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SurfGuitar101 Forums » Gear »

Permalink Good Jazzmaster pickups ?

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Hello, I'm planning to craft a JM from parts...
as I live in France, I'ld prefer to find the parts in Europe, as you know the shipping+de taxes from usa are very expensive.
So I was searching for nice pickups and I've found: "Jess Loureiro, hand wire pickups" !!! and he is crafting jm pickups for 30/40 euros each.
He told me the specs of the micro but as I really know nothing in electronic, I need you're advice, just to be sure that I will have the great Jazzmaster sound I'm looking for.

"This pickup have alnico 5 rods, heavy formvar 42 AWG wire and a relic bobbin. The windings have the same especifications that late 50´s pickups. . It have an output of 8.49 K and it´s potted in the right mix of paraffin/bee wax. This pickup was wired to do hum-cancelling in the middle position, when wired with the other Jazzmaster pickup that it´s in our ebay . In this case this pickup should be used like bridge pickup. "

there is a pic:
image

I've also find somebody where I live who is selling two avri pickups pour 100 euros...
What should I do ?

http://noskons.bandcamp.com/

Seems like good specs for Jazzmaster pickups. I wouldn't hesitate to buy from that guy, based on the what you've written. However, understand that 50s Jazzmasters don't sound like the later Jazzmasters of the 60s. The 50s Jazzmasters tend to sound warmer and more woody, for music that leans more towards Jazz. They're still bright and great for surf, but they don't have the same top-end as the 60s jazzmaster pickups, which may be more common for that typical bright Jazzmaster surf sound (if I can even say that).

I have owned and played a lot of Jazzmaster pickups and I have chose Curtis Novak pickups and have always liked them. I switched from Novak Vintage pickups to his JM-HC pickups, which are PAF humbuckers with single coil strat rod magnets installed. They sound 98% like a Jazzmaster with an extra 2% of that nice PAF girth, all the while being completely noiseless.

Tthere are a lot of great pickup makers out there and if I were to buy a traditional/vintage-style set of pickups, I'd may or may not look elsewhere, depending on my financial situation and what I'm willing to spend. I've heard great things from ThePickupWizard (I can get you the link, if you're interested) from Ontario who sells pickups on eBay, and I'd probably go for pickups from him if I were to get new pickups.

I love my Novak pickups but they are expensive in the end, if you are an international buyer (he has to make a living, understandably). International shipping is about $30 or so and then there are customs fees. A $115 pickup wound up costing me about $175 in the end, which hurts my wallet immensely.

OH, as for the AVRI pickups, well... I've never loved them but there is certainly nothing "wrong" with them or anything like that. I found them to be a bit too thin, bright, and brittle sounding to me, but only when I compared them to other, more expensive Jazzmaster pickups. However, there are many people who use them and sound amazing with them. They are much better than the CIJ/MIJ pickups, that is true, both in sound and design (if you're going for the traditional Jazzmaster sound. Boutique pickups, however, aren't necessarily light-years ahead of the AVRI pickups and people in the audience may not be able to tell the difference between AVRI and vintage/vintage-style pickups. If you can get a good deal and you're on a budget, you could just get the AVRIs, which go for about $55 a pickup, new, here: http://www.darrenriley.com/fenderparts.htm

I prefer the AVRI pickups. They sound great with the CIJ Jazzmasters. These days they are easy to find and not very expensive. I live in Germany and bought a few pairs over the years. Mostly from the USA.
Important for me: Put a bit more foam under the pickups to get them higher when needed. So you have a bit more tone in my opinion.

The Seymour Duncan Antiquity II are also very fine pickups.

Twang cheers!

Ralf Kilauea

www.kilaueas.de

https://kilaueas.bandcamp.com/album/touch-my-alien

Great ! thank you very much for your advices !!
May be those 50's pickups will be to much jazz for me, I seek more the great jazzmaster sound of the 60's !
You're right I'm on a budget for this project and those Pickups form Canada looks great ^^
Can't wait to begin this project: this week-end the routing template for the body !!

http://noskons.bandcamp.com/

Glad to be of some help to you.

Maybe somebody on here might be able to sell you a set of pickups as well. Buying used could save you quite a bit of money for a project guitar.

Howdy all. This is my first post here.

I have the Duncan Antiquity II pups in my Jazzmaster, and I think they sound great. I found them used on Ebay for $100 with covers. The Pickup Wizard pickups, on Ebay, have received rave reviews and they are only $110.

I went for Fender USA's and i'm happy enough.
I really wanted the Lollars but with extra cost and import duty they were pretty expensive. The nearest place i could buy Lollars was France!

This was taken from a free on-line tonequest pdf, which i can no longer find the link for.
image

Hi!

