SH-2 Jazz in bridge position?

L

lmjiang1

New member
Hi everyone, new guy here, would appreciate any responses!

I'm wondering if anyone has any experience using the SH-2 Jazz neck pickup in the bridge position of their guitar? I have a Washburn WI67 semi-hollow body. It originally came with a custom custom in the bridge, which I replaced with a Filter'Tron style pickup.

The problem now is that the neck position pickup (the SH-2) is much louder than the bridge pickup (Filter'Tron). I have been thinking about switching them to see if it would help things and wanted to see if anybody on this forum already had some experience with using the SH-2 Jazz in the bridge position. Thanks a bunch!
 
Re: SH-2 Jazz in bridge position?

Mostly bumping this up for ya...maybe once here I've heard of someone talking about the jazz in the bridge. It was a while back, hopefully they'll chime in.

In the meantime, if it's not a hassle to switch then (not all that familiar w/Filtertron's size), just give it a shot!
 
Re: SH-2 Jazz in bridge position?

Wouldn't be my thing, I like the JazzB in the neck, but T-Tops were fairly similar and some people really like them. It would be bright for sure, like single coil-ish bright, if that ain't scary to you it might be right up your alley.
 
Re: SH-2 Jazz in bridge position?

i had one in a flying v for a while. it was custom made and i had asked for a sh5 but they put a jazz in instead. it sounded good but didn't have enough power for me.
 
Re: SH-2 Jazz in bridge position?

Had it in my Cleveland strat and REALLY liked. Balanced well with the aged OC Duffs in the neck and middle.

Luke
 
Re: SH-2 Jazz in bridge position?

I have a Jazz in the bridge of a semi-hollow (chambered) black korina LP and I love it!! I couldn't ask for a better pickup, I love low output, if I want dirt there is plenty of technology available at my fingertips but nothing has made me happier than these Jazz pickups. I didn't just slap a SH-2n in the bridge position, I contacted Mike's Music on ebay to place an order for a Jazz bridge trembucker for the LP in my avatar and it is nice.

It has some bite to it, so it feel like a traditional bridge humbucker in that sense but it cleans up really nice if you dial the volume back for some clean country or jazz-like tone. A lot of music by the cure comes to mind too for the more modern player who uses things like chorus. It is called the Jazz but in the bridge position, at least through my EL34's tubes, it should be called the blues at wide open throttle! It's got a nice, chimey top-end and I do have mine wired with coil splitting, it's a fun pickup with coil splitting, so is the neck really. The jazz has easily become my favorite pickups for warm instruments, especially the chambered or semi-hollow bodies!

I used to have a 59 in the neck and it was just too damn muddy and an Alnico II Pro in the bridge which wasn't too bad actually but I wanted a little less bass and mids than the alnico II could offer. My guitar is a mids monster with thunderous lows so the Jazz was a no-brainer for me and she really sings! No more bright switch needed! I use a stainless steel pick too and you'd think that would be too harsh for the Jazz pickups but it's not, they're soulmates when it comes to fluttering runs or even digging in with a little emotion to break it up a bit... it really likes to be played. The emotion you put into the Jazz bridge will come through your amp and it's beautiful!

I say try it out, I am not disappointed. My amp needs new tubes or else I would make some nice clips for you that show it at full throttle and dialed back a bit through the clean channel on EL34's. I think there are some clips on the duncan support page though.
 
Re: SH-2 Jazz in bridge position?

I like the Jazz bridge occasionally. There was a time years back on this forum that a few people really liked it and spoke of it as a sleeper of a pickup. Not used very often but very good. The Jazz neck is going to be a little weak of course, so I'd recommend the bridge model but you can do it. As Izzo stated, many T-Tops were kind of weak for the bridge position, but that doesn't stop people from liking them.

Personally I have used a Jazz neck in the bridge, but that was only after I had swapped the magnet for an Alnico 4 magnet which softened it a little and gave it a little more low midrange smoothness. If you're not into magnet swapping then that advice doesn't do you any good. But if you try it and like it, but wish it had just a little "more" then you'll know that purchasing or trading someone for a Jazz bridge model would probably be good for you as well.
 
Re: SH-2 Jazz in bridge position?

I think swapping your two pickups around is a good idea. Jazz models are the most overlooked Duncan humbuckers, mostly because low output, bright, and jazz are adjectives that scare rock guitar players.

Also, if you're a player who loves single coils, the Jazz models will be humbuckers you're likely to really love because of the clarity, punch, and balanced tone. Think of it this way....they're Alnico Pro II humbuckers with A5 magnets. Maybe they should have been called Alnico Pro 5 humbuckers.
 
Re: SH-2 Jazz in bridge position?

There does seem to be a lot of talk about the Jazz being like a single coil... as someone who uses coil splits on the Jazz humbuckers I would like to scratch this surface a little deeper:

the deal is not exactly that the Jazz sounds like a SC but rather the chime and clarity it offers rivals SC pups. When you actually split the coils and enter single coil mode it does sound like a single coil! One of the best splits I've ever experienced to be honest and I've done it with the 59, Alnico II Pro, Custom Custom (in a strat) and the STK-S4. However, to be fair, the Jazz IS a humbucker. It does have bawls to the wall. I'm old school... a lot of true old school players have a bassplayer's mentality to let the amp do the work and effects handle the sleight of hand. I like to crank my 50 Watt EL34 Traynor YCV50 between 4 and 5.5 on the Master Volume, and the clean channel volume a hair past 5. This is some serious volume and can only sound right with a vintage output pickup to most ears! That's how a bassplayer does it too, a nice soft touch and let the amp move mass. How this works out beautifully for a tube amp six sting (or 7 or 8 or whatever your thing is) player is the break-up you experience when you do dig in to ride the emotion you are trying to express!

So, to summarize, sure, the SC comparisons make sense but make no mistake about it, this pickup still has the oomph behind it you'd expect from a humbucker (just like the one you have in the neck position) but the clarity and top end are there to bite when you need them on the bridge as well.
 
Re: SH-2 Jazz in bridge position?

Jolly is a HUGE fan of the Jazz in the bridge. Duncan makes a bridge model. But I like the swap idea.
 
Re: SH-2 Jazz in bridge position?

I was speaking to it's high end explicitly on the neck model used in the bridge position, but yeah.
 
Re: SH-2 Jazz in bridge position?

Aceman beat me to it. Jolly has some crushing clips of a Jazz model.. REALLy suprised me what that pup was capable of.
 
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