Jazzmaster pickup comparison

[Downsman]

So my WRHB from Catswhisker pickups arrived, and I've got it installed. Had a bit of a wiring nightmare as I changed to new 500k CTS Push Pull Vol and Tone pots to fit with my existing Series mod and also to coil split the WRHB. Managed to make just about every wiring mistake you can, but got there in the end. I also changed the cap to .0068 so the tone pot is useable right the way through the sweep.

I'm really happy with it. Does exactly what I was hoping for which was to take what for me was a thin sounding bridge pickup and give it some more oomph. Can still get that Jazzmaster brightness, but sounds richer. Even has hints of Tele twang to it. Was playing some SRV style blues with it last night which I wouldn't normally think to do with a Jazzmaster. The middle position is like a normal Jazzmaster one but a bit thicker sounding.

I'm not good with finding words to match sounds, but it was the right choice for me at least.

Great service from Allan at Catswhisker by the way. He answered tons of questions I had, and even sent a spare pickup cover for the neck, which I've kept stock, so it would match the WRHB. I'd happily order from him again, and might consider swapping the neck to a WRHB once I've recovered from the trauma of my wiring experience

[wotsch]

So my WRHB from Catswhisker pickups arrived, and I've got it installed. Had a bit of a wiring nightmare as I changed to new 500k CTS Push Pull Vol and Tone pots to fit with my existing Series mod and also to coil split the WRHB. Managed to make just about every wiring mistake you can, but got there in the end. I also changed the cap to .0068 so the tone pot is useable right the way through the sweep.

I'm really happy with it. Does exactly what I was hoping for which was to take what for me was a thin sounding bridge pickup and give it some more oomph. Can still get that Jazzmaster brightness, but sounds richer. Even has hints of Tele twang to it. Was playing some SRV style blues with it last night which I wouldn't normally think to do with a Jazzmaster. The middle position is like a normal Jazzmaster one but a bit thicker sounding.

I'm not good with finding words to match sounds, but it was the right choice for me at least.

Great service from Allan at Catswhisker by the way. He answered tons of questions I had, and even sent a spare pickup cover for the neck, which I've kept stock, so it would match the WRHB. I'd happily order from him again, and might consider swapping the neck to a WRHB once I've recovered from the trauma of my wiring experience

So glad that you made it and that you like your new pickup! Making mistakes is awful, but in my experience, that's how you can learn the most. And your guitar looks absolutely awesome!!!

[mrventures]

Looks great! Is that a mint or parchment guard?

[Downsman]

Looks great! Is that a mint or parchment guard?

It's Pale Mint Green that I got on eBay from a UK seller. Kind of half way between parchment and mint. Pretty happy with it.

[mrventures]

Very nice!

[di_camellia]

This is great, thanks a lot!
I wish this existed for all types of pickups, it makes things a lot easier.

[pikmin]

Hello !

I just made a New Jazzmaster pickups comparison video : Fralin Vs Curtis Novak Vs Q pickups ( X2 ) Vs Wide Range humbuckers

https://youtu.be/1xu1MBE1orU

[wotsch]

Awesome job, man, that's really usefull! Are the guitars all yours? If so: impressive collection!

[PapaB]

Beautiful guitars. And FANTASTIC video!!! Thanks for making it. Playing was great. The tone character of the pickups really came thru very clearly.

BTW, I really dug you rocking out on the bridge pup. Something about seeing someone rock out with "gusto"on a guitar that makes my day. It's very late at night, but I'm almost tempted to go jam myself!

Again, thanks for posting it.

[pikmin]

Awesome job, man, that's really usefull! Are the guitars all yours? If so: impressive collection!

Hello ! Thank you very much . Yeah , they are all mine ! I can’t stop building , modding Jazzmasters and I love them so much I keep them all :-)

[pikmin]

Beautiful guitars. And FANTASTIC video!!! Thanks for making it. Playing was great. The tone character of the pickups really came thru very clearly.

BTW, I really dug you rocking out on the bridge pup. Something about seeing someone rock out with "gusto"on a guitar that makes my day. It's very late at night, but I'm almost tempted to go jam myself!

Again, thanks for posting it.

Thank you very much :-) . That riff comes from one of my song called «  Ghost tone » ;-) . You can listen to it here , it was recorded on a J.Mascis Jazzmaster with Q pickups : https://ericinthekitchen.bandcamp.com/t ... ost-tone-2

[wotsch]

Two more things:

- what about the tone pots in the JMs? Are they all the same value? Classic 1Meg?

- and do you have a favourite guitar among them? At least at the moment? Or a one you most often go back to?

Thanks again for sharing!!!

[pikmin]

Two more things:

- what about the tone pots in the JMs? Are they all the same value? Classic 1Meg?

- and do you have a favourite guitar among them? At least at the moment? Or a one you most often go back to?

Thanks again for sharing!!!

They all have 1meg cts pots except the second one with the maple fretboard and Q pickups standard which has 280k bare knuckle pots .
I put the tone pot on the other ones around 7 or 6 and it sounds pretty much the same way …
I love them all , and my favorite one is always changing . The ones I played the most on gigs are the sunburst and the JMJM but the 2 ones I play the most these days are the 2 first : the green one with Fralins and the one with maple fretboard and black blocks and Q pickups standard .
I also love the Jazzblaster but it’s a totally different beast …

[unsui]

Hey All,

Great thread ! Really glad to see Q pickups getting some love -
I just got a set Tiho’s vintage 1958-1964 for my JMJM and couldn’t be happier. I’ve got a set of custom wind in my Tele, and next up is a set of his Jags for my FSR Thinline.
Here’s a couple things I threw together using my JMJM

Q Pickups JMJM

Q pickups clean JMJM

[ldp54002]

Anyone have any experience with both the reissue Fender CuNiFe WRHBs from 2020 and the CuNiFe Jazzmaster pickups released a few weeks ago? Back-to-back comparisons are a bit hard to come by.

I have a reissue Tele Deluxe that has the CuNiFe reissues in it and I absolutely love the sound, but I much prefer the Jazzmaster ergonomics. I have been considering selling the Tele and installing CuNiFes in my JM, but I don't necessarily want to route it for full size WRHBs if the JM-specific ones are "close enough".