Anniversary JB / Jazz problem, weird thin sound

Shredmrt

New member
Hi guys!

Im building a tele deluxe and managed to get a jb jazz anniversary set for it..
Got the guitar finished and tested it and the pickups sound veeery weird. Very low output and almost no low end. I measured the kOhms of both pickups and they are as should, around 7 for the jazz and 16k for the jb. I bypassed the wiring and connected straight to the jack with no difference.
What is going on here? Do I have a faulty pair or what can it be?
I even measured the mV while picking the low e string, normal jb 165mv peak, anniversary jb 90mV.

Help me out people!
 
Re: Anniversary JB / Jazz problem, weird thin sound

welcome to the forum!

did you measure the dc resistance wired up in the guitar at the jack or outside the guitar? are these pups new? if you are getting a solid reading it could be the magnets arent charged properly.
 
Re: Anniversary JB / Jazz problem, weird thin sound

Messured both wired to the guitar and straight from the pickup, both times got 16k. The sound is really weird almost out of phasey... But no hum, just weird low output and sound. When wired to a 500k pot a small amount of resistance killed the signal.. Like approx 100kOhm and silence. Got these 2nd hand cuz the guy didnt like them. :-)

Btw I have several guitars with normal jb/jazz sets so its easy to a/b and there is definetly something lacking from these anniversary ones...
 
Re: Anniversary JB / Jazz problem, weird thin sound

You've checked everything else, amp, cord, etc? Where did you get them? Is it possible they were demagnetized?
 
Re: Anniversary JB / Jazz problem, weird thin sound

Yeah tested everything with another guitar with similar pickups and got normal sound. These were used so I guess anything is possible? I never had a duncan pickup fail before this so this is new to me! :-)

The whole set sounds off, even the jazz pu.. So could the previous guy have stored these somewhere where both of em had been demagnetized?
 
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Re: Anniversary JB / Jazz problem, weird thin sound

sounds like the coils are ok but maybe the magnets are effed. do a screw driver test on this pup and another pup and see if the pull feels the same
 
Re: Anniversary JB / Jazz problem, weird thin sound

I compared to my other tele with regular jb jazz and I think the pull is definetly weaker on the anniversary ones.. Though the anniversary ones are covered and the others are not but still a big difference. Even comparing the anniversary jb and anniversary jazz the jb has weaker pull of those two.
 
Re: Anniversary JB / Jazz problem, weird thin sound

something is amiss man, if it was me id pull the covers and swap magnets... not sure if you feel comfortable doin that
 
Re: Anniversary JB / Jazz problem, weird thin sound

I gotta finish this guitar by saturday so I think Ill swap the pickups for something else and start exploring these weird ones with time to do it properly! ;-) I'll report back here once I find something.. image.jpg
 
Re: Anniversary JB / Jazz problem, weird thin sound

cool lookin guitar. good luck!
 
Re: Anniversary JB / Jazz problem, weird thin sound

Ive never seen them with covers. Its unlikely but i wonder if someone fubard something putting covers on.

That's what I am thinking because they are one conductor with a braided shield... almost impossible to screw up the wiring. Sounds like most of the signal is being sent to ground like if you had your volume pot way down.
 
Re: Anniversary JB / Jazz problem, weird thin sound

Can we get pics of the bottom of the pickups? Link to an auction or forum post, perhaps, if you bought them online?
 
Re: Anniversary JB / Jazz problem, weird thin sound

Well, they look legitimate. The solder on the cover almost looks factory, as well! Interesting.

Assuming you know what you're doing with a soldering iron and the problem doesn't lie in your guitar, your amp or your cable, the magnets must have been degaussed.

This can happen to pickups like the 35th set if they come into contact with or are stored near much stronger magnets (e.g. the big magnets on speakers or Ceramic/Alnico 8 based pickups, etc).
 
Re: Anniversary JB / Jazz problem, weird thin sound

That guitar is ****ing beautiful

Sent from my LG-D855 using Tapatalk
 
Re: Anniversary JB / Jazz problem, weird thin sound

Well, they look legitimate. The solder on the cover almost looks factory, as well! Interesting.

Assuming you know what you're doing with a soldering iron and the problem doesn't lie in your guitar, your amp or your cable, the magnets must have been degaussed.

This can happen to pickups like the 35th set if they come into contact with or are stored near much stronger magnets (e.g. the big magnets on speakers or Ceramic/Alnico 8 based pickups, etc).

I dunno... those covers look like they are chrome plated and not nickel silver which would match the baseplate... not factory IMHO.
 
Re: Anniversary JB / Jazz problem, weird thin sound

I "generally dislike" Teles,but DAYUM!!!!!

Hope you get it sorted soon.

If you're in the States,may be worth it to send them home for a once-over,dunno...
 
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