Bright Jazz Tone

Chad_T

New member
I have an Epiphone Joe Pass which I like, but I despise the muddiness in the loww end, especially the E and A strings. I LOVE the tone gotten by Charlie Christian, Herb Ellis, Kenny Burrell - sweet, but with crisp nore definition across the whole tonal spectrum. Can anybody suggest which Duncan humbucker might give me that? I play mostly on the neck pickup, natch...
 
Re: Bright Jazz Tone

well, yeah ... 59s and seths are incredible ... they are what i'd like in a jazzy box like that ...

but i wonder if he might not be too fond of the warmth in the low end given he is unhappy with the miuddines he has now ...

i wonder if an AIIP might do the trick for him ...

just a thought

cheers
t4d
 
Re: Bright Jazz Tone

I'd go with something with an alnico II myself. Seth or Pg would be my first choice.

Another thing to consider would be a set of Phat Cats. A lot of Jazz tracks are cut on axes sporting P-90's.

BTW, welcome to the forum, bo! :dance:
 
Re: Bright Jazz Tone

I thought of Phat Cats because I'm so enamored of single-coil sound (my #1 is a Tele). But I'd hate to go from humbucking to non-humbucking.

Since I believe that Asian pickups are frequently overwound and too hot I wonder if this is the reason for my problem, so was wondering if just a lower-output 'bucker would do the trick...
 
Re: Bright Jazz Tone

Chad_T said:
I have an Epiphone Joe Pass which I like, but I despise the muddiness in the loww end, especially the E and A strings. I LOVE the tone gotten by Charlie Christian, Herb Ellis, Kenny Burrell - sweet, but with crisp nore definition across the whole tonal spectrum. Can anybody suggest which Duncan humbucker might give me that? I play mostly on the neck pickup, natch...

Charlie Christian and Herb Ellis both used the Gibson "Charlie Christian" pickup...don't know who makes a copy of that. Maybe Jason Lollar?

Kenny Burrell used an L-5 with one of those floating DeArmond pickups. Those are still made.

But your guitar uses humbuckers...so you need to find humbuckers that will do it for you.

The Epi pickups are not that bad...but they're not that great either.

A set of Duncan 59's will get you very close to the pickups Wes Montgomery used, but better. More clarity from the neck pickup.

A set of Duncan Jazz humbuckers will get you a more extended high end and less woof to the bass...very similar to the 59's but less bass and more highs.

A set of Duncan Seth Lovers can sound very jazzy! You'll have less bass than the 59's but a warm, fat tone to the mids and smooth highs.

A set of Duncan Antiquitys would sound like old '57 or '58 Gibson paf humbuckers. A little more open and hollow than the Seths and a little more complexity to the tones overall.

Any of those would do the trick...and sound great.

I'd be tempted to go with the Seth Lovers or Antiquitys...hard to find a better pickup than the Duncan Antiquity. Handwound by Seymour or MJ...they're just the best.

Lew
 
Re: Bright Jazz Tone

i asked the same kind of question last week. if you do a search you might be able to find that thread, but we started talking about the benedetto pickups.

I think the seths or phat cats would be really nice sounding in that guitar.
 
Re: Bright Jazz Tone

Maybe he owns a time machine.

Flux_Capacitor_Time_Machine.jpg
 
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