Currently in my JMJM I have SD Antiquity II's, and they are excellent pickups. However, there are times where I struggle to get to the Goldilocks zones with certain pedals and sounds where I can roll off the highs without muddying the sound too much. Currently I have done the following;
- Replaced the pots from 1M to 500K.
- This lowered the resonant peak down too much and made it no longer sound like my jazzmaster. - Tried to wrap the positive and ground wires in the guitar as much as possible to increase capacitance.
- Hard to tell since I didn't do an A/B test, but it does seem like there was a slight decrease in noise and high-end. - Used Fezz Parka/50's wiring for the volume/tone control.
- I didn't think this would decrease high end, but it definitely didn't reduce the high-end roll-off when rolling off the volume pot. I found it easier to get a fatter sound, but it took very specific settings to get a needed high-end roll-off (as I needed to keep the volume either on 9, or below 3, to reduce the treble). So this one was a failure. - Required the rhythm circuit switch to a series/parallel switch.
- Definitely emphasized more bass and mids when engaged, but it no longer sounded like my jazzy when engaged. And, honestly, the sound difference wasn't extreme enough to warrant keeping; but also wasn't as pleasing as a PAF in terms of humbucking sounds.
- Using a very long/coiled guitar cable to introduce impedance.
- Ideally I don't want to add a cumbersome cable to add mess; plus quality coiled guitar cables are pretty expensive up here in Canada. - Recreating the above with a decade box of capacitors.
- Ideally I don't want to add something to my pedal board, or add bulk to my guitar. - Shielding the guitar with copper to hopefully introduce capacitance; including lining the pickup covers.
- I have heard mixed things about whether this actually affects the tone on a guitar, but regardless I am hoping that this will at least have a positive affect in noise reduction. - Wiring a very low value capacitor (e.g. 100pF) in parallel with the pickup switch to shift the resonant peak down slightly.
- Probably the best option, and could also add it to a Push/Pull pot for making it switchable.