Set of 59's in a Hollowbody Jazz Guitar???

[LesPaulRules]

I've got a Heritage H575 Jazz guitar. To those who don't know this model, the guitar is pretty much a copy of a Gibson ES-175. (Actually, the Heritage is all solid wood, no laminated top on this puppy).

The stock pickups on this are Schallers. I've never cared for them, and have decided they must go. Has anyone tried a set of Duncan 59's on this type of guitar? I already own a set of these with gold covers, but want opinions on this combo as wiring these types of guitars is murder

Also, how would you compare a set of 59's to Gibson T-tops for use in a Jazz box?

(Depending on your opinions, I'm either going to use these 59's, or plop in a set of mid 70's Gibson T-tops that have been sitting in a box for the last decade).

The 59's on my multimeter read:
59b 8.61K
59n 7.38K

Gibson's read:
T-top bridge 7.64K
T-top neck 7.29K

Thanks

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Set of 59's in a Hollowbody Jazz Guitar???

Yes. It's a great tone and very similar to the pickups used by Wes Montgomery and countless other jazzers who played 60's Gibson L-5's and ES-175's with early to mid 60's Gibson humbuckers...only better. Better, because for one thing, those guitars used two identical pickups (like your set of T-Tops) and the Duncan 59 set will have two calibrated pickups so the neck pickup will not overpower the bridge pickup like it does in a 50's or 60's Gibson guitar. If you're going to play with a clean tone, you should get a great tone from a set of 59's.

 

[LesPaulRules]

Re: Set of 59's in a Hollowbody Jazz Guitar???

Thanks for the quick reply Lew.

I couldn't ask for a better answer than what you've stated. The exact sound I'm shooting for is that Wes Montgomery, Joe Pass, Tal Farlow, Jim Hall, Johnny Smith, 1960's warm but clean Gibson humbucking tone going through a Fender tube combo. (I really need a blackface twin )

My main concern was that the Duncan 59's would be too hot for a full on jazz box. It's hard to get away from my association of how good they sound in a Les Pual through an old Marshall Superlead. Then again, they do clean up real nice... even through the Marshall.

I'll report back once the 59's are in the Heritage.

Thanks again