59 vs jazz neck

[esandes]

for the longest time i thought the jazz was the best choice for my tastes in a neck HB until i heard the 59 in this clip



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ipW_FF6gZQ

the 59 seems to be able to cover any style well and clearly, evenly.

 

[cbieberstein]

Re: 59 vs jazz neck

The sentient is the best of both worlds.

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[Silence Kid]

Re: 59 vs jazz neck

For what it's worth, the same guitar wasn't used on each pickup demo.

I prefer the Jazz sound on that recording, seems less round/more harmonic content, but that isn't always good depending on your rig and what you're looking for.

 

[LtKojak]

Re: 59 vs jazz neck

Both p'ups have their own characteristic, aka tonefootprint, and very different from each other, almost polar opposites.

The note/pick attack is what it's at. The '59n has an "esplosive" quality, kind of an opera tenor, while the JazzN has fast, clinical and percussive attack, which reminds me of a Hammond organ, minus the sustain.

Legato and Staccato.

The Sentient is kind of a mix between the two, being slightly closer to the '59n, if your ask me.

HTH,

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: 59 vs jazz neck

Haven't heard the Sentient.

Between the 59n and Jazz n I've always preferred the 59n.

Seems more soulful, more vintage and reminds me more of an early 60's Gibson humbucker like Clapton might have used with Cream or Wes Montgomery might have had in his Gibson L5.

I do prefer it with a roughcast alnico 5 magnet like 20 year old Duncan 59's and actual early 60's Gibson humbuckers would have used.

The polished alnico 5 magnet Duncan uses now makes for a neck pickup that some complain has too much bass, too much treble and not enough mids.

So all of my 59n's have roughcast alnico 5 magnets...either because they're old or because I replaced them.

One of my very favorite neck pickups.

 

[Synapsys]

Re: 59 vs jazz neck

For a mix between the two, yet with a different feel, I suggest the PATB-1n.

 

[baritone]

Re: 59 vs jazz neck

Haven't heard the Sentient.

Between the 59n and Jazz n I've always preferred the 59n.

Seems more soulful, more vintage and reminds me more of an early 60's Gibson humbucker like Clapton might have used with Cream or Wes Montgomery might have had in his Gibson L5.

I do prefer it with a roughcast alnico 5 magnet like 20 year old Duncan 59's and actual early 60's Gibson humbuckers would have used.

The polished alnico 5 magnet Duncan uses now makes for a neck pickup that some complain has too much bass, too much treble and not enough mids.

So all of my 59n's have roughcast alnico 5 magnets...either because they're old or because I replaced them.

One of my very favorite neck pickups.

This is exactly why I like the Jazz; it's like a modern/hifi version of the 59- a little less midrange, a little more treble.

 

[Demanic]

Re: 59 vs jazz neck

I'm one of those fans of the A4 59n, for the guitars in which the standard 59n is too boomy.

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[Rex_Rocker]

Re: 59 vs jazz neck

I preferred the Jazz in those clips.

IRL, I'm not huge on either. I think the Jazz has a chirpy attack and the '59 a bloated low-end, and both are a bit too scooped. JMO.

I've been meaning to try and mod my Jazz with an A4 magnet, but I don't really use neck pickups all that much to justify the effort, lol.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: 59 vs jazz neck

IRL, I'm not huge on either. I think the Jazz has a chirpy attack and the '59 a bloated low-end, and both are a bit too scooped. JMO.

A Rough Cast A5 magnet will improve that. An Unoriiented A5 magnet even more. An A2 more still. Although the RCA5 worked best for me.

It's the polished A5 that's responsible for the 59n having too much bass, too much treble and not enough mids.

 

[Demanic]

Re: 59 vs jazz neck

Didn't like the UOA5 as much as the A4. I thought it sounded too weak and hollow.

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[Mincer]

Re: 59 vs jazz neck

The Jazz certainly sounds more percussive to me- more modern. Higher high overtones, too. Not as squishy as the 59. The bass on the Jazz remains tight and never boomy. It seems like the bass on a 59 works for some guitars, but not others.

 

[LtKojak]

Re: 59 vs jazz neck

seems like the bass on a 59 works for some guitars, but not others.

A stock '59n works a lot better on 24-fretters, 25,5" scaled guitars.

In 22-fretters, 24,75" scaled instruments is inherentely boomy, that's why mag swap is a godsend. A4 and A3 are the ones I prefer. UOA5 can also work for some, but to my ears and taste, it brings a "spongy" quality in the lows I wish it didn't have.

