Jazzmaster Pickup Shootout! | Four sets compared | Fender, Duncan Designed, Mojotone, & Curtis Novak
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 25 ก.ค. 2024
- Strap in for 49 minutes and 13 seconds of fun lads and lassies
Chapters:
0:00 Intro, Signal Chain, and Test Setup
3:22 Duncan Designed RC Clean
3:56 Fender PV65 RC Clean
4:24 Mojotone 59 Clone RC Clean
4:55 Novak JMV RC Clean
5:34 Duncan Designed Neck Clean
6:07 Fender PV65 Neck Clean
6:37 Mojotone 59 Clone Neck Clean
7:08 Novak JMV Neck Clean
7:43 Duncan Designed Middle Clean
8:16 Fender PV65 Middle Clean
8:45 Mojotone 59 Clone Middle Clean
9:14 Novak JMV/JMFAT Middle Clean
9:49 Duncan Designed Bridge Clean
10:21 Fender PV65 Bridge Clean
10:50 Mojotone 59 Clone Bridge Clean
11:22 Novak JM-Fat Bridge Clean
11:57 Duncan Designed RC Dirty
12:29 Fender PV65 RC Dirty
12:59 Mojotone 59 Clone RC Dirty
13:29 Novak JMV RC Dirty
14:04 Duncan Designed Neck Dirty
14:36 Fender PV65 Neck Dirty
15:05 Mojotone 59 Clone Neck Dirty
15:36 Novak JMV Neck Dirty
16:09 Duncan Designed Middle Dirty
16:39 Fender PV65 Middle Dirty
17:09 Mojotone 59 Clone Middle Dirty
17:38 Novak JMV/JMFAT Middle Dirty
18:11 Duncan Designed Bridge Dirty
18:43 Fender PV65 Bridge Dirty
19:11 Mojotone 59 Clone Bridge Dirty
19:40 Novak JM Fat Bridge Dirty
20:12 Effects Test Setup
22:01 Effects Comparison
36:23 Tasting Notes
47:30 Closing Remarks
Pickups Tested:
-Seymour Duncan Designed JM101 Jazzmaster Pickups (Stock in the Squier Vintage Modified Jazzmaster (discontinued)) ($20-40 used)
-Fender Pure Vintage '65 Jazzmaster Pickups ($129.99 new) (www.fender.com/en-US/parts/pi...)
-Mojotone '59 Clone Jazzmaster Pickups ($76.95 (each) or $141.95 (set) new) (www.mojotone.com/Mojotone-59-...)
-Curtis Novak Jazzmaster Pickups
--JM-V Neck ($120 each) (www.curtisnovak.com/shop/jazz...)
--JM-Fat Bridge ($150 each) (www.curtisnovak.com/shop/jm-fat/)
Gear Used:
Overdrive: Boss SD-1 & Jackson Audio Golden Boy
Compression: Xotic SP Comp
Delay: Boss DM-2w (before overdrive) & Boss DD-500 (after overdrive)
Reverb: Boss RV-500
Amp/Mic: Walrus Audio MAKO ACS1 with David Hyslop IRs
Audio Interface: Behringer UMC404HD
DAW: Cubase Elements 11
Camera: Fujifilm X-S10
Camera Mic: Deity V-Mic D4 Mini
VO Mic: Shure 545SD and SM7b
IRs:
-Test #1 & Test #2: Eminence Special Design (Shure 545sd position 3 used) (www.davidhislop.co/product-pa...)
-Test #3:
--(L) Celestion G10 Vintage Custom Shop 10" Speaker (Shure 545sd position 3 used) (www.davidhislop.co/product-pa...)
--(R) Vintage '66 AlNiCo Silver Vox 12" Speaker (Shure 545sd position 2 used) (www.davidhislop.co/product-pa...)
My name is Zachariah Connor! I love creating music, playing guitar, hanging out with people, and reading books. I'll do my best to upload videos every once and a while. I'm a grad student, not a full time TH-camr :)
Join my Patreon:
/ zachariahconnor
Second Channel:
/ @zachariahconnor2670
Check out my website!
sites.google.com/view/zachari...
