Jazz vs 59 in Bridge

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gahboo

New member
I have a quite dark sounding Hamer Sunburst (mahogany) with rosewood fretboard. I have a Rio Grande BBQ (Alnico II, I think, wound to about 14K) The guitar is muddy, has little dynamics, or harmonics. I am thinking of putting a more vintage voiced Alnico V in order to get some dynamics and harmonics, albeit at the expense of output (not that big of a problem for me.)

When I say "harmonics", I don't mean high gain pinch harmonics - I mean harmonic overtones in addition to the fundamental note.

My question is which pickup, the Jazz Bridge, or the 59 Bridge has the richest harmonic content and best dynamics? I want chords to "bloom", and have very tight bass. And, I also want the guitar to respond to changes in pick attack. I play mostly Blues and classic Rock. I think a JB is too hot for this guitar.

Advice? Am I looking at the right pickups? Sorry, I have no experience with SD pickups. My thoughts are based on the sound samples on the site, but I can't really assess harmonic content from those clips.

I have a vintage 64 Blackface Deluxe Fender. In the neck now, I have a Rio Grande Genuine TX, which is also muddy. I will definitely put a Jazz in the neck. I play mostly blues and jam band stuff, like Phish, moe., and Gov't Mule. To me, Derek Trucks is God. I have a pretty good assortment of pedals, and for distortion, I have a Greer Relic Drive (like a TS808 without the mid hump, and a ZVex Box Of Rock for my Marshal tones.) I also play some blues and Robin Trower type stuff, with the chorus, delay, etc. I do have a P90 axe that does that well, but I would like the Hamer to be pretty versatile. Trower and blues is why I want dynamics.
 
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Re: Jazz vs 59 in Bridge

Original post edited to answer your questions. Should have put that in the first time...:banghead:
 
Re: Jazz vs 59 in Bridge

If you dig the Allman Brothers, I would highly suggest you get a set of Pearly Gates. Warren uses a set in his Les Paul.

I'm not sure what Derek uses in his SG, think they may be stock Gibsons and not sure on the specs of that PRS amp he uses.

But a Jazz/JB set does not match your style of music or your rig, and a '59 is not what I could consider smooth.

If I had to compare pickups to cocktails,
Pearly Gates: Mint Julip
'59: Tom Collins
Jazz/JB: Jack and Coke

My buddy uses a Pearly Gates neck through a Blues Jr. His playing is very harmonic heavy (on the 5,7, and 12). Not with squeels.
 
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Re: Jazz vs 59 in Bridge

I appreciate your input. As you can tell, I am ignorant of the SD offerings! Thanks for the help. Anyone else?
 
Re: Jazz vs 59 in Bridge

This isn't really pertinent to your problem, but are you thinking of selling those Rios?
 
Re: Jazz vs 59 in Bridge

before you change pickups

try this

find a 20k resistor or as close to as you can

wire it in parallel to the pickup

one leg where the hot to the pickup leaves the switch
one leg to ground

costs about a nickel

mud be gone
 
Re: Jazz vs 59 in Bridge

gahboo said:
When I say "harmonics", I don't mean high gain pinch harmonics - I mean harmonic overtones in addition to the fundamental note.

My question is which pickup, the Jazz Bridge, or the 59 Bridge has the richest harmonic content and best dynamics? I want chords to "bloom", and have very tight bass. And, I also want the guitar to respond to changes in pick attack.
Click to expand...

Lower output pickups are a good idea to get you some of the stuff you menationed, but its hard to get pickups that are good at everything.

(Clean) Harmonic content is definitely the realm of low output pickups, so thats easy. ANd there are plenty of great options.

"Bloom" is something youd normally associate with an A2 pickup.

Tight bass - do you mean having the bass trimmed back (jazz)? or do you mean having plenty of bass, but having it clear and defined (59)?

Changes in pick attack: A5 will be more responsive, less forgiving, and vice versa for a2. Sometimes an a5 can be too much clarity and response thru a clean fender amp, whereas an a2 can give you confidence, to play with a lot of dynamics but also to have a little "squish" from the softer magnet.

I play mostly clean with humbuckers thru fender amps too and use pedals for drive.
So between the 59 and the jazz (i have axes with both), id say they are quite similar, but the jazz is more polite and has less bass. I think if i had to choose one or the other then i prefer the 59.

However.....

After many years using both pickups stock, i have swapped the mags in both to alnico II. This allows me to run the treble and presence a little higher on the amp. The softer attack feels like i have a little more sustain as well, and the B and E strings are more equal in amplified tone.

Anyways .....back to your question...which would be better?
I reckon the most direct route is often the best....
Just get a pair of 59s and work with the heights until you are happy with the responses. They are a very rich, clear and responsive set.
They are also a fantastic point of reference for possible changes and are as good as anything out there. "Better" after a pair of 59s is all really just a matter of personal preference.

Down the track, if you want to change something, then 59s sound pretty good with just about any magnet, so you have that as an option to fine tune your sound. Its very easy to do this, cheap, and there are plenty fellas on the forum who can help out too.

While we are on it....check your pots ....are they 500k? Thats standard for humbuckers because 250k pots tent to knock off a little high end. Some guys like to smooth the top end of an overly bright bridge pickup with a 250. I use 500ks and let as much thru as possible, but have a smooth magnet instead. Its all preference tho with pots much like anything else.



....Having said all that, and i know this goes against the fact that you want A5 and a jazz neck etc....i have a sneaking suspicion that you are actually a candidate for a pearly gates set....bloom, harmonics, responsive, treble bite, bluesy and not too bassy.
 
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Re: Jazz vs 59 in Bridge

formula73 said:
This isn't really pertinent to your problem, but are you thinking of selling those Rios?
Click to expand...

Based on my recent experience with a Muy Grande bridge pickup in my new PRS, it wouldn't be a bad decision to pick it up if he decides to put it out there.
 
Re: Jazz vs 59 in Bridge

AFAIK, the only person I know of that has experience with the Jazz bridge on this forum is Jolly. Lets hope he chimes in.
 
Re: Jazz vs 59 in Bridge

you can do the artietoo demud mod,,it works very well. You take a 500K resistor and a .001 or .002 capacitor and solder it on the resistor then the 2 wires coming off the pup you solder together and tape off you unsolder and solder 1 wire to each leg of the resistor and tape up so the wires or legs of the resistor don`t touch ground. You can play around with the capacitor values to get rid of the mud.
 
Re: Jazz vs 59 in Bridge

What about something like a custom 5 or screaming demon. Higher output pups tend to handle gain better imo. The screamon demon has tons of clarity and would pair very well with a jazz neck
 
Re: Jazz vs 59 in Bridge

I agree. I played a epiphone zakk wylde with the eng 81/85. Then played another epiphone zakk wylde with a demon in it and I liked the demon much better in all aspects. This is coming from a metal guy.
 
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