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Jazzmaster pickup in P90 form [Added Comparison Video]

Posted: Wed Jul 10, 2019 8:39 pm
by BobL
I know there are plenty of P90s that fit Jazzmasters, but does anyone go the other way? A Jazzmaster style sound in a P90 sized pickup?

EDIT: Click here to go to a comparison video between the Gibson, Tyson and Lollar Alnico Pole P90s: viewtopic.php?p=1575893#p1575893

Re: Jazzmaster pickup in P90 form

Posted: Thu Jul 11, 2019 2:33 am
by Embenny
Yep, what you seek are just alnico-pole P90s and a bunch of people make them, from Bootstrap at the inexpensive end to Lindy Fralin at the pricier end of the spectrum. Are you looking for specific recommendations or was this more of a general question?

Re: Jazzmaster pickup in P90 form

Posted: Thu Jul 11, 2019 5:19 am
by BobL
mbene085 wrote:
Thu Jul 11, 2019 2:33 am
Yep, what you seek are just alnico-pole P90s and a bunch of people make them, from Bootstrap at the inexpensive end to Lindy Fralin at the pricier end of the spectrum. Are you looking for specific recommendations or was this more of a general question?
Looking for recommendations... might want to try a dog ear P90 jazzmaster style pickup in my Junior.

Re: Jazzmaster pickup in P90 form

Posted: Thu Jul 11, 2019 5:23 am
by BobL
Aha, searching that way is finding me stuff...

https://www.lollarguitars.com/lollar-p- ... le-soapbar

Re: Jazzmaster pickup in P90 form

Posted: Thu Jul 11, 2019 5:36 am
by Embenny
That'd be the one!

He also makes a noiseless version.

Re: Jazzmaster pickup in P90 form

Posted: Thu Jul 11, 2019 6:40 am
by jvin248
.

It's not just the magnets, check the bobbin size/shape and kohms.

P90s have a lot more wire wrapped around them than a JM ... About 30% more wire
A JM has a large bobbin area but thin/shallow while a P90 has a slightly smaller area and thick/deep bobbin -- deep like a Strat bobbin but a Strat is a small area and lower windings. You can see where Leo Fender was going in comparing the Strat vs JM bobbins with their alnico magnets.

so check the versions you want to buy closely.

JM bobbin, typical
Image

P90 bobbin, typical
Image

Strat/Tele bobbin, typical
Image

Re: Jazzmaster pickup in P90 form

Posted: Thu Jul 11, 2019 6:48 am
by BobL
Right, I knew the bobbins and winds were different, but suspected someone was making P90s that leaned in this direction. The Lollar ones look promising, but not sure if they will make one in a dogear cover.

Re: Jazzmaster pickup in P90 form

Posted: Thu Jul 11, 2019 9:05 am
by BobL
Talked to Lollar - they can build me a dog ear one, so I'm going to give that a try and see what I think.

Re: Jazzmaster pickup in P90 form

Posted: Thu Jul 11, 2019 11:36 am
by theconsultant
I've been wondering about this for my p90 Les Paul. The neck pickup is so muddy. Great for lead stuff but clean is really dull and wooly.

Re: Jazzmaster pickup in P90 form

Posted: Thu Jul 11, 2019 11:40 am
by BobL
I think Jazzmaster style pickups are just totally 'it' for me... I just got this Junior, and it's gorgeous and plays great, sounds great - The pickup in there currently is a Tyson Toneworks '57 Wraptail, and it's nice, but... if I go A/B w/ my Jazzmaster, I hear all the things I like that the straight P90 is missing. I will also play around with different settings for different guitars, of course, but for $127 to have them make me one, it seems like a pretty low risk investment just to see if I think 'oh, yeah, that's totally what it needed'.

Re: Jazzmaster pickup in P90 form

Posted: Thu Jul 11, 2019 11:46 am
by BobL
theconsultant wrote:
Thu Jul 11, 2019 11:36 am
I've been wondering about this for my p90 Les Paul. The neck pickup is so muddy. Great for lead stuff but clean is really dull and wooly.
Lollar also has that staple P90 which is a similar concept and intended to fix what you are describing as well, I believe.

Re: Jazzmaster pickup in P90 form

Posted: Fri Jul 12, 2019 4:53 am
by kingmedicine
Haven’t had a chance to try one of these, but supposedly they are JM-style with rods instead of bar magnets. I’ve had a couple of his Strat and Tele sets and they sounded good though. Might be a cheap way to test out the JM in a p90 form factor set up (although it doesn’t sound like the Lollar is much pricier, and his stuff is great too).

https://www.porterpickups.com/products/ ... ckups/a90/

Re: Jazzmaster pickup in P90 form

Posted: Mon Jul 15, 2019 11:53 pm
by epizootics
I make a lot of these Rod 90 and while they are a cool middle ground between a P90 and a JM pickup, they DO sound different. More of a thing of their own, great for surf music. The issue with trying to export the JM sound to other pickup sizes is that they are pretty much the largest bobbin out there as far as guitar pickups go, and that very wide and flat bobbin is key to the Jazzmaster sound, more so than most of the other factors involved, say magnet type and length for instance. You can make a very flat pickup that will fit inside a P90 bobbin, but you have to use a finer gauge of copper wire because you don't get the extra width you have on the JM pickup, which in turn also has an impact on the sound.

What I'm saying is that you must be cautious when someone sells you a 'JM pickup in a P90 format'. However, as stated above, they do sound good. I actually use a pair of them on my main gigging/touring guitar.

Re: Jazzmaster pickup in P90 form

Posted: Tue Jul 16, 2019 1:40 am
by ludobag1
i have try a p90 in my telemaster and i dislike it ,i prefer the Jm pups instead but maybe it is du to the telemaster cause the pups is hiden under the guard and the JM one is more near the stringd?

Re: Jazzmaster pickup in P90 form

Posted: Tue Jul 16, 2019 4:42 am
by epizootics
ludobag1 wrote:
Tue Jul 16, 2019 1:40 am
i have try a p90 in my telemaster and i dislike it ,i prefer the Jm pups instead but maybe it is du to the telemaster cause the pups is hiden under the guard and the JM one is more near the stringd?
Bonjour Ludo,
Yup, P90s don't like being away from the strings. In practice, I find that most pickups that use alnico bar magnets in their assembly suffer a lot more from being away from the strings than those that use rod magnets. I'd bet you'd like the same pickup much better if it was 1/4" (6mm) away from the strings rather than tucked under the pickguard.