something beefier than a PG to match with JB?

Supernautilus

Supernautilus

Active member
Hi all, I need some more advice on finding a neck pup to match the JB in my single cut. After I got fed up with the Jazz, I tried a PG. It's definitely closer to what I want tonally, but not quite there yet. Both the Jazz and the PG sound too plinky and anemic in this guitar. I measured them both on my meter and and the Jazz is 7.1k and the PG is 7k even. Pretty weak.

I think this guitar needs hotter pups in the neck. I measured the stock neck pup that came out of this guitar and it was over 8k, and I remember that that sounded good and loud. So I think I need something closer to that as far as output. Beefy but still vintage sounding is what I'm after. In the realm of the PG tonally but much hotter.

Right now I'm looking at the Whole Lotta Humbucker, the '78 model, and the High Voltage. Of course, sound samples are scarce for a couple of those as they are new. But the WLH does sound pretty awesome from the couple vids I found.

Anyone have any advice for me? On these pups or any others? Thanks in advance. :)
 
You might also want to try the PG bridge in the neck!

But yeah, I agree with your experience. Many people will tell you otherwise, but I've never gotten 7K-ish neck pickups to match well with firebreathers like the JB.
 
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Rex_Rocker said:
You might also want to try the PG bridge in the neck!

But yeah, I agree with your experience. Many people will tell you otherwise, but I've never gotten 7K-ish neck pickups to match well with firebreathers like the JB.
Click to expand...
Hmm that’s good idea. I didn’t think of that. The only difference between neck and bridge is the output, right? Maybe I should try the PG bridge next. Thanks for the tip!
 
Well, not *just* the output. Overwinding the pickup does lower the resonant peak. So it will sound slightly darker and more mid pushed. But not such extremes that you won't recognize the PG flavor to it, IMO. Not to such extremes as if you'd go for a completely different pickup like a Distortion Neck or something of the sort. And honestly, I think that would help with your "plinky and anemic" issue as well.
 
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Yeah, to my understanding, most if not all of the Duncan vintage output sets have just a bridge pickup that's a variation of the neck pickup that is just slightly overwound to make it slightly hotter and slightly fatter, but following a similar recipee. I don't think they have a vintage output set where the neck pickup is a radically different design (like matching a '59 Bridge with an A2P Neck, or, to more extremes, like matching a JB to a Jazz Neck) do they?
 
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Whenever I use a Jazz or PG in the neck, it's always the bridge model. But as Masta'C suggested, the Demon is an excellent suggestion! I've used the Demon in the neck of many guitars and it's one of my very favorite neck pups.

I think I'd be happy if there were only two neck humbuckers available...the Jazz (bridge) and the Demon. With mag swaps I could get all the sounds I need from the neck. Still not quite as good as a P-90 but for a bucker those two can handle it.
 
i think they match up well. the wlh is kinda like a 59n but with slightly flattened eq, bit less bottom and top, and a bit more output. the jb is what it is. i hear this combo as a better match than the jb/jazz, but others hear things differently and go for different tones
 
jeremy said:
i think they match up well. the wlh is kinda like a 59n but with slightly flattened eq, bit less bottom and top, and a bit more output. the jb is what it is. i hear this combo as a better match than the jb/jazz, but others hear things differently and go for different tones
Click to expand...

Ok great, that sounds like what I’m after more or less. I feel better about my purchase now, thanks.
 
UPDATE: So I popped the WLH in and I like it. Much better than the Jazz or PG. However, I’m still somewhat frustrated.

There appears to be what I can only describe as a weird resonance issue going on with the neck position of this guitar. Like an odd hollow overtone. Vague, I know. I thought it was due to low output pups, and that may have played a role. But I think it’s something with the guitar itself.

I tried raising the action as there was some fret buzz, and that helped a bit. But this issue doesn’t appear to affect the bridge position so this seems like a half measure. And I’ve never had this problem in any of my other guitars. I’m wondering now if perhaps the bridge and tailpiece are cheap and need to be upgraded. Maybe the nut too. But I’m not sure.

Any of this sound familiar to anyone? Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks. :)
 
I would try adjusting the pickup some more before trying anything else. Maybe lower the pickup and raise the pole pieces a bit.

Sent from my SM-A115A using Tapatalk
 
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