SH-6 in a jazzbox? Don't chop my head off!

T

Tumblinman

New member
After having such good results with a set of ssl-1 in my strat (getting good advice from the nice people here) I'm getting another SD pup for my second guitar. It's a SH-1n that I'll mount in my jazzbox and I'm in no doubt that it will sound very good.

Also, I have come across a Duncan Distortion that I'm contemplating putting in the bridge position of the above mentioned Jazzbox. :smokin: I know it may not be the traditional way but I thought it could be fun to try. The neck pup is where I'm gonna' spend most of my time, anyway. It's a fully hollow Ibanez AK-85 strung with heavy flatwounds and I'm going for a traditional jazz sound (think Wes!).

I thought I'd just throw this thread in there and see what the reactions might be.
 
Re: SH-6 in a jazzbox? Don't chop my head off!

I just remembered that I wanted to ask you if I'm correct in saying that the humbuckers labeled DDJ is the Seymour Duncan Distortion? The current model name of the Distortion is SH-6, but I reckon that they changed it some time ago?
 
Re: SH-6 in a jazzbox? Don't chop my head off!

The DD means Duncan Distortion, the J is who wound it. If it's an older one, perhaps by the legendary MJ.
 
Re: SH-6 in a jazzbox? Don't chop my head off!

OK - I don't know how old the pickup is. I'll ask when i have the chance.
 
Re: SH-6 in a jazzbox? Don't chop my head off!

"DDJ" = pre-2002 Duncan Distortion wound by "J", meaning most likely the fabled MJ from the CS.

As far as putting it in the bridge of a Jazz Box: try it, you may really like it. BUT be prepared that a pickup that hot in a hollowbody will likely have massive feedback issues, especially in a loud onstage environment ;)

Oh, and the resulting tone will almost certainly have nothing to do with montgomery style jazz, either :laugh2:
 
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Re: SH-6 in a jazzbox? Don't chop my head off!

Didn't Al DeMeola use a super distortion in a Jazz box back in the Chick Corea days and behond?

It'll be one smokin Jazz/Fusion guitar.
 
Re: SH-6 in a jazzbox? Don't chop my head off!

But...put some flatwounds on, oll the volume back a bit (or a lot!) and kick dowen the tone...miight be excellent!
 
Re: SH-6 in a jazzbox? Don't chop my head off!

Well, I like modern Jazz tone as crazy. Just listen to Mike Stern, Frank Gambale, John Scofield...Overdriven/Distortion tone. They sound very expressive for me. So I reckon that it would be too interesting to mount a highoutput pickup into a Jazz hollow guitar.
That's cool, man!
 
Re: SH-6 in a jazzbox? Don't chop my head off!

Ok. I just finished putting the Distortion and the 59n in my jazzbox. It looks a little weird since the Distortion has no cover and the 59n has a nickel cover. But I had no suitable cover at home so it'll have to do, for now. I prefer humbuckers with covers, though. The polespacing seems to be about 49 mm on this Distortion and it's a tad too narrow. The strings don't line up exactly with the polepieces, but I don't think it should matter tonewise. Is this a common spacing with SD bridge humbuckers? The pickup measured 16.7 kOhm and that would make it a bridge version of the Distortion, I guess.

I'm waiting for my daughter to wake up so I can try it out for sounds. My amp is in the room where she sleps, you see.

I was wondering if someone can confirm the fact that DiMeola used a Super Distortion in a hollow jazz guitar? That would be so cool! Maybe someone can tell me on what records or songs he played such a guitar, even?
 
Re: SH-6 in a jazzbox? Don't chop my head off!

After a couple of hours of playing I must say that the initial impression is quite positive. I expected the Distortion in the bridge to be a little too hot and not balance properly with the 59n volume-wise. Well, I was wrong - they match each other well. Since this guitar is a fully-hollow box strung with heavy flats the sound of the neck pickup tend to be very varm and bassy. Switching to the bridge pickup (DD) retains that warmth in a way that a more traditional PAF-like humbucker (say, 59b) wouldn't, I guess.
The only downside so far is that the middle position (both pups) isn't all that exiting.

Bear in mind that this is only after a couple of hours worth of playing and I haven't adjusted the pickups beyond my standard starting point at 3/32" from the strings. Also, I haven't played at higher volumes and thus I can't comment on any feedback issues. AND, apart from all that, I'm a mediocer guitar player, at best, so take my comments with a good pinch of salt.
 
Re: SH-6 in a jazzbox? Don't chop my head off!

I'm a big fan of Dimeola and for the most part most of his solo electric stuff was with a Les Paul with Dimarzios PAF(neck) and Super Distortion (bridge) and eventually his signature Al Dimeola Dimarzio sets (anyone know when he started using these and on what albums). I'm not even sure I have ever heard or seen him use a hollow body electric like a 335. I did see a recent video of him using PRS guitars so maybe he has a semi hollow PRS but that's not like a real jazzbox.
 
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