Hire me for your song:
www.fiverr.com/share/jyBzPo
Follow me on Instagram: @zacharius_shreds
Follow me on Facebook:
/ zachariahconnormusic
Follow The Morningtide: @themorningtidemusic
Website: themorningtide.com
TH-cam Channel: / @themorningtidemusic8867
Follow Makeshift Casual: @makeshift.casual
TH-cam Channel: / @makeshiftcasual7035
![เปิดบ้านสุดหรู "เเจ็ค the ghost" ลั่นถ้าป๋องกพลลำบากผมเลี้ยงเอง!! l [Nickynachat]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/1xbW4vULqGc/mqdefault.jpg)
Dude, I appreciate this so much. Not a lot of people on here compare jazzmaster pickups and it takes forever to do so as well. Me & The Offset Community appreciates this immensely! Thank you!
Thank you! Someday I’ll have time to continue such experiments
This is the EXACT video I’ve been looking for, thank you dude!!
Thanks for watching! Glad it was helpful!
Thank you for all of the time, effort, and thought you put into this.
You’re welcome!
This was awesome! Thank you for making this!
Thank you!!!
Really appreciate the effort you put into this, super helpful.
Glad it was helpful!
Thank you, very nicely done. Mojotone and Novak sounds best to my ears.
Thanks! I’d agree heartily
Updated the chapters so you can skip around to compare better. I think I’ll post a video of each pickup set at some point in the future too. Thanks for all the feedback and appreciation!
Also there’s a new video on my channel on the Mojotone pickups too!
Amazing video. Thank you for your efforts. I was surprised at how great the novak's sounded.
Thanks!! It was a ton of work. I currently have a Novak WR-JM in my jazzmaster
Amazing comparison. Thanks for this amount of work.
To my ears, I am a Fender Guy.
Thanks for watching!!!
Incredibly thorough. Well done! Definitely was able to hear a difference between sets. I love the Novaks. The brightness to me is still there but the sound is very balanced and clear. I'm planning a JM build and I think I'll throw those babies in.
I put the JM-V + JM-FAT into my jazzmaster a while ago. The sweetest sounding jazzmaster I've ever heard! 👌
I seem to be coming to the same conclusion. Unless these new fender cunife/cobalt chrome change my mind lol.
What a massive video. Right on! Thanks man. Mojotone and Novaks for me.
Thanks! Me too!
great video! very helpful!
thank you !
Thanks for watching!!
Appreciate this greatly. Was messing around on warmoth website. Might consider a jazzmaster jr build with fixed bridge. Only ever owned j mascis pups though for my players Jm and just started exploring options.
Great job !
Thanks!
Thanks for doing this video, I’m sure it took a ton of time. I have the Novak’s in my American Original. I like them a lot more than the Fenders which were super bright. I always had to turn the tone down, then they sounded thin. The Novak bridge is a little brighter and fuller than my Twisted Tele bridge pickup in my Tele. The Novak neck is like a Strat neck pickup but with more chime.
Yep took me over 8 hours of filming, somewhere in the neighborhood of 5 hours of editing! Nice, I think I’d be very happy with the novaks, I tend to lean towards lower output myself. Thanks for watching!
I have the Novak JM Fat paired with a Duncan Antiquity 2 and it sounds really good. I do think the Fender pickups are pretty decent for the money.
Nice, sounds like a great pairing! Totally, I just generally find the bridge too bright for most rigs
Duncan neck, Mojotone bridge. They all sound great minus the Novak’s. I’m a huge Novak fan, but not this set. Excellent review and extremely helpful. Getting that Mojotone 59 for my American Original. Also, love the ACS-1.
Thanks for watching! Yeah I found them to be too hot personally
Novak sounds the best to my preferences. Honestly, the stock squire pups in my jazzmaster sound better than the other three, but I would have to compare them with my amps.
This vid was PERFECT, I know the kinda effort that went into that, must’ve taken forever - very meticulous. I bought a modified j mascis jazz off FB marketplace and the dude replaced the stock PU’s with V mod version 1s - overall the guitar is a little darker than the fenders but way more full - I thought I was buying a sound closer to a strat or tele with twang and whatever else but I’m really loving the neck PU cause it’s got this hot grungy clarity that’s amazing but the bridge is a little thin, super nasally.
