Re: Historical question: How did the JB & Jazz become the Hot Rodded Humbucker set?
Re: Historical question: How did the JB & Jazz become the Hot Rodded Humbucker set?
Like a number of guys, I just don't see a JazzN living up to the name of 'Hot Rodded'. People expect a hot, wild neck PU and they get a very tame, mild-mannered one instead. I'd think a hot bridge PU, like the Full Shred or some of the other ones used by guys here in the neck slot, would be more representative of Hot Rodded. Not that the JazzN isn't a good PU, which it is, it just catches some players off guard when it's sold with a 16K JB.
DMz went the other direction in naming one of theirs; they call a 10K neck HB with a ceramic, a 'Bluesbucker'. It's much hotter than any blues player I know would use. In spite of any implied images of 1950's PAF's, there's nothing vintage-sounding about it. I bought it (years ago) based on the name, hah!, and put an A3 in to tame it and get it to balance with the bridge PU volume.
I know marketing's not easy, but it just goes to show how important a PU's name is to potential customers, and how it's viewed when it's part of a set. There's been some threads suggesting Duncan change a few PU names to give people a better idea of what they're getting, and probably most PU's makers could stand a little revamping in that area too. My personal preference is for names that are clear and accurate, much more than for ones that are clever and hip. Going by the name, if people assume that a PU is very different-sounding than what it really is, then there's probably a better name for that PU.
