Educate me on Jazzmaster pickups please!

Funkfingers · April 2018

GavRichList said:
AVRI ... 62 set were only ok really - neck was passable, but the bridge was really weedy and insipid.

This sounds familiar from the AVRI '62 Jaguar.

GavRichList said:
Seymour Duncan Antiquity 1s ... On paper they should be everything I like - darker voiced etc etc, but the reality was anything but - they were glass brakingly shrill with stock 1 meg pots.

Any opinions on how the Ant 1 JM pickups sound through 500 or 250k pots?

GavRichList · April 2018

Never tried I’m afraid

Gagaryn · April 2018

timhulio said:

AVRI Jazzmaster pickups. All you really need. Lots of dudes remove them from their guitars and install something else because of something they read on a forum, so they're available for not too much dosh.

In my experience dudes remove them and install something else because, as others have said, they aren't that great - especially the bridge which tends to be thin, the neck isn't so bad.

A bridge pickup that is slightly overwound (when compared to a Fender "matched pair") is in my experience a good idea as it balances better with the neck pickup and brings more depth than is present in the AVRI - not tried the 65's so can't comment. I recently replaced the pickups in my CS JM as the pickups were very similar to the AVRI (might even have been AVRI) and went for the Mojo OWB set and would not hesitate to recommend them. They sound like a JM should.

I've tried a fair few of Ash's pickups, currently have them fitted in two guitars and am delighted with them, not tried his JMs though - I would expect them to be good too.

In my experience the Mojo's with the overwound bridge are hard to beat though for the classic JM sound - would be my recommendation.

timhulio · April 2018

Sorry, is the bridge pickup on a Jazzmaster supposed to provide a searing lead tone? I didn't get that memo. Probably the same memo that said you gotta mod your JM to sustain for days ;-) The bridge pickup provides a treble sound which sounds different and a bit thinner than the neck pickup. Sort of like the bridge pickup on lots of strats. For which, the stock AVRI pickup sounds good, and it's not like anyone is driving an amp with the bridge pickup without effects anyway. And volume-wise the stock AVRI pickups are quite closely balance, at least mine are. They sound like a JM should.

impmann · April 2018

timhulio said:

Sorry, is the bridge pickup on a Jazzmaster supposed to provide a searing lead tone? I didn't get that memo. Probably the same memo that said you gotta mod your JM to sustain for days ;-) The bridge pickup provides a treble sound which sounds different and a bit thinner than the neck pickup. Sort of like the bridge pickup on lots of strats. For which, the stock AVRI pickup sounds good, and it's not like anyone is driving an amp with the bridge pickup without effects anyway. And volume-wise the stock AVRI pickups are quite closely balance, at least mine are. They sound like a JM should.

Oh are we back to accusing people of wanting to sound like Slash on a JM again, Tim?

Point is, compare an AVRI 62 or a CS to a real 1960s JM and there is a world of difference in sound. Fender missed the boat by a long way - compare the same guitar fitted with Mojo pickups and you are in the sonic ball park. Ask me how I know... and no, I left my Top Hat and Marshall at home that day.

For preference, I prefer a slightly less clanky bridge pickup (slight overwind) as I can’t stand Fuzz boxes by and large. And with a cleanish AC30 or HiWatt, or with a mild overdrive I find the original wind doesn’t quite do what I want it to do. I also prefer the slightly squidgy attack of A3 magnets.

But, if we all liked the same thing...

jellybelly · April 2018

Funkfingers said:

GavRichList said:
AVRI ... 62 set were only ok really - neck was passable, but the bridge was really weedy and insipid.

This sounds familiar from the AVRI '62 Jaguar.

GavRichList said:
Seymour Duncan Antiquity 1s ... On paper they should be everything I like - darker voiced etc etc, but the reality was anything but - they were glass brakingly shrill with stock 1 meg pots.

Any opinions on how the Ant 1 JM pickups sound through 500 or 250k pots?

I use an Antiquity 1 Neck pickup and a Mojo A3 bridge pickup with a 300k vol and 500k tone.

The Ant1 is thick and warm but with clarity - best neck sound I’ve ever had. Mojo is great with a strong enough midrange to keep up.

FYI Nels Cline specs new Jazzmasters with Antiquity 1 pickups and 250k pots so have a listen to him.

jellybelly · April 2018

Something else about JM pickups that nobody has mentioned is that they’re much less compressed than say, a strat pickup - they have a really open response and headroom that I can’t recall experiencing with any other kind of pickup. Others may differ in their opinion though!

GavRichList · April 2018

Noisy, too

jellybelly · April 2018

GavRichList said:

Noisy, too

Often very noisy!

meltedbuzzbox · April 2018

GavRichList said:

Noisy, too

You don't hear that when you are playing though

p90fool · April 2018

lonestar said:
Yeah I guess primarily what type of sound you get (in currently using a p90 junior with a Gibson pickup).

