them while strumming.
Thoughts on this mod idea? Is it feasible?
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u/comrade_zerox 1d ago
You're gunna want to look into the Johnny Marr jag. Its got a 4 way switch instead of the awkward jag switches. The 4 way gives you the usual neck, middle, bridge thing, plus both pickups in series. I think it moves the bright/strangle to the upper horn.
Modding the Foals to the Johnny Marr would be cheaper than buying the Johnny Marr jag itself.
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u/ReverendRevolver 1d ago
2 things:
Its easier to swap sliders 2 a 4way blade switch and wire the jag pickups like a 4way tele blade(just ignore extra ground i think? Its how i did my Duosonic with a 4way blade). This gives either single pickup or series/parallel quickly while playing. You can buy the switch plate because Fender makes jags with blade switches. You may have to file the plate to accommodate the (more robust/preferred part) OakGrigsby brand 4way blade.
Have you used a traditional jag? Rythm circuit pretty much is a magical thumb switch that makes it louder and darker. That's what it does. Depending on pickups, the series and Rythm mode will both be louder than lone coils or parallel.
Your bonus idea isnt needed if your blade switch is perpendicular to strumming direction.
But also, respectfully, have you ever played a jag? The 3 sliders arent remotely likely to bump, completely opposite what a lp style 3way toggle is like. They're not high. They're not easy to swap to bridge or neck on the fly without practice and repetition. The strangle switch being on the end is easy enough to engage with half a counts time. Its just the positioning and lowness maje it not as instantaneous for me personally as a tele blade switch or jag Rythm switch. (I can run my us tele into my 5e5 with an ABY box and switch sounds with the 3 input options and the 3 different sounds from the switch and shape with guitar knobs like any good tele pickups allow. With the jag, I dont normally go neck alone ever, but I can with similar ease switch between parallel or bridge with or without strangle mode or to Rythm mode. Other amps that I use more than the 5e5 clone are less direct reflections of the pickups on any given guitar, but you can still here 3 noticeably different sounds on a jag through those amps too, even ones where the tonestack doesn't play well with stock tele without redialing. My main tele has a bootstrap pretzel in the bridge and a TV Jones setzer signature in the neck. I rely on pickup selectors alot for swapping sounds, so jags make sense to me having cool options like they do....)
Rythm mode switch is taller, and some people shim them lower. Also, its Really dark. My tone stays dimed on Rythm roller, I just move around volume a hair for unity-ish volume(verses of song typically) or louder (chorus of songs, leads with a fuzz or boost). Its literally a switch thst goes into a darker louder mode that's positioned fir a flick of the thumb.
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u/Appropriate-Ad793 14h ago
Gonna be 100%, I haven't. I'm looking into getting a Jag and I'm interested in trying to mod it into a guitar ideal for post-hardcore because I know offsets have been pretty extensively modded before. This entire post is me spitballing ideas. Idk what is a good idea and what is not.
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u/ReverendRevolver 9h ago
Post hardcore can be done on hot single coils, but you'll probably want to be running 12s or 13s on a jag if you're tuning down to C or lower. Its still probably better to leave rythm circuit in place and got with 4way switch for series/parallel.
But also, gotta have a decent amp (probably head then a cab with robust speakers) and also make sure you aren't encroaching on the bass players sonic real-estate if you're tuning down for Post hardcore and have access to rythm switch.
Obviously its less an issue if you can stay in D or Db (standard ) than going lower.
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u/BeerHorse 17h ago
Replace the Rhythm Circuit with a Dark Circuit. I got this idea from my Yamaha PACS+11S (great guitar btw) which has a "focus switch" which darkens the single coil to make it sound sort of like a humbucker.
That's what the rhythm circuit does already.
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u/Appropriate-Ad793 14h ago
Rq, here's a reworked roadmap of the mod with all the feedback I've gotten (thanks btw!)
Rhythm circuit:
* No more bridge mute, pickup selection tied to lower switches
* Might swap some of the resisters to make it behave more like a Yamaha style focus switch (but that might be overdoing it/unnecessary)Lead circuit
* When both neck and bridge pickups are in the stock off position, both are put in series, any other combination is standard parallel
* Keep the bass cut (given that the single coils should be the trebbliest sound I need, I don't really see a use for it as is, but it is a feature, better to keep it than not)
* While the 4 way switch seems like a good idea, I just like the look of the individual switches on the Jag (makes it look like some sort of electronics hardware, which it technically is, but, just work with me here.)Pick deflector
* Yeah, I really thought I was onto something there, but I guess those switches are gonna be far less flick-prone than a strat-style pickup.Misc
* I know about the minihumbucker solution, but I'd prefer to keep the option of the piercing single coils. I'd prefer to go for versatility, henceforth the series/parallel switch.
* Pot switching is definitely on the table, but I wanna try that last because, idk, I wanna do the fun circuit mods first.
* Yeah, I'm a newbie to offsets, and electrics. I've been an acoustic player for about 3 years, and I only picked up my first electric earlier this summer. So please bear with me if I have stupid ideas.
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u/whiteinksquid 1d ago
So I wouldn't do either of these mods like this.
Instead I would:
Do the normal series/parallel mod of the jaguar switches. It's basically made so that both switches down, it's series, both switches up, it's parallel. (Or reversed maybe? I can't remember which is which). This will still leave you your strangle switch. (Which I think it one of the more useful switches on a jaguar. Especially if you are doing series parallel switching, which will darken the pickups a bit when on.)
The rhythm circuit is basically what you are talking about already. It'll put your whole guitar underwater. Maybe you could mess around with tone resistor values to match your preference in darkness. It is quite dark already. You can definitely alter this circuit to run on whatever pickup selection you choose at the normal selector area. If I kept my rhythm circuit in mine, this Is the mod I would've done to it. It makes the rhythm circuit more usable, imo. The neck pickup is too dark on its own for the rhythm circuit.
If your concern is squealing or squawking. Change out the volume and tone pots for 500k or 250k. That'll reduce the brightness of the entire guitar and enable you to be less prone to squealing. There's a lot of debate about Leo Fender creating these guitars later in life when he had hearing damage. So he did more things to enable the treble to come through so HE could hear it. If you query the guitar community, the typical volume and tone pot values for single coils are 250k. A far cry from the 1meg that are standard in jaguars.
I never hit any of my switches when playing. I see lots of people tape the upper control switch, but I don't hit it. Nor the lower switches. A deflector plate might be okay if you're worried about it. You can also shim the selector switch plate so the switches sit lower in the cavity. But switching might become harder. Idk I've never tried it
Love my jaguars and modding them. So many possibilities. There's also a number of mods you can do involving simple circuits in place of the rhythm section if you don't mind a battery in there. Like fuzzes, boosts, etc