Giving the Jazz another chance

[Rex_Rocker]

I used to not like it. But I also used to not like the '59, and these days, I feel it's not half bad. Let's see how it goes.



I'll report back tomorrow after I've spent some time with it.

 

[Mincer]

If you don't like it, you can always change the magnet to A2.

 

[Snake Aces]

My oldest guitar is loaded with a Jazz neck, STK-S4 middle, and Jazz bridge. I love the Jazz humbuckers!

 

[Sam SG]

you mention the 59' both the ones I got. And onevI JUST put in 2 days ago. I lowered the screw poles to tame the glassy pick attack thing. And just hair like 2x the thickness of the screw driver blade..
Cept the G which I had to go more for string balance.
Im loving that pup.

May help ya with your Jazz

 

[Rex_Rocker]

So... it's not bad!

It definitely has the same "wow factor" that the '59 has. Maybe more. It's open, it's lively, and it's sparkly on a clean channel.

Distorted, it's very clear on the lower and middle notes. I like that. However, it does get kinda too single coil-y the higher you go. I think I might play with pot values and polepiece adjustment a bit there see if I can "fix" that.

I'll spend more time with it and report back if I like it more than my trusty old 490R.

 

[Top-L]

So... it's not bad!

It definitely has the same "wow factor" that the '59 has. Maybe more. It's open, it's lively, and it's sparkly on a clean channel.

Distorted, it's very clear on the lower and middle notes. I like that. However, it does get kinda too single coil-y the higher you go. I think I might play with pot values and polepiece adjustment a bit there see if I can "fix" that.

I'll spend more time with it and report back if I like it more than my trusty old 490R.

I have a jazz in my parts box and when I grow up I will reinstall it.

It does sound great clean.

 

[Sam SG]

and when I grow up

Dude we are guitar players....Do we ever???

 

[Rex_Rocker]

I think my gripes before were mostly that it was too bright and too low output.

I still think it's bright. But it does sound nice clean. I still think it's low output, but with a JB, it balances. Barely. I have to have it close to the same distance from the strings as the JB in the bridge.

I don't think it would be a good match for anything hotter. And I'm still on the fence about it being so bright. I mean, in isolation, it's nice. Very. But with the JB which has a relatively rolled off top-end... it's not bad, but it does contrast a bit, which can be nice.

 

[freefrog]

And I'm still on the fence about it being so bright.

Put a resistor or/and a low value capacitor from hot to ground of this neck PU and it won't be too bright anymore.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

 

[Rex_Rocker]

Put a resistor or/and a low value capacitor from hot to ground of this neck PU and it won't be too bright anymore.

I'm trying a 1M resistor now to load it down a tad.

 

[beaubrummels]

It was designed around 250k vol/tone, so there's that. But usually the darker tone of mahogany helps it in LP types.

 

[Snake Aces]

It was designed around 250k vol/tone, so there's that. But usually the darker tone of mahogany helps it in LP types.

Indeed. I use a Jazz set in a chambered black korina LP body with a wenge neck featuring a ziricote fretboard. The Jazz set shines in it.

 

[freefrog]

I'm trying a 1M resistor now to load it down a tad.

I wouldn't hesitate to try lower than this. Also, if you want to align the resonant peak of the Jazz on the resonance of the JB, you can add a 820pF or 1000pF (1nF) cap in parallel with the resistor... Or play the neck pickup through 20 more ft of cable before any buffer.


To me, the SH2 remains a Duncan variation on the T-Top recipe: the idea to use 250k pots echoes the principle of 300k pots with T-Top's, whose brightness (due to a relatively high pitched / hi Q factor resonance) was basically an answer to the long capacitive cables of yesteryear...

 

[Rex_Rocker]

So dropped in the 1M resitor. Definitely helped.

Spent some time comparing the Jazz with the 490R in my other Les Paul.

In isolation, there's no doubt the Jazz sounds more impressive. It's sparklier, it's broader, it's cleaner, it's more open. Like I said, it has that "wow factor" that I got from the '59. Distorted, it's not bad either. It has that sort of shreddy vibe with lots of pick attack and clarity.

Matched with the JB? That's where it starts getting blurry to me. The 490R has a similar kind of high and low end rolloff that the JB also has. They feel like they "belong together" more. Flipping the switch mid playing feels more seamless. And with some tweaking, it's not hard to make it sound clear and sparkly too.

But then again, the JB/Jazz covers more ground. There's more contrast between positions if I needed that.

I like the Jazz, honestly. Do I love it? Do I like it more than the '59? Do I like it more than the 490R? I don't know yet. I at least don't immediately regret giving it another shot, so there's that.

 

[Securb]

My Jazz was the first SD I bought when I put the Dimbucker/Jazz set in my Iceman. They are never coming out.

 

[Sam SG]

So dropped in the 1M resitor. Definitely helped.

Spent some time comparing the Jazz with the 490R in my other Les Paul.

In isolation, there's no doubt the Jazz sounds more impressive. It's sparklier, it's broader, it's cleaner, it's more open. Like I said, it has that "wow factor" that I got from the '59. Distorted, it's not bad either. It has that sort of shreddy vibe with lots of pick attack and clarity.

Matched with the JB? That's where it starts getting blurry to me. The 490R has a similar kind of high and low end rolloff that the JB also has. They feel like they "belong together" more. Flipping the switch mid playing feels more seamless. And with some tweaking, it's not hard to make it sound clear and sparkly too.

But then again, the JB/Jazz covers more ground. There's more contrast between positions if I needed that.

I like the Jazz, honestly. Do I love it? Do I like it more than the '59? Do I like it more than the 490R? I don't know yet. I at least don't immediately regret giving it another shot, so there's that.

Same way I feel about the 490r/t set. Softer less clarity and lowend than the 59/WLH pairing but I still like um.
Thats why I have one SG with Duncans and one with 490 set now

 

[AdrianSD]

I like the Jazz neck quite a bit in series and split modes, I have it in 3 24 frets guitars and they all sound slightly different. Balances well with JB, Custom and Distortion.

 

[Mincer]

So dropped in the 1M resitor. Definitely helped.

Spent some time comparing the Jazz with the 490R in my other Les Paul.

In isolation, there's no doubt the Jazz sounds more impressive. It's sparklier, it's broader, it's cleaner, it's more open. Like I said, it has that "wow factor" that I got from the '59. Distorted, it's not bad either. It has that sort of shreddy vibe with lots of pick attack and clarity.

I'm not a Jazz fan, but it absolutely sounds better than a 490R, for all the reasons you stated. I had one Jazz that worked really well in a muddy sounding guitar that no other pickup seemed to work in.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

I'm not a Jazz fan, but it absolutely sounds better than a 490R, for all the reasons you stated. I had one Jazz that worked really well in a muddy sounding guitar that no other pickup seemed to work in.

I'm curious about trying A2 there if it softens the attack and fills out the mids a tad but keeps the clarity.