Air Zone + SD Jazz?

[T-Bone-BBQ]

I've got a PRS SE Custom 24 that I had an Air Zone and Air Norton put in. Both pickups are great, but the Air Norton is just too hot and thick sounding for me, so I got a great deal on a used SD Jazz pickup and plan to put it in there. The Air Zone while also sounding thick works great in the bridge.

Anyone ever team up a Jazz with an Air Zone? I know the Jazz is supposed to work well with pickups like the JB, so it should work out ok. I want a neck pickup that has good clarity even with some OD, so I thought the Jazz would work well.

 

[T-Bone-BBQ]

Re: Air Zone + SD Jazz?

Anyone?

 

[gregory]

Re: Air Zone + SD Jazz?

No personal experience, but I say you're on the right track. Jazz will give you lower output and more extended treble. It will do fine with your OD.

 

[daenius]

Re: Air Zone + SD Jazz?

Many over at the Dimarzio forum describe the Air Zone as a medium output and warmer cousin of the JB! Given that, if Duncan's best selling Hot Rod set is JB+Jazz, I don't see how you could go wrong (except for wiring! because DO NOT use the same color code for wiring 2 different brands of pickups)

 

[Mincer]

Re: Air Zone + SD Jazz?

The Jazz will certainly solve the 'thickness' problem. It is open, with a strong attack, scooped sound and direct highs.

 

[T-Bone-BBQ]

Re: Air Zone + SD Jazz?

The Jazz will certainly solve the 'thickness' problem. It is open, with a strong attack, scooped sound and direct highs.

Thanks. I figured so. Now the question is...do I replace it myself or take the guitar back to the guitar tech. Right now he has it wired so that the inner coils are active when the pickups are coil tapped, but they're both Dimarzio, so I can't match up wire colors with the Jazz and I'd rather have the outer coil on the Jazz active when it's wired up and the coil tap is on. Any thoughts/advice on that?

 

[gregory]

Re: Air Zone + SD Jazz?

That wiring situation will require advanced knowledge. If the pickup you plan on keeping in there hasn't had the magnet flipped or has been rotated by 180 degrees, then you'll have to do that with one of the pickups. You may also be faced with reversing the coil order (e.g.: tie the black and green of the Duncan together instead of the red and white).

How good is your guitar tech?

 

[T-Bone-BBQ]

Re: Air Zone + SD Jazz?

That wiring situation will require advanced knowledge. If the pickup you plan on keeping in there hasn't had the magnet flipped or has been rotated by 180 degrees, then you'll have to do that with one of the pickups. You may also be faced with reversing the coil order (e.g.: tie the black and green of the Duncan together instead of the red and white).

How good is your guitar tech?

He's real good, but that's part of the problem is he's so good that he's always busy. I just got the guitar back after he put the Air Zone/Air Norton pickups in and did a setup for me after he had it for about a month. He's always busy with lots of work. Great guy and does fantastic work, but he's really busy. That's why I was thinking of trying it myself, but mixing brands plus doing coil taps and stuff just worry me.

 

[gregory]

Re: Air Zone + SD Jazz?

Do you have a compass handy? The screw coil in a Duncan is South. If the screw coil in the Air Zone that's in your guitar is North then you won't have to flip a magnet or rotate a pickup. From there you'll need to work out the wiring.

 

[Mr. B]

Re: Air Zone + SD Jazz?

The Air Zone and Jazz will work together by just wiring them up like you normally would if they were both from the same manufacturer. They won't be out of phase. My experience: The Air Zone will work better with a PAF Pro, PAF Joe, or Humbucker from Hell than it will a Jazz. The feel of the Jazz does not match the Air Zone. I have 2 Air Zones, one in a PRS SE Singlecut with a PAF Pro, and the other in an Ibanez with a PAF Joe. I have run it with a Humbucker from Hell before too, but thought the HFH was a tiny bit underpowered in that combo, and the HFH has a little of that stiffness that the Jazz has.

 

[gregory]

Re: Air Zone + SD Jazz?

Unless the DiMarzio screw coil is North...
If you want to run inner coils and have the screws be the outer coils you will have to reverse the polarity of one of the pickups, unless you want the split combo to hum or be out of phase.

Been there, done that and on more than one occasion.

 

[gregory]

Re: Air Zone + SD Jazz?

FWIW, I like the PAF Pro and PAF Joe suggestions.

I'm not sure about the HFH in a 24 fret, double-cutaway, and with that heel joint, but I could easily be wrong.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Air Zone + SD Jazz?

You can always post any issues you have with wiring here, and we can sort it out. Color codes are different, of course. I wish there was some sort of standardization with wire colors.

 

[TeleJr24]

Re: Air Zone + SD Jazz?

What value pots are you all using with the Air Zone? I had 500k but if I ever put them back in I was going to try a 1meg pot. And maybe no tone control. I was getting too much bass.

I also had a Air Norton in the neck and both the bridge and neck sounded almost the same.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[daenius]

Re: Air Zone + SD Jazz?

Standard 500k. Yanking the tone control out should give you just a bit more brightness and output. Try that out first.

 

[T-Bone-BBQ]

Re: Air Zone + SD Jazz?

I lowered the Air Norton a lot and it helped it clear up some. Makes the coil split almost worthless because the output drops off a lot, but I'm going to try this out for a bit. I do have a PAF Joe that I could try in this or the Jazz later on if I need to. The Air Zone I like. Very beefy and strong without being too hot.

 

[T-Bone-BBQ]

Re: Air Zone + SD Jazz?

Here's another possible combo with the Jazz I've been wondering about... The Mo Joe and Jazz together. Any thoughts?