Humbucker pickup .vs. SJM-3B Quarter Pound for Jazzmaster

[MuddxRocker]

Hello there good people.

Recently bought a Fender Jazzmaster (MIJ)
But i'm facing a problem...
I need more output for high gain kinda stuff. (Punk Rock/Post Grunge etc.)
And i was wondering what would be the better choice between these 2 options:


- A set of Seymour Duncan SJM-3N + SJM-3B Quarter Pound for Jazzmaster.
- Route for 2 full size humbuckers.

Because i'm not sure if the Quarter Pound's will give me a good high gain sound.

Any help will be appreciated!

 

[FuseG4]

Re: Humbucker pickup .vs. SJM-3B Quarter Pound for Jazzmaster

what is your amp? What kind of settings are you using?
Do you want to keep the most "Jazzmaster character?"
Do you feel like you need hum canceling? Real JM pickups with wide coils are noisy, even more than the MIJ pickups which are basically like a strat pickup under a JM cover.

I have a Squier Jazzmaster with vintage output pickups, normal jazzmaster single coil ones.
With an Orange or a Marshall amp it's plenty for punk and I think it sounds boss. I wonder if it's just the amp you're using combined with the MIJ pickups and electronics.

The Fender Classic Player Jazzmaster has overwound pickups, you could look for a used set of those, for smooth high gain tones but while keeping it VERY jazzmaster, those are good pickups!
Curtis Novak and Jason Lollar and others make humbuckers and p90s that fit the jazzmaster route, look at those too.

Honestly I'd say you'd probably be good with almost any *real* jazzmaster pickups of vintage-like specs and output, but just make sure you're playing a good amp. A marshall with a lot of gain and a Jazzmaster and you're set, you don't need bigger magnets or humbuckers to get thick and smooth but ballsy, sometimes it's just finding the right setting on the guitar volume and tone, and balancing the amp.