A Guitar And Gear Support Forum

I've been making some statements at home that I don't need any more new guitars and in fact it might be time to let a few go. Then somehow three guitars show up - two for me and one for my daughter (I'll post about hers in a different thread).

So the first guitar is a Squier Classic Vibe Jaguar in shell pink. Ordered from MF and it took a few months to get here but it finally came. I've always wanted a Jag. Very cool little guitar - love the color and the short scale length. The finish is flawless. I've never owned a Jaguar before and I'm still trying to figure out all the controls. I think the pickups are fine, especially the neck pickup which sounds great to me. It's going to need some work to get it right though - There's not enough break angle over the bridge and there's a lot of resonance in the vibrato/spring. As soon as I get some time I'm going to shim the neck to increase the angle and see how that helps. Any other Jag owners out there with some words of wisdom on these? Here's some pictures before I get into guitar #2.

For guitar #2 - last week my daughter and I were in a local GC checking out guitars for her. I walked over to the used section and saw this Epiphone Jr. for a whopping $82. It was a little dirty and played terribly, however I really dug the beefy neck. I took it home, cleaned it all up and got to work on a setup. It had way too much relief in the neck, bridge dropped way too low, and one high fret. After fixing all of those and replacing the 9's with 10's it plays extremely well. The nut appears to be plastic but is cut great and I get no pinging and it holds tune great. The tuners are cheap but function ok. The G string tuner shaft is loose but it's doing alright for now. Once I cleaned the dirt off the body it is in excellent shape. Like an idiot I didn't pull the pickup but I'm assuming it's original. I've only been using this on a small practice amp and it seems to drive it to distortion very easily. Next time I change strings I'll pull it out (or change it).

I'm surprised at just how much I like this guitar. I know we're not supposed to like bolt-on necks on les paul types but this thing resonates and sustains much better than my Agile. The neck just feels amazing. This thing reminds me of my Gibson M2 (which I also love) and I think I'm just drawn to it's basic raw construction and overall simplicity.

I would like to replace the tuners at some point. Any drop-in options out there? Here's a couple pics.