SD Vintage, Hot or Quarterpounder

[Goober]

Dear fellow jazzy-heads
I;ve been surfing on this forum. (Great info!)
There's interesting info about putting new pups in Japanese jazzys in other posts but nobody actually compares the three SD versions: Vintage, Hot, Quarterpounder.
Has anyone compared them?
When I was looking at the SD webpages my first thought was: Vintage! But since I'm setting up to form a duo with just a drummer - I need big bass tones out of the E and A strings and clear highs as well. Anyone tried all three or compared two of them? TNX ! 

[Firefly]

Not heard played or a guitar with any of them myself but if you haven't allready have a look at this link, it has audio clips of the diffrent jazzmaster pickups and settings.

http://www.seymourduncan.com/SDToneWizard/tele.shtml

I am considering mixing a vintage and a hot for my Jaguar project or I might just end up with American made Fender pickups still something I am trying to decide! Anyway, hope the link helped.

[mcjt]

I'm a traditionalist, but nevertheless when i was making my JM, i was told by luthiers to stick to the vintage pups IF I WAS FOLLOWING THE ORIGINAL SCHEMATIC. the original schematic values were chosen for those original pickups. if you stray too far from those designs with funky DCR, coil design or whatever, you are spoiling the original sound. you would be better, say, to forget the rhythm circuit and go straight to the main tone circuit....
todd

[Goober]

mcjt wrote:
"i was told by luthiers to stick to the vintage pups"
TNX mcjt - My first thought was - and usually is - vintage. But I really need a big bass sound at one end and some good highs on the other.

Firefly wrote:
"I am considering mixing a vintage and a hot for my Jaguar project or I might just end up with American made Fender pickups still something I am trying to decide! Anyway, hope the link helped."
TNX Firefly - I checked the SD mp3s - very interesting but i'm still undecisive. Interesting idea to have a vintage and a hot. What are you thinking? Vintige neck - hot bridge?

I found Novak/Lollar/AVRI mp3s too
http://www.jazzmasterjam.com/mp3/
Now I'm even more undecided....

[Felix]

mcjt wrote:
"i was told by luthiers to stick to the vintage pups"
TNX mcjt - My first thought was - and usually is - vintage. But I really need a big bass sound at one end and some good highs on the other.

Firefly wrote:
"I am considering mixing a vintage and a hot for my Jaguar project or I might just end up with American made Fender pickups still something I am trying to decide! Anyway, hope the link helped."
TNX Firefly - I checked the SD mp3s - very interesting but i'm still undecisive. Interesting idea to have a vintage and a hot. What are you thinking? Vintige neck - hot bridge?

I found Novak/Lollar/AVRI mp3s too
http://www.jazzmasterjam.com/mp3/
Now I'm even more undecided....

That's a good link, dude. I just finished listening to the differences between the novak cc and paf.
I prefer the sounds from the P90, though. Nice full tone with both pickups on.

[Pumpkin]

I just put a Antiquity in my jag and it kicks ass over the AV pup i have in the neck,and AV pups are really good!
So I would say get the Antiquity II jazzmaster pups,they would be sweet.....I'm definitely puttin 'em in my jazzmaster and considering they're only $16 more than SJM1's,it's worth it for sure.
They really do sound like a vintage pup, it's quite remarkable,every sweet vintage quality is there.

[ohm-men]

I tried a lot of pu's in my Jazzmasters. I currently have a russian custom shop set of pu's in on JM. These a really great. Wound more like a strat pu but with a JM voicing. They will probably replace the set of Antiquity II's that was in before. I play mostly rythem guitar nowadays and I could never get my JM mixid in right with the Jaguar and the Bass VI  of the other
band memebers. Very anoying. I have a set of AVRI JM pups in my other JM, which I also prefer over the Antiquity II's, which are just a tad to hot for my taste. Strange but trough. I like very clean sounds with a tad of reverb and echo added.

I also tried the Hot for JM, but these sound to mid range for me, still JM though but not enough. But when overdriven, distorted, fuzzed they sound fantastic....beefier then the Ant II or the AVRI's. So it's all a matter of taste really.

