Jaguar

I ordered the +5 % overwound set for my ocean turquoise Vintera Jaguar: They’re fabulous! Thanks to Fralin for making them and for the folks here in the reviews and on Reddit that made me choose this set.

It has lots of sustain now and is more versatile (maybe a bit less Jaguar and a bit more Jazzmaster-like) than before. Compared to the stock pickups they have more creamy highs (not so harsh), more compact bass (not so muddy) and really clear mids (but not so foggy sounding). And the strangle-switch finally has a bigger impact, great for strumming chords. I liked the dark mystic sound of the vanilla Vintera Jag, but with the Fralins I can use it for all our songs now. I love it. The Jag is finally where I wanted it to be from the beginning. Just for context: I play and write music in the style of Smashing Pumpkins’ Gish, Red Hot’s Californication and blink-182’s Selftitled.

I ordered the ‘parchment’ colored cover, and they perfectly fit the overall aesthetic. Only little flaw: I had to file off a bit of the pickguard, as the Fralins are 1 mm bigger than the Vintera stock pickups. But one minute work of sandpaper did the job.

Howdy again. This is a follow-up review after my previous rant on a set of “stock-wind” pickups I put in a Squire Classic Vibe Jaguar. I have now switched out the stock-wind bridge for a 5% overwound bridge P/U. By the way, if you don’t think Squire CV offset guitars are pro-playable, you are correct. I speak for both my CV 60s style Jag and a 50s style Jazzmaster. But after a few upgrades/mods and the all-important neck-pitch correction, they are serving me well and improving my gig life. As stated in my previous review (read it if you can stand it) I had no prior experience with any offset guitars, so others who have played higher grade offsets might have a lot more to say about this. But for my money after 50 years of playing, these have turned out to be excellent guitars. But hey, this is a pickups review. These two offsets I have would still not be gig-playable without replacing their less-than-adequate stock pickups. I intend to post a review on a set of LF Jazzmaster pickups also. In the case of the initial matched set of Fralins for my Jaguar, I was very pleased to have balanced, microphonic-squeal resistant, high-quality sound. Again my lack of experience with vintage Jags puts me at a loss as to whatever a vintage Jag is supposed to sound like firsthand. All I can say is the expected tone from being a lifetime fan of music that employed Fender offset guitars is there in spades for me. People freak out over the nuances of different winds, resistances, magnets, wire gauge, vintage, modern, I get it. I do it too. Many of us would enjoy the luxury of critically comparing various pickups if we had the time and money. I’m very glad to have chosen LF pickups and I look forward to trying more for other guitars. Excellent build, reputation, great company, nice people. Here’s another thought: So what if I don’t have the most vintage sounding Jaguar in the world? Nobody in the first 3 rows cares anyway. What if this axe with these pickups sounds and works great for me? (It does.) What if the far more experienced Lindy Fralin and crew have been down this path already and they make their basic-wind Jag pickup slightly hotter than vintage to begin with? I think that counts for something interesting and I’m glad they did. Because I’m finding this guitar very practical in many applications. Not just old-school reverby-tremoloed, but future-fuzzed out as well. I appreciate the extra juice, but I gotta say I find no lack of clarity and sweet tone. It’s just a beautiful, familiar sound. And again as mentioned in my previous review (get coffee and read it), both pickups on is the MONEY. So yes, I switched the bridge for a 5% hotter pickup, and you know what? It is a subtle but very important difference. Yep, I’m getting a little more gas like I wanted out of that bridge on distorted sounds. I’m not having to roll the Tone down quite so far. But as for the equally important clean sounds, I’m not missing any clarity I had with the stock-wind, this pickup sounds excellent clean. Chicken-pickin’ is even more of a blast now. Both pickups together? I still love it. I don’t really notice much difference with both on from the stock-wind bridge config. It’s such a killer sound. People turn heads to see what it is. Really glad I made the change. So I’m certainly intrigued; reviews both here and elsewhere from Jag players speak of the desire for lower-wind, more vintage-spec type Jag pickups from either LF or other brands. It’s an interesting concept I’d like to understand better. But I’m not so sure it would work for me as well as what I have going. Who knows, I may have to try the 10% overwinds someday. . . . .

