Question about EMGs.

[TheSkyline]

I just got a Fender Jaguar HH Special for my birthday, and it's freaking amazing, but the pickups are kinda low output compared to what I want (Heavy pop/punk kind of stuff) and I really want to put some EMGs in it. But since Jaguars have some really complex wiring, would I be able to put active EMG's in it? I want to put in that ZW set, it sounds awesome, I'm just not sure how to go about doing it.

And to anyone who uses active pickups, is switching the batteries a hassle?

[patrickhowell]

I'm not really a fan of EMG pickups... I think you'll be way better off with higher output passive pickups. Active pickups are kind of lifeless compared to classic high output humbuckers. What's the rest of your setup like?

If you're dead set on using active pickups, it will be really difficult to get the right value pots for the "rhythm circuit," so you'll probably have to give up those controls. The switches should work, but the low cut filter might need different value components and the volume / tone knobs would need to be replaced.

[TheSkyline]

I'm not really a fan of EMG pickups... I think you'll be way better off with higher output passive pickups. Active pickups are kind of lifeless compared to classic high output humbuckers. What's the rest of your setup like?

That's cool, I'm open to anything so any advice I'll take into consideration. Passive pickups would be nice.

I have my Jaguar and I'm running it through a 75W Line 6 Spider III. Not the best amp, but with some tweaking I actually get some pretty sweet sounds out of it.

[The Boathouse]

Have you tried just raising the pickups a bit? That can make a pretty huge difference, and I'd recommend it over doing any mods right from the get go.

[patrickhowell]

You should check out Seymour Duncan's site for some great options in high output passive humbuckers. I would definitely recommend the JB. It's very clear with high output but it'd still got some warmth to it, and when you split the coils you can get a really nice, strat-like single coil sound of out them. The "Dragster" pickups that come in the Jaguar HH are really weak, and barely sound bigger than a single coil.

Seymour Duncan humbuckers usually come with 4-conductor wires so you can get a few different options from one pickup (series, parallel, single coil, in phase, out of phase), and with all the switches on a Jaguar, you can wire it up for a ton of different tones.

[patrickhowell]

Have you tried just raising the pickups a bit? That can make a pretty huge difference, and I'd recommend it over doing any mods right from the get go.

That's true, but these pickups are really designed to sound almost like single coils. If he's talking EMGs, then he's probably not going to get what he wants from the Dragster pickups.

[TheSkyline]

You should check out Seymour Duncan's site for some great options in high output passive humbuckers. I would definitely recommend the JB. It's very clear with high output but it'd still got some warmth to it, and when you split the coils you can get a really nice, strat-like single coil sound of out them. The "Dragster" pickups that come in the Jaguar HH are really weak, and barely sound bigger than a single coil.

Seymour Duncan humbuckers usually come with 4-conductor wires so you can get a few different options from one pickup (series, parallel, single coil, in phase, out of phase), and with all the switches on a Jaguar, you can wire it up for a ton of different tones.

That sounds awesome, thanks!