Let’s Fix My Colleague’s Jaguar! - Part 2

The other day, I helped a friend swap out the carburetor on a 50cc bike for a big cab.
As expected, the throttle cable interfered and wouldn’t fit as-is...
In the end, we had to modify the stock under-seat storage box. So out came the handsaw and metal file, and we just started cutting away.

We were working up a sweat under the blazing sun when I suddenly got this strange feeling of déjà vu—like I had done this before. Then it hit me: this was almost exactly the same kind of work I did when making guitar pickguards.

Back when I was attending guitar craft school, I never imagined that experience would come in handy in a situation like this.
But honestly, it feels kind of nice when that my past experiences unexpectedly prove useful.

By the way, thanks to all the cutting, I can’t store anything in the under-seat compartment anymore (lol).
But hey, maybe the airflow will pass through better now as some kind of cooling effect? Nah, probably not.

Anyway, let’s get to the main topic. In my previous post, I worked on the frets, replaced the nut, and did some overall adjustments on my Jaguar. This time, I’m going to tackle the electronic parts.

First up, here are the parts I’ve gathered!
I’m not replacing all of the electrical parts, but I’ll be swapping out some key components as they come.
There’s no way to get started without disassembling it first, so I removed the strings, took off the pickguard, and got to work step by step.

For this round, I’ve got the SEYMOUR DUNCAN / SJAG-1 pickups for both the bridge and neck positions.
Here’s the guitar after pulling out the stock pickups to prep for installation.

Since the yokes are glued in place, I carefully pried them off using some tools.
Don't forget to disconnect the ground wire from where the arrow is pointing—it’s attached right there!

Also, pickup height adjustment sponges are often completely disintegrated, so you might want to get replacements ahead of time.

MONTREUX / Cushion for Jaguar pickup (2)

If the surface is plated and solder won’t adhere, lightly sanding it with sandpaper or something similar before working makes it much easier for the solder to stick.
In the photo, I haven’t yet cut the excess wire strands, but unnecessary wiring can catch on things and cause the solder to come loose, so I trimmed it off after installing it.

Here’s the stock wiring.
No surprise here, it definitely looks like standard factory wiring.
The stock switch, which I temporarily fixed in the previous post, has a design where two tabs on each side hold it in place.
Because of this, the switch gradually loosens with repeated use, which can lead to poor internal contact.

You can actually see in the image—look at the red arrow—the circuit board on that switch is lifting away.

To fix this issue, I decided to use the MONTREUX / SWITCHCRAFT JG/JM switch ON-ON Black [1581].
If you check the product image, you’ll see the new switch has three tabs per side instead of two, making it look way more reliable overall.
If you’re having trouble with your switch, I highly recommend SWITCHCRAFT!

From here on, it’s a matter of quietly swapping out the removed parts for the new ones and soldering everything back together.

If I were better at soldering, I would love to share some tips…
But since I’m not, I’ll leave that to the experts—there are plenty of great guides out there by people who really know their stuff.
There are still a few parts I haven’t mentioned, so let me fill you in a bit.
I went with inch-sized pots because they’re the easiest to get. To match those, I also got a control plate and knobs in the same spec.
The capacitor and jack were solid, no-nonsense choices. That part’s really up to personal preference, so go with what works for you.

This time, the Jaguar maintenance and customization came in two parts.
The finished guitar plays incredibly well, and since all the previously questionable parts have been changed, I can now play with confidence and peace of mind.

That said, when you replace and tweak everything all at once, it does get harder to pinpoint exactly what changed where—that’s just the reality of doing these kinds of projects.
So here’s my recommendation:
Swap out or adjust parts one at a time, and enjoy the way each tweak changes the tone or playability.

Hope all of you take the time to enjoy guitar modding at your own pace and make your guitar life a great one.