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These replacements are everything I could have asked for. The original pickups felt uneven from string to string and were near impossible to balance between the neck and bridge pickups in a way that sounded musical. The Fralins I got are 5% overwound, hotter without sounding too mid-rangey, and are a joy to listen to and play – perfectly balanced string to string and finding the sweet spot for each pickup and a good sounding middle position was effortless. You could even say it was a choice between multiple possible sweet spots – an embarrassment of riches. I asked for a separate ground wire for the bridge pickup claw and that was done free of charge. Now I’ve replaced the “strangle switch” and its capacitor with a phase switch… which makes me absurdly happy.

The only think I might do differently is to go with a straight vintage wound pickups next time. Hotter isn’t necessarily better, and I find myself liking all kinds of places along the travel of the tone and volume pots. A vintage wind, I’m sure, would suit me just fine.

I put a set of Lindy Fralin “stock wind” Jaguar pickups in my Squier Classic Vibe to replace the original ones and I’ve been quite happy with them. The original pickups sounded okay, but they couldn’t take the heat of higher gig volume and distortion/fuzz without squealing. The D-string balance was also weak. The Fralins solved these problems nicely and the tone is excellent in all positions, both pickups together is exceptional. One thing I did like about the original Squier pickups was that the bridge seemed hotter, it had a bit more gas to run with, like when rolling down the tone knob. In retrospect I now wish I might have gotten a slightly overwound bridge pickup. But to the credit of LF & Co., this stock wind bridge pickup takes everything I throw at it. More on this later. I’ve played several gigs on these now and they haven’t let me down. Clean, distorted, boosted, turned down (with networks installed) flanged, phased, fuzzed or freaked out they hold up beautifully. I know this sounds weird, but I play Teles and Strats a lot and this Jaguar has them all pissed; despite shorter scale length, heavier strings, crazy offset tremolo & bridge, way more controls, this Jaguar is yet somehow able to work just as well in many situations and styles. I love it. If you have tolerance and want to get off the beaten path, offsets are a blast! I’d rather play an offset trem than a strat trem any day of the week now. They stay in tune! I even chicken-pick on this silly thing. Surf and spy guitar sounds? Call me next week when you have one of your own. I had no prior experience playing Jaguars, but for additional information that may matter to any potential offset players, the Classic Vibe Squier Jags and Jazzmasters are excellent starters with some needed upgrades. The necks are nice, the frets are tall, the fingerboards are 9.25” radius. The electronics are passable but time will tell. The one essential upgrade is that you must pitch the neck in order to get sufficient string & bridge height. Next you may want to upgrade the tremolo (the stock ones are cheap metal) and /or install resistor/capacitor networks on the volume controls to retain clarity when turning down. As for the new pickups, I must say they are essential if you’re gonna gig at any level. They are just pro sounding and performing. The stock Squier pickups are ok for the bedroom or garage, but that’s about it. There are myriad pickup builders and brands to choose from. You can spend hours, days or months attempting to try or compare, there is so much available. Info on Jag pickups is limited compared to other types. What drew me to these LF Jaguar pickups, aside of reputation, was I noticed a raised D polepiece and overwind options, things I didn’t see much about elsewhere. Plus, they were nice guys when I called them, which goes a long way. It was conveyed before I purchased that the LF stock-wind is actually a bit hotter than what you would find in a vintage Jag. Hence my choice of the stock wind; I had zero experience with Jags and thought I would get as close to vintage as I could with these. After playing them now for a few months and becoming more familiar, I’m even more curious about trying a hotter bridge pickup. I even called about this and who should answer but Mr Fralin himself, he was great. He was generous with his time and knowledge, and I learned some things from him. I use the volume and tone pots a lot, like constantly. I roil down the tone pretty far, especially with distortion. These Jags are bright. Clean is beautiful, distorted can be harsh. Lindy suggested I might try less severe tone capacitors, he has them on this site, including one called the “magic cap”. Rolling down the tone cuts a lot of treble but also mids, which I hadn’t fully realized. Maybe I need to try those. Different caps can let more mids be retained while still cutting the harsh high end. I also religiously use resistor/capacitor “networks” across volume pots to retain treble when turning down the guitar, especially on single coil pickup guitars. Again, these new pickups work fine with them. Then there’s “50s wiring” which is a whole ‘nuther thing. The quest never ends. Another tip I got from Lindy is that trying to get more gas from the bridge pickup by raising it right up to the strings is causing me more trouble than worth. It’s just harsh with no appreciable gain. Backed off sounds nicer and has no real gain loss within reasonable distance. Try it, I did and it helped. I believe Lindy recognized my appreciation for the most vintage-type tone and some things I could try before changing to a hotter bridge pickup. He stressed that the overwind will reduce high end. I get it, this could affect that KILLER dual-pickup sound I mentioned . . . But otherwise, I’m usually turning the dang tone knob down anyway, so reduced high-end doesn’t scare me too much. I’ve pretty much resolved to getting a 5% overwound bridge, popping it in and hearing what happens. I have also recently acquired a Squier Classic Vibe 50’s Jazzmaster and I’ve done the same mods/upgrades previously described. Same story, the first gig I took it to the thing played fine but the pickups squealed and the tone folded as soon as I cranked up for a solo. I just ordered a set of LF regular Jazzmaster pickups with an overwound bridge. Can’t wait. Good luck to all with like-minded offset guitar exploits! Thanks Lindy and staff!