HTH,

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: 59 vs jazz neck

Interesting how the clean tones sounded distinct and unique to each pickup.

But the more the tones started getting shreddy and distorted, the more similar the two pickups started sounding...at least to me.

There's arguments on the Gear Page constantly about whether the wood a guitar is made from matters at all. Some guys claim it doesn't matter and that they hear no difference in a Strat made from alder vs. one made from swamp ash. Or a Strat with a rosewood fingerboard vs. one with a one piece neck with maple fingerboard.

I've always assumed that the guys who claim the wood type (mahogany, ash, alder, etc.) makes no difference were probably guys who were either beginners or unaccomplished players or more likely: guys who never turn their overdrive or distortion pedals off.

 

[LtKojak]

Re: 59 vs jazz neck

Interesting how the clean tones sounded distinct and unique to each pickup.But the more the tones started getting shreddy and distorted, the more similar the two pickups started sounding

Fact. Word.

Some guys claim it doesn't matter and that they hear no difference in a Strat made from alder vs. one made from swamp ash. Or a Strat with a rosewood fingerboard vs. one with a one piece neck with maple fingerboard. The guys who claim the wood type makes no difference were guys who never turn their overdrive or distortion pedals off.

Fact. Word. Again!

 

[MkIII Renegade]

Re: 59 vs jazz neck

The Jazz certainly sounds more percussive to me- more modern. Higher high overtones, too. Not as squishy as the 59. The bass on the Jazz remains tight and never boomy. It seems like the bass on a 59 works for some guitars, but not others.

The '59 is my choice for Superstrats, especially if neck-thru, since they can use some extra bottom end (Almost every HH Charvel and Jackson made now has the '59N). The Jazz would be my choice for Les Paul type guitars.

 

[thanaton]

Re: 59 vs jazz neck

for the longest time i thought the jazz was the best choice for my tastes in a neck HB until i heard the 59 in this clip
..

the 59 seems to be able to cover any style well and clearly, evenly.

IME, the closer a pickup is to stock, the more it will sound like "everything". The '59, with its softer high end, is closer to stock HB's than the Jazz, which is brighter.

 

[freefrog]

Re: 59 vs jazz neck

I've always assumed that the guys who claim the wood type (mahogany, ash, alder, etc.) makes no difference were probably guys who were either beginners or unaccomplished players or more likely: guys who never turn their overdrive or distortion pedals off.

Same feeling here... the difference between guitars might even be the reason why my own experience with SH1n and SH2n has been surprising sometimes... As I said in another thread, one of my friends has a Lag Roxane with a SH1n, a Godin with a SH2n and a Gibby SG from the early 60's with stock pickups: not only his SH1n sounds almost like a SH2n and conversely in his guitars but in this case, the SH2 sounds the most like his Early Patent Sticker neck PU (!).

In my own guitars, I've also mounted a same SH1n in a LP, in a semi-hollow then in a Flying V: it sounded muddy in the first hosts while in the last situation, it became surprisingly similar to the Gibby Pat. Stick. aforementioned...

I'm not saying that SH1 and SH2 haven't predictable tones: as they are among the most current neck PU's mounted by countless brands that I've played these last decades, I've still a relatively clear idea about their typical tones (although old SH1's and recent ones sound different IME)... But this "clear" idea has been denied a couple of times, hence my testimonial above.

SIDE NOTE: the Godin and Lag named above haven't the same hardware... nor the same scale and it's also a game changer IMHO/IME. Also, the neck PU of a Flying V 67 is closer to the bridge than in other Gibson's... so my positive experience with a SH1n in this position confirms what Pepe was saying about the SH1 working well with 24 frets guitars.

 

[darthphineas]

Re: 59 vs jazz neck

I'm one of those fans of the A4 59n, for the guitars in which the standard 59n is too boomy.

used to think the same.

I finally realized that people who are typically smarter in this field than most of us went through the process and put together a recipe for a reason.

if a certain brand doesn't have a neck model that works for me for a certain application, I look at another brand.

 

[Demanic]

Re: 59 vs jazz neck

used to think the same.

I finally realized that people who are typically smarter in this field than most of us went through the process and put together a recipe for a reason.

if a certain brand doesn't have a neck model that works for me for a certain application, I look at another brand.

That makes sense, and I wouldn't advise against it. For myself, the magnet swap worked and was the least expensive solution to my problem.

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