Bought a Jazz with some wiring issues(?)

[AdrianSD]

Thanks Mincer, looking forward to receiving the parcel with CC & Jazz pickups, still somewhere between HK and Melbourne according to Australia Post tracker ) Think I owe everyone some updates. Just received a *genuine* Distortion SH-6B and compared it to the so called Jazz. Tell you what, the baseplates look identical to me, can't really see the difference. *But*: the pole spacing on the fake one is a bit off, between a humbucker and a trembucker and the cable feels very thin and flimsy on the fake compared to the Distortion and the other Duncans I have in my guitars, as if the shielding is thinner. DCR on Distortion reads 16.6K and the wiring is right, can't wait to pull up the soldering iron this afternoon and do the switcheroo
I'll also report back on how much of a difference I *feel* when using regular pole spacing in place of a trembucker. TB-4 swapped with a SH-6B.

[Mincer]

Thanks for the updates, and good luck with the new pickups coming in!

[AdrianSD]

Ok, got my money back and the fake Jazz is sitting on my desk now, ready to be dismembered. What should I do with it? Would a rewind done by a professional be able to improve the sound? It sounds really weak and has a lot of hum noise so shielding is a problem, combined with the messed up wiring sounds like an interesting project to take up.
Do you think it's worth trying to rewire? How can I gauge / measure the magnet's quality?

[Mincer]

I think it might be fun to experiment with. Buy a few magnets, etc. But in the end, you got your money back so you have to decide if it is a project worth undertaking. It is at least a good refrigerator magnet, if not a good pickup.

[superpete]

i've used cheap humbuckers as a way to practice magnet swapping/hybrid making/just seeing how humbuckers work/etc etc.

[AdrianSD]

The pickup will get some TLC from a local specialist, including rewinding and new Alnico 2 magnet. The intention is to use it in the bridge of a Jackson Pro DK2 with ebony fretboard and Gotoh Floyd Rose. Be interesting to compare it with the Custom Custom in the same guitar :-)

[Mincer]

What did you ask the specialist to do to it? How hot are you going to have it wound?

[AdrianSD]

Yeah, so picked it up yesterday I wanted some fatter, warmer sound in the bridge compared to the JB / Distortion I have at the moment. Less highs and perhaps less output, but not necessary. Has an Alnico II and it's slightly overwound, ~19Kohm so it's quite hot, ended up with more output. Very good balance of bass, low mids and high mids, definitely less highs than the Distortion. Cleans up really well when rolling the volume back and great single coil sound too, not piercing at all compared to the JB in the same guitar. The notes are singing, overall I like it a lot. But there's a catch: in humbucker mode, at high gain it has a rather pronounced hum noise which magically disappears when I roll back the volume a little bit. Say from 10 down to 8.5-9. Comparing it to the other pickups I have, the hum noise feels like this:
- Duncan Distortion bridge & DiMarzio Gravity Storm neck: both dead quiet.
- Full Shred neck: just a little bit of hum, barely noticeable.
- JB and '59 neck: bit more hum than the FS, all on par, noticeable compared to the DD and GS above.
- The rewound pickup: bit noisier than the JB & 59s
The thing when rolling the volume back to tame the noise is, I get rid of the hum but I like it even more, it sounds fuller, there's probably less mids?
I don't know what to do, I like its character as it is but I could do with less hum noise
I've rechecked all the wiring and I don't think I have a grounding problem due to soldering. Is it because it's overwound? Or perhaps less than perfect grounding?
Curious what people think.

[AdrianSD]

Got the Jazz and CC last week and installed both in the Jackson. Love them!

[Mincer]

Got the Jazz and CC last week and installed both in the Jackson. Love them!

Do these solve the issues you were having? How would you compare them to your other pickups? The CC is probably my favorite bridge pickup, so I am am pretty biased.

[AdrianSD]

They both sound great, CC has less output than the Distortion but it sounds fuller for leads and chords, it also cleans up really well when I rolled back the volume and switch the NS-2 off. Sort of lacks character for high gain riffs compared to the Distortion, but I was expecting that The Jazz sounds very clear for all sorts of amp settings, great definition, to the point that I hear all my mistakes ) I think I still like FS better for cleans and chords, it sounds very glassy and a bit scooped without being as boomy as the '59, with the Jazz coming 2nd really close. Both set at the same height and using the same EXL120 strings.
And the numbers: the Jazz DCR measures 7.2K, 3.6K per coil (bit underwound?), is crystal clear and has very little hum noise, let's say between FS neck and the Distortion. CC DCR reads 14.8K, *but* the single coils don't return identical values, they're like 7.6K vs. 7.2k. Still getting a bit of noise from CC, is it because of mismatching winding combined with the Alnico 2 magnet?

[Mincer]

The CC shouldn't be noisier than any other high output pickup. It will be noisier than the Jazz because the pickup itself is louder. The coils of that pickup are balanced.

[AdrianSD]

Thanks Mincer. Then again, the Distortion is louder, but quieter. What gives?

[Mincer]

I am not sure here, as my CC isn't very noisy at all. I would think that maybe there is a wiring issue causing the noise.