Pick -Up advice for Joe Pass Emperor ?

C

Cressie08

New member
Hi
Im just new to the forum and im trying to get some advice on whats good for replacing the stock humbuckers in my 2005 Epi JP E2 !
This guitar really plays well and i love it , but i am having probs with getting a decent sound and its a bit heavy on the low end . im not a jazz-head and play mostly rock-Pop- blues type stuff .i have been hearing great things about the Phat Cat pick -ups but wanted to get some opinions first ! I was also looking at gibson 57 's but i want some more bite in my sound. The Joe Pass has known probs with feedback , but i've always found that to be to the advantage of the sound when overdriven ! If Phat Cats are not the only option , id like to know of anything else fellow guitarist have used!

Thanks guys (and gals)

Frank
 
Re: Pick -Up advice for Joe Pass Emperor ?

Thanks Bud . All advice is most welcome :) Should i also change out the pots ,wires and switches while i'm there ?

thanks again pal
 
Re: Pick -Up advice for Joe Pass Emperor ?

I was thinking Seth Lovers as well.... Although I've always wanted to try Phat Staples in a Joe Pass!
 
Re: Pick -Up advice for Joe Pass Emperor ?

i put a pair of 59s into my old joe pass.
If i was to do it again, i'd probably put a jazz neck and a 59 bridge tho like i have in my 175. But either set is a night and day improvement over the epi pickups.
The jazz neck is good for hollow body axes because it is a little leaner on the low end, so it works well with the extra bottom end of the hollow body and reduces the low end feedback.
Make sure you replace all the pots, caps and switching while you are rummaging around inside the axe too. It will make a noticeable improvement. Good quality 500k pots all round and .022 caps.
In fact, seeing as you are replacing all that stuff, remove the entire epiphone pickup/wiring assembly and keep it as one unit, so you can reinstall it if you ever decide to sell the axe.
 
Re: Pick -Up advice for Joe Pass Emperor ?

formula73 said:
That's a really neat way of making a suggestion while completely disrespecting somebody else. Nice work.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the friendly tip, sunshine, but kind of nit-picky. Having a bad day or just feel like being Miss Manners, instructing all of us in how to talk to each other? You're going to have your hands full with the boys around here.
 
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Re: Pick -Up advice for Joe Pass Emperor ?

I will say that the Seths have something magical in a hollowbody or semi-hollow. They'd be my first choice in a guitar like that.
 
Re: Pick -Up advice for Joe Pass Emperor ?

blueman335 said:
Thanks for the friendly tip, sunshine, but kind of nit-picky. Having a bad day or just feel like being Miss Manners, instructing all of us in how to talk to each other? You're going to have your hands full with the boys around here.
Click to expand...

Having a pretty good day, actually.

-Miss Manners
 
Re: Pick -Up advice for Joe Pass Emperor ?

I agree with blue. Avoid the phat cat in the neck, unless you are going for the muffled, dark Jim hall sound. However, you can get that sound with just about any neck p'up by turning the tone knob down... P rails would probably be really cool in that guitar, especially if you're not chasing a specific tone.
 
Re: Pick -Up advice for Joe Pass Emperor ?

TimmyPage said:
I will say that the Seths have something magical in a hollowbody or semi-hollow. They'd be my first choice in a guitar like that.
Click to expand...

+1. Between the hollowbody overtones, and the open, unpotted sound of Seth's, I think the OP would really like it.
 
Re: Pick -Up advice for Joe Pass Emperor ?

This is the type of guitar we're talking about?

NA_Splash.jpg

Kind of like a Wes Montgomery L5.
 
Re: Pick -Up advice for Joe Pass Emperor ?

Joe did play a ES175 with a single neck humbucker as well as one with two humbuckers. Would have been similar to a Duncan 59 and almost certainly alnico 5. Same with the humbuckers in Wes Montgomery's in his Gibson L5: alnico 5.

Hard to recommend pickups for these big jazz boxes. They feedback so easily and can sound so boomy.

I'd be tempted to go with a set of Seth Lovers (even though they're alnico 2) or a set of 59's.

Or to call Mj in the Duncan Custom Shop and get some advice.
 
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Re: Pick -Up advice for Joe Pass Emperor ?

blueman335 said:
+1. Between the hollowbody overtones, and the open, unpotted sound of Seth's, I think the OP would really like it.
Click to expand...

Yep, the "unpottedness" helps the pickup "pickup" more. A little microphonics work WONDERS for semihollows because they pickup more of the instrument's natural sound. The main reason I suggested the phat cat in the neck was because he seemed interested in that kind of tone, but I was half and half on the SL neck pickup too. Never found the Phat Cat neck that dark. Very beefy and smooth though. And it WAS designed for Hamer's semihollows and hollow bodies like the Newport, so figured it would be a good choice for diversity's sake. And the Newports are a mahogany body too, while the Joe Pass has maple back and sides with a spruce top.
 
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Re: Pick -Up advice for Joe Pass Emperor ?

Cressie08 said:
my 2005 Epi JP E2 ! its a bit heavy on the low end . im not a jazz-head and play mostly rock-Pop- blues type stuff .
Frank
Click to expand...



This is Gertrude, a L5CES copy which also was a bit bass-heavy.

I solved the problem by using an APH1 set with the neck p'up modded with an A3 magnet.

With the right settings, you can use this set to play pop music with your Joe Pass, no problems whatsoever.

You need to change the harness, as the innards are quite crappy.

HTH,
 
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