Jazzmaster Much?

[la szum]

Firebird Pickups are super bright, though. Like the brightest pickups you ever heard in your life bright. Like Johnny Winter on a cranked Fender Twin Reverb bright with the Treble up all the way and the Bass rolled back to less than Zero bright.

I wonder how they would pair with that 1 Meg Pot, too.... since those add in a lot more signal/treble.

Not naysaying. Just saying.

 

[jellodog]

Firebird Pickups are super bright, though. Like the brightest pickups you ever heard in your life bright. Like Johnny Winter on a cranked Fender Twin Reverb bright with the Treble up all the way and the Bass rolled back to less than Zero bright.

I wonder how they would pair with that 1 Meg Pot, too.... since those add in a lot more signal/treble.

Not naysaying. Just saying.

That's an excellent point, sir. Fortunately - will be using mostly neck pickup.

And the 1 meg pot will be replaced with a 500k which is recommended for the Lollar Firebirds.

 

[la szum]

Ultimately, I know there is only one way to ever truly know. Ain't no dipping our toes in the water
around here. Have to just dive in!

 

[la szum]

I was watching That Pedal Show and Mick and Dan were fighting (playfully) about that 1 Meg Pot and a
pickup change. Mick is like, "Just roll off your tone pot." Dan's like, "No! It's not the same."

Sometimes you just need to change it all, to know if you really needed to change it all or not.

 

[la szum]

I did sell two of my JM Offsets in the past year.

I only have the G&L Doheny left.

 

[jellodog]

Some of the Fano JM-style guitars have Firebird pups. This one isn't JM-style, but anyway, he switched to the neck pickup here at 36 seconds:



Sweet AF!

 

[jellodog]

I only have the G&L Doheny left.

Doheny is legit!

 

[scole]

I picked this up locally for a GREAT price at the end of 2022. It's a 2018 MIJ Paisley w/ upgraded pickups & bridge. I'm in the process of making a new pickguard because the originals are thin & brittle but I do like it. I liked it enough to buy a bunch of parts to build another one but that one will be a refinish so it's back burner for the time being.

 

[Sascha Franck]

Lollar Firebird

Did you ever play through them? On paper, they seem to be what I want (not for a JM, but still), namely a mixture between SC and HB sounds. The one Duncan Mini HB I have installed in the neck position of my Anderson is akin more towards HB territory, so I'd be in for a change.

 

[jellodog]

Did you ever play through them? On paper, they seem to be what I want (not for a JM, but still), namely a mixture between SC and HB sounds. The one Duncan Mini HB I have installed in the neck position of my Anderson is akin more towards HB territory, so I'd be in for a change.

No, I've never played them in real life. But I like the idea of them sitting somewhere between single coil and humbucker in tone.

I've been listening to examples of them for a few weeks and generally like what I hear - again, this is more about the neck and middle positions. It seems to be generally accepted that Firebird bridge tone is too strident and not as interesting tonally as the neck.

I've been watching a good deal of Bukovac too, and he loves Firebirds.

 

[la szum]

Some of the Fano JM-style guitars have Firebird pups. This one isn't JM-style, but anyway, he switched to the neck pickup here at 36 seconds:



Sweet AF!

Probably has his Volume and Tone rolled back.

 

[Sascha Franck]

It seems to be generally accepted that Firebird bridge tone is too strident and not as interesting tonally as the neck.

Yeah - which is why I would possibly move it a tiny little bit forward, just so it's getting a little warmer (even just half a centimeter makes such a difference in bridge position).

 

[jellodog]

@la szum I listened to your counsel of stridency and decided to put the Firebirds on the back burner for now. I can always go there later if things don't pan out the way I'm hoping.

So I've ordered a set of Kinman Fatmaster pickups instead. I've heard good things time and time again from the offset crowd so

Might not see them for a while; I believe Mr. Kinman is making them in the Philippines these days.

 

[la szum]

Cool. I don't think I ever had an idea of what the pickups are in your JM, JD.

 

[la szum]

My hunch is that if you find the current pups a bit much on the top end the Firebird pups could
be even moreso.

Have you considered dropping the Volume Pot down to a 500K in the meantime, while you await
the Kinmans?

 

[jellodog]

Have you considered dropping the Volume Pot down to a 500K in the meantime, while you await
the Kinmans?

I have! And I will be doing that. You're always on the money LS

 

[jellodog]

Cool. I don't think I ever had an idea of what the pickups are in your JM, JD.

Lollar Jazzmaster - the original '58 type with a bit more mids than the slightly more scooped mid-60s style that he recently brought out.

I should add that the few times I've taken these Lollars out for something else (including the highly regarded Novaks) the Lollars have always gone back in.

I'm hoping for a different result this time around.

Definition of insanity yadda yadda.

 

[la szum]

Oh man, yeah, them Lollars would be hard to beat.

Can I ask what you are aiming for----more or less of something?

Just curious.

 

[jellodog]

Oh man, yeah, them Lollars would be hard to beat.

Can I ask what you are aiming for----more or less of something?

Just curious.

Goals:

1: Zero hum. I'm sick of it. Jazzmaster pickups tend to have more hum than P90s.

2: The Lollars have just a little too much mids. So I'm hoping for a slightly more balanced tone that's not as scooped as some mid-60s, but not quite as much mids as the Lollars.

3: A bit more leeway on the sweet spot in terms of counteracting stridency. There is a sweet spot on my volume pot that spans something like a third of a millimetre, which is frankly annoying and ridiculous to dial in.

The Lollars are true to vintage in that respect; it is what it is and just part of how Jazzmasters are. I want to experiment here though: I used to be all about faithfullness to the vintage sound, but I no longer care about that!

4: Stretch goal: tighter piano-like bass string tone if possible but not essential.

I'm primarily talking about neck pickup here. I don't care so much about the bridge. I mostly play pushed cleans on the Jazzmaster so a full rich complex neck sound is where it's at for me. I also use middle position somewhat, but of course that is already hum-cancelling with RWRP wiring, which mine is.

 

[la szum]

Man, that would be super cool if the Fatmasters nail all of that.