Wondering which bridge PU I should get to balance out the neck Vmod, do I need something brighter to get that strat/tele direct DI prince/Andy summers/Nile rodgers sound or should I get something with more clarity and fullness? I don’t want the guitar to be any darker but I def don’t want it to be any thinner and less full so I’m stuck - I’m a noob @ modifications and i feel totally clueless
Thank you!! Took a lot of time.
To answer your question, I’m not exactly sure what you want. If you want fuller and fatter, the JM-Fat sounds perfect. It still has clarity, just fatter in the mids and bass
Wow - such a marvelously ear-opening experience you‘ve gifted to the community. Thanks so much for the effort! I‘m looking to get a Jazzmaster (likely to be a Made in Japan Traditional Late 60s, which is fitted with some Strat-like pickups not to my liking) in a few days, and shopping in advance for the right pickups. Your video helped me zoom right in on the only ones of this bunch that please me: the Novaks. They felt truly three-dimensional, making all the others look either two-dimensional or - in some cases - shouty and annoying. The Novaks felt real, and gave each note clarity, no matter where on the spectrum. Nothing seemed to be jumping out so much. Lots of texture and dynamic flexibility - much more musical to my ears. The question I‘m asking myself, though, is how they (and the other pickups) would sound when the guitar is tuned way down to C# Standard (my usual tuning), using fatter-gauge strings (probably high-tension 13s as a jazz set). For that use, maybe the pickups that seemed a bit too brittle or shouty might win out? Tuning down usually means a loss of treble overall, and particularly an increase in bass.
Thanks! Yes tuning down can make things muddy. I’d maybe consider the Novak JM-V in the bridge to keep a bit more clarity. The JM-Fat is almost humbucker sounding it’s so large sounding. I’m currently using a Novak JM-WR that can be split for more top end, and I love it. Best of both worlds.
Great video! I have a modshop Jazzmaster with the 65s in them and have been looking into the Novaks because of the weak bridge sound. At this point I'm debating if i want to swap both or just replace the bridge. I do love the neck pickup sound, my only concern is if it'll make sense to get both Novaks just for balance reasons.
Thank you!!! I think if you get the JM-Fat, you’ll probably want the JM-V to balance it in the neck
The 65s are great. If you're someone who uses the middle position for vintage Surfy tones, you'll lose out on THAT sound with a different bridge pickup. It's a sacrifice for sure. I just went back to the stock bridge myself after missing that quintessential middle tone that Fender nailed with that set. I compensate the weak bridge with an EQ pedal or a drive pedal with lots of low mids.
@@LeviBulger I think the Mojotone’s are still pretty bright in the middle position. Everyone’s rigs and ears are different though
@@ZachariahConnor Ended up getting the Novaks. They're awesome! That bridge makes a world of difference, especially being in a three piece band and needing that extra oomph. Almost gives off a tele vibe.
Amazing comparison! I really wanted to love the 59 in the bridge but the 65 despite not having much bass is so clear, I would love to see a pickup sonically the same as the 65 with a touch more low end.
To me that’s how I hear the ‘59 clone, I’ve not had any issues with clarity on that pickup! It’s been in my guitar since January and I’ve loved it
@@ZachariahConnor that's very interesting! I would be keen to hear the comparison through some fuzz.
@@nitrogennick123 if only I still had the ‘65s…
Curtis Novak makes some of the very best, vintage correct sounding JM PUPS available in opinion. I’ve been using his pickups for over a decade & never once considered swapping them for another brand because they’re that good!
-With most of my other guitars I’ve swapped the pickups numerous times, chasing after a more authentic/vintage-correct tone...
- I originally had the JM-V in the neck & the JM-FAT in the bridge but around 4-5 years ago I decided to switch the bridge PU to the “standard” JM-V because I wanted I wanted a more vintage correct pickup in the bridge position & I’ve been very happy.