Man I really hate the fact I sold my set of Ant I's for the JM, the darker sound of the alnico 2 magnets...lovely....the Ant II is just a tad too bright for my taste. And these pick ups are just to expensive to justify imo, espcially compared with AVRI's. (at least the ones I got, which are from '99, so probably first batch)

I just started Jason Lollar's book on winding PU's and gatherd some of the necesary materials to build a pu winder, so when I got more time on my hands, I will probably give it a go. (If i can track down the richt wire and magnets and formfar material that is) but thats not for any time soon....

[mynameisjonas]

regarding the QPs, they actually aren´t jazzmaster pickups in the true sence, since the construction is more like strat pickups, i.e. taller and narrower bobbins. like the CIJ pickups, they just look like jazzmaster pickups. but with the 1/4 inch magnets, the QPs produce a very big and fat sound that works well with JMs. i had these in two of my JMs for a long time, but after a while i felt they were a bit too hot, and too focused on the mids, and i wound up switching them for SJM-1s (vintage for jazzmaster) and i am much more pleased with them. they just sound a lot more jazzmaster.

oh, one good thing about the QPs is that they have less hum than regular JM pickups.

[Felix]

I second the love for the Antiquity II pups. I have one in the neck position of my CIJ Jazzmaster, and it really has made a difference for me. I have the Antiquity I in the bridge, and this really gives a nice balance.

I did get to play a guitar with the QP, and I didn't really care for it. I've always wanted to try the SD hots, too. Maybe it's just because it says "hot."    Sounds like a good name for the Jazzmaster. I think Pumpkin stated that he loves the Antiquity over the AV model, and I feel that way as well. I love my AV JM pups, but the SD is just a sweet sounding device. I also don't want to mod my AV--that's what a CIJ is for. But SD definitely nailed that tone.

[Pumpkin]

If you like vintage tone thats been beefed up a little,the hot is way cool....well in a Jag it is anyway.

On SD's site it has hot at 12.31k and QP at 13.96 k for Jag which is right cause i have had both but the Jazzmaster ones are hot 14.11k and QP 12.97k which seems all messed up and backwards to me cause every other SD QP pup is the hotest of the 3 all exept JZ

The QP's are around super distortion K territory,despite me not favoring HB's anymore the QP's are pretty cool,got one in my mustang that changes places with a DiMarzio DP218 on occasion and theyre similar,just the QP buzzes like fuck cause its teh singlesz.

[StevenO]

Mike Einziger uses Duncan Hot Jazzmaster pickups in his Jazzmasters.
Not a fan of his music, but I guess he makes some nice sounds.

[Goober]

I started this post asking about the SD's but I think I am leaning very much more to Novak at this point.

I e-mailed Curtis Novak and he's replied almost immediately twice.
Very cool.
He's recomended a JMv in the neck, and a new pup with heavier gauge wire. Lower fatter full tone, with regular Fender style
Strat magnets.  Since I want to start a band with first of all only drummer and guitar I would love is ultra low pounding bass sounds from the E and A strings and dark/broody mids that still have definition. Hard to explain....come to think of it.....

[Felix]

I started this post asking about the SD's but I think I am leaning very much more to Novak at this point.

I e-mailed Curtis Novak and he's replied almost immediately twice.
Very cool.
He's recomended a JMv in the neck, and a new pup with heavier gauge wire. Lower fatter full tone, with regular Fender style
Strat magnets.  Since I want to start a band with first of all only drummer and guitar I would love is ultra low pounding bass sounds from the E and A strings and dark/broody mids that still have definition. Hard to explain....come to think of it.....

What's the new pup? That is, the one with the "lower fatter tone?"

[Goober]

What's the new pup? That is, the one with the "lower fatter tone?"

The way Curtis explained in his e-mail is that it is something like the JM-CC in that is uses the heavier gauge wire w/ will give a much lower fatter full tone, but instead of using the bar magnets and steel rods they come with regular Fender style Strat magnets.  This will still retain the fender tone but will thicken it up a bit. The CC and 90 are a different pickup sound,b/c they use the 2 opposing bar magnets and steel poles. This new pup will actually sound more like a Jazzmaster, just fuller and fatter b/c of the heavier gauge wire.  The bar magnets will give more of a dirty growl tone where as the fender style rod magnets give that cleaner tone.