I dropped a set of these with a 5% overwind into a Vintera 60s Jaguar and it turned it into the perfect guitar for indie rock. I can still dial in clean tones that have the jangle I associate with Jaguars, but the dirty tone is much fuller and more balanced than the stock pickups were. I love the clarity of these pickups: I can stack effects (boost + distortion + fuzz) without getting that metal-style compressed sound.

This is probably my fifth set of Fralins for different guitars. Put the stock wind fralin pickups into an mij jag and it really came alive. There is a good amount of low end but still a fender clarity which shines when doing leads. If you want your jag to sound significant and wished your jag had more bass these pickups solve that problem.

I replaced the stock pickups with these in my 60’s Vintera Jaguar. 5% overwind, i think 10% would have also been fine. They have lots of clarity and handle fuzz pedals well. Somewhere between strat and tele tones.
Compared to the stock pickups, they are better balanced to each other and have more low end.

I was looking for a replacement for Bare Knuckle pickups in my Johnny Marr Jaguar, which to my taste lacked a bit of meat and thickness especially with overdrive. Lindy Fralin pickups (+5%) turned out to be a fantastic replacement and a definitely a big improvement over Bare Knuckles. Together with the Mastery bridge they turned my Jag into a very powerful and versatile beast. The pickups do sound thicker and punchier than Bare Knuckles and take overdrive really nicely. When I need a thinner more classic Jag sound, I use the bright switch. Couldn’t be happier with the purchase! Thanks a lot.

Great. Just like the Fralin: Melody Maker and Strat pickups I already use. I put these and the Mini-Humbucker on a Rosewood Strat from Warmoth.

Great work
These pickups are loud and clear. A very pleasant change from the awful factory ones. Makes the instrument sound as good as it looks now.

Just what I was looking for
I was looking for a high output thick tone for my 68’ jag. I’m super happy with the 10% overwound pickups I received from Lindy. Nice warmth, almost strat like.. but they can also be very glassy on the lead circuit for that classic jag sound with even more presence. I play in a cover band so I wanted the versatility and these pickups are up for the task and do not disappoint!

Great customer Service

I originally intended on replacing the pickups in my 65 Jaguar; but after speaking to Lindy on the phone, he suggested I try salvaging the original pickups first. As it turned out, Lindy and his team were able to repair both pickups without having to rewind, and they now sound great. So I can’t comment on how Fralin Jaguar pickups sound, but the service I received from Lindy and his team was fantastic.

First time building a guitar, first time wiring one didn’t know what to expect but it sounds amazing. I’m very glad I got these pickups.

Another Bass VI user here. After putting a Fralin Jazzmaster pickup in the bridge of my Pawn Shop Series VI, I decided to go with a Jaguar bridge pickup for the Squier that I use as my backup/alternate tuning VI (I play Bass VI exclusively in my duo Bark).
Got the 5% overwind option and have been blown away from the get-go. Fantastic sounding pickup that really makes this thing come to life: plenty of twang but no shortage of growl either.
Couldn’t ask for any more!

They’re in and sound great. I am having an issue, though, because the high E and B strings are not as loud as the others. This was the reason I put the new pickups in the first place. So, it isn’t the pickups causing this. Any thoughts on what might be causing this?

Perfect Pickups for Bass VI
Came into the shop with a loose idea of what I wanted for my Squier Bass VI and ended up with pickups/customizations that made it my ideal primary instrument. Excellent experience, excellent products, beautiful results.

Jaguar + 7.5 wind = Divine

Absolutely love my custom wound Jaguar Bridge Pickup. Had it done +7.5 hotter, and it’s exceeded expectations. On top of that, Lindy and his team were fantastic to work with. Great communication. Great people.