Yeah I think the JM-Fat was a little too fat for me. I really want to try his new JM-historic series!
Additionally, I just switched my bridge to a Curtis Novak JM-WR pickup, and I'm loving that
I would like to see how antiquity pickups would compare to some of these options
Me too, when I have time I'll have to shoot them out
Really well done comparison
All the pickups sounded good
Surprised I don’t hear much of a difference between the Duncan designed and the fenders
Best by far were the Novaks
Thanks !!!
Thanks! Novaks kicked some serious butt!
I got a Japan Traditional '60s not long ago, and the pickups sound... uh, not too Jazzmastery to me. I don't know the word. Plunky? Dunno. Anyway, I like the Fender and Mojotone. I would grab the Mojotone set if I didn't have to wait until summer to get it! So I guess it's Fender for me.
Edit: have you tried the Novak JM-HC Stealth set? Would be curious how those compare to the Mojo or Fender.
Edit the next day: decided to try out Tone Hatch Vintage Class '58 with Alnico II magnets. I suck at guitar, but I may post a before/after comparison since I don't see anything already on TH-cam yet for their Jazzmaster pickups.
I’d love to try the Novak JM-HC set. I’ll subscribe and see your comparison!
Hey man
Have you tried the VMOD pickups that come in American pro models? Im wondering how they would compare to the 65s
I have not. I’m told they’re pretty strat like, but I’d like to validate this claim
@@ZachariahConnor Mike Adams has stated the similar conclusions in his video reviews.
@@jasongirard813 yep!! I’m an avid Mike fan
I have an American Pro ii... it sounds great.... yes does not chime and chug like a true O.G. Jazzmaster. Still sounds sweet, though I may consider changing out the pickups down the line....
After listening the stand out set to me (in noticeable differences is the Novak's 'nice' but go the wrong
direction for me) "obviously saying fat" its a l'il more . I' started a JM all USA parts
build 5 + years ago its still unfinished. I always wondered if my MoJo Tone was a bad choice for me . From experience I'm a Seymour antiquity 1 set fan. In this video my choice of Mojo Tone sound really good for my taste + not to bright a issue I have often with my single coil guitars.The Mojo Tones thankfully seem exactly what I wanted in my mind a thicker nicer bottom end + less bright up top. I spent hours researching pick ups before buying Mojo Tones at that time one of the few had black covers available also swayed me but made me wonder if I put to much importance on covers. Now I am reassured I made the right choice . Sorry for long comment Very Helpful must a took some time making this comparison.-Thanks again, Jeff
Thanks for watching!! Yeah the Novaks are pretty hot. I wish they advertised them as such. Duncan Antiquity’s are fantastic I’ve heard. I’ve yet to try them!!
@@ZachariahConnor I edited my comment so many times trying to say what I was thinking lol I gotta get moving was running late 😁.Tele guy a big sway was no one said they had black covers but because we never finished the build ive often wondered if I put to much focus on covers vs tone. Thank you just took a lot of back shelf second guessing off my mind. On the antiquity my one dislike is they ones I've heard very noisy in 1 & 3 position Mojo's were quieter in sound clips another factor.
Thank you for this comparison video. This video was very helpful for my tone pursuit Zachariah!I went from stock J Mascis pickups to a set of Fender Pure Vintage ‘65. I am looking for twang, clarity, balance and warmth. Now, the pickups are too bright and harsh. I will try swapping 500 K pots and possibly orange drop caps (I’m not sure of their possible value).
Thank! Glad I could help! I’d go with a 0.047uf cap
Отличная работа, я могу только представить потраченное время и объём работы, наверное лучшее видео сравнения звукоснимателей jazzmaster, выбор сделан: Curtis Novak конечно. Спасибо
Thank you!!
"Lots of sparkle, lots of chime Not a lot of low end or low mids" Well, that's why I play a Jazzmaster and what I want from it. Accordingly, the Fender Vintage '65s are best for me. I had a '61 JM some years ago and I'm still black and blue from kicking myself for selling it for... reasons.
I currently have a Fender '58 reissue (black pickup covers) and it rings like a... well, you know. It's a very good and accurate replacement for the vintage one "that got away".
