Dig it! New Jazzmaster pickups with before and after clip (stock Fender "Pure Vintage 65" vs. Lollar "58") what do you think?

smurfco

smurfco

Meatus McPrepuce
A few words:

Lollar recommends using 250K pots. I did not do that. I like having that extra bite the stock 1M pots give and I can back the volume off a little. Having said that the volume and tone are on full for all of these.

Signal chain is guitar into my Mesa 5:25 combo and out through its direct XLR into my interface. EQ mostly flat and just a little amp reverb. Same amp settings for both pickup sets!

I have my thoughts but would love to hear yours!

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I like both, Lollars are fuller in the mids but kinda don't have the twang I'd expect from a JM. Kinda meh but has its place. Fenders are twangy and thin and kinda like that ugly girl in Junior High that you STILL think about.
 
I really didn't expect such a huge difference. The Lollars are way darker and have a lot more mids. The Lollar neck pickup sounded darker than the Fender rhythm circuit!
 
I liked the Fender tones better, except for the neck pickup. The Lollar neck pickup sounded a bit fuller to me without getting as dark as the rest of the Lollar tones.
 
The Fender pickups are more of the sound I’d be looking for in that guitar. The Fender pickups have more treble which contributes to a thinner sound. The Fender neck pup did sound a bit brash, so I think I might roll off a bit with the tone control of the guitar.

The Lollars are fuller and darker sounding with a bit more mids. It’s not a bad sound but would probably work better in a different guitar.

If it were me, I’d stick with the Fender pickups. I might shape the sound a bit with the guitar knobs or even some pedals like boost, OD and/or EQ. For example, I love the way a Klon(e) works with a Fender Strat and a Fender amp.
 
Wow, not what I was expecting but that is cool - I don't know if it is just confirmation bias but I like the Lollars so much more. I guess that "Fender" sound is too bright for me. I feel like the Lollars take the edge off but still have plenty of cut and treble without being muddy. He does make a 60s version that according to his site has a lot more treble and bite.

It's cool to hear how opinions vary though, I knew the PVs were nice pickups. I just prefer the fatness from the Lollars.

If anyone is interested in buying the Fenders let me know I'd sell them to ya!
 
I don't think the Fenders are bad, per se. But every time the Lollars come on, I like them way better! I feel like I am about to use some of the terms Josh from JHS might use when I try to describe it (earthy mid range anyone? Complex Harmonics? <I have both terms on t-shirts>) but I do feel like the Lollars have more of a feeling of depth or something like that. Whereas the Fender's have a glassier, more opaque quality. Josh can now mock me and make a new t-shirt.

Not sure how it would work out in a band though, and at a certain point, I think it is more for our ears than anyone listening to us any way.
 
And now I want a JM again. Even if my tele with the p90 in the neck would be plenty close enough for my needs.

And, dang it!!! I want this! This color, etc.

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I liked both, honestly. The Fenders are the later greybottom surf sound while the Lollars are the earlier blackbottom sound, which is darker and fuller. The Lollars would compare well to '62 reissue pickups or Antiquity I's while the Fenders would be more apples-to-apples with Antiquity II's.
 
GilmourD said:
I liked both, honestly. The Fenders are the later greybottom surf sound while the Lollars are the earlier blackbottom sound, which is darker and fuller. The Lollars would compare well to '62 reissue pickups or Antiquity I's while the Fenders would be more apples-to-apples with Antiquity II's.
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Good to know.
 
sunvalleylaw said:
Good to know.
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Jazzmaster pickups are interesting because when they switched from one magnet wire type to the other it was the reverse of Strats and Teles. But then '64 brought a revision to the pickups in response to the popularity of the brighter surf sound of the Jaguar. Leo realized that people were buying Jazzmasters but not for jazz so he wanted to cater to that. In '58 the Jazzmaster pickups had a hotter 8K+ wind of plain enamel wire with AlNiCo II poles. '59-'60ish had the same wind but with A5. '60-'61 was a touch brighter, which may just be by chance and not on purpose, cuz you know how Fender was. '62-'64ish had the JM pickups switch to Formvar wire. Then in '64 they went with the lighter wound mid 7Kish sometimes peeking into the low 8's. They switched back to plain enamel in '66, apparently.

So... Basically, there's a lot of things to pinpoint if you're like "I want that Jazzmaster sound!". They all sound unmistakably jazzmaster but output and resonant peak (brightness) varies all over the place. LOL
 
So @smurfco , do you know if Pure Vintage 65's are the same as "AV 65's"? Or the same as Fender Classic 60's? (which are supposed to be the same thing) It seems as though that is what will be coming in my 60th Ann I just bought,
 
sunvalleylaw said:
So @smurfco , do you know if Pure Vintage 65's are the same as "AV 65's"? Or the same as Fender Classic 60's? (which are supposed to be the same thing) It seems as though that is what will be coming in my 60th Ann I just bought,
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I am *pretty* sure that the PV65 and the AV65 are the same pickup. Not sure on the Classic 60s - there is a thread about them here but after reading it I think I'm just more confused...

 
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