Changing from SD Antiquity 1s to Novak WRHB/JMT.

[Embenny]

Since the boutique trend, Antiquities are quite underrated. There's something about that ageing process that makes them sound balanced and round in the lows yet soft and pillowy in the highs.

It's just the weaker magnets. You don't see a lot of A2/A3 JM pickups these days, but that's 100% what's going on with those. The only aging they do that isn't cosmetic is to mildly degauss the magnets.

I think much of the reason weaker magnets are less popular than full strength A5 is that 1M pots are less universal on JMs than they used to be. Many people who swap pickups are also the type to try lower value pots, and many Offset models come with lower pot values to begin with now.

Degaussed or inherently weaker magnet types have a less sharp high end, and lower value pots accomplish a similar functional end, though they're not the same thing sonically or ectrically.

But for sure, A2 or A3 Jazzmaster pickups are underrated. I had an AV65 that came to me with antiquities and I didn't like them at first, but found the sweet spot on my amp eventually and they came to life.

[solfege]

Since the boutique trend, Antiquities are quite underrated. There's something about that ageing process that makes them sound balanced and round in the lows yet soft and pillowy in the highs.

It's just the weaker magnets. You don't see a lot of A2/A3 JM pickups these days, but that's 100% what's going on with those. The only aging they do that isn't cosmetic is to mildly degauss the magnets.

I think much of the reason weaker magnets are less popular than full strength A5 is that 1M pots are less universal on JMs than they used to be. Many people who swap pickups are also the type to try lower value pots, and many Offset models come with lower pot values to begin with now.

Degaussed or inherently weaker magnet types have a less sharp high end, and lower value pots accomplish a similar functional end, though they're not the same thing sonically or ectrically.

But for sure, A2 or A3 Jazzmaster pickups are underrated. I had an AV65 that came to me with antiquities and I didn't like them at first, but found the sweet spot on my amp eventually and they came to life.

I have a set of A2 Pickup Wizard pickups in my 94 MIJ and they are, hands down, glorious. I'm assuming you've spent some time dialing in the Antiquities before deciding they're not for you. The A2 thing does change where the sweet spot is a bit.

[Deed_Poll]

I personally would find a WRHB too tubby in the neck to balance with a Telecaster bridge pickup, but some people prefer to have the higher contrast of a massive, fat neck with a thinner bridge position. Heck, the Tele Delixe is popular for a reason.

But if you're going with Novak, ask him to wind you a Tele-HC for the bridge. It's his side-by-side humcanceling Tele bridge pickup, so I don't see why it wouldn't fit the JM format just the same as the JM-T. That way you'll have three noiseless positions instead of just one.

I have this combo - a Novak WRHB in the neck and Tele HC in the bridge, and I love it. The thing that makes it work is that I have separate volume / tone for each pickup (on my Customaster), and the neck volume has a pretty substantial treble bleed mod, which means it starts cutting bass before it cuts volume. At 6 or 7, it responds, sounds and feels just like a single coil - kinda more JM than Tele neck to me, maybe it's the broader string field. But anyway, this has worked so well for me that I wouldn't even *consider* parallel wiring / coil splitting a humbucker again, especially if it's a wide-range style with magnetic pole pieces. It even retains the hum cancelling, of course!

Anyway, I've shared it a million times, but once more couldn't hurt!

[javier-san]

That is a very neat set-up! I'd be open to something like that, but it would take quite a bit of work to do that on my jazzmaster and am I just looking for some drop-in replacement pups. Ideally, a pair of pups that work well together.