I was interested in what some aftermarket JM pickups sound like and you certainly showed me, thank you. I think I'll stick to the Fender '65s. I mean, who knows this stuff better? As long as they don't try to "improve" their iconic vintage guitars, they'll keep selling a bunch of the new, reissue ones. All guitar manufacturers should learn this lesson and practice it assiduously.
As for adding or reducing bottom if you want to, or adjusting EQ in any way, well, I discovered that my amps have these knobs on them labeled "Bass", Treble", and even some that have a knob labeled "Mid" . Would you believe it, turning them adjusts the amp's EQ! Amazing! I also discovered that my Jazzmaster has all kinds of knobs and switches that do the same. These electric guitars are really fantastic! :D
My free advice that's worth the price: Save your screwdriver and soldering iron for the moment and turn a few knobs to see if you can get your guitar to sound the way you want it like everyone you've ever heard on a recording did in the day. Also, take Roger/Jim McGuinn's sage advice "...and take some time and learn how to play." I've been doing us that for over 50 years and hey, it works!
Thanks for a great vid.
Peace and health to all.
They sound very similar to me. But its difficult to tell with this format. Instead of doing several riffs for each cut, i’d just do a single 5 second riff, then cut to the next pickup doing the same riff.
Sure, I wanted to give a good enough context for each pickup. And by the time I had edited that I was done with touching the footage for a while. Maybe I’ll do a shorter variant of this video now that I have a better editing computer
@@ZachariahConnor video is freaking amazing but I would love seeing link to those takes recorded if that's possible, it would be over the top of the job you've already done but so nice to switch A/B/C/D on the go
It seems they got better in the order you had them , I'd almost have to hear them in a bad mix but novak (4)and fender(2) seemed good.
Between the duncan and fender I could hear a noticible improvement, maybe with look at pots and capacitors all could be improved a little, but novak seem to be the winner so far now compare them with Lolars haha
Thanks for watching! The pots and caps were upgraded vs the stock ones. I need to try the Lollars
what would be your best neck and bridge pickups? having no money limit, and available to public.... reason why im asking , is cause i have a jazzmaster ultra,.. but just doesn't sound to good... i dont care if its diff maker of each or if u just choose a set from the same maker..... ssssso what would be your best neck and bridge pickups for a quitar like mine
Well it really depends on what sounds you like! But the Ultra has pretty dark pickups so you’d probably like the Duncan(not Duncan Designed, the real Duncans), Lollar, Mojotone, or Novak pickups!
Just remember there are two eras of Jazzmaster pickup, Black Bobbin (1958-1964) and Grey Bobbin (1965-1979). The black bobbin pickups are thicker and darker with more output. The grey bobbin pickups are much brighter and lower output. Fender’s PV65 pickups are grey bobbin for instance. The Mojotone set here are black bobbin. Duncan, Lollar, and Novak make both types
@@ZachariahConnor thanks for the info … I’ve been looking at the black bobbins… but the question is still there for u. I don’t think u answered it. My sound is more of bb king , es-335, and tele. But I’m still curious about your set up if money was no option and availability to everyone
What I would choose? Right now I'd say the Novak '58 Historic Set. I'm itching to try it and I've heard great things
Daamn that Duncan Designed and Fender 65 are quite or almost the same.
I think the bridge pickups sound quite different, but the neck pickups are very similar to my ear
You think so? OK. I feel the Duncans to be far more one-dimensional and somehow compressed-sounding, as in yielding a narrower range of frequencies and flattening out the attack. They felt boring to me. The Fender‘s felt much more alive and two-dimensional, while the Novaks struck me as the only three-dimensional, hugely dynamic ones. But that‘s just me.
Novak.
Perfect video to compare.
Thank you!!
The Curtis Novak Set has more balls than the rest clean. Even dirty they have a more even tone.
Yep! Lots more output
the 65 are my choice hate those hot pickups clean
Novak-1 Mojo-2 Fender-3 Duncan D-4
They all sound the same within reason, maybe try 4 different sets of hands
hmm yes let me amputate my hands really fast