--- In jazz_guitar@..., "bebmen" <bebmen@y...> wrote:
Ok, so what makes a good jazz pickup. How does D.C resistance
have to
do with it? What difference does the height of the pickup make?
Basically what do I have to know to choose a good jazz pickup?
What do
you think of Seymour Duncan's SH1 59' model?
Howdy,
I'm not sure about the DC resistance, if it is the same as the
output olm's (which is resistance?). I think it has to do with the
output "power" the pickup has inheritantly. Most humbuckers are
around 7.5K to 8.9K, however, some are higher output 15.5K , etc.
the higher the K, the louder the pickup is. Alot of the metal
players prefer a very high output so it is easier to achieve a very
distorted or overdrivin sound. I don't think anyone would want that
for jazz?
The height of the pickup is important for output as well as getting
a balance in conjunction with the other pickups on the guitar.
There are tons of pickups on the mkt. Most jazz pickups are marketed
by how the are installed. Most archtops feature a "floating pickup"
which isn't hard wired into the top of the guitar, they are mounted
on the pickguard or the around the guitar's neck , so the top will
vibrate fully.
My favorite pickup is the Gibson 490R. When I purchased a used les
pual, it had seymour duncan pearly gates in the neck and a JB in the
tail . I switched those out to the gibson 490R and 490T becuase I
didn't care for the SD's tone, I found them to be muddy. I only got
a decent sound WITH distortion with the SD's. I really think gibson
is making a good pickup currently. I also put a gibson 490R in my
epi dot deluxe in the neck position. I really think a good pickup
for less money is made by kent armstrong. try visting the bill
lawrence website on general pickup info, there is a good interview
with bill about gibson's attempt to replicate the famous old PAF
style pickups.
A good tip for jazz players is to roll off the treble about half way
to get a jazz tone from a humbucker. Also , some "boutique" or
custom pickups company's claim that hand wound pickups are always
superior to machine wound pickups; I don't think that's true all the
time. You can spend anywhere from 30 bucks to 200 dollars on a
pickup. There are alot of factors , but what is nice, you can always
change them and experiement if you want.
Also, I don't recommend doing any routing of wood for installation ,
unless you're absolutely satisfied with the choice. Also, changing
pickups can effect the value of the guitar for resale, keep the old
stock pickups , but be wary if you had to route wood. My point is:
don't change the pickups on a classic vintage instrument if you plan
to resale the guitar. Nobody is going to want a 59 les paul with
seymour duncans, unless you've got the original pickups!
sorry for the long post...
Donnie Loeffler
