GFS Mean 90 neck vs Duncan Jazz neck

T

tkingen

New member
I'm working on a G&L Bluesboy with stock single coil in the bridge and Duncan Jazz in the neck position. The Jazz is almost there - open and airy but the low E isn't quite as detailed as I would like. Been thinking maybe a P90ish pickup would help out and the GFS Mean 90 looks interesting.
Any thoughts on this? Would the Mean 90 be a little more detailed on the low E?
 
Re: GFS Mean 90 neck vs Duncan Jazz neck

try adjusting that side of the pickup down a bit and bring up the adjuster screw just ever so slightly.
 
Re: GFS Mean 90 neck vs Duncan Jazz neck

I like a P-90 (Mean 90, etc) in the neck better than a JazzN, which is pretty bland and ho-hum. A P-90 will have a more open tone and some bite to it. You won't get anything that lively out of a Jazz. Plus with a P-90, you have two magnets and can dial in you tones much better. In my neck P-90's I've used: A5/A5, A5/A3, A5/A4, and A5/A2 (listed in order of brightness). You can't get this degree of adjustment with any HB.
 
Re: GFS Mean 90 neck vs Duncan Jazz neck

Experimented with pickup and screw height. Subtle differences but still didn't quite find what I'm looking for. At Blueman's suggestion I'm going to order a Mean 90, maybe expereiment with magnets if it's too bright with the stock magnets.
 
Re: GFS Mean 90 neck vs Duncan Jazz neck

A follow up - I replaced the Jazz with a Mean 90 several weeks ago and found a great improvement in clarity. Now I'm thinking a big factor is that the G&L uses 300k pots. Single coils seem better suited for lower value pot values. Humbuckers and 300's don't mix well for my tastes.
 
Re: GFS Mean 90 neck vs Duncan Jazz neck

tkingen said:
A follow up - I replaced the Jazz with a Mean 90 several weeks ago and found a great improvement in clarity. Now I'm thinking a big factor is that the G&L uses 300k pots. Single coils seem better suited for lower value pot values. Humbuckers and 300's don't mix well for my tastes.
Click to expand...

Not necessarily... I use 500K Audio pot with Mean90s. Or I use 300K or 250K in HB bridge p'ups to tame the shrillness... it's all a matter of taste and gear.
 
Re: GFS Mean 90 neck vs Duncan Jazz neck

LtKojak said:
Not necessarily... I use 500K Audio pot with Mean90s. Or I use 300K or 250K in HB bridge p'ups to tame the shrillness... it's all a matter of taste and gear.
Click to expand...


+1. Bridge PU's usually have plenty of treble, and 250K's let you get that under control. Neck's on the other hand, need all the treble they can get, and are best with 500K's. To me, the PU slot (neck or bridge) is a bigger factor in determining pot value than whether it's a HB or single coil.
 
Re: GFS Mean 90 neck vs Duncan Jazz neck

You could have shortend the pole piece screws so they dont extend past the baseplate on the Jazz. That would have made that pickup tighter and clearer.
 
Re: GFS Mean 90 neck vs Duncan Jazz neck

I just put a set of Mean90's in a Hamer Studio Custom last week. The neck pickup is nice a juicy, just like a P90 should be. Certainly has more "personality" than the Jazz. But then, I tried a number of Duncan humbuckers in the neck and I liked them all more than the Jazz, so different strokes and all that. The bridge Mean90 is nice too, but not quite as awesome as the neck (not quite as rude as I'd like I think).

Anyway, here's a gratuitous pic :D
100_3084.jpg


-Austin
 
Re: GFS Mean 90 neck vs Duncan Jazz neck

Wire the Jazz neck pickup in parallel, and then it will gain a great deal of clarity. Then it will truly sound beautiful, and yet still be hum-canceling. Otherwise it can have too much bass and become muddy, in my opinion more so than the '59 model.

There are some people on here who say that parallel is too weak, but actually for the Jazz in the neck position, it is not. It can sound not only glassy and clear, but still warm and full like it should.
 
Re: GFS Mean 90 neck vs Duncan Jazz neck

Austin,

Man, that is a gorgeous guitar!

Me want one. Especially with P-90's in it, like yours.

(darn, I just wet my pants).

By the way, try replacing one (or both) of the A5 mags in the bridge Mean-90 with an A8 (or two) if you want it to sound a bit ruder.
 
Re: GFS Mean 90 neck vs Duncan Jazz neck

austin said:
I just put a set of Mean90's in a Hamer Studio Custom last week. The neck pickup is nice a juicy, just like a P90 should be. Certainly has more "personality" than the Jazz. But then, I tried a number of Duncan humbuckers in the neck and I liked them all more than the Jazz, so different strokes and all that. The bridge Mean90 is nice too, but not quite as awesome as the neck (not quite as rude as I'd like I think).

Anyway, here's a gratuitous pic :D
100_3084.jpg


-Austin
Click to expand...

I just love blue flame on a guitar
 
Re: GFS Mean 90 neck vs Duncan Jazz neck

austin said:
I'm too lazy to mod a $37 pickup, so...
Click to expand...

Nonsense! It doesn't matter the price, that's a very good sounding p'up, a LOT better than my Gibson P-94T (costing exactly five times the GFS), which HAD TO change the magnets just to make it useable.

Put that A8 in, man... it's too beautiful an instrument to just let go like that!
 
Re: GFS Mean 90 neck vs Duncan Jazz neck

Fine you all have convinced me. I'll give it a go this weekend and see how it turns out!

-Austin
 
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