TB 59b / Jazz neck yay or nay?

[Wound_Up]

I'm in the same sort of predicament. I've got a 59b in my Indio Goldtop along with the stock A5 neck pickup. TBH, they go quite well together to my ears. Way batter than the stock bridge pickup did. The neck was so much hotter that I had to raise the bridge as high as I could and lower the neck down into the body just to get them even close to equal output. Swapping in the 59b fixed that. They're at avg height, now.

Now to the issues. I can't decide whether I want a jazz neck or the 59n to go with the 59b. I've spent the last 6 months trying to decide and still haven't made a solid decision. Then, the other day I started looking into a PG neck, also. I doubt I'll go for that one. So that still leaves me choosing between 59 & jazz necks. I keep going back to the 59 because the jazz seems to be too much for me. But then when I think I've made a decision, I inevitably start questioning my decision and I'm back to youtube demos lol.

I'm sure I'll end up getting the 59n but it hasn't stopped me from being indecisive for the last 6+ months lol. I even found one with a nickel cover that's marked down to like $80 or so. I've been hoping to catch a deal like I did on my 59b I got as overstock from a guitar mfg. It was marked down quite a bit and came with no packaging. Only the pickup. And it was a SWEET deal. I've been watching the Reverb store I bought it from in hopes of catching another deal but nothing so far. I also had a $10 off coupon when I bought the 59b so I got it for little-to-nothing. I was pretty stoked about it.

I posted here asking about whether it was genuine when I got it because I had never bought one with no packaging and was worried it might have been fake. It's not. I verified that the place I got it is an authorized dealer. And someone here knew the shop without me even posting the name, and confirmed that they are legit and that they sell legit SD's.

​​

 

[Mincer]

I'm in the same sort of predicament. I've got a 59b in my Indio Goldtop along with the stock A5 neck pickup. TBH, they go quite well together to my ears. Way batter than the stock bridge pickup did. The neck was so much hotter that I had to raise the bridge as high as I could and lower the neck down into the body just to get them even close to equal output. Swapping in the 59b fixed that. They're at avg height, now.

Now to the issues. I can't decide whether I want a jazz neck or the 59n to go with the 59b. I've spent the last 6 months trying to decide and still haven't made a solid decision. Then, the other day I started looking into a PG neck, also. I doubt I'll go for that one. So that still leaves me choosing between 59 & jazz necks. I keep going back to the 59 because the jazz seems to be too much for me. But then when I think I've made a decision, I inevitably start questioning my decision and I'm back to youtube demos lol.

I'm sure I'll end up getting the 59n but it hasn't stopped me from being indecisive for the last 6+ months lol. I even found one with a nickel cover that's marked down to like $80 or so. I've been hoping to catch a deal like I did on my 59b I got as overstock from a guitar mfg. It was marked down quite a bit and came with no packaging. Only the pickup. And it was a SWEET deal. I've been watching the Reverb store I bought it from in hopes of catching another deal but nothing so far. I also had a $10 off coupon when I bought the 59b so I got it for little-to-nothing. I was pretty stoked about it.

I posted here asking about whether it was genuine when I got it because I had never bought one with no packaging and was worried it might have been fake. It's not. I verified that the place I got it is an authorized dealer. And someone here knew the shop without me even posting the name, and confirmed that they are legit and that they sell legit SD's.

​​

The 59 and Jazz are similar in output, but you get much more bass in the 59. Some might describe the bass of the 59 'boomy', but I don't think it sounds that way. I tend to like bass in my neck pickups- it gives the low strings a piano-like thwap. If you are into cleaner sounds, from dead clean, to Marshall-levels of gain, I like the 59 better. If you use a lot of preamp distortion, tons of effects, and higher gain over all, the Jazz might be better.

 

[Rabelais]

I'm in the same sort of predicament. I've got a 59b in my Indio Goldtop along with the stock A5 neck pickup. TBH, they go quite well together to my ears. Way batter than the stock bridge pickup did. The neck was so much hotter that I had to raise the bridge as high as I could and lower the neck down into the body just to get them even close to equal output. Swapping in the 59b fixed that. They're at avg height, now.