I´m Jess Loureiro, the spanish guy that made the Jazzmasters Hand Wound Pickups. I also made the 60´s repros using plain enamel, and P90s for Jazzmaster, and in the coming month I will do wide-range buckers for jazzmaster. Check this pictures:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/48045538@N05/sets/72157623930491765/

I made this set for a spanish guy, he want 60´s jazzmaster for neck and p90 style or bridge, I sold this set in 60 euros via ebay (the ebay auction was for 50s replicas but he contact me asking about the sounds he like and I suggest this set to him).
The specs of my Jazmasters have the same measures than USA pickups, I use the best materials avaliable, and I hand-wound the pickups, to give the best vintage tone.

Greetings!!

www.jlguitars.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvqFdUEoqqI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djSDGiBek8M&feature=channel

Hello Jess and the rest,

since I don't get any reply from Jess, I have to ask all of you here for adwise...

I am after new pick ups for my jazzamster and although current ones serve me well (custom job at same specifications that Dalibor from Bambi Molesters provided), I'd like to try something new (especially to get less bright and less trebles on bridge)

I compared these to my AVRI (62) that I have in other guitar and somehow am more in to that... but since I want something new, perhaps even warmer, I was thinking about Jess (CLASSIC or SURF) on one hand and ASEYMOUR ANTIQUITY I or II.

The thing is, that as far as I know Big Razz surf was slowly being forgotten after 65 and my theory is, that early 60' surf bands had to play on the first edition of jazzamsters... so now I don't understand why so many people are suggesting using ANTIQUITY II for surf (although sound that we love comes from early 60') ?

Anyway- if anyone can help me with that, would really appreciate it.

My idea was also to put NECK ANTIQUITY II adn BRIDGE ANTIQUITY I.

What shall i do ? Thanks, Robi

If the latest generation American Vintage '65 PU's are as good relatively (and why wouldn't they be) to their Jaguar counterparts (which get a lot of positives here, I like them too), then that can be a great sounding, reasonably priced alternative.

Last edited: May 05, 2016 08:06:50

Well, acording to specifications, 65 are brighter, so if nothing else, I woild go for another pair of 62, unless you ahve some other info about their charasteristcs ?

Here is a good thread with many sound clips on the OSG boards for Jazzmaster pickups:

http://www.offsetguitars.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=33614

The secret to reverb drip is in the treble. Antiquity IIs are brighter and thus have more treble than the Is, so they get the reverb drip pretty easy, so a lot of surf guitarists like them. Personally, they were too bright for me, so I use Antiquity Is.

A lot of people swear by The Pickup Wizard for their Jazzmaster pickups. I've never owned a set, but if I get another Jazzmaster I will probably try them out.

Check out the link above for a ton of sound comparisons.

I hope this helps. Good luck in your search! Cheers

DreadInBabylon wrote:

If the latest generation American Vintage '65 PU's are as good relatively (and why wouldn't they be) to their Jaguar counterparts (which get a lot of positives here, I like them too), then that can be a great sounding, reasonably priced alternative.

They don't have 'it' as much as the Jag pickups. I would recommend boutique or Duncans.

I had a '62 RI in house along side my '65 RIs about 2 months ago.

To simplify it...
The '62 RI was muddier and dirtier sounding. The '65 is loud, clean, beautiful Fender tone.

I'd pick the '65 as my first choice, but the '62 is fine enough for surf music. Pickups are the least important ingredient to the surf sound. I'd probably upgrade a CIJ pickup but the stock American ones should get you there.

"as he stepped into the stealthy night air... little did he know the fire escape was not there"

https://www.facebook.com/reluctantaquanauts/
https://www.facebook.com/TheDragstripVipers/

I've been experimenting with the Duncan, Novak, and AVRI offerings but keep finding myself going back the set that Lollar wound for me. They just seem more alive and responsive to my ears. They all have their charm though.

Last edited: May 09, 2016 11:48:41

What could one modify in the electronic realm (except replacing pick-ups), in order to make an AVRI '62 Jazzmaster less 'muddy'?
I almost always have the need to EQ the bass considerably low, with any setup. Even with the bridge PU only (height is right). Especially now that I use a .014-.058 set...

Last edited: May 09, 2016 16:31:19

How low is low on your bass setting? What is your rig?

ERay wrote:

How low is low on your bass setting? What is your rig?

Right now either '65 Showman (T9/M2/B3) and "15 tone-ring cab (I know... it's supposed to rumble your bowels), or direct to soundcard and out to monitors or headphones. Always goes through a nice versatile pedalboard and Surfy-Bear reverb.

I also tried the Jazzmaster with multiple amps at a friends' shop, and I can now judge it as being consistently "thick". I don't need more treble, reverb takes care of that.

Naturally, the tone knob is almost useless with this response, and I would like it to be useful.

Changed from flats .013 to rounds .014, more or less the same. Sounds enormous.
Nothing bad, I love the roundness, and usually with careful EQing or bass cut at the board I achieve satisfactory full sound. So I'm not looking for external solutions.
Just that mud, around the 200hz range, I'd like to have the source more balanced.

Maybe it is in the pickups after all.

2M pots ? Shock
Hmmm

Last edited: May 10, 2016 13:06:26

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