[SE Cu24] Neck Seymour Duncan Jazz sounds muddy

[godoy.rafa]

As the title says, I'm having trouble with my neck Seymour Duncan Jazz pickup - it sounds muddy and loose under hig gain, specially after 12th fret in lower strings.

I have tried to lower the pickup and raise the poles. it helps a little bit, but still isn't good because the pickup starts loosing power.

Do you guys recommend any other pickup to replace the current one? Or perhaps I have a bad pot?
My guitar does not have a tone knob, only volume.

I play mainly hard rock and heavy metal, I have a Duncan JB at the bridge position. So I'm not considering ceramic pickups, only alnico.

Thanks!

 

[ReptilianNosewood]

Try the Mark Holcomb Seymour Duncans, they are quite popular for metal.

 

[swede71]

Try turning volumeknob down to 5.A humbucker in the neck position Will sound muddy with a high gain sound.Try also to turn down gain on the amp.This is the reason players like Eddie van Halen only used the bridge pickup.
I feel the same thing with singlecoils and high gain but i have to say the best singlecoil pickup ive tried with a high gain metal sound is Emg sv.Perhaps Emgs Will work for you.Dimarzio humbucker from hell i have in My flying v and it works great too,takes away some of that boomingness but still i like to turn volume on guitar down a bit when using high gain.Your jazz pickup is the ultimate neck position pickup so to speak.It has lower output and more treble response.Keep it!

 

[AP515]

I need you to explain the "my guitar doesn't have a tone knob" part. It came with one. You must have removed it. My concern is what you did with the capacitor. That alone can change the sound of the pups.

 

[godoy.rafa]

I need you to explain the "my guitar doesn't have a tone knob" part. It came with one. You must have removed it. My concern is what you did with the capacitor. That alone can change the sound of the pups.

For what I've read, the capacitor only does something to the tone when you start rolling off the tone knob. When completely opened, it does not affect anything. As I don't use the tone knob, I have removed it and kept only the volume knob.

 

[godoy.rafa]

Try turning volumeknob down to 5.A humbucker in the neck position Will sound muddy with a high gain sound.Try also to turn down gain on the amp.This is the reason players like Eddie van Halen only used the bridge pickup.
I feel the same thing with singlecoils and high gain but i have to say the best singlecoil pickup ive tried with a high gain metal sound is Emg sv.Perhaps Emgs Will work for you.Dimarzio humbucker from hell i have in My flying v and it works great too,takes away some of that boomingness but still i like to turn volume on guitar down a bit when using high gain.Your jazz pickup is the ultimate neck position pickup so to speak.It has lower output and more treble response.Keep it!

Great advice, I will try different volume levels.

 

[swede71]

Also check your eq on the amp.Guitarsounds benefit from less bass.I would install a second volumeknob for the neckpickup.

 

[AP515]

For what I've read, the capacitor only does something to the tone when you start rolling off the tone knob. When completely opened, it does not affect anything. As I don't use the tone knob, I have removed it and kept only the volume knob.

Yes, but when you say you've removed it, do you mean you just leave it on 10 or that you have desoldered it from the wiring harness? If the former, the rest is understood. If the latter, you have changed the RLC circuit and the pups will sound different. Think of the One. It has no tone circuit and it sounds more raw by intention.

 

[godoy.rafa]

Yes, but when you say you've removed it, do you mean you just leave it on 10 or that you have desoldered it from the wiring harness? If the former, the rest is understood. If the latter, you have changed the RLC circuit and the pups will sound different. Think of the One. It has no tone circuit and it sounds more raw by intention.

I have desoldered it from the harness, I do it in all my guitars. I had no idea it could change the sound, is there a way to add the capacitor without the tone pot to keep the original chatacteristics, as if it were always on 10?

 

[Huggy Love]

I can't help but think.........

.....do you really have to take the tone control away?
I know EVH did it back in the 80's, but you should be able to get good raw sound without mutilating your electronics.

Heavy distortion on a jazz neck pup? Why not get a hotter or more shred type one?

"always on 10?".......... Really? You don't want any control over your tone?

This thread makes me shake my head.

 

[godoy.rafa]

I can't help but think.........

.....do you really have to take the tone control away?
I know EVH did it back in the 80's, but you should be able to get good raw sound without mutilating your electronics.

Heavy distortion on a jazz neck pup? Why not get a hotter or more shred type one?

"always on 10?".......... Really? You don't want any control over your tone?

This thread makes me shake my head.

I play guitar for about 15 years, and never liked to fiddle with the tone control. I have always found myself checking the knob to see if it was maxed, so I have decided to take it out a couple of years ago.
About the heavy distortion, when I bought those pups they were the Dave Mustaine set, and there wasn't anything else available at the time at the store (I'm from Brazil and was in a trip to US, had no time to order. Pups are very expensive in Brazil.).

 

[Huggy Love]

I play guitar for about 15 years, and never liked to fiddle with the tone control. I have always found myself checking the knob to see if it was maxed, so I have decided to take it out a couple of years ago.
About the heavy distortion, when I bought those pups they were the Dave Mustaine set, and there wasn't anything else available at the time at the store (I'm from Brazil and was in a trip to US, had no time to order. Pups are very expensive in Brazil.).

Order your pups online for best price & rethink your tone strategy. Done.

 

[godoy.rafa]

I have lowered the pup to a level where it sounds good now, even under high gain. Thanks for the tips guys.

 

[Em7]

I have lowered the pup to a level where it sounds good now, even under high gain. Thanks for the tips guys.

That was the correct thing to do to eliminate the mud. Removing the tone pot will make the guitar brighter. A lot of people erroneously believe that the capacitor in the tone pot bleeds treble to ground when it is actually part of an RLC (Resistor, Inductor, Capacitor) circuit (a.k.a. a resonant circuit). The tone pot and capacitor combine with the inductance, resistance, and self-capacitance of the pickup coil(s) to modify the resonant peak of the circuit (the frequency at which the pickup is loudest). The resonant peak of the circuit is shifted down in frequency as one rolls the tone knob down. If the tone capacitor bled treble to ground, there would be a loss in volume as the tone knob was rolled down.

 

[godoy.rafa]

I have put the tone pot back, the overall tone seems smoother to my ears, sounds better to me.

 

[vchizzle]

Glad ya got it figured out. I was gonna say...the Jazz is one of the clearer sound neck pickups out there. The only neck pickup I liked for a really long time.

 

[Paladin]

I've got a Jazz in my S2 Custom 22 neck (and a JB in the bridge), and I was just thinking to myself the other day about how great it sounds. Glad you got yours sorted out.

 

[godoy.rafa]

I've got a Jazz in my S2 Custom 22 neck (and a JB in the bridge), and I was just thinking to myself the other day about how great it sounds. Glad you got yours sorted out.

I also have the JB in the bridge. What music styles do you play? Jazz is a good pickup, but I wish it had more "fatness", do you know what I mean?

 

[dogrocketp]

I also have the JB in the bridge. What music styles do you play? Jazz is a good pickup, but I wish it had more "fatness", do you know what I mean?

Try loweringg the pole pieces into the pickup body a bit. Raise the pickup as necessary. it should be in there.

 

[Spatten]

Yeah, the Jazz is clear as a bell. I have one in my SE 245 because the McCarty neck pickup I had sounded really muddy in that guitar.