Now to the issues. I can't decide whether I want a jazz neck or the 59n to go with the 59b. I've spent the last 6 months trying to decide and still haven't made a solid decision. Then, the other day I started looking into a PG neck, also. I doubt I'll go for that one. So that still leaves me choosing between 59 & jazz necks. I keep going back to the 59 because the jazz seems to be too much for me. But then when I think I've made a decision, I inevitably start questioning my decision and I'm back to youtube demos lol.

I'm sure I'll end up getting the 59n but it hasn't stopped me from being indecisive for the last 6+ months lol. I even found one with a nickel cover that's marked down to like $80 or so. I've been hoping to catch a deal like I did on my 59b I got as overstock from a guitar mfg. It was marked down quite a bit and came with no packaging. Only the pickup. And it was a SWEET deal. I've been watching the Reverb store I bought it from in hopes of catching another deal but nothing so far. I also had a $10 off coupon when I bought the 59b so I got it for little-to-nothing. I was pretty stoked about it.

I posted here asking about whether it was genuine when I got it because I had never bought one with no packaging and was worried it might have been fake. It's not. I verified that the place I got it is an authorized dealer. And someone here knew the shop without me even posting the name, and confirmed that they are legit and that they sell legit SD's.

​​

I have no personal experience with the 59n, altough I saw a YouTube demo of both (59b and 59n) in a Les Paul, vs the DiMarzio 36th Anniversary PAFs: beautiful, sweet cleans from the Duncans, brighter, less compressed, and more "reserved". I would definetely try a 59n in a double cut guitar, but I'm not so sure about it in a single cut, Les Paul style one. Of course, my opinion could change if I actually played that kind of guitar with a 59n.

 

[Benjy_26]

In a LP style guitar, the 59 and the Jazz have way too much bass for me. I much prefer the Pearly Gates, Alnico II Pro, and the Seth in a single cut, solid body Les Paul. In a 335, I can see the 59 working better, but I've never tried it in thay scenario.

 

[jeremy]

ive never found the jazz neck to have too much bass in any guitar ive tried, i have had the 59n be a little bassy in some lp necks though. ive also had it be the perfect neck pup in others... the rest of the rig makes a huge difference obviously

 

[Condemned soul]

"I'm in the same sort of predicament. I've got a 59b in my Indio Goldtop along with the stock A5 neck pickup. TBH, they go quite well together to my ears. Way better than the stock bridge pickup did. The neck was so much hotter that I had to raise the bridge as high as I could and lower the neck down into the body just to get them even close to equal output. Swapping in the 59b fixed that. They're at avg height, now.

Now to the issues. I can't decide whether I want a jazz neck or the 59n to go with the 59b. I've spent the last 6 months trying to decide and still haven't made a solid decision. Then, the other day I started looking into a PG neck, also. I doubt I'll go for that one. So that still leaves me choosing between 59 & jazz necks. I keep going back to the 59 because the jazz seems to be too much for me. But then when I think I've made a decision, I inevitably start questioning my decision and I'm back to youtube demos lol."


A couple of months ago, I bought an Eastman version of the Gibson ES-339, and it comes from the factory with a Jazz neck and a 59bridge. Right out of the case, they sounded incredible together. Over the next month, I took a screwdriver to both pickups and do some adjusting both the pickup heights and the pole pieces. Adjusting the pole pieces gave me some more mids in both pickups and helped further smooth the highs. The Jazz and the 59 have different characters, yet the 59 will work really well with the Jazz neck and I am leaving the pickups in the guitar.

 

[Wound_Up]

No, Shop Floor Custom (through any SD Dealer).

Wow! I had no idea you could customize their stock pickups. Thanks for sharing this!

 

[Mincer]

Wow! I had no idea you could customize their stock pickups. Thanks for sharing this!

The trick is that you have to order through an authorized dealer.