What year is your Junior? If it's a 2015 with a P90ST that's pretty much what an overwound Jazzmaster pickup sounds like.

JD50 · April 2018

I had both a SD Antiquity 2's and a set of AVRI pickups in my Jazzmasters. Although different the SD's were a little darker both sounded great to my ears.

Gagaryn · April 2018

timhulio said:

Sorry, is the bridge pickup on a Jazzmaster supposed to provide a searing lead tone? I didn't get that memo. Probably the same memo that said you gotta mod your JM to sustain for days ;-) The bridge pickup provides a treble sound which sounds different and a bit thinner than the neck pickup. Sort of like the bridge pickup on lots of strats. For which, the stock AVRI pickup sounds good, and it's not like anyone is driving an amp with the bridge pickup without effects anyway. And volume-wise the stock AVRI pickups are quite closely balance, at least mine are. They sound like a JM should.

Strange attitude.

No searing lead tone from my JM, or any of my guitars for that matter - not my bag I'm afraid, I'm not a dirt or drive guy. I only replied because you seemed to be implying that people were blindly (deafly?) replacing AVRI pickups when AVRI pickups are "all you really need".

If an AVRI JM sounds like what a JM should sound like, then every vintage JM sounds wrong!

timhulio · April 2018

Hey, I'm not saying guitar guys like to tinker, but...

Funkfingers · April 2018

jellybelly said:

Funkfingers said:
Any opinions on how the Ant 1 JM pickups sound through 500 or 250k pots?

I use an Antiquity 1 Neck pickup and a Mojo A3 bridge pickup with a 300k vol and 500k tone.

The Ant1 is thick and warm but with clarity - best neck sound I’ve ever had. Mojo is great with a strong enough midrange to keep up.

FYI Nels Cline specs new Jazzmasters with Antiquity 1 pickups and 250k pots so have a listen to him.

Thank you. This helps enormously.

impmann · April 2018

Gagaryn said:

timhulio said:

Sorry, is the bridge pickup on a Jazzmaster supposed to provide a searing lead tone? I didn't get that memo. Probably the same memo that said you gotta mod your JM to sustain for days ;-) The bridge pickup provides a treble sound which sounds different and a bit thinner than the neck pickup. Sort of like the bridge pickup on lots of strats. For which, the stock AVRI pickup sounds good, and it's not like anyone is driving an amp with the bridge pickup without effects anyway. And volume-wise the stock AVRI pickups are quite closely balance, at least mine are. They sound like a JM should.

Strange attitude.

No searing lead tone from my JM, or any of my guitars for that matter - not my bag I'm afraid, I'm not a dirt or drive guy. I only replied because you seemed to be implying that people were blindly (deafly?) replacing AVRI pickups when AVRI pickups are "all you really need".

If an AVRI JM sounds like what a JM should sound like, then every vintage JM sounds wrong!

I still don't understand this line...

"it's not like anyone is driving an amp with the bridge pickup without effects anyway"

Really? Thats quite a statement - I think Elvis Costello may have other things to say about that. Having watched him plugged directly into two AC30s with a curly lead (via a tuner - and a clean boost for a couple of sections), I'd say that a vintage Jazzmaster sounds epic used in this way. An example from the same time:

Image: http://img.youtube.com/vi/XDms_-3hc1s/0.jpg

Oh and before the pedants start... I know that track uses both pickups on together.

Not *everybody* uses fuzz with a Jazzmaster - and perhaps those that do become deaf to the nuances, as with a lot of fuzzes the sound you are hearing is mainly the effect and the guitar is just acting as a controller. In fact with some fuzzes I can think of, you can plug *anything* into it and it will just sound the same... so what guitar you play becomes only of relevance in terms of image and style (to the player).

brooom · April 2018

Jazzmaster pickups sound great. They're built nothing like a p90.

p90fool · April 2018

brooom said:

Jazzmaster pickups sound great. They're built nothing like a p90.

They're actually quite similar to the first P90s from 1949.

OilCityPickups · April 2018

p90fool said:

brooom said:

Jazzmaster pickups sound great. They're built nothing like a p90.

They're actually quite similar to the first P90s from 1949.

In that they use 'pole magnets' yes they are.

Funkfingers · April 2018

Just heard one of the 60th Anniversary Fender JMs today. I do not know what pickups are in that model but, in my opinion, the neck PU is yummy and the bridge PU is kinda raspy.

TheGuitarWeasel said:

p90fool said:
They're actually quite similar to the first P90s from 1949.

In that they use 'pole magnets' yes they are.

That Seth Lover design had a different number. It is described in an interview in an A. R. Duchossoir book about the history of Gibson electric guitars. I am too lazy to fetch the book.

Howdy, Stranger!

Categories

In this Discussion

Become a Subscriber!

Educate me on Jazzmaster pickups please!

Comments