Sada Yairi Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 I'm looking to have some major rebuilding done to my Dot. I'm using it more for jazz these days, and I'm thinking that both pickups will be coming out - what do you guys reckon would make for good quality, reasonably priced replacement humbucking pickups (both neck and bridge) for traditional jazz? Looking forward to your input, cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L5Larry Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 Seymour Duncan makes a line of humbuckers for master archtop builder Bob Benedetto, who's guitars are world renowned among jazzers. You can do a goggle search for Benedetto pickups and see what you think. I believe Stew-Mac sells them. I have a Benedetto (by Duncan) S-6 pickguard mounted pickup on a 40's Gibson L-7, and I couldn't be more satisfied. Another pickup maker that is well known in the jazz field is Kent Armstrong (son of Dan Armstrong). Guitar maker Bill Moll (Wm Moll Guitars), swears by his pickups. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcgruff Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 What's in the guitar now - 57CH(G) ? I had a pair of these in my own dot and thought they were pretty muddy and characterless. Almost anything will be an improvement. I like vintage PAF style pickups in a dot, eg Seymour Duncan Seth Lovers. Stewmac Golden Age Parsons Street might be a cheaper alternative. Or, if you want to wind your own I can give you my secret recipe... DIY can be a cheap way to get some good quality pickups. Plus it means you can experiment a bit with different sounds in a way which would be heinously expensive with boutique pickups. Magnet wire is cheap. It's also very delicate but it doesn't take long to learn how to handle without breaking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobouz Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 You could also go to single coils, such as Gibson P94s, Duncan Phat Cats, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amx05462 Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 filtertrons are good.. these look to be black top filtertrons. i have the older ones withthe patent number on them and they sound the same as these.. on mine i aslso put in whats called at gretsch a mud switch but i change the caps from what was in the schematic to 005 and 010 for quick but subtle changes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcgruff Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 I love the Gretsch snarl :) but too in-your-face for jazz, maybe? Depends what you're looking for I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tweed2 Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 Keep your eye out for some used Ibanez Super 58s. I see them on eBay, every so often. They come on their ArtStar AS80 (an others) and are fantastic jazz humbuckers. I had a set on an AS80 that I should have taken off and replaced with something else, before I sold it. Theres a set up on eBay right now, but at 175+, you could probably go to Lollar or Fralin (or ?) and get something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpruceTop Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 I put a set of GFS Classic II Alnico 2 Vintage Wound in a hollow-body Ibanez Artcore AFS a while back. They made that guitar sound fairly close to my ES-175T. Quite impressive for a pickup that costs $40/ea. + shipping. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aoresteen Posted March 21, 2013 Share Posted March 21, 2013 May I suggest a Gibson 490R in the neck? It's what I put in my Dot (doesn't have a bridge pickup :) ) and it sounds great playing jazz on it. Here's the story: http://forum.gibson.com/index.php?/topic/91879-epi-dot-mod-meet-lucy/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aoresteen Posted March 21, 2013 Share Posted March 21, 2013 Also, consider the Shadow SH AZ 49 pickup. I have two of them and they are really nice for jazz. http://www.shadow-electronics.com/viewpro.html?lang_id=&id=77 My guitars: Here's one paired with a Shadow SH 680 humbucker on my '99 Stagemaster: Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluemans335 Posted March 21, 2013 Share Posted March 21, 2013 I like vintage PAF style pickups in a dot, eg Seymour Duncan Seth Lovers. Stewmac Golden Age Parsons Street might be a cheaper alternative. +1. Dots and PAF's were made for each other. I have a set of Seth's in a Dot and they're excellent. Duncan A2P's also have a warm, jazzy sound. For Gibson's, I'd recommend Burstbuckers. I have a Parson's Street set in an LP that are very good (the specs on those are great: high quality and very authentic), and two of them costs as much as one Gibson. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sada Yairi Posted March 24, 2013 Author Share Posted March 24, 2013 A lot of the pickups that have been mentioned are out of my price-range and there aren't all that many practical options in the 2nd-hand market around here, so I've narrowed the list down (based on cost and desired tone) to either Golden Age Parsons Street Alnico IIs, or Tonerider Alnico II Classics. Both these sets seem to have the attributes I'm after (low-output classic tones, good for jazz primarily, as well as blues and classic rock), basically leaning towards p90-type tones. I've read lots of positive reviews of both these pickup lines and very little negative. Anyone here with any experience with these two lines of pickups in particular? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amx05462 Posted March 24, 2013 Share Posted March 24, 2013 A lot of the pickups that have been mentioned are out of my price-range and there aren't all that many practical options in the 2nd-hand market around here, so I've narrowed the list down (based on cost and desired tone) to either Golden Age Parsons Street Alnico IIs, or Tonerider Alnico II Classics. Both these sets seem to have the attributes I'm after (low-output classic tones, good for jazz primarily, as well as blues and classic rock), basically leaning towards p90-type tones. I've read lots of positive reviews of both these pickup lines and very little negative. Anyone here with any experience with these two lines of pickups in particular? i dont know about those but you might want to look up dynasonics. you can get those off ebay at reasonable prices thats where i got mine for a pro jet.. they have a real good sound . there alor brighter than the p90 in my guitars Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dporto Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 Do you know what pick-ups are in there now? The first thing I would do is drop the pickups down to where they're even with the tops of the pick-up rings. This should decrease the output a little bit and clean up the sound. It's a common mistake to adjust the piuck-up so they're too close to the strings - this not only causes a less defined sound but also reduces sustain due to the magnetic pull on the strings...If you've already tried this then take it with a grain of salt. If not, give it a shot - maybe you'll save yourself a few bucks. Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluemans335 Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 I've narrowed the list down (based on cost and desired tone) to either Golden Age Parsons Street Alnico IIs, or Tonerider Alnico II Classics. Both these sets seem to have the attributes I'm after (low-output classic tones, good for jazz primarily, as well as blues and classic rock), basically leaning towards p90-type tones. I've read lots of positive reviews of both these pickup lines and very little negative. Anyone here with any experience with these two lines of pickups in particular? I have a set of A2 Parsons Streets and love them. Being unpotted and having unbalanced coils gives them a very open, airy sound, more alive than a typical HB. They also use the same high-quality materials as the best PAF's made today. Highly recommended. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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